Serial Podcast Season One Unit Plan: True Crime Lesson Plans, AP ELA Activities

Serial Podcast Season One by Sarah Koenig is a fantastic way to teach literary nonfiction, rhetoric, bias, and the power of storytelling. This podcast is so engaging that even your most reluctant students will be enthralled with the true crime content! This Serial unit plan will provide you with literary nonfiction activities that help students analyze the production of the podcast, discuss bias from multiple angles, examine rhetoric from a real-world perspective, and so much more. All of these updated Serial podcast activities are standards-aligned and designed to teach listening as literacy.

You will get these updated Serial lesson plans:

⭐Serial Introduction stations to engage learners from the start

⭐ True Crime Color and Chronicle Booklet to keep students focused

⭐ Serial Episode 1 activity : Analyzing Literary Style and Voice with an Agatha Christie pairing

⭐ Serial Episode 2 activity : Exploring the Literary Nonfiction Genre

⭐ Serial Episode 3 activity : Distinguishing mood and tone with an Edgar Allan Poe pairing

⭐ Serial Episode 4 activity : Practicing speaking skills in a Socratic Seminar

⭐ Serial Episode 5 activity : Exploring podcast purpose with a Crime Junkie pairing

⭐ Serial Episode 6 activity : Contemplating claims, counterclaims, and rebuttals

⭐ Serial Episode 7 activity : Skipping or coloring in the booklet

⭐ Serial Episode 8 activity : Analyzing rhetorical appeals

⭐ Serial Episode 8 activity : Exploring characterization with a Sherlock Holmes pairing

⭐ Serial Episode 9 activity : Considering wrongful convictions with a Criminal pairing
⭐ Serial Episode 10 activity : Analyzing the art of rhetoric with Rabia Chaudry pairing
⭐Serial Episode 11 activity : Discussing the ethics of true crime with Truman Capote pairing
⭐Serial Episode 12 activity : Exploring author's choice and angle
⭐Serial Rationale and standard alignment
⭐ Serial pacing guide
⭐Serial essay prompts
⭐Serial test

✍Download the preview for an overview!

✅Editable to fit your needs
✅ Can be used digitally or print

✅ Answer keys for all

What teachers are saying:

❤️ Kids LOVE this unit. They love finding evidence (never thought I would say that). The socratic seminar layout was also been super helpful.

❤️This is such an engaging podcast, and I love all of the literary elements tied into this unit! My seniors loved it.

❤️What a fantastic unit! I'm using this with my AP Language and Composition class since we still have a good month of school left after the test, and they are enjoying the story and analyzing rhetoric in an engaging and new way.

❤️ This resource made teaching this unit to my elective class enjoyable, engaging, and rigorous. I greatly appreciate the thought that was put into this to make it something that students can engage with in a meaningful way.

❤️ I used this with my English 12 kids who were going through a serious bout with senioritis. It pulled them in and was easy for me to use.