Back in my day, it was required by Language Arts teachers that students take turns reading to the class. Regardless of fluency, it was a humiliating experience for some, and the anxiety of waiting one’s turn to read was distracting. Today, teachers are sparing students the cringeworthy experience by reading aloud to them, or playing an audio version of a text. As a result, many teachers are seeing improvements in engagement. “Podcasts can also aid in teaching the craft of storytelling” (Godsey, 2016, para. 20), which is essential as Language Arts not only teaches students how to enjoy stories, but how to create their own.

When I explored educational podcasts for kids this week, the one that captured my attention was “Greeking Out” from National Geographic. I chose to listen to the episode on “Andromeda and Perseus” because my middle school students enjoy reading Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. I was impressed by the podcast because it is narrated with background information, introduces relevant vocabulary, and “teaches” the students while theatrical voices perform the dialogue. It also shares character traits of other Greek gods and demigods and even alludes to previous episodes in order to make connections. Sharing episodes with students would be an excellent way to introduce them to Greek mythology, pique their interest in the characters, and prepare them for the novel study. 

Audio is great for whole group instruction, but it can also be used to assist in independent study time. When I host small group instruction sessions with students, I keep the rest of the class occupied with independent activities. Pre-recording lessons could provide support to students who do not have access to direct instruction during this time. I tested three audio recording websites to see which was more accommodating, but I believe that Voki, Vocaroo, and Sneakpipe can each be useful for specific tasks.

Voki is a visual and audio presentation tool that allows you to choose a character, human or anthropomorphic, and add a background. When audio is added, the character’s lips sync with your voice. My favorite thing about this site is that you can also type the text and choose a preprogrammed voice, giving students a break from the teacher’s reading voice. I played around with punctuation and phonetic spellings to create my own sample you can view here.

Vocaroo is simpler. All you have to do is press the red button, record your voice, and press save & share. This could be used in class to provide read aloud accommodations for struggling readers. Click here to listen to my Vocaroo sample recording.

Sneakpipe is the most sophisticated of the audio programs I tested. It allows you to record a message that students can reply to with audio. This takes the pressure off of students who struggle to communicate their ideas in writing. In fact, this supports student writing by teaching students to refine their voice, brainstorm ideas freely, and to self critique and revise (King, 2016, para 4-8).

Overall, I enjoyed this week’s adventure. It was fun to explore podcasts for the classroom, and it was even more fun to play with the audio recording tools. There are countless ways these tools can be used in the classroom. 

References:

Godsey, M. (2016, March 17). The value of using podcasts in class: ironically they can encourage students to read more. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/03/the-benefits-of-podcasts-in-class/473925

King, M. (2016, July 15). 4 Ways audio recording can boost classroom learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/4-ways-audio-recording-can-boost-classroom-learning