Why Use Radio Drama in the Classroom? (to read this section, Click Here)

Turning Passive Students into Active Learners

A Brief History of Radio Drama in America

The Radio Drama Project

Preparing Your Students

Writing in the Theatre of the Mind

• Writing: a Recipe for Images
• Examples for Students
• Script Format
• Production Style
• Script Style
  • One Play by the Whole Class
  • Individual or Small Group Scripts
• Sound Effects

Producing in the Theatre of the Mind

• Selecting a Play to Produce
• Jobs Involved in Producing a Radio Drama
• Equipment
• Production Style
• Studio Rules
• Common Purposes of Sound Effects
• Using Sound Effects
• Kinds of Sound Effects
• Sound Used in Radio Drama
• Transitions Between Scenes
• Changing a Sound's Character
• Recorded Sound Effects
• Manual Sound Effects
• Acting
• Casting the Play
• Rehearsals
• Setup Details
  • Presenting for an Audience
  • Recording the Production

Computer Assisted Audio Drama Production

• Creating a Recorded Play on a Computer
• Working with Digital Sound Files
  • Two Kinds of Audio
  • Required Hardware
• Using Software
• Recording to the Hard Drive
• Recording with Adobe Audition
• Cutting Unwanted Sound from a File
• Processing a Digital Sound File
  • Changing Volume
  • Fade-in/Fade-out
  • Generating Silence
  • Reducing Noise
• Appending
  • Splice Parts of Two Files
  • Combining Multiple Files
• Hard Limiting
• Other Operations
• Collecting Sound Effects
• Using Adobe Audition Multitrack Function to Add Sound Effects and Music
• Creating a Sound Effects CD

Unit Plans

• Unit Plan 1, Readers Theatre
• Unit Plan 2, Producing "The Last Leaf" Level I Script for an Audience
• Unit Plan 3, Adapting a Short Story with the Whole Class
• Unit Plan 4, A Night to Remember
• Unit Plan 5, A Favorite Myth
• Unit Plan 6, A Radio Drama Project for All Subject Areas

Information Sheets

• Radio Drama Glossary of Terms
• Mark-Up Scripting for Readers Theatre
• Acting, Analysis of the Play
• The Mechanics of Acting
• Job Descriptions
• Level Check
• Hand Signals
• Sound Effects
• Recording Sound Effects
• Using Recorded SFX on CDs
• Using Recorded SFX on Cassettes
• Manual Sound Effects
• Writing in the Theatre of the Mind
• Suggestions for Writing in the Theatre of the Mind
• Script Structure
• Script Format
• Selecting a Story to Adapt
• Steps in Adapting a Story
• "Pandora's Box" a retelling of the Greek myth
• Outline Development of "Pandora’s Box" (adapting a story)
• Writing an Original Radio Script
• Outline Development of "Planet RT-1" (original script)

Student Worksheets

• A Dozen Great Myths
• Creating Manual Sound Effects
• Listening to a Radio Drama
• Rehearsal Critique Notes
• Sequencing the Encounter A Night to Remember Worksheet
• ADAPTING A STORY
  • Story Analysis [Adapting a Story] Worksheet # 1
  • Summary [Adapting a Story] Worksheet # 2
  • Breaking Summary into Scenes [Adapting a Story] Worksheet # 3
  • Scene Analysis [Adapting a Story] Worksheet # 4
• WRITING AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT
  • Develop a Concept [Writing an Original Radio Script] Worksheet # 1
  • Summary [Writing an Original Radio Script] Worksheet # 2
  • Breaking Summary into Scenes [Writing an Original Radio Script] Worksheet # 3
  • Scene Development [Writing an Original Radio Script] Worksheet # 4
• Audition Sheet

Resources Section

• Readers Theatre
• Short Stories
• Scripts
• Sound Effects
• Radio Dramas on Tape or CD
• A Note About Prices
• Digital Editing Software
• CD Creation Software
• Equipment

Production Scripts