I never really thought about teaching students how to podcast. It didn't really ever come up in my mind. But I will say this is one of my favorite lessons that I have taught to my students. Especially since I, obviously you're listening, I have my own podcast. So it's really cool to share with students what a podcast is and how they can create one and share their information with others. Now with this lesson, I did it with fifth grade. But don't tune me out if you don't teach fifth grade. You can definitely adjust for the students that you teach and see how this can work best for you. Now with other lessons, I do teach my students how to record videos and edit videos. So that's something that they learned with me over the years. But I really wanted to teach students the other side of things with podcasting. Not all students are comfortable being on camera. I do record my podcast with videos simultaneously. I know not all people do that, and that is the joy of podcasting, where you really don't have to be on camera. So this is great for students who have a lot to share. But they are more camera-shy. And that's okay. Some of them even have a great narration voice. This is a great experience for students to be exposed to. When I introduced this to my students, I even compared it to YouTube since a lot of them aspire to be on YouTube one day. And it's another way that is growing, that their voices can be heard, but also just have those opportunities in the future. So it's really cool once we get going with this unit, that students really start to grasp the concept of podcasting and how it can be a beneficial way to share information with others. 

Naomi Meredith  03:22

There are a lot of standards that I use to connect this lesson, and I specifically picked light pollution. Because as I said in the intro, this is a type of pollution that isn't often talked about. I found out about light pollution, to be honest when I was getting my master's in STEM leadership. I probably had heard of it, but I never really thought about it before. But the more that I was researching about it for a project, I knew that this was something that my students needed to know about. So not only are they learning about podcasting, but they are learning about a type of pollution that is a problem. Specifically,  light pollution, and it correlates with the standards for the fifth-grade NGSS standard II SS 1-2. It talks about the patterns of daily changes in the length of shadows day and night. And there's that part where it's the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky. So I really focused on that section when it says the stars and the night sky because, due to light pollution, it really changes how we can actually see the stars in the sky. As I was researching this topic for students and pulling resources for them, I learned that there are some places in the United States that are protected where if you traveled to these locations, they are absolutely stunning and absolutely beautiful. It is like major diamonds glowing in the sky. I think there are some places in Colorado where I live, so that would be really cool to check out these places where light pollution is prevented. So we talked about the NGSS standard that is correlated with this lesson. And when it comes to the Common Core State Standards for ELA, when students are reading informational texts, that is a big standard that they will be hitting. So like I said, I pulled different resources for them that they will research through, that are vetted. They are legit resources. So students aren't really doing a random Google search. I don't have a whole lot of time for that piece. When I pre-research things and share those links with students, I know that they're going to be able to find the information that they need, but they still have to read it. But it's all set up for that right there. Of course, there are those writing standards where students are producing their work digitally. So yes, through the podcast, it's being produced digitally, but also when they are note-taking, and again, accessing those resources. 

Naomi Meredith  05:47

Podcasting also really applies to those speaking and listening standards. There are those standards that talk about producing a digital piece and being able to share that information clearly. So a podcast is a really great way for students to be thoughtful about what they are saying instead of standing in front of the class reading off of a note card, their board, or everybody else's board. The podcast forces the students to listen back to what they are actually saying and be mindful of that. And it's really cute too. When you do a podcast project like this or any type of recording, the students are actually kind of hard on themselves. It's very interesting. When they're creating things with their hands, I feel like I really have to push them to make modifications. But when it comes to video and podcasting, they are so critical of how they sound and how they do things that they want to try it again. So it's a really great self-reflection tool. For the math standards, this really connects to the mathematical practice where they talk about constructing valuable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others. So they are gathering that information and being critical of what they are reading and then trying to figure out a way to produce it where it makes sense. And then also, when they're collaborating in a group, they are also having that critiquing and reasoning of others of how they should actually plan out their show, which we'll talk about in a second. There also goes along with that standard, when in fifth grade, students actually have to think about the timing of their podcast. So when it comes to the actual editing, and the time that it takes, also when they are adding elements of different sounds, and really thinking about how long the sound is, they are thinking about the decimals and how that is correlated with time. Because there are all of those seconds, they have to be mindful of. And especially if they are taking pieces out of their podcast, they are thinking about the time and how long it takes for them to speak in a part. 

