WELCOME TO CAMP CREATIVE 

I'm so excited you're here! We're going to learn everything you need to know to introduce students to fabulous podcasts, get them listening like a podcaster, and then podcasting themselves (with all the bells and whistles, but minus the tech hassles!). 

Today, we're starting with listening activities. We'll look at quality podcasts for the classroom, as well as a cross section of listening activities and ways to promote interest in the genre.

An important note as we begin: It always makes sense to listen to a podcast episode before playing it in class. While I think these are wonderful shows, I can't know everything about your classroom, students, and district. Please preview your classroom content. 

Guided Listening with Sketchnotes

Many of your students will never have listened to a podcast before. So a good way to start building awareness of the genre and preparing for a future podcasting project is to listen to some engaging models and let them learn about what's out there.  The listening kit below gives you a variety of types of shows, from storytelling to debate to interview to true crime. 

With this listening kit, you can invite students to listen and fill out the "Think Like a Podcaster" response sheet or take sketchnotes on the provided templates as they listen. 

The QR codes give you lots of options - students can go outside and walk around your track or campus for a few minutes while listening to a show or two through their phones. Or they can link into a show by clicking the QR code on the Google slide. Or you can simply choose one show at a time to play to the whole class. 

There is a template for creating a QR code-based listening sheet like this in the listening kit below. In the future, if you're designing a specific type of podcasting project, you can create your own page of models just like this. 

Go-To Shows

You can use these as models in a Podcasting project, but you can also start thinking of podcasts as texts you can incorporate into your other units or even use as texts in podcast clubs (like book clubs, but with audio!) 

Debate (Great for Middle School): Smash Boom Best

Suspense (Great for Middle School): The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

Short and Sweet: Gretchen Rubin's A Little Happier

Surprising Twists on Shakespeare: Shakespeare Unlimited

Inspiring and Thought-Provoking: Ted Talks Daily

Highly Produced Storytelling: This American Life

Stories of Success and Growth Mindset: How I Built This

Positive Psychology from Yale: The Happiness Lab

Storytelling: Radiolab

True Crime, Investigative Journalism: Serial (more mature)

Fake True Crime, Fictional Journalism (!) : Limetown (more mature)

For most podcasts, you can listen either on a platform (like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify, Sticher, etc.) or directly from the show website. 

Create an Interactive Display 

You can use this display kit to help get students more interested in podcasts.

You could also share these in your hallway, your school workout room, your library - anywhere students might be hanging out and intrigued by having something new to listen to.

Put them all up at once, or feature one show each month throughout the year.

Over time, kids may suggest shows of their own - give them a quick preview and feature them too, if you can! 

Help for the College Essay

In this podcast episode, four professionals in the college counseling/admissions industry give their best advice to students on how to write a strong essay. Grab the related curriculum linked below.

Hit Play on First Chapter Friday 

In this podcast episode perfect for First Chapter Friday, Megan E. Freeman reads from her book, Alone. You can grab the connected sketchnotes sheet from the show notes linked below.

Say Hello to a Graphic Novelist

In this podcast episode with Jerry Craft, students learn about his life and the inspiration behind New Kid. You can grab the connected sketchnotes sheet from the show notes linked below.