How to Use Podcasts in the Classroom
We know that listening is an important skill children need to develop and that listening comprehension is a critical component of successful reading comprehension. Podcasts can be a great resource to help educators with this important work. Whether you are totally new to using podcasts in the classroom or have already been doing it for years (yes, we see you, teachers that WOW), we hope there’s something here for you to try out in your classroom!
Some quick and easy ways to integrate podcasts into, and enhance, your curriculum:
Pre-Listening Ideas: Much like pre-reading activities prepare the reader to read, pre-listening activities prepare the listener to listen. Our pre-listening activities help prepare listeners by activating prior knowledge and setting a purpose for the listening.
- Discussion questions to go over before introducing podcasts for the first time:
- What is a podcast? Have you ever listened to one?
- How many folks have listened to a radio news program?
- How is it different from watching the news on TV?
- Read the episode description to your entire class, or a group of students, and then…
- Prepare a KWL chart that lists what they know, want to know, and then learned
- Lead a “Turn-and-Talk” by having students turn to a partner and share a question they have or something they already know about the episode’s content
- Have students predict three things that might come up in the episode
- Have students jot down some questions they might have about the episode
- Have students do a quick write to predict what might happen in the episode
- Introduce the episode topic along with a few topic-related vocabulary words
- Project a related image and brainstorm what they already know about it
During-Listening Ideas: These activities focus more on comprehension by helping listeners to make connections, learn to monitor their understanding, generate questions, stay focused and determine importance from the content they are listening to.
- Let students have the option to doodle or sketch as they are listening
- Record key information and content from the episode using a graphic organizer
- Prime students to listen for key points to share afterward (use a note-taking sheet)
Post-Listening Ideas: Our post-listening activities provide listeners with the opportunity to summarize, question, reflect, discuss and respond to what they just heard.
- Repeat listening is always a good idea and makes a great homework assignment
- Conduct a “Listen and Check” by asking students to reflect on whether or not the 3 things they predicted during pre-listening came up
- Conduct a Think-Pair-Share by allowing a few minutes for private reflection followed by a few minutes to share with partners. Then have a couple of students share with the class
- “Turn & Talk” to a partner to summarize the episode
- Have students record an audio summary
- Record key information and content from the episode using a graphic organizer
- Have students jot down the biggest “WOW” they took away from the episode*
- Have students come up with a list of follow-up questions or WONDERS they have*
*TinkerClass has tools specifically designed to scaffold Listening, Wowing, Wondering, and NGSS-aligned podject-based-learning. Sign up now – FREE FOR TEACHERS!
Go Further
Want to transform podcasts into PBL, or as we like to call it—Podject Based Learning? Sign up for TinkerClass. Free for teachers!