The Sebezaphone is South Africa’s own WHISPER PHONE. Learners speak softly into their Sebezaphones and hear their own voice and their voice alone. Learners can speak and read at their own pace in their own space. The Sebezaphone increases attention, enhances hearing of the sounds made by letter patterns, assists in sounding out words, and increases fluency, comprehension and self-confidence. Learners suddenly enjoy reading a whole lot more!

What is a Sebezaphone?

A handheld ‘phone’ into which the learner speaks in a soft voice, the Sebezaphone amplifies the spoken voice. Every learner becomes both the reader and listener at the same time. It provides auditory bio-feedback so the reader can self-correct. By removing background noise it improves reader’s attention and active engagement with the text.  It’s an effective aid for second language mastery and the hearing-impaired. The whisper phone won the “Teachers’ Choice Award” as the best new teaching tool, 2010.

The Sebezaphone increases reading pleasure and achievement because it

• Enables learners to hear themselves read the author’s words
• Amplifies the speaking voice so that phonemes are more audible and distinct
• Provides immediate auditory bio-feedback to improve language development, learning and self-correction
• Removes background noises for better concentration and comprehension
• Increases active engagement and fluency
• Increases confidence in oneself as a reader and speaker

Benefits for learners of all ages

• 100 % WHOLE CLASS ENGAGEMENT. All learners practice reading at the same time in a quiet classroom! Enables more practice-time for every child to read out loud, which improves reading levels.
• Beginning and struggling readers: improves decoding and encoding skills and fluency
• Second language learners, remedial work for reading and speech
• Hearing impaired 

Sebezaphones are manufactured by Chaeli Campaign together with other community upliftment projects for the disabled and unemployed.

• Click here to visit the Sebezaphone Website for more information
• Click here to download the Sebezaphone info leaflet PDF file
• Click here for course offering (Professional Development section of metagroup)

The Sebezaphone and the Balanced Language Approach to Literacy

Words and Sentence Level Work (30 min daily)

Enable learners to become CODE BREAKERS who can:

Decode words in the text and their meaning

• Recognize sounds that go with spelling patterns
• Automatically and fluently read and spell high-frequency words
• Use phonics and spelling patterns to work out unknown words 

Learners use their Sebezaphones to:

• Identify letter patterns and say the sounds they make in words
• Recognize and fluently read Word Wall Words when reading text
• Correctly spell high-frequency words
• Identify words that rhyme with Word Wall Words and correctly spell them 

Activities

(a) to raise phonemic awareness by amplifying the sounds made by letter patterns: Doing a Word Wall and using word wall words to recognize and produce rhymes, spell other words, make new endings of words.  

(b) To apply phonics to predict and decode unknown words

(c) To strength ability to ‘cross check” by asking questions about word read out loud: Does it look right (letters/sounds match)? Does it sound right (the way we speak)?  Does it make sense (in context)?

Thinking Strategies to Make Meaning and Comprehending Text  Shared/Guided Thinking/Reading (30 min daily)

Enable learners to become MEANING MAKERS who can

• Develop receptive and expressive oral language by reading the author’s words out loud and expressing their thoughts and reactions to the text
• Express thoughts triggered by text read by teacher or oneself
• Express  what they already know about topic (activate their Schema)
• Make personal connections to the text/story/subject matter
• Visualise picture and sensory words; pose questions about the text; make predictions and inferences; note changes in their thinking 

Learners interact with the text by speaking their thoughts out loud into their Sebezaphone to:

• Describe what they see in pictures
• Capture the thoughts triggered by the text, e.g.  connections to the plot, character, picture and feelings expressed in story/information text
• Speak aloud predictions and inferences, summaries and changes in thinking while reading.
• Speak aloud their visualisations of picture words and sensory words used by the author
• Ask themselves if the word they have said looks like the word on the page; sounds right in the sentence; makes sense in the context of the passage
• Monitor comprehension, re-read and apply fix-up strategies as needed 

Activities to develop oral language, raise metacognitive awareness, interact with text and strengthen complex thinking strategies: Learners do Think-Alouds; Brainstorm to activate schema (recall background knowledge & experiences) and formulate questions; before reading. Applying thinking strategies while reading; draw/write/act out thoughts, share reactions after reading.

