Rose Mazar

Bellarmine University

Podcast Lesson Plan
Voices of American Settlement

Standards Addressed
ELA R.I.5.5
Compare and contrast . . . information in two or more texts.
R.I.5.7.
Good readers and viewers are able to efficiently retrieve information from a variety of
text/ multimedia sources to answer questions and solve problems.
KCAS Technology.Information, Communication, Productivity. 1.16 Students use
computers and other kinds of technology to collect, organize, and
communicate information and ideas.

Grade: 5
Time needed to complete assignment: Two 45 minute class periods with one follow up
class period to engage in group discussions.

Materials:
Six Podcasts (5-6 minutes each) of selected historical points of view representing French,
Spanish, British, and Russian colonization of the present day United States. Podcast of
Native American points of view of the same time period from two different tribes.
Podcasts to total six (6) different stations. These podcasts are to be prepared ahead of
time by the teacher and to feature male or female voices, accented or unaccented
according to speaker. The text spoken will be drawn from authentic writings reflective of
the time period and that are part of established historical record.
Mp3 players (6 needed) or a sufficient combination of Mp3 players and computers to
have 6 stations.
Classroom to be arranged in six (6) different stations.
Students divided in groups of four (4)
Graphic Organizer to take notes on each point of view.
Pencils, clipboards, erasers

Learning Targets of the Lesson
Two Days
You will listen to six different points of view with regard to the colonization of the U.S.
in order to really understand the cultural forces that shaped our country.
After listening to the podcast, your group will discuss what you heard. You will take
notes on a graphic organizer addressing the 5 Ws: who, what, why, where, and when
based on the podcast and on the group discussion.
Third Day
You will become one of the groups you learned about.
Tomorrow you will engage in a discussion with the other groups trying to settle in this
country.

Procedures:
1. Read, review, and understand Learning Targets of the lesson
2. Emphasize the purpose: so that they understand the cultural forces that shaped our
country.
3. Assign students to groups of 4
4. Review rules of behavior and expectations while at stations, during station
transition periods, and after station transition periods
5. Distribute the 5Ws handout
6. Remind students that they will have time to listen to the podcast and time to
discuss and complete their graphic organizers afterward before rotating to the next
station.
7. Clarify that the six stations will take two days to complete.
8. Clarify that on day three, they will engage become characters in a group
discussion. This discussion day would fall under a follow-up lesson plan not
included in this current document.
9. Extra! Extra!! Want to know more? Students who need an extra challenge will be
assigned to research one of the cultural groups in the podcast and provide more
in-depth information as to their successes/failures/history/etc.

Assessments:
Graphic organizers will be assessed for completeness of thought and thoroughness of
answers. Since graphic organizers will form the basis for a final writing project included
under day four, for the purposes of this lesson they will be considered a formative
assessment. Summative assessment will be the group discussion, day three, where the
class will be divided in half, and each half will alternatively be challenged to discuss
different cultural points of view with regard to the settlement of present-day U.S.

Accommodations:
Students will be paired in groups of 4 each. This configuration provides a scaffolded
support for those who have difficulty understanding information that is heard instead of
read. A graphic organizer with specific questions addressing the 5Ws will be provided
(who, what, why, when, where) including sentence frames for student use for those who
need these extra supports. The graphic organizer also allows for students to write their
own questions and answers as desired. Those students who require a greater challenge
will be assigned a specific group to research further.









Name__________________________________ Date____________________________
5 Ws Graphic Organizer
You may use the sample questions and answer frames or you may create your own
questions and answer them without using the frames.

Question Station # ______ Station # ______ Station # ______
Ask a Who question
here:








Suggested question
you may use:
Who did I listen to?








At station ____ I
listened to ________.








At station ____ I
listened to ________.








At station ____ I
listened to ________.
Ask a When question
here:






Suggested question
you may use:
When were they in
our country?








They _______ from
_______ to _______.








They _______ from
_______ to _______.








They _______ from
_______ to _______.
Ask a What question
here:





Suggested question
you may use:
What were some of
the things they
experienced?








Some of the things
they experienced
were __________.








Some of the things
they experienced
were __________.








Some of the things
they experienced
were __________.
Ask a Where
question here:







Suggested question
you may use:
Where were they?









They lived _______.









They lived _______.









They lived _______.
Ask a Why question
here:







Suggested questions
you may use:
Why did they come?
Why did these
experiences happen
to them?











They _____
because_________.











They _____
because_________.











