This Lesson's Title:

This I Believe:
Oceans

imitating NPR's "This I Believe" broadcasts to create an original podcast about the state of our oceans

This lesson was created by science teacher and literacy trainer Yvette Deighton.

This writing prompt inspired by

NPR's international media project,
the "This I Believe" podcast series.

Click here to visit the NPR project's webpage.

Three-Sentence Overview of this Lesson:

This writing assignments asks students to take a stand and decide how they will make a difference in the effort to save our oceans. First students will listen to several episodes of “This I Believe,” the NPR weekly pod cast where authors describe their beliefs. After students understand the structure of these pod casts, they will listen to a “Science Friday” podcast that describes the state our oceans today and how they can take action to reverse the current path of destruction. Finally, students will create a "This I Believe" podcast about the oceans to publish to the classroom I-Pod or webpage. Teachers: Click here to see the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is voice; students will help their audience understand the importance of the issue through their writing's passion, word choice, and tone. The support trait students will work on is organization; they will make sure their introductions hook the reader/listener and organize their writing so that their beginning is strong, the middle is bold, and the conclusion convincingly ties all the pieces together.