Listening Skills Podcast Activity, Listen & Learn #12, PDF & Google Drive, CCSS

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 a 31-minute podcast that tells the story of how three women used the Boston Marathon to challenge misconceptions about the limits of female athleticism. This high-quality podcast presents a compelling historical narrative and helps students learn how gamechangers help humanity evolve.

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 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 8-12, will take about 45 minutes to complete or a bit longer if you review answers/allow students to discuss some of the questions. Please note that the language in the podcast is clean and entirely school-appropriate; it focuses on gender discrimination in sports. The podcast is a fit for grades 8-12, but you may want to listen to the episode before purchasing. Click here to listen to Sidedoor’s “Space Marathon” episode: https://www.si.edu/sidedoor/space-marathon

Want another podcast-based listening skills lesson? Click the links below to find more high-interest topics, including:

• Listen & Learn #8, the memoir of a reluctant high school football player who hated being hit as told by comedian Gary Gulman

• Listen & Learn #9, the demise of Atari, a video game company that created what’s become known as quite possibly the world’s worst video game

• Listen & Learn #10, the thrilling story of Robert Smalls, an enslaved man who took command of a Confederate ship during the Civil War to liberate himself and his family from their captors

• Listen & Learn #11, a podcast featuring a woman who overcame self-consciousness and social judgment about her messed up teeth

Want more high-interest lessons for upperclassmen? Check out my Short Story Unit for Older Teens, a collection of stories and lesson materials designed specifically for high school juniors and seniors. You’ll save more than 30% off the cost of those individual items if you purchase the bundle available here:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Short-Story-Unit-Eng-1112-Short-Stories-Multimedia-PDF-Google-Drive-CCSS-9330437

Thanks for stopping by!

Cover image credit:

Astronaut: Licensed via CanvaPro

Teen with earbud: Marcus Quigmire, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0