About Literately

Designed by learning specialists to support readers working through the reading process, Literately takes the best aspects of audiobooks and combines them with the best aspects of podcasts.

We think that audiobooks are awesome…but we also think that they don’t often allow listeners the opportunity to fully process important literary elements in the moment. Audiobooks can be such valuable tools, but when utilized by students, they are often simply turned to the highest speed, so listeners can get their “reading” over with. The Literately audiobook model sets itself apart by incorporating discussion points throughout each chapter, where hosts Alex Doyle and Erica Dunne stop to identify character development, symbolism, important quotes, and recurring themes. These interruptions are carefully planned to replicate the types of stops that we use in English classes when reading with students. In fact, this was the basis for the Literately project; too often we see that our students are best able to comprehend literary texts when we read together in class and they are prompted to stop and make connections along the way. The same students have far greater difficulty recognizing literary elements when completing their reading independently. With Literately, we directly teach the skills necessary for these students — and all students — to strengthen reading comprehension and annotation skills while also demonstrating the value of discussing literature with others.