Blog Assignment 4

Langwitches – First Graders Create Own Read along Book

In the blog post “First Graders Create Their Own Audiobook” by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano a first grade class reads a story aloud then composes a script and then records it to create their very own audiobook. These first graders come up with a story line to summarize the book they’ve just read, proving they have comprehended the book they’ve read. They brainstorm to compose a script, bouncing ideas off of each other. Finally they use creativity when recording. It’s easy to hear the creative juices flowing through their little bodies as their voices get bigger and louder, or softer and smaller, as they sequel with excitement, or shiver with fear. The teacher then bound each script together and formed a book that they students could read along with as the recording played; because the students were able to read along they were able to pay closer attention, and work on reading skills.

I love, love, loved this idea. I had not heard anything about podcasting until this class but now I don’t think I’d ever try to teach without incorporating this into my classroom in some way. This idea brought together so many key skills in learning and made it a fun way of learning them. I enjoyed listening to the sound clip of the children and listening to the enthusiasm and accomplishment in their voices.

Flat Stanley

In the blog post “Flat Stanley” by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano her class has just finished reading the book Flat Stanley, and they have mailed their paper Stanley’s to friends and family to take Stanley on adventures and write back to them about where/what Stanley did. Many of us did this same project as a child, I did. It was thrilling to see what your Stanley did and find out what all the other Stanley’s did as well. In this post Tolisano takes it a step farther by allowing her students to become Stanley.

Each student is given the chance to research a place they would like to visit. They are told to name the place and where it is located, tell what they would do there, and figure out how they would get there and back. The students are encouraged to do research by using books from the library, or looking for information on the internet. Students then brainstorm and write the story of their adventure as Stanley. Once all the stories are written the children then recorded their individual stories making one big story. Each child had the chance to tell about their adventure as flat Stanley. They told where they were going, how they would get there, how they felt while traveling (in an envelope, on a plane, across the ocean by ship), what they did when they reached their destination, and how they got back home. They were able to use their creativity to come up with the adventures they went on, as well as the information they gathered while doing research.

I really enjoyed this new twist on flat Stanley. I have already shared it with two of my teacher friends. I can’t wait to get a chance to do this with my own class. I love that with this one activity so many valuable concepts were covered: brainstorming, creativity, writing, research, reading, and public speaking. I absolutely loved the story the students came up with and all the adventures they went on. I even made my husband come listen to it after I listen to it the first time. I am a huge fan of creativity and using it to make learning fun and more interactive and that is exactly what this project did.

Benefits of Podcasting

In the video Benefits of Podcasting by Joel Dale podcasting is said to be an “effective way of communicating with students outside the normal everyday classroom.” Dale states that we are now teaching students who fall into the category of millennial’s, or students who were born after 1980. In the video these students are described as “students who have grown up with personal computers and technology.” Simply stating that technology and the use of computers is what these students know. As educators we must utilize this. We can’t keep teaching the way we once did, because our students are not what they once were. Podcasting is an amazing tool for teaching those students who are millennial’s. By podcasting we are bring the technology are students consider the norm into our classrooms, we are making learning more relative and interesting.

There are many benefits to podcasting, many of which draw our student’s attention to learning. By podcasting we are using project based learning, we are using the higher Bloom’s levels, and we are encouraging our students to be creative, as well as forcing them to go more in-depth in their learning. Podcasting is also a great tool for when students are sick, which is going to happen from time to time, by post lectures/study guides to a podcast students will always be able to keep up with assignments. Parents will also be able to see/hear what their children are doing in school by watching/listening to podcast that have been recorded in class.

Like I mentioned before I had not really heard of podcasting until this class, and now I can’t imagine teaching without it. I honestly wish my teachers would have used more of the technology like this when I was in school. I think by using podcasting we are allowing out students to be creative, and learn in a way that they are most comfortable with. I believe that by using podcasting to teach a lesson we are allowing our students the chance to really become the things we are teaching them (such as flat Stanley) and by doing so they will remember what they’ve learned much longer than if they memorized the answers for the test.