Audio broadcasts and podcasts: oral storytelling and dramatisation

This resource aims to support students in the process of dramatising a short story or novel that they have been studying. Students begin this lesson by discussing what makes a good, vivid story and creating a working checklist of the criteria for a good story. They explore background information about The War of the Worlds broadcast from 1938. They read the broadcast script from the show and compare its characteristics to those listed in the checklist they created. They then listen to audio of the production and compare it to the script version. Students then create their own audio dramatization of a text they have read, following a process that takes them from preproduction activities, such as outlining, through postproduction activities, such as editing and publishing their work. During the process, they analyse how The War of the Worlds script conveys emotion and feeling. Finally, students share their broadcasts with the class and use a checklist to assess each other's work.