PodcastWrittenComponent

BellarmineUniversity
KatieBrewer

BeforethislessonIhadneverheardofapodcast,norevercontemplatedusing
oneinmyclassroom.Afterlearningaboutpodcastsandtheirpotentialinclassrooms,I
begantorealizehoweasilyIcouldincorporatethistechnologyintomyreading
curriculum.Everyyearweperformrunningrecordsonthestudents.Weperformthese
recordsoffluencythreetimesayear,onceatthebeginning,againinthemiddle,and
finallyattheend.Arunningrecordiswhenyougiveastudentagradelevelpassageand
seehowmuchtheycanreadaccuratelywithinoneminute.Whilewelistentothemread,
wecompletetheMultidimensionalFluencyScale.Thestudentsareratedonascaleof1
to4basedontheirexpression and volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace. In the past, I
have rated the students on the Multidimensional Fluency Scale by myself and have never
shared the results with them. We set goals for the next few months, but I have never

discussed specifically how they can work on phrasing or smoothness or other

characteristics.
Podcasts made me rethink my prior strategies and realize how I could incorporate
the students into the process. Through the use of a podcast, I can now record my students
reading fluency. This will be beneficial for two reasons. First, I can share reading fluency
with parents during conferences or whenever necessary. Second, and more importantly, I
can have the students listen to their own reading fluency. This is more powerful than any
strategy I have tried in the past. Having students listen to themselves truly allows them to
hear if they are using expression and volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace. I can now
have a conversation with my students using the Multidimensional Fluency Scale to truly
help their reading fluency grow.
This lesson was designed to meet Kentucky Common Core ELA standards.
RL.3.10,Bytheendoftheyear,readandcomprehendliterature,includingstories,
dramas,andpoetry,atthehighendofthegrades23textcomplexitybandindependently
andproficiently.Performingfluencyassessmentsallowsmetoseeifmystudentsare
readingatanappropriategradelevel.Theseassessmentsshowcasethestrugglingreaders
whoIcanthenworkmorecloselywithtohelpmeetthisELAstandardbytheendofthird
grade.AlsoaddressedinthislessonisSL.3.5,Createengagingaudiorecordingsof
storiesorpoemsthatdemonstratefluidreadingatanunderstandablepace;addvisual
displayswhenappropriatetoemphasizeorenhancecertainfactsordetails.Studentsare
creatinganaudiorecordingofashortstorytodemonstratefluidreadingandpace.This
standardandlessoncanbetakenastepfurtherbyhavingstudentscreateapodcastofa

pieceofwriting.Thenstudentscanposttoourclasswikisitetosharewithfriendsand
family,aswellasgivefeedbacktopeerswritingpieces.Apodcasthastheabilityto
showcasestudentlearningandcreateanauthenticclassroomcommunity.
My lesson addresses two ILA standards. Standard 2.2,Candidatesuse
appropriateandvariedinstructionalapproaches,includingthosethatdevelopword
recognition,languagecomprehension,strategicknowledge,andreadingwriting
connections.In the Enhanced Vocabulary Podcasts Implementation, Borgia (2009) states
that the three components to fluent reading are accuracy in word decoding, automaticity
in recognizing words, and appropriate use of prosody while reading. I feel that podcasting
can help track students fluency related to all of these components. Students can hear how
well they read and decode words, hear how automatic they are when reading, and can
hear their sound and intonation when reading. Listening to their reading through a
podcast can be very powerful for reading fluency.Alsoaddressed,standard4.2
Candidatesusealiteracycurriculumandengageininstructionalpracticesthat
positivelyimpactstudentsknowledge,beliefs,andengagementwiththefeaturesof
diversity.Podcastingcaneasilybeusedtoengagestudentsinthereadingprocess,
especiallyoralfluency.Oneoftheattractionsofpodcastingasalearningtoolisthat
learnerscancreatecontentrelativelyquicklyandeasily,oftencollaboratively,withthe
intentionandcapacitytoreachanauthenticaudience.Podcastingdoesnotrequireahigh
leveloftechnologicalknowledge,itsproductisreusableandportable,anditsupports
learningthecreativeprocess(Smythe&Neufeld,2010,p.489).

