Podcast series project

María Guadalupe López Arroyo Podcast series project

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

Podcast series: Slavery in the modern world. Advanced level students will create a series of three podcast episodes, and they will publish them on Podomatic.com or Audioboo.com for their classmates to listen to and comment.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the project is to raise awareness about the problem of slavery, to analyze some examples, to provide students with semi-controlled language practice to create a series of podcasts.

THE DRIVING QUESTION

Does slavery still exist in the modern world?

PROCEDURE

Instructions: For this podcast series, you’ll use the website Podomatic.com/Audioboo.com. Each team will create three 3-minute podcasts to answer the questions you were assigned (team questions). There should be three voices in each podcast, and you can include interviews (if they apply or if you find a suitable/knowledgeable person to interview), music, teasers, tag lines, sound effects, or anything that can enhance the appeal of your podcast. Remember that these additions should contribute to the listener’s interest. If you do use anything to add to your podcast, make sure you include the source and credit the website/person/source you’re using in order to avoid plagiarism.

ACTIVITIES

1. Brainstorming (classroom). The teacher will write the word slavery on the board. The students will come to the board and write down anything that comes to mind related to the concept. The students might write facts, opinions, information and anything that they deem relevant to the topic.

2. After the first brainstorming, teacher and students will narrow down the list to the most important aspects of slavery. The teacher will guide the discussion towards the modern world context in order to have a specific point for the project.


3. The students will get divided into four teams. The teacher will provide the teams with the following questions.

1. What is slavery? (General concept, a bit of history, examples)2. Does slavery still exists in the modern world? Why? Why not?3. What makes a person a slave?4. Do slaves “choose” to be slaves?5. Why do some people want to have slaves?6. Mention modern forms of slavery. Describe examples.7. Has there been slavery in Mexico?8. Is there slavery in Mexico nowadays?9. How can slavery be prevented?10.Do movies and TV series depict slaves accurately?11.What would you do if you were a slave against your will?12.Are there more male or female slaves? Why?13.What’s a suitable punishment for people who trade with slaves? Why?

The students will answer these questions using reliable sources. They can begin with the following:

Ted Talks – Photos that bear witness to modern slavery (http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_kristine_glimpses_of_modern_day_slavery.html)

The Guardian – Modern day slavery (http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/audio/2013/apr/18/global-development-podcast-modern-day-slavery)

iTunes – Human trafficking and modern slavery (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/human-trafficking-modern-slavery/id518800797)

Discovery Education - Understanding slavery (http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/slavery/)

Africa’s legacy in Mexico (http://smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/legacy/almleg.html)

BBC Ethics guide – Modern slavery (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/slavery/modern/modern_1.shtml)

BBC Two News – The world of modern child slavery (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/6458377.stm)

OUTSIDE WORK

1. The students will visit the suggested webpages and take notes. They will be reminded to use their own words when preparing the

TEAM

TEAM

TEAM

TEAM

ALL THE

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/6458377.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/slavery/modern/modern_1.shtml

http://smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/legacy/almleg.html

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/slavery/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/human-trafficking-modern-slavery/id518800797


http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/audio/2013/apr/18/global-development-podcast-modern-day-slavery



http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_kristine_glimpses_of_modern_day_slavery.html


information they will include in the podcasts. This can be individual work and/or group work.

2. The students will be allowed to use other sources, as long as they do a careful search and the sources are reliable. If they find anything they would like to include, they have to check with the teacher in order to confirm that the information is relevant and reliable for the project. This can be individual work and/or group work.

3. The students will look for examples of podcasts, not necessarily related to the topic. They will visit the following websites:

BBC Podcasts and downloads http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts

NPR Podcast directory http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php

Podcast – The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/pages/podcasts/index.html

This can be individual work or teamwork.

4. The students will do research to find out how to create a podcast. They can visit the following sites:

Rollercoaster – Make a podcast (http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/click/features/podcasts/)

Ehow - How to create a script for a podcast (http://www.ehow.com/how_2004266_create-script-podcast.html)

Wikihow – How to start your own podcast (http://www.wikihow.com/Start-Your-Own-Podcast)

5. The students will see how to download and install Audacity (free audio editing software) in order to use it (should they decide so) to create their podcasts; they will also watch a video with some podcast tips.

