What started as a quest to endure painfully long road trips to North Carolina with children in tow has now become a family passion that has bridged into my classroom. That’s right, podcasts. On a lark I tried a popular family podcast with my students, and they loved it. To focus their listening, I challenged them to create one question (and the answer) to ask a fellow listener. After listening, we paired up and compared questions and answers. What a fun way to boost active listening and listening comprehension.
Here are some favorites:
Hosts Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz guide curious kids and their grown-ups on a journey into the wonders of the world around them. We’ll go inside our brains, out into space and deep into the coolest new stories in science and technology.
Wow in the World is a family favorite and includes a wealth of knowledge school-age children will enjoy. A delightful bonus is hearing from children around the world and their “Wow in the World”.
Brains On! takes a more serious look at science through the lens of a child’s eye. Explore the catalog of podcasts to find one that matches your learners’ interests.
A note from the producers: Brains On! is an award-winning audio show for kids and families. Each week, a different kid co-host joins Molly Bloom to find answers to fascinating questions about the world. Our mission is to encourage kids’ natural curiosity and wonder using science and history…but there’s no age limit on curiosity, and episodes of Brains On can be enjoyed by anyone.
Finally, Circle Round is a wonderful, community-building podcast that allows listeners to experience a folk tale together.
Created and produced by parents of young children, WBUR’s Circle Round is a podcast that adapts carefully-selected folktales from around the world into sound- and music-rich radio plays for kids ages 4 to 10. Each 10- to 20-minute episode explores important issues like kindness, persistence and generosity. And each episode ends with an activity that inspires a deeper conversation between children and grown-ups.
I’m going to try a few of these out with my 2nd graders. Thanks for sharing it!