A World Read Aloud Day Playlist for Your Classroom
Podcasts are a quintessential 21st century, easy and accessible form of oral storytelling! So this February we were really excited when our friends at LitWorld featured Story Seeds as their World Read Aloud Day podcast pick. (If you’re not familiar, LitWorld is a non profit whose mission it is to strengthen literacy in kids and communities through the power of stories.) World Read Aloud Day is their annual, global celebration co-sponsored by Scholastic. It is all about oral storytelling and the power it holds to strengthen a child's imagination and make them better readers.
So, why listen to podcasts in your classroom? Here are just a few reasons:
Podcasts provides an aural experience for young people’s ears that helps them spend time off screens while introducing them to new authors and the writing process.
They can inspire kids to dream up their own stories. A recent Kids Listen survey reported that 74% of young podcast listeners remain highly engaged with the material they listen to, either by telling others what they’ve learned, seeking out more information after listening, or requesting to do an activity inspired by the podcast.
Kids can listen wherever they are. In fact, podcasts require very little streaming bandwidth which allows for greater accessibility and easy listening on mobile devices.
For the 2021 World Read Aloud Day celebration, LitWorld also invited our producers to curate a starter playlist of podcasts for educators around the world. What an honor for us. We are big fans of popular podcasts like Julie’s Library, Circle Round, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, and Story Pirates which you may have already heard of, so we decided to introduce you to some of our top picks of other shows for you to discover! The recommendations you’ll find below are for both younger listeners and tweens/teens.
For Little Ears, check out …
Based on the famed 500 Words BBC Radio 2 short story writing competition for kids, this podcast is made up of funny and heartwarming bedtime stories written by kids ages 6-13. The stories are mostly narrated by the BBC Radio Drama Company but occasionally, you may also hear from a famous popstar. In the episode It’s Up To You How Far You’ll Go. If You Don’t Try, You’ll Never Know! you’ll hear a collection of motivating stories including one about a troupe of overweight pirates trying to do pilates.
Host Dan Wendelin is a dad who used to imagine a new bedtime story for his children each night. Now, he shares the best of those stories with you and your family. Some are episodic and others are self-contained. These tales told for children 4-10 are usually 10-15 minutes long and the narrator’s voice is engaging and soothing in the once-upon-a-time charm. A fun starter episode is Peggy the Ant, about a worker ant.
Narrated by the lyrical voice of storytellers Miss JoJo and Auntie Oni who take listeners on a magic jeep excursion to discover lands where animals talk and people lie. Each episode is less than 10 minutes in length, features a folktale or fable of the African and African American tradition, and comes with an activity guide. Start with The Rabbit and the Turtle story featuring Jack the Rabbit!
This podcast, hosted by Pam Palmater, an Indigenous educator from Canada and a member of the Eel River Bar First Nation in New Brunswick, which is part of the larger Mi’kmaw Nation. On each episode, she shares stories about Indigenous cultures and values so that kids can learn about what it means to be strong, healthy and compassionate warriors for themselves, their families, communities and Nations. Get started with Episode 6 of Season 2, The Boy and the Whale, a story told by Mi'kmaw elders for generations. This podcast explores everything Indigenous and shares stories about what warrior kids are doing to protect our peoples and the planet.
For Tween and Teen Listeners, Try …
Women’s history set to music and performed by musical theater performers. If you already know and love Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, you’ll love this one. Start with Episode 1 which is about Dr. Mae Jamison, the first Black and African American woman to go to space.
This American Life is a hallmark in public radio. Each episode is centered around a theme told in three stories. They celebrate the ordinary and extraordinary and although told only in audio, each story feels cinematic. This American Life may be better suited for older kids due to some subject matters, but you'll always get a listener disclaimer if needed. For a fun recent episode, check out Act Two of The Magic Show to take a trip back to the 80s when David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear.
Unspookable is a family friendly look at the histories and mysteries behind your favorite scary stories, myths and urban legends. We love this episode that looks at the history of dragons in storytelling around the world because, well, we know just how much kids of all ages are drawn to dragon stories—whether it is the classic song Puff the Magic Dragon, the Wings of Fire series by Tui Sutherland or the Hungarian Horntale in Harry Potter.
The Kids Listen Activity Podcast is THE tasting menu of kids podcasts. It was created by Kids Listen (an organization that advocates for high-quality audio content for kids) in response to lockdown and the millions of kids being homeschooled around the world. Each week you’ll discover a new show and get access to a paired activity which helps kids dive deeper into the featured episode.