Phone-a-Story is a pretty sweet concept. Simply dial 720-865-8500, pick the option that suits you best and… voila! A story about bears that your preschooler loves, that unpronounceable riddle that second graders find so challenging, or an unfinished story with a cliff-hanger that reminds you of your favorite show. And then Tuesday comes around and new auditory adventures are ready for your enjoyment 24/7.
Our staff and community volunteers are in charge or recoding all the songs and stories, and sometimes we even have celebrities that participate in this service.
But what if I told you that Phone-a-Story users also get really creative?
Make your favorite story go live: Since we added the option to request your favorite story or theme, we have been able to read exactly what children wanted to hear. So if your little one loves dinosaurs, komodo dragons or the latest trendy cartoon, we are happy to make that special storytime happen.
Fun Quiz: As a former educator myself, I was really excited when a couple of teachers mentioned that for their language classes (both English and Spanish) they often send home the Phone-a-Story number and a couple of questions about the stories that week. That way students can test their comprehension skills. Another option is having a written prompt based on the story, such as “Write down the words that rhyme in the poem” or “What is your favorite part?”.
Family Routine: Several families have mentioned that they have introduced Phone-a-Story as part of their weekly routine, so they listen to it on the way back from school, before brushing their teeth or just every Wednesday.
And then what?: Challenge those in your family to listen to the title of the story and then hang up. Make predictions, be inspired by what the title suggests, recall other books from the same author… Now listen to the story a little bit more, almost to the end aaaaand hang up! What do you think is going to happen? Can you come up with your own ending?
What about you? What is your experience with Phone-a-Story?
New to this service? Here you have all the options!
- For a Preschool story in Spanish, press 1
- For a song, rhyme or riddle in Spanish, press 2
- For a Preschool story in English, press 3
- For a story for Grades K-5 in English, press 4
- For a longer story for grades 5th-8th in English, press 5
- For a song, rhyme or riddle in English, press 6
- For a song, story or rhyme in Amharic, press 7
- For a traditional story in English, press 8
- For a story, song or rhyme in Vietnamese, press 9
- Want to suggest a song or story, or just to provide feedback? Press 0
Interested in helping with this service as a volunteer?