WiS Lesson 1C

The original Writing in Stereo was published online back in the late 1980’s.  Its purpose was to apply creative radio dramatics to all aspects of the teaching of high school English.  Each lesson included a lesson plan and notes.  I’m sharing these with you here.

UNIT OBJECTIVE: (I) The student will write four (4) original narratives and dramatize each for radio. LESSON OBJECTIVE: (C) The student will compose prose narratives for the following melodramatic genre, and dramatize and record each for radio: 1. Adventure/Romance 2. Cops 'n' Robbers/Detective Mystery 3. Western 4. Science Fiction MATERIALS REQUIRED: Pencil and paper, audio tape recorder/player, some recording space, prerecorded examples of the above program types INTRODUCTION: Now you know how to write radio plays and record them. This week we're going to write and record four more shows. You'll have to be a little more original than you were for the fairy tales, but you've seen examples of these four types many times on television and in the movies. PROCEDURE 1. Write each of the four types of programs on the board as you play examples of each. (Short samples should give students the idea.) 2. Brainstorm unusual settings, characters, and situations for each of the program types. Have students write stories for their original programs. 3. Follow PROCEDURE steps 2-6 in Lesson Objective I-B. 4. Allow no more than three (3) classroom days to complete all four (4) programs. EVALUATION FOCUS: Judge these on the same criteria used in the previous objective. You may wish to award extra credit to those adding any special performance flourishes. Do not allow improved or gifted performances before the microphone to distract you from the writing adaptation objective.