Promoting Bluebonnet Books with Podcasting

Promoting Bluebonnet Books with Podcasting (and Teacher Collaboration) Janice Carr Librarian/Media Specialist West Central Elementary School Hereford, TX [email protected]

Audience: Grades 3-5

Purpose: To promote the reading of Texas Bluebonnet Award nominees and/or award winners through podcasting and teacher collaboration.

Objectives: School Library Programs: Standards and Guidelines for Texas Standard III. Learner-Centered Technology and Information Access, Principle 3; Standard V. Learner-Centered Connections to Community, Principle 1. (For complete description go to: http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/schoollibs/sls/index.html)

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading Subchapter A. (for complete description go to: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter110/index.html )

Elementary, 110.5. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 3 (b) Knowledge and skills. (3) Listening/speaking/audiences/oral grammar, (A), (B), (C), (D), (E). (7) Reading/variety of texts, (A), (B), (C).

110.6. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 4. (b) Knowledge and skills. (5) Listening/speaking/audiences. (A), (B), (C), (D). (8) Reading/variety of texts. (A), (B), (C).

110.7. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 5. (b) Knowledge and skills. (5) Listening/speaking/audiences. (A), (B), (C), (D). (8) Reading/variety of texts. (A), (B), (C).

126.3. Technology Applications, Grades 3-5. (2) Foundations. The student uses data input skills appropriate to the task. (A) Use a variety of input devices such as mouse, keyboard, disk drive, modem, voice/sound recorder, scanner, digital video, CD-ROM, or touch screen.

Materials: Computer, Scanner, Audacity (free software download), inexpensive computer microphone, digital camera (optional). Instructions for Preparation:

Meet with school and/or district webmaster to discuss objectives and posting podcasts to the school or library webpage.

 Ask about imbedding .mp3 files and inserting JPEG images to your web page.

Download Instructions for Audacity 2 The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor

1. Go to: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ 13. Go to: My Computer, then to C: drive. Under Folder Tasks (Left column), select Extract all files.

2. Click Download tab 14. Complete Extraction Wizard 3. Select version in Stable: 1.2 – for all users 4. Review system requirements and click download hyperlink 5. Run file download

15. The first time you use the "Export as MP3" command, Audacity will ask you where lame_enc.dll is saved. Select C: drive.

6. Complete Audacity Setup Wizard 7. Audacity window will open 8. Audacity icon will be on desktop 9. At download page, scroll to Optional Downloads 10. Select: LAME MP3 encoder – Allows Audacity to export MP3 files 11. Follow instructions for free LAME encoder 12. Save to C: Drive

Download Audacity, purchase inexpensive microphone.

 See attached Audacity download instructions.

Prepare and send via e-mail a proposal to teacher(s) for participation in podcasting collaboration. Include TEKS to be met.

 See Objectives above for English Language Arts and Reading TEKS and for Technology Applications TEKS.  See Additional Resources page for supporting research on fluency. Download Instructions for Audacity 3 The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor

Plan with teacher(s) to discuss format of performance, strategies, instruction, assessment, post-collaboration evaluation.

 Collaboration Guides:

School Library Programs: Standards and Guidelines for Texas Sample Forms for Use When Collaborating/Planning with Teachers

Collaboration Work Form: http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/schoollibs/planningforms/collaborationworkform.doc Download Instructions for Audacity 4 The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor

Librarian/Teacher Collaboration/Evaluation Form http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/schoollibs/planningforms/collaborationform1.doc

 Sample book talks: http://www.scholastic.com/librarians/ab/booktalks.htm

Instructions for Implementation:

Students read TBA nominees or previous winners.

 Texas Bluebonnet Award homepage: http://www.txla.org/groups/tba/index.html

Using a rubric, student groups or individuals will prepare and practice their performance in front of their class or in small groups with teacher and/or librarian guidance. Practice with Audacity can also be helpful.

 See attached rubric sample.  Create your own rubric online:

TeAch-nology: http://teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/ Oral Expression Rubrics Generator: http://teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/oralex/ Download Instructions for Audacity 7 The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor

Presentation Rubric Generator: http://teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/presentation/

Students create a visual “advertisement” for the TBA nominee or winner to be scanned.

 Student created drawings.  Digital camera photos.

Students record performance, using Audacity, with the help of teacher, librarian, or campus technology facilitator. More than one adult is helpful.

With the guidance of teacher, librarian, or technology facilitator, students scan and save their visual to be posted to the school or library website.

 Save as JPEG File (*.jpg)

Visual and sound recording posted to the school or library website.

Closure:

Teacher and librarian meet to conduct a post-collaboration evaluation.

 See Additional Resources page for a model of post-collaborative evaluation.

Make the school community aware of student podcasts through school newsletters, school website, or local media.

Students vote for favorite Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee.

Download Instructions for Audacity

The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor

http://audacity.sourceforge.net 1. Go to: Download Instructions for Audacity 12 The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor

3. Under Stable: 1.2 – for all users, click on your preferred operating system

4. Review system requirements and click Audacity 1.2.6 installer link

5. Your computer may initially block the download. To fix this, right click on the 2. Click Download tab Download Instructions for Audacity 13 The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor

yellow information bar at the top of the page and select “Download file”

6. When prompted, select “Run” to start Audacity setup

7. Complete Audacity Setup Wizard 11. Follow instructions for free LAME 8. Audacity window will open up encoder

9. Audacity icon will be on desktop 12. Save to C: Drive

10. To export MP3 files, download LAME MP3 encoder http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq? s=install&item=lame-mp3 Download Instructions for Audacity 15 The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor

13. Go to My Computer, then to C: drive. Locate saved file, right click on it, and select “Extract All”

14. Complete Extraction Wizard

15. The first time you use the “Export as MP3” command, Audacity will ask you

where lame_enc.dll is saved. Select C: drive

Book Talk Rubric

Criteria 3 2 1 Did I get my audience’s Creative Boring No

attention? beginning beginning beginning Did I tell the Told both title Forgot either title and author and author author or title Did not tell of the book? Did I tell what Told exactly kind of book? what type of Not sure Did not tell book it was

Did I tell something about Included facts Hardly Did not tell the main about main mentioned main character? character character Did I mention Told when and the setting? where story took Not sure Not mentioned place Did I tell one Made it sound Told part and Download Instructions for Audacity 21 The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor

interesting interesting – I skipped on to Did not tell part? want to read it! something else Did I tell who might like this Did tell Not sure Did not tell book? How did I look? Hair combed, Not neat; neat clothes, OK head down looked up, Download Instructions for Audacity 22 The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor

smiled How did I Clear, strong, No expression in Difficult to sound? cheerful voice voice understand. Too loud or too soft.

Additional Resources

Fluency Research

Fink, Rosalie, and S. Jay Samuels. Inspiring Reading Success: Interest and Motivation in an Age of High-Stakes Testing. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2007. p.122-137.

Fredericks, Anthony D. Building Fluency with Readers Theatre. Westport, Connecticut: Teacher Ideas Press, 2008.

Teacher/Librarian Collaboration

McGhee, Marla W., and Barbara A. Jansen. The Principal’s Guide to a Powerful Library Media Program. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth Books, 2005. p.105-107.

Audacity Users Manuals and Quick Reference Guides

Audacity Reference Online. 20 February 2009

Audacity Printable Reference Online. 20 February 2009

Audacity Manual Online. 20 February 2009 < http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/>

Audacity Manual PDF Format. 20 February 2009 < http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/audacity- manual-1.2.pdf>