Writing: Shared, Guided writing, Individual, Pair, Group, (30 min daily) 

Enable learners to become WRITERS by reading their drafts out loud into their Sebezaphone to

• Listen to how their writing sounds and ensure that it expresses what they had intended,
• Check good use of language to reflect the way it is spoken
• Edit writing by listening and checking for good grammar and applying correct writing conventions and mechanics to their text
• Read peers’ writing aloud into the Sebezaphone to offer constructive feedback 

Activities to edit drafts:

Learners read their writing aloud to

• Listen for clarity of meaning, coherence, fluency and correct grammar
• Check good use of writing conventions and language.

Peers read aloud each other’s writing with Sebezaphone and give constructive feedback.

Self-Selected Reading: Learners’ choice (30 min daily)

Enable learners to become TEXT USERS and TEXT ANALYSTS who use their Sebezaphones to:

• Read aloud to themselves to more fully hear author’s words
• Think out loud to capture thoughts triggered by the text, pose a question, form a visualisation, and make connections, predictions, inferences, transformations.
• Compare thoughts/connections/ with peers reading same book
• Read aloud and talk aloud while viewing books of high interest and appropriate reading level
• Express and hear own thoughts in reaction to what was read 

Activities: Learners

• Choose what they want to read and to which parts of their reading to respond to.
• Interact with text by writing thoughts on ‘Post-it’ notes and stick on page to mark the spot they had the thought;
• Write and Draw thoughts,
• Make connections between own Life Story and the book’s story.
• Compare with peers different reactions and thoughts triggered by text and assessments of author’s implied message.

Using the Sebezaphone to develop Good Readers and Writers 

Words and Sentence Level Work (30 min daily)

• Perform role of Code Breaker
• Hear the phonemes more distinctly and clearly
• Say and hear sounds made by letter patterns
• Read and spell high-frequency words

By hearing what they read out loud, learners are better able to cross check and ask themselves questions about the word they just said

• Does it look right? Checks that the sounds in the word read match the letters patterns of the printed word
• Does it sound right? Checks that what was read matches the way the language is spoken
• Does it make sense? Checks that what was read is meaningful in the context of the text and what the reader knows about the world.

Thinking Strategies to Make Meaning and Comprehending Text Shared/Guided Reading (30 min daily) 

By each learner reading out loud into their Sebezaphone, they are better able to

• Perform role of Meaning Maker
• Hear themselves read the author’s words
• Focus all their attention on reading without being disturbed by background sounds and other children’s reading
• Develop oral language
• Increase fluency and comprehension
• Build confidence in themselves as readers and speakers

By saying their thoughts out loud and consciously interacting with the text, learners become more metacognitive and are better able to:

• Construct personal meaning from the text
• Apply complex thinking strategies, i.e. Thinking Powers to reading:  Make Connections, Pose Questions, Visualise, Infer, Synthesise and Transform (enhance thinking, appreciation, etc.)

Writing: Shared, Guided, Individual, Pair, Group, (30 min daily) 

By reading their drafts of writing out loud into their Sebezaphone, learners are better able to:

• Perform role of Writer
• Listen to how their own words sound
• Check that their writing expresses what they want to say
• Assess development, logic and cohesion
• Edit writing for good grammar and writing conventions
• Provide constructive feedback to peers

Self-Selected Reading: Learners’ choice DEAR: Drop Everything And Read (30 min daily) 

By reading out loud in a whisper into their Sebezaphone to read at own pace and in own private space, learners are better able to

• Perform role of Text User and Text Analyst
• Concentrate on reading without disturbing others
• Increase active engagement with text
• Apply “word attack skills” and Thinking Powers
• Speak their thoughts in reaction to the text
• Monitor comprehension and
• Apply ‘repair strategies’ when there is a loss of understanding