Downloading and installing Audacity (www. youtube .com/watch? v=Jjw1TJsZpvo)

Podcast tips (www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM5K1BNiRZ8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjw1TJsZpvo


http://www.wikihow.com/Start-Your-Own-Podcast

http://www.ehow.com/how_2004266_create-script-podcast.html

http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/click/features/podcasts/

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/podcasts/index.html

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts


6. Each student will create an account on www.audioboo.com and www.podomatic.com. They will get familiar with Podomatic by watching the video www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbbbHuTEfNg.

7. The students will prepare a script and the teacher will check it. Then, the students will rehearse what they will record with the teacher in order to check for pronunciation, intonation, rhythm and stress.

8. The students will create their three podcasts and, in the third one, they will answer question 13 as a closing for their series.

9. The students will listen to their classmates’ work.

10.The students will rate their classmates’ podcasts using a rubric (Rubistar) to rate the podcasts from In need of improvement to Excellent.

11.The students will discuss with the teacher what they learned and whether or not they’d like to record another podcast and what it would be about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbbbHuTEfNg

http://www.podomatic.com/

http://www.audioboo.com/


Podcast series – Slavery in the modern world

Team work to be done at the self-access centre or the language lab.

After visiting the suggested websites, work with your team to do the following task.

Discuss your answers with the other members of your team; take notes and write a short summary in the following space.

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Write a list of 10 words related to slavery and check their correct pronunciation.

1. ________________________

2. ________________________

3. ________________________

4. ________________________

5. ________________________

6. ________________________

Team 1 – Answer the following questions:

1. What is slavery? (General concept, a bit of history, examples)

2. Does slavery still exists in the modern world? Why? Why not?

Worksheet


7. ________________________

8. ________________________

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3. Do slaves “choose” to be slaves?4. Why do some people want to have slaves?5. Mention modern forms of slavery. Describe examples.

Worksheet






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1. ________________________

2. ________________________

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7. Has there been slavery in Mexico?8. Is there slavery in Mexico nowadays?9. How can slavery be prevented?

Worksheet


10.________________________






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1. ________________________

2. ________________________

3. ________________________

4. ________________________

5. ________________________

6. ________________________

7. ________________________

8. ________________________

9. ________________________


10. Do movies and TV series depict slaves accurately?11. What would you do if you were a slave against your

will?12. Are there more male or female slaves? Why?

Worksheet


10.________________________



After visiting the suggested websites and discussing your answers with the other teams, do the following task.


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ALL TEAMS – answer the following question

13. What’s a suitable punishment for people who trade with slaves? Why?

Worksheet


PODCAST SITE

The students will upload their work to any of the following websites:

www.audioboo.com

www.podomatic.com

www.vocaroo.com

The first two websites have a 3-minute limit; Vocaroo allows for longer podcasts, but the students must bear in mind that the length should not be much longer than three minutes.

The students can watch Downloading and installing Audacity again www. youtube .com/watch?v=Jjw1TJsZpvo in order to check how to use it and practice before uploading their work.

IMAGES

The students can use images from different websites, as long as they include the source, when it was taken and the original page it is from. The students can do a Google image search, but every image they include must have the information related to the website it was taken from. They can use text boxes (Word tool) to insert the information.

Examples:


http://www.vocaroo.com/




WEBSITES:

Taken from http://changebydoing.wordpress.com/tag/child-sexual-slavery/, May 2nd, 2013.

Taken from http://thunderstrom-thunderstorm.blogspot.mx/2011/12/international-

day-for-abolition-of.html, May 2nd, 2013.

http://thunderstrom-thunderstorm.blogspot.mx/2011/12/international-day-for-abolition-of.html



http://changebydoing.wordpress.com/tag/child-sexual-slavery/

http://changebydoing.wordpress.com/tag/child-sexual-slavery/


Ted Talks – Photos that bear witness to modern slavery (http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_kristine_glimpses_of_modern_day_slavery.html)

The Guardian – Modern day slavery (http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/audio/2013/apr/18/global-development-podcast-modern-day-slavery)

iTunes – Human trafficking and modern slavery (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/human-trafficking-modern-slavery/id518800797)

