Elementary School Children and Podcasts

I think it is such a great idea to use podcasts as learning tools in the elementary classroom.  Children today are a lot more technologically savvy than I was when I was their age, but as educators, we should not look at this as a hindrance.  If technology excites children, we should embrace it and incorporate it into our lesson plans wherever possible.  Because most children use technology everyday, and it is something they are interested and excited about, a lesson that incorporates this will motivate them to learn and more importantly, make the lessons fun!  When I was searching for podcasts, I came across this one that I think would be extremely useful and fun for elementary children (higher grades).  Not only could it be used inside the classroom, where you could do it together as a class, but children could work on it on their own outside of the classroom, in the comfort of their home.

Kids say the darndest things :) Do you remember that show? It was so cute and funny!

Elementary Podcasts

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts

A blurb from the site:

"Practise your English language listening skills with the Elementary Podcasts. Listen to them on your computer, or download and save them on your mp3 player.  Each episode is accompanied by a range of activities to help you learn new vocabulary and focus on the language you hear.  You can also download the support packs which contain the tape scripts and extra learning activities."

When you click on a podcast, it gives elementary students (most likely higher grades) instructions as to what to do while they listen, how to make it easier and how to make it harder.  I think this is a wonderful inclusion because it allows students to challenge or make easier for themselves.  Elementary students are diverse and it is important to consider all of their individuals needs.

Here is what the Elementary Podcasts site posted:

While you listen

Elementary Podcasts are suitable for learners with different levels of English. Here are some ways to make them easier (if you have a lower level of English) or more difficult (if you have a higher level of English). You can choose one or two of these suggestions - you don't have to do all of them!

Making it easier

• Read all the exercises before you listen to the podcast.

• Look up the words in the exercises that you don't know in a dictionary.
• Play the podcast as many times as you need.
• Play each part of the podcast separately.
• Read the transcript after you have listened to the podcast.

Making it harder

• Listen to the podcast before you read the exercises.

• Only play the podcast once before answering the questions.
• Play the whole podcast without a break.
• Don't read the transcript.

Now, listen to the podcast and do the exercises on the following tabs.

This podcasts allows children to put their listening skills and comprehension to work.  They listen to the story, the questions they ask and a good understanding of the story is important in order to answer the questions.  Children put their writing skills to work if they choose to answer the questions asked by the Elementary Podcast.  If children have the desire to do so, they can read the supplementary questions the site offers such as: choose all the sentences that are true, put the days of the week in order etc.  This challenges their reading skills.  Overall, this site incorporates many areas of the language arts, which is why I thought it was very useful and interesting.  It’s definitely worth looking at.