Using Podcasts in class

The article The Atom Family:Using Podcasts to Enhance the Development of Science Vocabulary by S. Michael Putman and Tara Kingsley published in The Reading Teacher, 63 (2), describes a successful use of podcasts in science class. An experiment described in the journal proves that podcasting has become a very popular and wide used tool not only in Middle and High School classes but also in Kindergarten and Elementary educational setting. Reasons for having podcasts widely used in schools are many: it is "inexpensive to produce, simple to use, portable, reusable, and beneficial to auditory learners" (Smaldino, Russell, Heinich, & Molenda, 2005 - according to Putman 2009, p. 101).

Putman and Kingsley used podcast as an enhancing tool for "science-specific vocabulary development in fifth grade". Their research demonstrates that podcasting increases students' recollection of the words and improve their understanding of the material studied in class. Students listened to podcasts to review class material and make up missed classes when they were sick.

The whole article can be accessed through EBSCOhost. There are many ideas on teaching vocabulary by the means of podcasting.

Among examples of educational podcasts and resources published in the article are:

Radio WillowWeb, published by Kids for Kids.
Small Voices - using podcast by Kathy Shields, Elementary School teacher.
Eagen High School: Honors Chemistry - multimedia in High School Chemistry classes.
Just Vocabulary - learning vocabulary with a podcast.

Picture Credits - JustVocabulary.com

April is National Poetry Month

Celebrate National Poetry Month in April with new ideas and activities!

The High School celebrates the Poetry Month with the Poetry Night on April 23: students will read either their own poetry or their favorite poems.

The Library Poet Tree will be planted at the library entrance on April 1, and students can bring original poems to be hung as the tree's leaves.

The Academy of American Poets honors it with Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 30. The idea is simple: pick up a poem, carry it in your pocket, and pass it to family, friends, cooworkers. Browse this site and select poems for the day.

You will see posters around the campus and "pockets" filled with poems in the library so everyone will be able to take one and pass it on .

As Silvia Virdell wrote in Booklinks, March issue, "If you’re looking for fresh ways to approach poetry with young people, you might consider multimedia methods for experiencing the visual and aural qualities of poetry. Using popular Internet sites, CDs, and a variety of software, kids can explore the imagery, emotion, and language of poetry in ways that are creative, playful, and multisensory." I would say, this is true not only for young people.

Here are some links and ideas of how to use digital tools to that can be useful when we approach the Poetry Month:

How to Read a Poem Out Loud

Poetry for Kids - 25 most popular web sites

Poetry 180:
A poem a day for American High Schools from the Library of Congress.

Canonical Verse: 75+ links

Poetry Teachers: links featuring poetry in class, humorous poems, and poetry theater ideas.

Words and Pictures – Poems: Ten colorful poems with animation, audio and activities

April is Poetry Month
A long list of links from Education World

Scholastic Poetry writing workshops
Workshops with Jack Prelutsky, Karla Kuskin, and Jean Marzollo
Poetry engine workshop, meet poets online.

I Spy Riddle in Rhyme
Each month features an I SPY picture and asks you to write the riddle.

Silvia Virdell's blog Children's Poetry

Ideas for Digital Activities:
- Add a poem to your email footer
- Post a poem on your blog or social networking page
- Podcast or vodcast your favorite poem(s)
- Listen to audio and podcasts published by The Poetry Foundation

Peggy and Marina

Podcasting as a teaching tool

How to implement podcasts to your class effectively?

Podcasts are an excellent tool for sharing information. It's a piece of creation and distribution of voice possibly mixed up with music productions.

It's a publishing tool for student oral presentations.
Teachers can use them for:
Recording their lessons and putting them online,
Recording of students' presenations to help them improve their speaking skills,
Book discussions,
vocabulary or foreign language lessons,
international pen pal letters,
interviews,
debates,
distribution of radio show.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows people to subscribe to a podcast and view new posts when they are publihsed.

The wide range of educational podcasts can be found at
Education Podcast Network. It's a great directory for educators. There are links to suggested classroom uses broken down by grade level and subject.

Here it is a collection of sources that you can find useful when thinking about using podcasts in your class.

Podcast page of Mr. Brandon's Weblog Magaine.

Radio WillowWeb from the Willowdale Elementary School in Omaha, Nebraska.

Room 2008 (Bob Sprinkle's third and fourth grade podcast)covers school weekly events, field trips, students' reactions.

http://podcastsined.blogspot.com/

Getting Started with Podcasting:
Gcast is a free software that allows you to create and publish your podcasts.


Download Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows and LAME MP3 encoder that allows Audacity export MP3 files (when download LAME MP3 encoder save it in the same folder where Audacilty is saved),
Open Audacity
Plug a microphone into your computer and click "Record" button in Audacity screen.
After having saved your files, you can edit them by using the "Import Audio" under the Project section.
To share your podcast you need to transfer the MP3 file from your computer to a server (ftp:).