Using Radio Theater as a Teaching Tool

Twenty-five years ago, when my usual drama lessons stopped working, desperation led me to one of the best teaching tools I’ve ever used. It was only November of my second-year teaching, and my middle school students were reluctant to participate, afraid to read or even speak aloud. Racking my brain, I suddenly remembered radio theater. Although I was a little nervous about using it as a teaching tool, I decided to try it and never looked back.

While I’ve used radio theater with a variety of ages, I’ve found it especially effective with middle school students, though upper elementary students also enjoy many of the activities.

WHAT IS RADIO THEATER?

If you aren’t familiar with radio theater, it might remind you of readers theater, but it’s much more than that. Developed in the early 1920s as a form of broadcast storytelling, it has recently reemerged through podcasting as a powerful modern strategy for teaching communication and collaboration skills. Typically, radio theater is presented with live sound effects and music, and is performed before a live audience or recorded.

In my classroom, radio theater looks like this: Students are around the room in small groups, working on different components of the story. One small group is working on sound effects, creating footsteps using shoes on different surfaces; another group is on the computer looking for music to include in the performance; another group is reading through prepared scripts, practicing different voices for characters.

Radio theater is so engaging because it removes many of the barriers that make participation difficult. There’s no memorization required, and students perform side by side, supported by the group. This structure allows even reluctant students to experiment with voice, expression, and emotion.

When I get started with a particular story, I often ask for student volunteers to play specific roles. This allows students who are more hesitant to take on large roles to still participate in a meaningful way through serving as the sound effects or music crew. Students in these roles play an important part, as they create the background noise that adds depth to our storytelling and sets radio theater apart from just reading a script in front of a silent room.

4 Simple Ways to Introduce Radio Theater

Here are a few ways to introduce radio theater and build that sense of safety and engagement in your classroom:

1. Sound symphony. Sound symphonies are a great way to introduce radio theater to your students and build both listening and collaboration skills. For this activity, seat students in a circle and then tell them a setting to create using sounds.

For example, you may say that the group is in a zoo, and then all students are encouraged to make whatever sounds they imagine would be at a zoo. You could also use a busy street or even outer space as your setting.

This activity gets all students involved without any pressure, since all students are participating together. The teacher roams the room noting points for those participating or off task. You might call it controlled chaos. But that’s what makes it engaging.

2. Good morning, honored guest. How are you? This activity is a high-engagement way for students to practice vocal variety and inflection. Here’s how it works: Students take turns disguising their voices and speaking to a classmate whose back is turned. The listener tries to guess who is speaking. While this game is played one at a time, the rest of the class remains highly engaged as they watch their peers try to guess, and the game moves pretty quickly, so lots of students can have the opportunity to play.

As students participate, they get to experiment using different voices and paces to speak. While it hasn’t been a problem in my own classroom, I could imagine a situation in which a student would do an accent or voice that would be deemed inappropriate. In order to avoid this, I recommend setting ground rules about appropriate classroom behavior and reminding students to be respectful as they engage in the game.

3. Postcard soundscape. This activity is another soundscape-based activity, but in this version, students use an image as a prompt as opposed to being told a specific setting. For this activity, students work in small groups to study one or more images, then brainstorm how to re-create the scene using only their voices and simple classroom objects. Each group performs their soundscape for the class.

For example, during one class, a group of students selected an image of people whitewater rafting. They worked together to create the sound of splashing water by shaking water bottles and using rain sticks, and used their voices to help create the scene by excitedly exclaiming, “Look up ahead!”

This activity fosters collaboration and encourages creative problem-solving as students work together to create the scene.

4. Folktale radio plays. Radio plays require a bit more time and planning, but they offer a great way to build students’ speaking and listening skills. In this activity, students work in pairs or small groups to adapt a short fairy tale into a script and then perform it for the class or another small group.

For example, during one class, I had groups of students all create their own versions of “The Three Little Pigs.” Students read the story, outlined which characters needed lines, and labeled where the sound effects should occur. Students then created their own scripts and sound effects and performed them for the class.

Radio theater makes participation possible for every student, regardless of their confidence level or prior experience. It is nonthreatening, creative, and fun, and offers a unique pathway to learning.