Discovery Education - Understanding slavery (http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/slavery/)Africa’s legacy in Mexico (http://smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/legacy/almleg.html)

BBC Ethics guide – Modern slavery (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/slavery/modern/modern_1.shtml)

BBC Two News – The world of modern child slavery (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/6458377.stm)

Rollercoaster – Make a podcast (http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/click/features/podcasts/)

Ehow - How to create a script for a podcast (http://www.ehow.com/how_2004266_create-script-podcast.html)

Wikihow – How to start your own podcast (http://www.wikihow.com/Start-Your-Own-Podcast)

Downloading and installing Audacity (www. youtube .com/watch? v=Jjw1TJsZpvo)

Podcast tips (www. youtube .com/watch?v=wM5K1BNiRZ8 )

Audioboo www.audioboo.com

Podomatic www.podomatic.com

Vocaroo www.vocaroo.com

TEACHER’S GUIDE

http://www.vocaroo.com/



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM5K1BNiRZ8





http://www.ehow.com/how_2004266_create-script-podcast.html

http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/click/features/podcasts/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/6458377.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/slavery/modern/modern_1.shtml

http://smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/legacy/almleg.html

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/slavery/






http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_kristine_glimpses_of_modern_day_slavery.html


a) Brainstorming

On the board, write the word slavery. Ask the students to explain what it means. Take about three minutes to discuss a general definition of slavery. Then, ask the students to come to the board and write down anything related to slavery.

Once the students are done and have gone back to their seats, ask them why they chose those words. There’s no right or wrong answer here; it’s important to gain insight into the students’ thoughts and opinions.

b) Concept of slavery

After discussing the topic in general with the students, ask them to get divided into small teams (maximum four people) and take notes on what they just wrote on the board to answer the following question: What’s your definition of slavery? Give them about 10 minutes to discuss and come up with an answer. Monitor them and assist with vocabulary or anything they might need to create a coherent answer.

Then, ask some students to share their answer with their classmates. The rest of the group should pay attention and take notes to change or add something to their answers. There should be a consensus, but if different teams have different concepts, let them be, as long as the core idea (slavery is a serious problem nowadays) surfaces during the discussion.

c) Slavery in the modern world

Ask the students if they think slavery is still happening in the modern world and why. Even if they don’t have any factual information at the moment, ask them what they have read or heard concerning slavery. If they stick to the idea of slavery as labour or serfdom (like in the past), try to guide them to human trafficking without giving them the complete concept. Ask questions like the following: Does slavery only mean being someone’s servant? What other situations can you think of where a person is forced to do something they don’t want? Do those situations happen nowadays? What’s the difference between having a horrible job and being a slave?


d) What’s a podcast?

Ask the students what a podcast is. Chances are they already know what a podcast is. If some of they don’t know, ask if some of the students would like to explain to their classmates. Ask the students if they listen to podcasts in English and why they listen to them. Ask them what topics they prefer and why. Then ask them to describe some advantages of listening to podcasts. Ask them how often they listen to podcasts in English and if they have learned anything from them.

Afterwards, tell them they are going to create a series of three short podcast episodes related to slavery. Explain that it’s a simple project that will involve teamwork and creativity, but since they’re so young and familiar with technology, the task will be easy as pie!

e) Making the teams

Get the group divided into teams of three people. Make sure there’s some balance between the confident ones and the quiet ones, so that there’s a chance for everyone to participate.

Give each team a number (Team 1 to Team 4). Explain that each team will have to answer three questions related to slavery. They have to read the questions carefully, as they are the basis for their research.

f) Research

Give each team their questions (cards, questions 1-12). Ask each team to read their questions very carefully and to ask anything that might be not very clear. Tell them that apart from the questions they were assigned, all the teams will have to answer question 13, What’s a suitable punishment for people who trade with slaves? Why? as groupwork.

Provide the students with the recommended websites for them to do research to answer their questions.

