Menu
Students need to be able to sit and listen to a passage or short audio program, take notes, recall information, and then answer critical thinking questions about the material. To help prepare students for our e-learning world, I’ve scoured the internet to find high-interest, school-appropriate podcasts that fit within one class period.
In this Listen & Learn activity, students will listen to an 18-minute podcast focused on a police officer who volunteered to dive into the thick, toxic sludge of La Brea tar pits to recover evidence in a murder investigation. This high-quality podcast presents a compelling modern case of bravery and allows the listeners (our students) to draw their own conclusions about the nature of heroism.
The easy prep lesson materials in this download include:
• A list of suggested lesson procedures for the teacher (or just print and leave for a sub) with several links to use to access the podcast online. Several of these sites also allow users to download the program and keep it on their personal mp3 players, a great option if the internet isn’t always reliable in your classroom. (PDF)
• A two-page handout with questions for students to answer both while they listen and after the program is finished (PDF and Google Drive versions)
• A two-page answer key to make grading easy and to provide talking points as you review answers with your students (PDF)
This lesson, designed for students in grades 7-12, will take about 40 minutes to complete or a bit longer if you review answers/allow students to discuss some of the questions.
Download includes: 5-page PDF + Google Drive version of student worksheet (uneditable)
Want this item plus four more podcast-based lessons at a 20% discount? To avoid a double-purchase, don’t buy the lesson materials on this page; instead, click here to download my Listen & Learn podcast 5-pack of high-interest lessons for secondary students.
Thanks for stopping by!
Cover image credit: Marcus Quigmire, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
$2.50
