AUDIO PROJECT: “TRAVEL WITH ME!”

THE PROJECT

This project will be part of the Social Science subject and is intended for fifth graders.Basically, it consists in doing podcasts in the form of interviews through which students will tell us different aspects of a specific region, city, town or village of Spain or another country of Europe that they have already visited. Children will work in pairs and they will have to do two podcasts so that each student can play both the interviewer role and the interviewee one. Every week a pair of students will upload their podcasts as episodes of a radio project called “Travel with me”, which will be included in the school blog. 

ORGANIZATION

• Timing: we will use three classes so as to fulfill the project. The first two classes will be used to plan, search and collect information, make a draft and rehearse the interview and the last one will be used to do the podcasts (the teacher will explain to students how to do it).
• Grouping: students will work in pairs, arranged by the teacher. 

MATERIALS

Students can use their textbooks, dictionaries, maps, atlas and the class computer in order to collect information and they will use the computers of the ICTs classroom to do the podcast. Furthermore, students will be encouraged to find out information at home by searching on the Internet or asking their parents or grandparents about their villages, for example.

Regarding digital resources, students will use the audio recorder of the computer, an online platform to upload the audios called Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/ and the online platform Blogger https://www.blogger.com where is the school blog.

OBJECTIVES

• To assimilate, use and convey some of the subject contents not only of the current academic year but also those acquired in previous years.
• To use key vocabulary and structures properly.
• To do appealing and entertaining podcasts following the different stages.
• To use the ICTs, the different tools and platforms properly
• To learn how to license their own podcasts under CC0.
• To be able to work collaboratively, respecting different opinions and reaching agreements.

KEY COMPETENCES

Through this project we will work the following competences:

• Linguistic competence: the four basic skills, listening, reading, speaking and writing, are developed through this project since students must take notes, make a draft, record the podcast, read textbooks or websites, express opinions and share ideas with their classmates.
• Mathematical competence: children should take into account the time assigned for each podcast and be able to include all the content in it. In addition, students may need to handle dates and numbers in order to talk about historic events or population.
• Digital competence: students need to use computers and different digital resources in order to accomplish the task. Furthermore, they will learn how to license their podcasts under CC0 and why. Thus, they will begin to understand the importance of respecting other people’s work.
• Learning to learn: although students will be guided by the teacher, they will work quite autonomously since they will build their own learning by searching and selecting the adequate information, using different sources or creating a project from the very beginning.
• Social and civic competences: students will have to collaborate with their partners, listen to other opinions respectfully and reach agreements.
• Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship: children will have access to different resources in order to create their own podcasts so they will have to research, select and take decisions in order to create their own podcasts.
•  Cultural awareness and expression: students will discover new places and customs through their classmates’ podcasts.

STAGES

Students will have to perform several stages which can be explained through a mind map as we saw in this post https://stepbystepcnm.blogspot.com.es/2018/03/creating-mind-maps.html

• Think about a place that you have already visited and write a draft about all the interesting things you would like to tell, you must include your personal experience there and your opinion about the place. Take into account all the things you have learnt about geography and history. The teacher can use the IWB in order to project  some ideas and key vocabulary about: the cardinal points, the weather, historical events and figures, celebrities (writers, painters), geography (type of city or village, rivers, mountains...), food, regional costumes and so on.
• Coordinate with your partner and make questions so that you can explain everything you want. You must bear in mind that each podcast can last between 3 and 5 minutes, in addition the interview must include a presentation and a farewell.
• Make a script of the interview. Try to be original and interesting. Rehearse the interview and play with your voice and be expressive. Don’t forget that you should catch the attention of the audience.
• Record the audios and upload them in Soundcloud, then create a playlist that includes the two episodes. License your podcasts under CC0. Don’t forget the title!
• Every week a pair of students will publish and embed their podcasts in the school blog with a brief introduction.           

EVALUATION

This project will be part of the final assessment of the subject and will be evaluated by students and the teacher:

-80% of the final mark will be assigned by the teacher according to a rubric through which he/she will evaluate the following aspects:

• The variety and rightness of the subject contents (20%).
• An adequate use of key vocabulary and structures orally (the podcast) and written (the script), taking into account spelling mistakes, pronunciation, variety and fluency (20%).
•  Originality and interest of the podcast (20%).
• An adequate use of the digital tools and platforms (20%).

-20% of the final mark will be established by students who will fill in a simple evaluation sheet by answering what they liked most and least about the podcast. Finally, they will grade the podcasts from 1 to 10.

Every week two podcasts will be listened in class so that teacher and students can evaluate them.