Sometimes The Walking Classroom provides lessons that go beyond the podcast topic. One adopter shares an extra lesson learned by her students.
When my students have to do research, sometimes they try to copy and paste from the computer as if they talk that way on a regular basis. When we do solar system projects, I can tell that the students don’t know what they have written about because they cannot explain it when I question them.
To address this, I often refer my students back to the podcasts to which we have listened. I ask them to consider the way the students that are talking in the podcasts tell their story. They talk in a kid-friendly way that is easy to understand.
I suggest that my students use a similar approach. They should write their report using words that their classmates would understand. That might mean they look-up words from their research instead of simply copying and pasting things that don’t make sense to them. Inspired by the podcasts, they use this new approach. That makes a difference!
Charmaine Lupinacci
5th Grade Teacher
Crestwood Elementary
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