Podcasts for Kids

Shanna Martin 0:19

Thanks for listening to the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast, where each week we talk about a free piece of technology that you can use in your classroom. I'm your host, Shanna Martin. I'm a middle school teacher Technology and Instructional Coach for my district. And

Fuzz Martin 0:32

I'm a producer and husband Fuzz Martin, and I'm hoping that we can while you on this podcast, as it is our sesquicentennial episode. Wow. See, I got you to Wow.

Fuzz Martin 0:47

150 Yeah, we've been doing this for a long time, season five, Episode 150. Sitting at our kitchen table, and then we move to the basement and move to the basement. And now we're into your office bought

Fuzz Martin 1:01

a whole bunch of different equipment. I've got a studio two studios. Yeah.

Shanna Martin 1:06

I mean, lots you also have your own pocket. But yeah, that's

Fuzz Martin 1:09

it our fancy gear, or so much. So this is so fun

Shanna Martin 1:14

to watch, Episode 150. It's super fun. Thanks for listening to all of you that have been listening. And for anyone who's like been listening the whole time. Thank you more power to you. And also learn new listeners like my students have discovered my podcast. Yeah. Hello. I

Fuzz Martin 1:32

don't want to one of your teaching partners at your school has also, yes, told her students about your show.

Shanna Martin 1:40

They've been using my tech tools. Ed Tech directory. Yeah. So my website, my students have been using that for another class, which is kind of fun. It is fun. They're using tech tools. So free tech tools. We love a free tech tool. So we are in Episode 150. And I was thinking I talked about all kinds of free tech tools. I talk about apps, I talk about Chrome extensions, I talk about websites, I talk about all kinds of stuff. But rarely do I talk about other podcasts? Yeah. And podcasts are a form of free resources, free technology for teachers,

Fuzz Martin 2:16

right? Oh, this is like, Inception here is like pod pod ception. Like, you can put your own podcast in your edtech directory. Since this is a free tool for teachers.

Shanna Martin 2:28

The back loop Whoa, oh, my goodness. So I'm a part of the education Podcast Network, which is a bunch of awesome websites for educators. And there's all kinds of different topics and things like that.

Fuzz Martin 2:40

So we like 25 different podcasts. Yeah.

Shanna Martin 2:43

So if you're looking for like teacher specific podcasts, check out the education Podcast Network, because there's just lots and lots of resources would be fine. Besides free tech tools. There's also just different ways of, you know, life as teachers, which is great. But today, what I want to focus on is podcasts for kids, I feel like this is kind of a I don't know a tool that doesn't get used in the classroom just because people don't know. And there's so many cool resources that you can have your students listening to in class, or have them as part of projects or have them at home, and come back and share information. And there's so many, so many out there. I'm only gonna highlight two today, just because I think they're fun and cool and ways just to get you started if you're interested in having students listen to podcasts. But I know a lot of times we have kids listening to audiobooks in the classroom now. And sometimes we have them listening to like are watching videos and things like that. Odd casts are students are another way of getting resources to kids, giving them ideas, teaching them skills, and making all kinds of connection. So along with your fun little Wow, intro. Suck motions. The first podcast I'm going to highlight that is fantastic for students is called Wow in the world. And this podcast is taking STEM concepts. So science, technology, engineering, math, and innovation is the other piece that they add into it. And they give you a concept. They teach you about it, but it's in a story format. And what's really cool is the podcast hosts are very entertaining. There's sound effects, there's music, like there's a lot to it. It's not just two people talking and they're superduper engaging for kids. The podcast is put on by Tinker cast. So you have to go to tinker cast.com and then find the shows or if you just Google Wow in the world podcast you will find it right up it'll it'll be very easy.

Fuzz Martin 4:51

You'll be like wow, that was fast.

Shanna Martin 4:54

Man got into that. So if you're looking for something to build into your science class or just get students engaged in their learning. They have, each episode will tell you a little bit like a couple sentences about what it's going to be. But what I appreciate is that while they cover like DNA, they cover all kinds of cool things when you're in their podcast website, so you can find them on Apple and Spotify and all the other places you can find them. But on the left hand side of their site, you can choose Are you looking for podcasts that are for elementary students, like second to fourth grade, third to fifth grade, elementary, kindergarten to second middle school or preschool. So you can already start their podcasts out for age appropriate listing, which is huge, because you don't want to just put your kids on something and think that maybe they can listen to it, maybe they can't. And they have, like I said, pre pre school specific, like, if you want to listen to as a whole class, maybe you're having to some quiet time, and you want to listen to it with your students. They also will organize it by standard. So if you want to cover information on your earth and space, science standards, Engineering and Technology, life science, next gen science standards, physical science, they haven't broken down by standard, which is awesome. So if you're covering a specific standard in class you want kids to learn, they'll give you some ideas, some hands on things that can build and create with it. And then you can throw it obviously through all of their results, they have over 600 different podcasts that you can listen to, which is awesome. And there's different results that you can pull up if you search that way. And different shows that go along with a different science listing as well. So wow, in the world connects you to all kinds of resources to build scientific concepts by listening to these cool stories that build in science and make kids connections. And they're super interesting. So if you get a chance with your students, or even just yourself to kind of understand what these cool podcasts with student focus are kid focused is they're really engaging and fun to check out. So why in the world is my first recommendation if you get a chance to do that? Science,

Fuzz Martin 7:07

Science, Science, and you have to do

Shanna Martin 7:11

it in science class, either. Like you can use them anywhere. But yeah, they're awesome. The seconds, what do you got?

