Taking oral presentations to the next level with GarageBand

Adding fun sound effects and additional audio elements to a student's voice can take simple stories and statements and turn them into something magical - really allowing students to get super creative and have their personalities shine. GarageBand is the perfect app for this and is definitely worth exploring in your classroom.

Some of my favourite "traditional" oral presentations, that can be transformed with GarageBand are:

• Story Retells. Have students record a retelling of a familiar story, adding a range of sound effects or loops to represent the different parts of the story, such as suspenseful music or gasps of horror during the story complication.
• Historical Narratives. Record a historical diary entry of a convict aboard the first fleet on their way to Botany Bay, using the telephone voice filter to "age" the recording and adding in supporting sound effects such as an ocean soundscape, seagulls and the horn of an ocean liner.
• Poetry Reading. Use music created within GarageBand and other sound effects to complement the reading of a poem being studied, or even one students have authored themselves.
• Persuasive Presentation. Turn a traditional persuasive oral presentation into a podcast extravaganza where students demonstrate persuasive techniques through words, as well as supporting sound effects that fit the topic they are speaking about.
• Interviews. With students either interviewing another person, or simply using voice filters to make it seem like they are interviewing another person, GarageBand is a great place to create this type of project. Add in a musical intro and outro, as well as sound effects that add to the overall theme of the topic.

There are loads of sound effect options to choose within GarageBand, however my most used sound pack for this type of project is the Toy Box Sound Pack, which you can download within the app.

One engaging project I like to complete when exploring the topic of earth and space science and the different atmospheres on other planets is a Intergalactic Weather Report. The video below was a quick demonstration of this project which was recorded during the 'Back to School' sessions at the start of 2023. Why not follow along and create your own?  

If you would like to learn more about creating projects such as this in GarageBand, these resources are a great place to start:

• Everyone Can Create Music
• Everyone Can Create Projects: Record a Podcast

I'd love to hear your ideas for using voice recorder in GarageBand? Add them below.