Hey everybody. Well, I’m happy to share any of my literature units from the past 17 years… but I’ll settle for this one because it’s probably the most current in terms of emergent media/literacies. I spent some pro-d time with a Vancouver podcast company in order to pull together software, hardware, and storytelling strategies, which I’ll nutshell for you.
Storytelling: I have a graphic novel that explores podcasting that I love. It’s Out on the Wire, and it has our favourite podcasters as “characters” giving away all their storytelling secrets (e.g. Ira Glass from This American Life, etc). Super useful.
Here’s a couple favourite episodes (mostly from Snap Judgment) that I like to work through with students to unpack a variety of what works. We start out talking about what they hear… voices, sounds, music, and how it all works toward a theme. We talk about “signposting” which is where the music will stop right before a big idea… lots of ideas from Out on the Wire.
“The Spelling Bee” from Snap Judgment – this one is great because it’s short (5-6 minutes is about the length I ask them to shoot for). It’s also great content to explore perspectives–I’ve had students wildly disagree about whether the events described are a “true” experience of racism. Then we eventually come around to the need to validate the author’s experience as legitimately his own.
“Girl Scout Cookies” from Snap Judgment. This one is longer (16 minutes), but it’s so much fun. It’s great for exploring the idea of escalation and tension–how do we create these? How do we take a story and develop a narrative arc?
Every Immigrant’s Favorite Game from Snap Judgment (Play at 22-30 minutes) This one begins funny but takes a very, very serious turn. It’s fun because it’s delivered live, and it values the immigrant experience–a hilarious immigrant experience. It does mention abortion and teen pregnancy.
“Staph Retreat” from Radio Lab. This one is great for demonstrating that just about anything can be told as a story. It’s the “story” of the discovery of penicillin. The sound editing is awesome.
This CBC piece is nice for teaching narrative arc and tension–two things every podcast needs.
Inspiring article from English Journal on “Teaching Writing with Radio“.
And here are some student samples from my former school. These are grade 11 students.
In terms of student creation–I usually ask them to pitch me at least two ideas. Then we spend time scripting (with the knowledge that they can deviate from the script in their recording). I’ve found it’s very, very important to spend at least a day on voicing. Bringing in a theatre arts teacher is great. The voicing is the hardest part–students have a very hard time sounding natural without practice.
Hardware: the Zoom H2N is a fantastic device (it’s what CBC radio guys use when they do interviews on the street). It’s like a mixing board, mic, and mini-computer in one, with multiple folders for students content. It costs about $250 each from Long & McQuade, so this is where you get your school librarian/grants involved. Before then, kids can just use their phones. The trickier thing is finding quiet spaces in a school for recording…
Editing software: Audacity is a free download. Students can use their public library cards to access Lynda.com to learn how to use the software. I’ve assigned sections 1-4 of “Up and Running with Audacity with Garrit Chow” and it was useful. They can also just play around–it’s not hard to learn. Alternatively, if you have access to Macs, Garageband is perfect. Here’s my tutorial for editing audio with Garageband for students who haven’t used it before.
Sound layers: There’s a thousand ways to do this. It’s a good idea to work with your school librarian to ensure copyright is clear. Garageband has great loops that are useful for background music. I also send students to Incompetech, which is a searchable database of free music that can be searched by “feels”, tempo, genre, or length. Also, Soundbible is a great source for free sound effects.
And here’s a rubric/self-reflection I’ve developed to assess a 3-5 minute student podcast.
In September I’m trying something new. I’m working (as teacher librarian) with a grade 9 English teacher to have classes produce collective podcasts in small groups on a theme. We’re shooting for something along the lines of This American Life, where groups choose a theme, and each student produces a story. I think Amber’s idea about delivering a box of random stuff to groups and having them “find” the theme would be a PERFECT opening activity. Can’t wait to try that.