Looking for Ways to Boost Student Listening Skills...Try Podcasts

"Listening...the neglected literacy skill."  This comes from an Edutopia article I recently read that was written a few years ago.  The article went on to explain that often times the primary literacy focus is on the measurable skills--reading, writing and speaking.  However, we all know the importance of good listening skills.  They are important when it comes to career and college readiness and play a vital role when we talk about collaboration and communication.  

Podcasts can offer a great way to strengthen students listening skills.  Podcasts are audio recordings (or sometimes video recording called Vodcasts) used by individuals to share their thinking around a specific topic.   Many of us may use podcasts to influence our own learning, so why not find ways to use them in our classrooms for our students learning.  Not only can they help provide educational knowledge, but they can also provide listening skill development.   Here are some thoughts I recently gathered from a respected educator in regards to using podcasts to strengthen listening skills:

1. Listen with partners- Have students group together to listen together.  This allows the students to have others to share the story with.  Similar to reading together, students listen to the podcast to gather information together or experience a new story
2. Response to the Podcast-just as students would share their thinking about an article/passage they read, students can respond to the information or story presented in a podcast.  Talking about topics helps students set a purpose for listening
3. Teach students to replay/re-listen-Students today use a wide-range of media to learn new information, so it is important to help students understand how rewinding a podcast to re-listen can improve their comprehension...similar to how we teach students to reread.
4. Teach students to use podcasts at home-This is a great way to extend a learning activity.  Share podcasts/episodes  with families in an email, on the portal, or in a newsletter to help connect learning in the classroom to activities at home.

When selecting your podcasts, here are a few things to think about:

• Screen any podcasts you plan on sharing with your students to get a feel for the kind of content presented in the podcast...listen to more than one episode
• Ensure they fit the values for your classroom, DCDS, and our community
• Ensure they are fit your curriculum goals

If you are interested in some suggestions for K12 Podcasts, let me know and I can provide a handful of resources.