It’s not every day that students get the chance to talk about chocolate for a school project, but that’s exactly what sixth graders at Cato-Meridian Elementary School did when they learned how to produce podcasts.

Students in ELA class with Mrs. Kent and Mrs. Evans were instructed to create podcasts as part of a cumulative media project in the Amplify “Chocolate Collection” unit.

The students quickly realized that creating a podcast requires hard work, creativity, and collaboration. Working in groups, they came up with catchy names for their podcasts that incorporated chocolate, from “The Choco Games” to “Reese's Talk 4.”

“We just took ‘chocolate’ and ‘talk,’ and put them together,” said Tighe Taylor, whose group created the “Talklate” podcast.

Each group put their unique spin on the assignment, which was to share ten facts about chocolate. Many groups organized their podcasts as game shows, where one or two students acted as a host, and another as a guest who had to answer trivia questions.

Students recorded their voices through the microphones on their computers and created slideshows to go along with their audio.

“We learned how to go into Canva, edit slides, and add music to our podcasts,” said Callie Gillis.

Students encouraged their peers to start their own podcasts if there is a topic they’re interested in sharing with the world.

“I think they should just try it out to see if they like it and if they do, stick with it,” said Natalie Schell.

Visit the following link to listen to the podcasts: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EFiUUzTTWs4Z0Q47_oLaAatb4znDodXJ

From left to right: Callie Gillis, Tighe Talyor, and Natalie Schell