THROWBACK: "Smash Boom Debates" with LaDawna Harrington

This episode was originally recorded for the second season of School Library Connection's "One Lesson at a Time" podcast.

I listen to quite a few podcasts, but I hadn't heard of Smash Boom Best before LaDawna Harrington, a recently retired school librarian from New Jersey, introduced me to it. Now I'm hooked! And you'll be hooked on this month's One Lesson at a Time episode, where LaDawna talks to us about how she used this energetic, fun podcast as a template for a lesson that gets students excited to learn.

LaDawna's years of librarianship and as a classroom educator are a gift! She brought so many awesome lesson ideas to our conversation that we had trouble picking just one! We finally settled on talking about LaDawna's lesson, "Smash Boom Best Meets Neurons and Endorphins." In it, students are put into a head-to-head debate to defend an assigned topic, using not only research but also creativity and cleverness to support their side.

One of my favorite elements of this lesson is the way it gives students the room to get creative about sharing what they know. Lessons often require a very specific product, but LaDawna's unit encourages students to be clever in creating a final product that is interesting, engaging, and informative—and that can take any form they wish.

In addition to being a fun lesson, it's one that will work across grade levels and will allow for collaboration with any subject area. LaDawna did this lesson in conjunction with a high school science teacher, and the students had a blast; but this could also be a great chance to work on information literacy and research skills, while also providing an excellent opportunity to collaborate—and perhaps with a subject area that doesn't often get as much library time as English or history.

View LaDawna's lesson plan, catch the original version of the episode, and even get a PD certificate! 

Follow the link: https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Home/Display/2337511