After a night of candy-gathering and possibly even some tricks, students on the 3rd floor 8thgrade team were given a different kind of treat this past week.  The 8th grade team of Hanley, Hall, Joyce, Runyon, Johnson, and Hanlon changed up the courses for the day to make room for a special "Team Day," where students learned about 1930s radio broadcasts and the panic resulting from Orson Wells' "War of the Worlds" broadcast from October 30, 1938.

Students attended a presentation outlining the basic science and history behind radio waves and broadcast transmissions, detailing the early years of radio.  Special attention was paid to the early radio shows and their connection to vaudeville plays, as well as how radio was essentially the sole source of information and entertainment for people of that time.  The presentation also included segments on Foley artistry, which was the art of creating sound effects for radio (and later film), using everyday objects.  The presentation ended with specific information regarding the "War of the Worlds" radio play produced by Wells, detailing how and why it lead to mass panic.

Following the presentation, students engaged in a quick-write activity which asked them to imagine what it would be like to not be in possession of all of our current technology, relying solely on radio, newspapers, and second-hand sources for information.  After a brief discussion of their answers, the students listened to the entire broadcast as it originally aired in 1938.

During the broadcast, students used active listening strategies to write down and sketch out things they were hearing, so they could be used later in the day.  Once the broadcast was completed, students had to complete a R.A.F.T assignment.  R.A.F.T. stands for "Role Audience Format Topic." Students were assigned a specific Topic (the resulting panic) and asked to choose from a predetermined list of Roles they could assume as the author, an Audience they could be targeting, and a Format they would use, all while maintaining the selected topic of describing the panic.

Once the writing assignment was completed, students were given a chance to flex their artistic skills and create a "movie poster" for the radio play.  Artwork such as this allows students to better connect the auditory experience of the radio play with the more visual experiences with which they are more familiar.

Lastly, students finished up the day with a short documentary video which further explained the mass panic resulting from the ill-timed radio broadcast, and the fallout that took place in the immediate aftermath.