The students will work on their research during class time in the language lab. They will get together to do the research in the time available and take


notes of their findings. They will work on their research during one or two weeks, depending on the time they have available to go to the lab. If they don’t get to finish during the lab session, they can always go to the self-access centre (mediateca) to continue doing research in order to finish before the deadline.

g) Podcast examples and script

Provide the students with the websites where they can learn how to make a podcast and examples of podcasts for them to have a clearer idea of what they want to record. Ask them to start writing a script for their podcasts for you to check for spelling, grammar and choice of words.

Ask the students to listen to at least one example for homework. Afterwards, ask students for their opinion and tell them to list the traits they found most interesting. Ask them the following: What was the podcast about? Did you find it interesting? Why? What characteristics of the podcast made you want to listen to it? Did you find any boring podcast? What was it about? What was it like? What would you do differently to make an interesting podcast? What would you add or change to make your podcast interesting to the listeners?

Explain to the students that they will have to create three 3-minute episodes to answer the questions they were given. They can actually answer one question per episode in order to avoid confusion or running out of things to say. The more information they find, the more complete their podcast will be.

h) Where to post the podcasts

Tell the students they will create personal accounts on Podomatic and Audioboo in order to upload their podcasts. Ask them to go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbbbHuTEfNg to watch how to create a Podomatic account. Tell them that Audioboo is fairly similar and they’d have to follow the same steps to create an account. The students can choose which site to use, but they have to make sure they let the teacher know which one they are using.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbbbHuTEfNg


i) Negotiating the rubric.

Tell the students that their podcast series will have to follow certain criteria included in a rubric (Rubistar). Show the rubric to the students and negotiate, whenever possible, the criteria and the rankings the students may get.

j) Steps to create the podcasts.

Once the students have a clear idea of what a podcast is and how to create one, tell them that one characteristic of a good podcast is adding music and/or sound effects. Tell them to watch the Audacity tutorial (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjw1TJsZpvo) to download and install the software if they want to. Chances are they already know it and also some other software, but the recommendation is always welcome.

The students should have their scripts ready and corrected before starting their recordings. Tell them they can record themselves as many times as necessary on Podomatic or Audioboo, so they don’t have to worry about their mistakes or pauses. Ask the teams to rehearse with you before recording to check for pronunciation, intonation, stress and rhythm. Remind the students that the podcasts should be clear, they have to sound confident and fluent, but they’re not expected to create a completely professional product; a well-planned, confidently-delivered one will do.

After listening to the students reading their scripts and making the necessary recommendations and corrections, ask them to start recording. The three members of the team should say something on the recording. If they choose to, each member can answer one question, and therefore each member’s voice can be in each episode; if not, all of them can participate in the three episodes, but everyone has to contribute.

In each podcast, the students will focus on their three questions, and in the third episode, they have to answer question 13, What’s a suitable punishment for people who trade with slaves? Why?, as the closing for their last episode.



Ask the students to remember their questions and have them at hand at all times when they create their scripts, when they rehearse and when they record their podcasts in order not to get off topic.

k) Checking out the products

Once all the teams have recorded their podcast episodes, ask them to upload them to Audioboo or Podomatic. The students have to specify which website they’re using in order to avoid confusion and to find them easily.

Listen to all the podcasts the teams made and ask the students to listen to the other teams’ podcasts. Have the rubric with you to mark the podcast series.

Ask the students to listen to their classmates’ podcasts with the rubric at hand. Ask them to rate their classmates’ work, but remind them that they will have to justify their rating and explain why they gave their classmates those marks.

l) Final discussion

After everyone has listened to everyone else’s podcasts, get together with the group and discuss what they learned from the experience. You can ask the following questions: What did you learn about slavery? Is slavery what you thought it was? Did the research help? How did you feel when preparing and recording your podcasts? Why? What did you think of your classmates’ work? Was it easy to read about such a difficult topic? Had you recorded a podcast before? Would you like to record a podcast again? If so, what topic(s) would you like to talk about? If not, why?

RUBRIC

Rubric available on: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=PrintRubric&rubric_id=2320961&no_return=1& and http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2320961&

(Created on May 7th, 2013. One is the preview and the other is the rubric’s final version.)

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2320961&

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2320961&

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=PrintRubric&rubric_id=2320961&no_return=1&

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=PrintRubric&rubric_id=2320961&no_return=1&

Documents

Podcast series project