Podcast Project

Intended Audience:

• My first grade classroom

Learning Objectives:

• RL.1.4 Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
• RL.1.10 With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.
• W.1.5.  With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
• W.1.6.  With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.  
• SL.1.a. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
• SL.1.4 Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.
• SL.1.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
• SL.1.6 Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation.

Rationale for Instructional Approach and Media:

• In first grade, we do a poetry unit. My podcast would be used to show how to read nursery rhymes with expression. Students would be exposed to a variety of poems throughout the unit. They will have been able to play around with writing their own poems/rhymes and may chose to read aloud a published poem or their own original work. They will be required to circle/highlight rhyming words and sight words, as well as draw a picture to visualize the poem or nursery rhyme.

Nursery Rhyme Podcast

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.

Retrieved from http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/000025.html

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

Today's Tech Literacy Tools

The article that I chose to review took a different spin on research about book apps for preschoolers as it discussed the parents perceptions of them. Howard and Wallace (2013) wrote about a survey  asking  parents about their use both digital and print books as well as the most important things that they looked for when choosing a book app for their child. The article states, “The survey results indicated that the majority of respondents were committed to reading print books with their children—98 percent indicated that they read physical books to their children, at least occasionally, and 88 percent read physical books with their children at least once a day.” It also shared that only “Fifty-three percent of respondents indicated that they also provided their children with access to book apps, the majority on an iPad.”

This was interesting to me as both a parent and a teacher. I understand the growing need to build literacy skills at such a young age but I also get that limiting screen time is just as important. We all want “well-rounded” children, the kids that are smart but not too smart for their own good, and ones that can entertain themselves without being dependent on technology. So I guess my thought would be to choose an app carefully, based off of it’s educational purpose, and use it WITH my child to help build a love for reading. However, that’s not what this study found. The article stated that “The most commonly sought feature for a successful book app is entertainment value, and respondents stated that apps had to be fun and interactive or children would not want to use them.”

With that being said, this article made me realize that as we incorporate technology, such as book apps, into the classroom  we need to be cognizant of what educational tools parents are already using with their children at home.  We don’t want the children to be repeating or burnt out on a specific app or program. We also have to realize that this allows for some children to come into the classroom way ahead of others and that we need to continue to teach to each child's’ ability level. This is much easier done these days with adaptive practice tools that enhance our teaching.

HOWARD, V., & WALLACE, M. (2016). Today's Tech Literacy Tools. Children & Libraries: The Journal Of The Association For Library Service To Children, 14(1), 3-9.

Today's Tech Literacy Tools

Sustaining a Makerspace

A makerspace is a growing concept in education. It’s a space created in a community, such as a classroom or library, where materials are provided for students to make and explore new things. Teachers are struggling to find ways to meet the 21st century learning expectations of problem solving, creativity, and collaboration and makerspaces have started to come into play.

An article by Kristin Fontichiaro discussed how to sustain a makerspace. Students are encouraged to make things move or light up, or even just to solve an everyday problem they are experiencing by inventing or creating a solution. Technology can be extremely useful when setting up an area like this in your classroom or library. Some items though can be expensive, so you must choose them carefully. Fontichiaro (2016), states, “consider Drawdio, a nifty tool that electrifies your pencil and lets you make electronic sound with pencil lead. Cool, but at $17 per kit, it can only be constructed once and is outside the budget of many groups. By comparison, consider a $50 box of LEGOs -- endlessly reusable and flexible, whether your students are creating new worlds, responding to design challenges, or prototyping ideas for inventions.” She suggests using items that are reusable that “offer features, challenges, or options that grow as students do. Students remain interested in them for longer periods, revisiting them repeatedly as they ramp up their skills.” These can be things like

I feel like this article supports an idea that technology doesn’t always have to be the best answer when helping students achieve 21st century learning skills. It’s insightful to see that hands-on learning can be just as beneficial as educational technology. Ask for donations from the community, in the form of money or time,  and share out things that the students are making using social media if you still want to incorporate technology.

Sustaining a Makerspace Article

FONTICHIARO, K. f. (2016). Sustaining a Makerspace. Teacher Librarian, 43(3), 39-41.