Audacity

Audacity is a Web 2.0 Tool that provides free, open source software for recording and editing sound. You can use Audacity to record live audio; cut, copy, or splice sounds together; add effects; and much more. All you need is an external mic and the downloaded software. Since April was Poetry Month, I had 5th grade students use Audacity to record two voice poems from Paul Fleischman's collection titled, Joyful Noise. It took some practice for each set of partners to record successfully, but they had a lot of fun. After each pair recorded their voices, I edited and spliced the individual recordings into one performance and posted it on the library website. Audacity is a great motivator for students to perfect their performances, in order to use this great tool. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/