Recommended Podcasts Just in Time for Spring Break
In light of our recent blogs on podcasts, here are some great ones to check out! Many are free and can serve as a great educational, mobile tool for when you go on long car/airplane trips during Spring Break:). Hope you enjoy!
- Wild Animal Chronicles
Best for:Introducing your curious students to the orangutans of Borneo or the penguins of Antarctica.
Why It?s Worth It: Six-minute, jaw-dropping, well-narrated videos perfect for grades 3?8, produced by National Geographic, available for free over the Internet? Of course they?re worth it. Topics range in size from honeybees to whales, so it?s easy to find just what you need to enrich your unit.
Where to Find it: On iTunes, or at?nationalgeographic.com/podcasts
- Radio WillowWeb
Best for: Kid-to-kid learning of literature, geography, math, and more.
Why It?s Worth It:The students at Willowdale Elementary in Omaha, Nebraska, produce regular 10-minute audio podcasts containing segments like ?Did You Know?? and ?Vocabulary Theater? packed with grade-perfect learning. Your students will get a kick out of hearing Revolutionary War history from fellow third graders!
Where to Find it: On iTunes, or at?mpsomaha.org/willow/radio
- Children?s Fun Storytime
Best for:Letting someone else read aloud to the kids for a change.
Why It?s Worth It: This new audio podcast, started this past December, features dramatically intoned readings of favorite kids? stories like?The Little Engine That Could?and Lewis Carroll?s?Alice in Wonderland.
Where to Find it: On iTunes.
- Poem of the Day
Best for: Poetry Month, of course. Perfect for a quick poetry break, or an ongoing writers? workshop.
Why It?s Worth It: Here are audio recordings of poems by many of the heavy-hitters?Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound, Langston Hughes?so it?s easy to find a poem appropriate for your class.
Where to Find it: On iTunes, or at?sonibyte.com
- The Science Show for Kids
Best for: Clear, accurate answers to kids? real science questions, like ?Why do we have five fingers??
Why It?s Worth It:The Science Show for Kids is a five-minute audio podcast hosted by psychology professor David Brodbeck, who invites children to send in their burning questions. How do bees make honey? Are there really aliens? ?If I don?t know the answer,? Brodbeck says, ?I?ll find a scientist who does.?
Where to Find it: On iTunes.
- Bookwink
Best for:Video booktalks that get kids excited about reading a new book.
Why It?s Worth It:?Former librarian Sonja Cole hosts 3-minute video booktalks for kids in grades 3-8. The Web site also includes lists of read-alikes for the books she talks about.
Where to Find It: On iTunes, or at?bookwink.com