Insurance+Podcasts

This project was the lower level differentiated version of the create an insurance company project. Because some students had very low reading levels and could not adequately research information on the Internet they were given an alternate assignment.

I found information from good Internet sites and copied it into a Word doc. If necessary, I did small revisions with the readability levels.

Then I created a podcast using the text-to-speech site www.ispeech.org which is free. The free version though has limited translation limits so I chose to upgrade to a year membership for $19.95 which would let me translate an entire document at once. After creating the audio at the iSpeech website, I brought the audio clips into MovieMaker. This way the students could use Windows Media Player to listen and I could put titles on the podcast so the students knew where they were on the worksheet.

With the podcast I am able to have these students read and listen to the material on their own. As they read they were to write down specific questions they had about the reading. Then we met again and discussed the material - specifically things they did not get.

Finally, they were given a graded assessment on the material.

Using the podcast in this manner allowed me the flexibility to monitor and help the rest of the class with their project. It gave the lower learners responsibility and independence.

car insurance worksheet

car insurance podcast media type="file" key="IEP - Auto Insurance - audio version.wmv" width="300" height="300"

home insurance worksheet

home insurance podcast media type="file" key="IEP - Home Insurance - audio version.wmv" width="300" height="300"

//Note: If you can't hear the podcasts, try a different web browser. IE works well.//

Karen Farmelo Otto-Eldred Jr. Sr. High School kfarmelo@ottoeldred.org