Moving On Up Podcast

Moving on Up Podcast

Moving on Up is a podcast activity designed to help with the transition from Primary to Post Primary school. The students plan and record a podcast with students who have already transferred to their next school to find out how the process went and get any advice on how best to manage the transition.  

Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Activity Overview:

In Northern Ireland, children move to their next school aged 11 years old. This is an exciting but daunting experience as they move from being the oldest in their school to becoming the youngest again. They are usually filled with questions, worries or intrigue so this project gives them the opportunity to focus these feelings in a positive way. It also gives older children the opportunity to mentor and encourage those younger than themselves. 

I chose this project specifically as I am keen for children to develop a resource that can be published and used by a wider audience to encourage and support children of a similar age. 

Learning Intentions:

• Listen to some examples of podcasts and identify features such as: tracks, tempo, pitch, dynamics and atmosphere.
• Explore the elements that make up a podcast such as its structure, the use of more than one track, voiceover, interviews, backing track or sound bed, length, sound effects or atmosphere.
• Plan, storyboard and create a podcast project that uses a variety of sound files.
• Create sound clips and edit these for use in their project, considering how to manipulate the sounds to suit the audience and purpose of their product.
• Use music and sound language when reviewing and editing their work, by describing editing decisions using language such as track, layer, trim, split, cut, crop, tempo and dynamics.
• Make clear editing decisions, for example deciding what to omit or include during the editing process.
• Share their podcast with another group, discuss it with them and modify it using editing tools.
• Organise saved work and export it in an appropriate format so that others may listen to it.

The Process

As an introduction to this project, students listened to various child-friendly podcasts and made notes on what they liked or disliked, paying attention to the use of music and sound effects. They made individual notes about what makes a successful podcast. 

The initial group planning stage of this project involved students collaborating on a Freeform document to share their thoughts and ideas. They worked in groups of 4 to plan the structure and content of the podcast. They chose different roles for each person in the group and shared responsibility to ensure the podcast was a success.

Older students were invited to meet with the younger students, with questions shared in advance using a collaborative Notes document. Older children made notes before the interview and worked on creating content for segments such as ‘Top 5 Tips for Post Primary’. 

During the recording session, children were given space and time to record in their groups using GarageBand. They were encouraged to record as much content as possible without thinking about editing until later in the project. 

In a later session, each group sat down together to evaluate the content and make decisions on the editing process. They planned the structure of their podcast, split content and organised it into suitable timeline. They recorded intros, outros and joining segments. They also worked on creating jingles to use during their podcast. 

Overall this project was completed over a 6 week time period, with time dedicated each week to editing and refining. 

Extension Activities

• Create cover artwork using Keynote to accompany their podcast. 
• Share final project to a wider audience through a podcast hosting service. 
• Create a GarageBand tutorial using Clips to share with other teachers who would like to complete a similar project. 

Reflection

What a success! Our older students were so open and encouraging to their younger peers. They shared willingly, both their fears and excitement. Our younger children grew in confidence through the project as they realised the next transition of their lives will be filled with much excitement despite the worries. What I loved most about this project was how the technology fitted seamlessly into the emotional development of our students. iPad was the vehicle through which our students were inspired and encouraged. Technically, the children loved developing new skills as this was their first experience of recording a podcast with GarageBand. They picked up the skills quickly and were happy to explore and experiment to figure out new techniques. They could often be found working on their podcast plans and ideas outside of the project sessions.

To make this project inclusive, I ensured that pupils worked in mixed ability groups, with each member taking on a different role. This enabled everyone to be able to access the project at their own level of ability. It was encouraging to see the group work skills develop as they each taught new skills to others in their group.  

In assessing the skills developed, I observed the technical skills during editing sessions through listening to the conversations around the room and engaging in chat with the children as they worked. The overall impact of the emotional development during this project was clear to see as they began to speak more positively about their future move to ‘big school’, quoting some of the things said during the podcast as ways to reassure others. I’m confident that this project will have a positive impact on the next stage of their journey and I’m grateful that iPad allowed me the opportunity to provide that.  Listen to a sample of their podcast below:

Lesson Recap:

Completed over a period of time, this project was a successful introduction to the elements of podcast creation. Pupils learnt many new skills that they had never encountered before. It linked in a cross-curricular way with Literacy lessons through the planning, structuring and writing stages of the project. Pupils developed a great deal of independence, taking ownership of the project and willingly working on it in their own time. 

As a celebration of their creativity, pupils shared their podcasts with their classmates, parents and wider school community. I plan to develop this to enable them to share with an even wider audience through a podcast hosting provider. I would also like them to create a Clips tutorial to share with other teachers to show them how to complete a similar project.