Radio Morning Show

Today I have a guest blog post by one of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Patterson.  Mrs. Patterson is the Theatre Arts teacher at one of our middle schools.  I hope that one day my own children get to be in her class or have the opportunity to know a teacher like her.  Her project below is a great idea and if I can convince the kids and parents, I'll post some samples of their finished projects in the next week or so.  Thank you Mrs. Patterson for sharing.

My beginning and intermediate theatre students were introduced to radio vocabulary and advertisement on Day 1 of this assignment. We listened to a few short morning show clips and after the notes were taken students were assigned a group (3-4 students). They then brainstormed ideas for call and frequency numbers (96.7 Kiss FM).  The students must also have radio “names” (Lunch Box, Susie Q,) and research current news stories to include in their show. Here is a quick summary of the lesson:

Objective: Students will create a 8- 10 minute morning show with current events, commercials, and sound effects through the use of SoundzaBound, IPOD’s, Sound Bible, Garage Band, and any device of their choice. They will present to the class and will follow the rubric handed out to them at the beginning of the project. Students must have 2 local news stories, 2 US news, 1 world, 2 sports, 2 entertainment, weather, 3 songs (no longer than 30 seconds) and 2 sound effects.

Procedure:

• Students will take notes over radio terminology.
• Pair students up and distribute radio worksheet and devices
• Students will brainstorm radio show name, call sign, character names, genera of music
• Students will research current events and write out 3 sentences on each story
• Students will write their commercial
• Students will put all information into a script and can type it up in Google Docs.
• Students will ding sound effects using Sound Bible, SoundzaBound, or IPOD free sound effects.
• Students will rehearse their show
• Performance day!! (Students will be in front of the classroom while the others turn around. Students will just hear the radio show. They will not see it as you can “see” on the radio.

Check out some of the best radio shows below:

This is one of my most favorite projects. Not only does it integrate current events and history into theatre, but it allows the students to use technology, be creative, write a script, and perform. Students are learning to work effectively in groups, monitor time, all while putting together a finished product. In the middle of their presentation I hand them a Breaking News article that they must add into the program. I love to listen to them when they are complete! My students have a lot of fun with this project!

Mrs. Patterson's website