Fuzz Martin 7:17

No, I was just gonna say I've listened to part of an episode. Yeah. And they seem very fun and engaging for students, like they're, they're informative, and bubbly. And really, like, keep your interest I thought they're

Shanna Martin 7:31

like, you'd want to sit and listen to them. Like kids want to sit and listen. Now.

Fuzz Martin 7:36

Instead of listening to Kidz Bop in the car heading up to you know, your parents house, turning this on for our youngest and being able to choose the, the age level that we want to listen to is kind of

Shanna Martin 7:49

cool. So you're gonna pick like things that you know will be appropriate and concepts that they're, you know, interested in?

Fuzz Martin 7:54

Yes. And then she can tell us about, you know, DNA sculptures.

Shanna Martin 7:58

She'll teach us Yeah, exactly. This thing. So,

Fuzz Martin 8:00

so ticker casts, while on the world is a great podcast. Check it out, check

Shanna Martin 8:06

it out. The second we have the second I cast for kids that we have is called Book Club for kids. And it's a free podcast and what the whole concept is, its middle grade students talking about their books that they are reading. Nice. So it's fantastic. It gives. First it gives you book recommendations. So if you're looking for books that are students are engaged in or you want to like what do I need to buy for my library? This is a giant list of great books that kids are engaged in. The second thing is they have besides like their book recommendations that they love, the students are leading the discussion. So if you want to model what book talks look like in your classroom, and you want your kids because it takes it's a skill to teach kids how to talk to each other about books, you know, having kind of academic conversations. Yeah, certainly. And so what's really cool is there's always your background information and things like that the adults chime in, and sometimes the authors chime in. But the students are really saying like, Hey, this is my favorite book. This is why I love this book. Here are the reasons why I love this book. And they go through and they explain it. And they talk about why they like the books that they have. And they will tell you who the author is they go through each episode. They give you the information, that conversation with the writer sometimes are able to have, but it's a great way to show students and model how to have a book talk and how to talk about the content they're reading and respecting others when they have differing differing opinions. And it's just a really neat podcast that has kids talking about the books that they love to tell Paco talks about and they're all very relevant. So from Red Queen to the poet x to the crossover to Tuck Everlasting to the bad guys to tangerine, like all of these books are. Some of them have been around for a while some of them are brand new. And the kids just they talk about these books and what makes them engaging. So book club for kids is awesome. But the website itself also has besides you can obviously listen to it on their website. But there, there's an episode organization for you. There's reading tips, how to get everybody engaged, how to make connections, things like that curriculum. And then there's resources for librarians and teachers and parents. So there's resources. And there's curriculum that goes with each book. So if you're interested in the book, like the crossover, it will then give you a story synopsis. It'll give you listening comprehension questions, classroom discussion questions, vocabulary to focus on listening guide. So all of this goes along with each book that they talk about, which is a great way to help you lead the discussion with your students. But also, if you you know, are able to maybe have your own book club or in your students classroom, and you need discussion questions like these are just ways to get you started, and resources to help you out, which is fantastic. And that's all on the website, as well. And all of its really, you just click on it. And I'll give you the curriculum that helps you align your book with what you need. So book club for kids, it's awesome. It's an awesome resource for modeling book talks, and for having a student discussion what it looks like to have students discuss their books. That's pretty good.

Yeah, and if you have some readers that you think would be good on the show today, except your students, they've got a place where you can essentially apply to have your students be a part of the panel,

which is really cool. Like they take, they're now accepting applications for 2023. And just click on that, and you can reach out to them as well. So awesome, what a cool way to get kids engaged in books. And again, it's not the same, just read the book and discuss. But here, you can listen to a podcast as a class, you can listen to it and talk about what it looks like. You can listen to their book talks, and then have your own. Just all kinds of fun resources. So there's two awesome podcasts for students specifically that you can use in your classroom as a great tool to kind of get podcasts built into your classroom and have kids engaged with things that they're listening to.

Yeah. Love it. Love both America. Um, you know, kids, we love podcasts we do. First and foremost. You know, we're 150 episodes in Yeah, if we didn't like

it. We could after five

we would have made it five episodes deep. Well, this is this is pretty great. So Wow. In the world and book club for kids. Yep.

Thanks for tuning in. This has been the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast. If you ever have any questions, you can find me on Twitter at @smartinwi and if you want to get more information on the links to the technology discussed in this episode, you can visit smartinwi.com. If you'd like to support the show, please consider buying me a coffee or to visit buymeacoffee.com/smartinwi or visit smartinwi.com and click on that cute little purple coffee cup. Your donations help keep the show going new episodes each week. Thanks for listening, go educate and innovate.

The ideas and opinions expressed on this podcast and the smartinwi.com website are those of the author Shanna Martin and not of her employer. Prior to using any of the technologies discussed on this podcast, please consult with your employer regulations. This podcast offers no guarantee that these tools will work for you as described, but we sure hope they do. And we'll talk to you on episode 151 right here on the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast.