Podcast Plan

This podcast is an example of an assignment I could have students do. The rationale for this assignment comes from the Utah State language arts requirements for 7th grade part of which states, “Retell or summarize and make connections to clarify thinking through writing.” The assignment will be to create a podcast which presents a summarized version of a story in dramatic form. This could be done with a book we read as a class or with books the students read on their own. My model for the format of this assignment is old radio shows which tell stories in a very engaging way and make very good use of sound. In doing this assignment, students will need to learn how to pick out the most important events in the plot and the most significant aspects of the characters to include in their podcast. They will also need to write the script which will summarize the book, but this assignment will encourage them to do it in an interesting way. The goal of this assignment is to help students solidify in their minds the reading they have done, learn to create something, and improve their writing skills.