Naomi Meredith  07:50

What time that they're taking out of that? Are they including all the information that they need? So that telling time when it connects to decimals, there is a lot of math involved with that. So you might be wondering, what platform do they actually use when they create their podcast? How can you make this happen? I have heard of some teachers using a platform called Anchor, like the ship anchor, but I would definitely be mindful of that and the age of your students. I looked it up, and anchor is geared toward students who are 13 and older. So yes, anchor is very easy to use. But at the time of this recording, their target audience is not elementary school. So I actually would not recommend using that platform. Alternatives to this, you can do quite a few things. So these aren't the only things that you can use, but these are three that I think that definitely can work and I have experience with. I use Wevideo, so w-e-v-i-d-e-o, and it has video in its name, but it actually gives students the chance to actually just record audio. It's a very visual platform where there are different layers of things, they could add in the stock sounds that are there. So if they want to have a little bit of an intro with music, they can do it all on that platform. Wevideos also had some really awesome updates. So in this past year that I did the podcasting, there also is a classroom tab where you can assign assignments a lot like Google Classroom, you can create groups and students can collaborate within that group. It's all web-based, so you're not tied to one specific device. It just makes things a lot easier. Even though I have a Mac, I actually have been using Wevideo recently to do a lot of video editing because of that cloud-based feature. It doesn't really slow down your device. Now if you have Macs available and maybe even iPads, you could do the same thing in iMovie so students can do the narration part. I don't think iMovie is really that complicated for students. I just feel like the way that we have video setup it is a little bit more visual than iMovie, but iMovie is pretty easy too once you get the hang of it. I also think that on the iPads, a tablet, or phones, it's a little bit more simple. So you can definitely use that feature. Students can take things and cut them out. Now if you're really on a budget, I would actually recommend using Seesaw. So Seesaw has a recording feature, I think they can record up to 10 minutes, and students aren't going to need 10 minutes, trust me, they only record maybe one to three minutes for their podcast, five on the longer side. They're short, and that's okay. I tell them that I actually want them to have a short podcast. But you can actually have students record in Seesaw where they open up a project, or you send them an activity. Maybe they have one simple picture that could be their podcast cover art and that could be part of the project. Then when they hit the microphone, they can record what they want to say and then click pause, regroup, and then unpause and keep recording. The limitation of this is that they can't really edit. So if they mess up, it is what it is. But again, you have that audio piece, and it's a safe website for kids. So if you're really on a budget, you can definitely try that out. 

Naomi Meredith  11:08

Of course, if you don't have any of this stuff, you could have them read it out loud and pretend that they did record it. But just having that element of that technology, T for technology in STEM, it really does make a difference if they actually can record and then it has that natural piece of them modifying their work. After students were researching light pollution, I had some guiding questions for them. They did have a note-catching sheet that had these specific questions I wanted them to understand, and that would go into their podcast. I gave students a script template. This is really important, especially when students are new to creating audio and video, they don't really know the structure of how it should be laid out. Now, when I am recording this podcast, I'm not really reading a script, I have notes on the side. But I'm not really reading word for word, I just check out my notes and just start talking to you. But I'm not in fifth grade. So they actually need a little bit more support. So I give them a structured outline, and it has all the guiding questions I want them to include in their podcast. Whatever order they want to is totally fine, but it all has to be there. And then there's also a part on the side where they actually assign the parts to the different group members. Now, before we even get into that recording or even writing the script, we actually listen to different examples of podcasts so they can kind of understand the different styles. I do share with them actually a little bit of my podcast. And then it's kind of fun because they have a little bit more respect for me. And they're like, oh, my gosh, you have a podcast, and I'm like, “Yes, people, I do.” So it's actually kind of fun for them to hear my voice in that way. So we listen to a little bit of that. I also share with them different kid podcasts and just the different styles. Is it an interview style? Is there a host, a single host who's sharing information? Is that a kid interviewing somebody else? Are the two hosts talking to each other? So we listen to those different styles. So then, they can figure out the style of podcasts that they want. That's really up to them. I just want them to answer the questions, but then they can be really creative with that. So they have that background about light pollution, they understand the background of what a podcast is, and then the writing the script part actually takes a while for them. Just like this podcast that you're listening to, all the work before the podcast and after takes the longest. The recording is the easy part, and I tell the kids that the recording they get done in pretty much one class time. So writing out the script, and making sure that it makes sense, takes the longest part. I also want to make sure that their wording is accurate. This is a really great writing activity as well because it's really thinking about how they can be engaging in their writing, especially having a hook. So I will tell them, you might want to have some little stories, you can make them up. Nobody knows your life. Just make it up and see if it makes sense. Like, did you know like, for example. I was telling the kids that when I was on vacation, I was with all my girlfriends, we were in Florida, and when we were walking through the town, all the lights went off. But then there were red lights, and it was a little bit scary. The STEM teacher in me was like, “Oh my gosh, I actually know why the lights are red.” So I asked my friends, “Do you know why the lights are red?” They said no, I'm like, well, it's to actually help the sea turtles. Because the lights in the sea are actually distracting and they can't usually find their way out. It's actually a big problem for sea turtles. The red lights don't trigger where they need to go. So I told the story way better to the kids. But I was telling them something like that would be really good in a podcast because you have that story element and that can really grab your listeners' attention. 

