The "Important" Podcast

Beginning: Students will participate in various learning experiences. Students will research their area of interest or an area suggested by the teacher. The students will deeply learn their area so that they can write a podcast episode based after the book "The Important Book". Students will answer questions that detail the "important" details about their subject. As the information gels for students they will move to the next stage.

Middle: Students will write their podcast alone, in pairs, or small group (no more than 5). The students will be allowed to use any modality (funny story, news article, reader's theatre, etc.) to display their learning about their topic. Students will practice approximately 2 times per week for 3 weeks before recording their podcast for publishing. The teacher's role will be to support the students with their writing process and to guide them toward writing to an appropriate audience. Students may choose whether they want their podcast published for other students to use or whether to give information to their parents.

Culmination: Students will publish their podcasts. A team of outsiders (outside of our class) will listen to the podcast and give students feedback on quality, information, and ability to keep the listeners attention. The podcasters will use the feedback to develop a follow-up podcast for the previously recorded podcast. The 2nd podcast will be reviewed by the teacher for assessment on various standards based elements. At the end of the project, each student will get a CD copy of their podcast to take home and listen to with their families.