TeacherTeacher

November 2, 2022
Hamilton College

In this lesson, we will develop our ability to read science fiction more critically as a genre of literature. We do this first by creating a little science fiction for ourselves and others: We will :

• explore personal identification as a preliminary theme for written expression with audio
• collaboratively imagine a visit from Alexander Hamilton to today’s Hamilton College
• produce a podcast demonstrating ourselves as critical readers of science fiction.

What You’ll Learn:

– Writing with audio
– Voicethread discussions
– GarageBand podcasting

Part 1: Postcard to Myself

You have just entered a brand new, significant phase of your young life – becoming a college student. This first assignment requires you to write a postcard to your younger self about what this “future” life is like. First, choose an age that you are writing to and think about what life was like at that age for you. Next, write to yourself from “the future”. Tell your younger self about what your life is like now, and be sure to choose specific examples of college life that your younger self might regard as science fiction.

You’re not done yet, Alex! See that phone in your hand? Part 1 also requires you to gather some digital audio of your day. Capture recordings of sounds throughout a typical day in your life on campus. These can be specific sounds and recordings of conversations (with others’ permission) or ambient noises of the environment, or both. Use your phone’s audio or voice recorder to create and save these digital audio files.

Part 2: What would Alexander Hamilton have to say?

Now it’s time for someone else to take in today’s Hamilton College campus – Alexander Hamilton himself! As a group, share your audio recordings and tell why you chose what to capture. How would these elements of modern-day college seem to someone from the founding of our country?

We will be using Voicethread to share our best audio recordings. Look for the plus sign at the bottom center of the screen for comment options.

Part 3: Podcasting with Garage Band

We have been reading through a selection of science fiction literature and learning how to find intertextual connections, how to reread challenging text, how to rely on contextual clues for unfamiliar or new language structures, and how to make meaning as critical readers (Zigo and Moore, 2004). Based on your previous experiences with audio capture, your creative discussions with your group, and your own work, create a podcast (insert professor’s assignment specifics here).

Here is an example of a podcast made with Garage Band:

In order to record a similar podcast, you need to be able to record and add audio files, split and trim audio, and fade volume.

Part 1: Postcard to Myself

Part 2: Voicethread discussion of Hamilton’s postcard

Part 3: Postcard to podcast, science fiction: a critical reader’s guide