3-5, 6-12, Education, Social Studies, Teaching Tools, Websites, Writing

This American Life Educator Resources

“This American Life” is one of my absolute favorite radio programs. Hosted by Ira Flatow, each show is based on a theme.  The productions are amazing, top quality collections of real-life stories that will make you laugh, gasp, and cry.

I just found out “This American Life” has a page of Educator Resources.  You can look up shows by theme or school level. Educators from all over have contributed ways that they have connected different episodes to their curriculum, and there is a direct link to the episodes to which they refer.

If you’ve never listened to this show, I highly recommend you reward yourself with the “Squirrel Cop” episode on a day when you really need a laugh.  You can see what Greg Carsten, a middle school teacher, has to say about a great way to use “Squirrel Cop” in class.

Squirrel Cop
From: This American Life Educator Resources

As always, please preview any episode before playing it for your class!

Art, K-12, Language Arts, Teaching Tools, Videos, Writing

Ira Glass on Storytelling

Ira Glass, the radio host of This American Life on NPR, gives his opinion of how to become great at your art.  Although he is speaking of writing, this could be a great motivational tool for anyone who has ambition in a particular field. David Shiyang Liu created the typography to go along with Ira’s words.