Embedding Audio Notetaker into the Curriculum: Quick Reference Guide Lesson Using Audio Notetaker English ICT SEN/ Famous speeches Analyse famous speeches to identify the important quotes as well as understand successful spoken language techniques for public speaking. Analysing the audio from famous speeches, the students will transcribe the text, visualise how the spoken language is made up and identify the important quotes. They will then create a presentation of images with subtitles within Audio Notetaker to accompany the audio. In the news Writing a news report which must fit into a 90 second radio slot. Audio Collage Create a sound collage from a variety of recordings based around a theme (exams, walking to school, the local community). Listening to example news reports imported into Audio Notetaker and identifying the important features and persuasive language, the students will plan and record their own radio news report. They will then edit and refine their report using the tools within Audio Notetaker. The software enables separate statements and phrases that have been recorded by teachers and students to be selected and pasted into a new file to create an attractive and thought-provoking artefact. Poetry Power Young people often find it hard to make the best of their writing, or other people s, when they read it aloud. Use Audio Notetaker to practise the delivery of spoken verse, analysing the faults and rehearsing it until it achieves its most powerful form. The use of colour coding and annotated notes within the software would include advice such as louder, quieter, slower, harsher tone, don t whisper, pronunciation wrong Peers and teacher could add their comments also. Page 1
Observation, Observation, Observation / Field Work is the basis of good writing. Students take hand held recorders with them wherever they are observing their environment and record their impressions. Students are able to process and analyse their audio notes to form the basis and inspiration of a piece of writing. They will be able to distil from their audio notes the essence of a poem; alternatively they may wish to make their observations the basis for a longer piece of descriptive writing. And now over to our reporter / interviewer Interviewing is a specific technique as is being the interviewee. Interviews with teachers, local people (e.g. shopkeepers) and other students (e.g. the school sports stars) are always popular and an excellent way to develop a number of spoken language skills. The software will enable both techniques to be honed so that the resulting material can be used either for school radio or equivalent, or transcribed for the school magazine. The resulting interviews can be transcribed, edited and used verbatim or edited so as to use the interesting sections to make a condensed summary of the interview. Page 2
Hot Seat A familiar drama technique where one student takes on the role of, for example, a character and other students ask questions. Usually, these exchanges are then lost and the class moves on. The software will enable the exchange not only to be recorded but to be interrogated, with students picking out key statements, transcribing them and using them in their accompanying essays or as a basis for class discussion. That s How They Say It / Out and About Use a hand held recorder to collect recordings of everyday speech interactions from home, school, shops, between friends, on transport, etc. Edit them for interesting speech features and produce an audio/ text album to present to the rest of the class. Transcribe these and annotate to bring out features of spoken as compared with written language. This would be especially appropriate for the Language requirements in the new GCSE specs and for A Level English Language. Oral History Interview uncles, aunts, grandparents etc and get their anecdotes and personal histories. These are a rich source for any English classroom but usually very hard to access. The software will enable students to select and order the material as well as using features of the software to note questions for further interviews. Edited audio versions can then be created or transcribed for publication. Page 3
Bed Time Stories/ Cross Phase Use sound recording technology with children who are too young to write fluently but can still invent amazing narratives. An excellent activity for inter-school collaboration e.g. feeder schools. Older students (e.g. from Y6 / Y7 transcribe and analyse the features of this form. Children s audio books can be made from the results for use with young learners. Tell me a story Record someone telling a story straight to mic. Annotate the recording, colour code sections to visualise key sections and transcribe the result, picking up the salient features of oral story telling in the process. Discussion in class will focus on the differences between oral and written forms and on how far the original should be adapted for a reading rather than a listening audience. Media magazine Collect snippets of recordings from radio, television, DVDs, CDs that have interesting features. Arrange and analyse the results for presentation to the class to compare different media text. Page 4
Listening to instructions - aimed at those with concentration difficulties or who find it hard to process spoken language. Listen to instructions for a simple science activity in the classroom. Instructions can be played and played again. Students try out the instructions and record results in Audio Notetaker using symbols / text/ audio/ photographs. ASDAN scheme of work - many young people follow this scheme of work as an alternative to GCSE etc. Students learn how to set up an interview and record answers, and use IT to produce evidence for the activity. (Information Handling, 1A task 2, interviewing someone from ASDAN syllabus). Page 5