Creator: A Way with Words & Wayword LLC | visit site
Grade Range: 6 - 11
If you are looking for podcasts to lure your students to the study of language and words, this is a great site to investigate. <i>A Way with Words</i> is an hour-long radio show on PBS, currently hosted by Martha Barnett and Grant Barrett. The show features lively discussion about "slang, grammar, old sayings, word origins, regional dialects, family expressions, and speaking and writing well." Listening to any of the old shows is entertaining as well as informative. The topics are listed on the home page along with summaries. Get more programs by clicking on "Get the podcast" in the right-hand menu. They are appealing, with provocative titles such as "What the Cluck?," "Elvis in a Cheese Sandwich," and "Coinkydinks and Big Boxes." There are full hour podcasts and mini-podcasts.
In the Classroom
Plug in your students to get discussion started about any relevant-to-your-class topic. Students increasingly want to listen through headphones; let them enjoy these entertaining and informative podcasts on language, then use class questions posted on an interactive whiteboard or projector to generate full-class discussion. Language never sounded so good! Have students create similar projects in cooperative learning groups. How about podcasts using a site such as PodOMatic (<a href="/single.cfm?id=8094">reviewed here</a>).
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