Creating a classroom podcast has been one of my dreams for a very long time, and this summer, I was determined to make it happen. I searched the internet for other classroom podcasts to get inspiration, but interestingly enough, didn't find very many out there, and wondered, why ever not? There are so many rich benefits to having students create a podcast. For one, it integrates so many of the Common Core standards, beginning with writing . . .
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.5--With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.4--Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences. . . . and here was the standard that came as serendipity for me, which especially validated my idea for a podcast on top of all the others, and I only happened upon this after my students and I finished our first podcast: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.5--Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. And this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of how many standards this touches on, and of the learning experiences that students gain from creating a podcast. I knew, before diving into the world of podcasting, that my students would be able to have a very rich, very deep opportunity to communicate in a way that would extend beyond writing a first draft of a story, editing, revising, and posting it on the classroom's bulletin board at Open House. They would be able to share with a much wider audience, with friends, family, and with people outside of school. I also knew, with this new and cool technology that children typically have never dealt with, that they would be extremely motivated to read and write. I have made it a condition in my classroom that no writing can be shared on a podcast if it does not demonstrate all the qualities of good, polished writing, as agreed upon in our class rubrics. I also have made it clear that students may only share their writing on a podcast if they can read their pieces fluently and with good expression. The interest in writing stories, not to mention the amount of time my students have practiced reading their own writing, has increased tremendously. This year, I hope that students will be able to write and share about anything they are learning, ranging from social studies, science, art, literature, music, and anything of personal interest to them. I get giddy just thinking of all the possibilities that come with integrating this technology with countless topics! And above all, I find that podcasting has been so very gratifying for me and my class this past week. The children worked beautifully together, encouraged one another, and had fun as they learned. And perhaps, most powerful of all, they have been given another way to make their voices heard. Have a listen to Room 17's PhoenixCast here, and comment below to tell us what you think! PhoenixCast Episode 1 In this episode, the students of Room 17 explore the theme of friendship. Featured here is the poem, "Could We Be Friends," by Bobbi Katz, and children's responses to the question, "What do you look for in a friend?"
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To all mothers out there, all my warmest wishes for a wonderful and blessed day with friends and family! Although I am not a mother myself, I truly appreciate how much heart and soul the mothers at Fairburn pour into the lives of their children 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Today I also pay tribute to my own mother, who has helped me in countless ways ever since I started teaching. She has tutored my struggling readers, taught cursive lessons, and drilled the kids on times tables. She's done just about everything from teaching full-out math lessons to sweeping the floor and sharpening the pencils. As a mother and a former 2nd grade teacher, she has kept me grounded and given me so much practical wisdom. She kindled my interest in teaching in the first place. Thank you, Mom! This past week, my students made greeting cards in honor of their mothers. The project involved writing portrait poems, which are composed of a few similes to describe a person. After drafting their poems and copying them onto plain white index cards, the children drew and decorated the letters M - O - M on three separate pieces of colored construction paper with oil pastel. They glued the letters onto white art paper which had to be folded into thirds to make a trifold greeting card. Because I know it's very difficult for young children to measure and fold paper into thirds, I measure the paper for the students ahead of time -- pinching the paper at every third section, allowing students to fold it more easily themselves. Here is my sample (front and back): I'll be perfectly honest, I was never a fan of Halloween. However, as I teacher, I capitalize on the idea of Halloween as much as I can and use it as an opportunity to spice up my instruction and pique students' interest. One of my primary vehicles is through literature, and I shared some of my favorite books, both funny and spooky, in a previous post. I also include poetry as well, and during the month of October Room 17 had fun memorizing and reciting the traditional "In A Dark, Dark Wood" and "I'm Not Scared!" by Karen Baiker. Practicing these poems develops fluency in reading and confidence in speaking in front of an audience. Something wonderful happened a couple weekends ago when I happily rediscovered some material from my old lesson plan files. It was a copy of an excerpt from Shakespeare's Macbeth, the witches' chant "Double, double, toil and trouble." I used to give this to fourth graders to memorize, and I thought, why not try it with my 2nd graders? I gave a very brief and general summary of the Macbeth story, and concluded by sharing film composer John Williams' rendition of "Double, double, toil and trouble" from the movie "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." You can listen to this catchy and delightfully wicked song here: We later used this goodie from Shakespeare as inspiration for writing our own recipes for magic potions. Besides this piece of music, I draw on other music that has long been associated with Halloween, including "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saëns and "Toccata and Fugue in d" by Johan Sebastian Bach. "Danse Macabre" was a particular favorite this year, and we had a devilishly good time doing some impromptu writing while listening to it. We even got to dance to it, thanks to our wonderful dance instructor, Ms. Devon Wall, who taught us how to freeze into all sorts of marvelous shapes with our bodies based on a broom, a trick-or-treat bag, a witch's hat, and a jack-o-lantern. Of course, there must be visual art in the mix. Students used chalk pastels to make spider web drawings and the following week, pumpkin patch landscapes with oil pastel: We wrapped up our Halloween funfest by making origami ghosts. They were deemed "simple" on the YouTube video where I learned it, but was quite a bit more complicated for my 2nd graders. Even so, they still found it engaging and, despite a bit of frustration, seemed determined to get all the steps down. Thankfully, I had two parent volunteers who were able to help the children with the trickier folds. The bubbling excitement from the students from all these activities is quite contagious. It almost made me like Halloween . . . almost!
I am always on the lookout for poems that relate thematically to the literacy units in Treasures that we study. This week we concluded Unit 1, "Friends and Families." I pulled out one of my favorite poems for students to read and memorize, "Could We Be Friends," by Bobbi Katz. We use poems such as this one to practice reading fluency, explore rhyme and rhythm, and we sometimes (depending on the poem) use them as springboards for writing. I even use it as a classroom management strategy; I'll prompt students to recite a poem as they transition into another activity, maintain some order and keep down the chatter. A fun way to get children to read is to have them make a recording of their own reading. Try it at home! I'd previously written a blog entry about it (1.3.13, "Using an iPod to Improve Reading," just look it up under the blog category, "Reading Strategies."). Here's an audioclip of Room 17 reading "Could We Be Friends" with me. After this initial practice, we made subsequent recordings on my iPhone of children leading the whole class in reading and reciting this poem. As students become more familiar with the poem, I will be asking each of them to recite it from memory. (Seems like such an old-school practice, I know! But in this day and age when we so often rely on technology to help us remember things, I feel it's important to be able to memorize, particularly when it comes to literature).
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