Naomi Meredith  14:59

So I was really trying to have them have that style, not just stating the facts like here was light pollution, here's what it is, but really having some fun with this, then they really took off with it. It was so cute. When it came to recording, you can have microphones. There are some that I recommend that are really small. You can have USB microphones. You don't even have to, it's just the benefit, and they feel so professional when they have their microphones. Also, I use those big fabric IKEA cubes, those big giant ones that are square. What we do is we put the script inside of the box, they are holding the microphone, but then outside of the box the microphone is connected to the device that is recording. So what's really nice about this is that their head is in this little sound booth, it looks super funny. But it actually helps block out the sound around them. I know that that can be really hard when you're in a classroom and thinking about the situation with sound. This helps the whole time. I also try to spread out students the best I can. So some might be in the hallways, but it's also not perfect. In a school, I tell them, your audio isn't going to be absolutely perfect. A school is loud, even in the hallways. That's just how it goes. So we do the best we can, spread out the best we can, and go from there. When it comes to the modifications, the kids will of course listen to what they have. But I also give them a checklist of certain things that they need to listen for. I also don't expect it to be perfect, but there are just those must-haves that they really need to focus on, like, are they speaking clearly? Are they not talking too fast? Did they include everything that was from the checklist from our research? So very specific things that again, are tied to those standards that I talked about in the beginning. There are very specific things from that. If I wanted to grade them, then the checklist is reflective of a rubric that is again aligned with the standards is what's really fun with students creating a digital piece is that you don't have to sit there in front of the whole class and listen to all these podcasts. At the end, I show students how they can actually grab their podcast, download it and of course, add it to Seesaw. So they download that from the video. I show them how it's going to process, then I show them the process of uploading that video to Seesaw, and then how they can actually tag all the group members in there, which is really great. Then I'll go through on my phone really quick, have Seesaw open, and then I will approve those. The students can go and listen to each other's work and give them feedback, which of course the feedback comes to me first. So they can't just say good job. But they can talk about things that went really well for that group and things that they need to work on. So that's a really quick thing that you can do. When it comes to giving feedback. I also give them the chance to reflect on their work, I always use the same question. So what went well for you? What was the challenge? And then if we were to do this project again, what would you try again and do differently? So this is a really fun project, and the kids get really excited about it. 

Naomi Meredith  18:04

Also,  in my fifth-grade class, they do something called Genius Hour, which is a whole other thing that'd be actually really fun to talk about on the podcast. I haven't done a Genius Hour in STEM, but I know that's something that you could do especially if you're integrating STEM and GT. So I'll write that down because I think that'd be really good. But anyways, some of the kids after this lesson for their Genius Hour and other projects went and created a podcast to share their work. So a completely different topic. So I know for this project, it was very guided when I gave them the topic that I wanted them to learn about. But then they had all that creativity within the project, learn the structure of a podcast, so then they can take that skill and run with it for future projects. So if you are interested in getting started with this lesson with your class, I have created all the work for you, researched all the links, created those templates, and modified it based on the way that the kids have interacted with it. So, of course, I have this lesson available for you. It's all linked in the show notes. You can get grab it on its own and its grade level bundle, you can do a three through five bundle or the whole year-long plan for K through five. But this is just a really great lesson to get kids excited about podcasting and really provide them with structure so that they can be successful. Also, when it comes to lesson planning, you guys have asked, and I have definitely answered when it comes to your planning for third, fourth, and fifth, and you can even include six. So my virtual STEM planning workshop for upper elementary students is open, and you will learn how to plan two integrated lessons that are standards-based from scratch, has high engagement, and have resources that will support your project. If you are able to attend live, we are going to collaborate together and create something that you can take away. You definitely don't have to be there live. It will be recorded, and I'm also adding a private podcast link, so you can listen to the audio on the go. So if you are here listening to the podcast, obviously you like podcasts. That will be available to you just like the K through two STEM planning workshop, the recording is already there. Then there also is that podcast link as well. So you can always do that option. The live is super fun. So we get to chat together and collaborate. But totally understand, I know you're busy. But think about how two hours of your life can actually change the way that you plan for the rest of the year. So you're getting the inside access and get to hang out with me and increase your planning. So there are so many options out there for you, I am here for you. And I am so glad that you have asked about this workshop and I'm able to provide that for you. So make sure to check out the link in the show notes where you can get that information. Go out and sign up so we can hang out and help with your virtual planning. So thank you so much again for being here. I hope that you try podcasting with your students, and let me know how it goes.