Podcasts in the Elementary Clsssroom

The article that I read discussed extending a readers theatre activity by using podcasts. Readers theatre is something that I have done with my 5th grade students and I truly enjoyed it each time we “squeezed” it in. I say it that way because realistically, how much time do we have for “fun” in the classroom these days. However, this article was enlightening and opened the door for me on how I can incorporate this “fun” learning activity while still hitting many of the CCSS.

Vasinda and McLeod discussed how 2 teachers took 10-15 minutes each day for 10 weeks to incorporate readers theatre and podcasting, as a reading activity and intervention, into their classrooms. The students were broken up into smaller groups of about 4 - 8, depending upon not only their reading level, but also their personal interests. On Monday, they were given two scripts, one for school and one for home. They were assigned parts and were given 10-15 each day to practice their parts. During this time, the teachers worked with groups as needed, modeling expression and guiding the fluency practices. Students also used this time to do practice recordings so that on Friday they could record their podcasts. This recording was done with the rest of the class as the audience, or in small groups while other students worked independently. The teachers found that implementing the practice of Readers Theatre as a strategy for improving fluency for as little as 10 weeks resulted in consistent gains in comprehension of more than one year! Podcasting this is just a way to enhance an already strong literacy strategy.

As I read this article, I thought of the SAMR model (2009) that we discussed in class. Adding the podcast piece takes the readers theatre activity to the augmentation level with some functional improvement. It also discussed how you could take it to the modification level by completing a video recording. This transforms it from readers theatre to traditional theatre with a twist. Overall, I think that this innovative concept would be beneficial to my class. The article states many positive things like the over abundances of availability of scripts tied to various topics, the home and school connection piece, the authentic purpose that makes repeated practice engaging, and countless creativity options. The podcasts also allow for students to reach wider audiences and drives them to do better. I can’t think of a reason why you wouldn’t want to try this in your own classroom.

References

Puentedura, R. R. (2009). As we may teach: Educational technology, from theory into practice.

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Vasinda, S., & McLeod, J. (2011). Extending Readers Theatre: A Powerful and Purposeful

Match with Podcasting. Reading Teacher, 64(7), 486-497.

Extending Readers Theatre: A Powerful and Purposeful Match With Podcasting