InthislessonseveralISTEstandardsareincorporated.Thetwothatapply
specificallyare1aand1b.1a,Applyexistingknowledgetogeneratenewideas,products,
orprocesses,isapplicabletothislessonbecausestudentsareapplyingexisting
knowledge(readingfluency)tonewprocesses(creatingapodcast).Thisintegrationof
oldknowledgeandnewknowledgeallowstudentstounderstandandgrowinanewlight.
1b,Createoriginalworksasameansofpersonalorgroupexpression,isapplicableto
thislessonbecausestudentsarecreatingpodcastsasaformofpersonalexpression.Their
podcastsreflecttheirlifeasareaderandhowfluentlytheyread.Somestudentsare
sensitiveabouttheirreadingsothesepodcaststrulyreflectapartofthem.Iwantthemto
haveprideintheirpodcastsothatbytheendoftheyeartheycanseehowmuchthey
havegrownovertheyear.
KTSstandard6.1,Usesavailabletechnologytodesignandplaninstruction,is
addressedinthislesson.TeacherscanalsoincorporateKTS6.2,Usesavailable
technologytoimplementinstructionthatfacilitatesstudentlearning,inthislesson.Both
standard6.1and6.2areaddressedthroughtheuseofthepodcast.Teachersnotonl,y
havetolearnhowtousetechnologydailyintheclassroom,buttheyareresponsiblefor
makingsurethetechnologyfacilitatesstudentlearning.Wecantjustsetastudentup
withaniPadandanappandexpectlearningtotakeplace.Podcastinghasapurposeful
andmeaningfuldesign.AccordingtoPutnamandKingsley(2009),podcasts allow
teachers and students to use digital media to reinforce, intervene, or introduce content
knowledge. Podcasting can be an authentic means to teach, reinforce, or assess the
knowledge we want our students to know.

TheMultidimensionalFluencyScaleisaresearchbasedmethodforbuilding
readingfluency.Iamfamiliarwiththisconceptandprocessandhaveuseditseveral
timeswithmystudents.Therefore,IwouldwanttoincreasemyknowledgeofhowIcan
incorporatetechnologyintothisreadingfluencyassessment.Readingfluencyisan
auditorystrategysoafterIwasintroducedtopodcastingthisseemedanaturalfit.Thisis
linkedtotheTCKinTPACK.TCK(technologicalcontentknowledge)requiresyouto
considerhowtheuseoftechnologyaffectsthecontent,incasereadingfluency.Ibelieve
thetechnologysupportsreadingfluencybecauseitallowsthestudentstohearthemselves
reading.Thistechnology,withtheuseoftheMultidimensionalFluencyScale,forcesto
studentstolistentothemselvesandtrulylistenforexpressionandvolume,phrasing,
smoothness,andpace.Studentscanhearwheretheyneedtoimproveandworkon
makingthosechangesovertheyear.IfeelIhavealsoaddressestheTPKinTPACK.My
technologicalpedagogicalknowledgegrewthroughthislesson.Ihavegrowntolearnthe
benefitsofusingpodcastnotonlyinmyclassroom,butalsoinreadingandfluency.
MakingapodcastissimplerthanIthoughtandIfeelmystudentscouldlearnhowto
createonewithoutteacherassistance.Icansharethispedagogywithotherteachers.Ifeel
middleschoolteacherswouldeasilyincorporatethisbasedonsimplicityandstudent
engagement.

References
Borgia, L. (2009). Enhanced vocabulary podcasts implementation in fifth grade
classrooms. Reading Improvement, 46(4), 263.
Putman, S. M., & Kingsley, T. (2009). The Atoms Family: Using Podcasts to Enhance the
Development of Science Vocabulary. Reading Teacher, 63(2), 100-108.
Smythe, S., & Neufeld, P. (2010). "Podcast Time": Negotiating Digital Literacies and
Communities of Learning in a Middle Years ELL Classroom. Journal Of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(6), 488-496.