This week I read a really interesting article posted by the University of Virginia entitled "Writing with Sound". It starts out by explaining how one of the professors led his class outside and told them to focus only on what they could hear going on around them. This was interesting to me because too often, we don't take the time to slow down and just take in the things around us. I especially like that he did with this with college students who are always on the go.
The article discusses how podcasts have become the modern form of storytelling. I hadn't really thought about that before, but I can definitely see how it is true. There are podcasts about any topic imaginable if you would interested in finding one. I know a lot of teachers who use podcasts for their lessons for students to listen to at home or before class time and then incorporate their podcast into discussion or an assignment in class.
I have never thought about doing a podcast regularly but it might be something fun to try. I don't think I would be able to use it so much for my younger students since they seem to lose focus if they don't have something right in front of them to do or look at but I could see how older students might appreciate it.
Writing with Sound
One of the Units I do with my Cub Scout troop is a storytelling unit. This year they are 3rd graders. We focus on story structure, building suspense, rhetorical flourish, and diction. The end goal is for each Scout to tell a story at the campfire during our Spring overnight camping trip. I like doing this Unit with my scouts because it does force them to pay attention and it's a nice throwback to something that's been part of Scouting for over 100 years. I imagine that I could adapt this storytelling unit to a classroom, even a ESL classroom, quite easily.
ReplyDeleteI think podcasting would be a great way to incorporate more storytelling into the classroom. It would be interesting to post a podcast over the weekend for students to listen to knowing that they would be discussing the story the following week. Students could also make their own podcasts and share them with each other. We do a lot of personal storytelling in the ESL class that I help out with. Students enjoying sharing their personal stories about their families and about coming to the U.S.
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