They _____
because_________.
Any other questions
you may wish to
address:

















Podcast Written Component

The use of podcasts in this lesson allows for the introduction of guest
speakers to talk directly to the students, even though these speakers have been
dead for hundreds of years. According to Putnam and Kingsley (2009) podcasts
allow for teachers to facilitate guest speakers, introduce new content or review
content already taught, in order to facilitate student engagement and access to
content. Students are typically asked to read various primary and secondary
sources related to historical events. Usually, they arent very engaged as they read
the texts in isolation. Most of our students have trouble recalling the facts, emotions,
or events that they read. By listening to an actual voice via technology and having
the opportunity to discuss it with their group, they are more likely to understand
the concept the historical text is conveying. This type of activity represents a
melding of new technologies together with traditional theories of pedagogy (IRA
1.2). It also utilizes technology as an instructional approach, making the digital
speaker a very modern-day type of text (IRA 2.2, 2.3). Furthermore, the activity
itself introduces students to the various cultures and historical perspectives that
make up present day United States. Most students dont necessarily understand that
diversity is not only a present-day phenomenon but that the United States is a
melting pot of different languages and cultural perspectives (IRA 4.2). The
instruction itself is designed to include small group speaking, listening and writing
as they construct meaning from the speaker on the podcast (IRA 5.1). It would also
include reinforcement of social studies vocabulary, as students listen to first
person accounts of settlement and colonization, they would hear the speakers using
words previously introduced in class. In this way they would extend and practice
new vocabulary through the podcast (Borgia, 2009).
The NETS standards are likewise addressed in this lesson. The podcasts
themselves are simulations that allow students to explore complex historical events
and engage in-group discussions to construct meaning from what they hear (NETS
1, 2, 3). Part of what students are asked to do in this activity is to identify and define
significant questions for investigation (NETS 4). On the 5Ws graphic organizer,
students are asked to write their own questions and original answers in response to
the podcast speakers. Although they have the option of selecting the questions that
are given as examples, most students who dont need those supports are frustrated
at having to use them. Students generally self-select their accommodations as long
as they are built into the tool they are using, which, in this case, they are. An added
bonus of listening to material come alive on a podcast is that it typically leads
students to further research the topic they listened to (Vasinda & McLeod, 2011).
Using podcasts to invite voices of the past into the classroom supports and
extends the learning of all students in an engaging and realistic way (KTS 6.1). This
activity is similar to the one described by Dlott (2008) wherein students received an
audio tour of a town. In this lesson, students are privileged to listen to audio tour of
the history of their country. This instructional strategy provides varied as well as
authentic opportunities for students to use technology to advance their learning
(KTS 6.2, 6.3, 6.5). It is a multimodal, multisensory instructional strategy intended to
engage all learners (Davis & McGrail, 2009).
This lesson addresses English language arts standards R.I.5.5, compare and
contrast. . . . . information in two or more texts because students are being asked to
listen to and process the information from six different historical voices. They are
also required to retrieve information from a multimedia source, the podcast, and to
be able to ask and answer questions effectively (ELA R.I. 5.7). Listening to podcast
technology is a 21
st
century skill that students will need to learn to do. Following the
TPACK model, this is the technology-infused part of my lesson. The pedagogical
approaches are varied. Students are asked to listen to a speaker, to discuss what the
speaker said, to think critically about what types of questions to ask, and to write
answers to questions that they themselves generate. The content of the lesson is
fifth grade colonization and settlement of the New World. The content is presented
in a completely different format from what students have ever heard or been
exposed to. Essentially, by borrowing contemporary voices to bring first hand
accounts of the past to life, students are more engaged and better able to retain the
concepts of the lesson.

References
Borgia, L. (2009). Enhanced vocabulary podcasts implementation in fifth grade
classrooms. Reading Improvement, 46(4), 263-266.
Davis, A., & McGrail, E. (2009). "Proof revising" with podcasting: Keeping readers in
mind as students listen to and rethink their writing. The Reading Teacher, 62(6),
522-529. http://dx.doi.org/10.1598/RT.62.6.6
Dlott, A. (2007). A (pod)cast of thousands. Educational Leadership, 64(7), 80-82.
Putnam, S., & Kingsley, T. (2009). The atoms family: Using podcasts to enhance science
vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 63(2), 100-108.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1598/RT.63.2.1
Vasinda, S., & McLeod, J. (2011). Extending readers theater: A powerful and purposeful
match with podcasting. The Reading Teacher, 64(7), 486-497.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1598/67.7.2