|
Classroom Vignette
"Et tu, Ms. Ressler?" Radio Show Podcasts and Julius Caesar
by Sarah Ressler
Julius Caesar does not always inspire sophomores to
great scholastic heights— especially when the class is mostly rowdy boys the last
period of the day. I wanted to fire the neurons of my students' brains and also
combine a classic with modern advertising and propaganda techniques. I designed
a final project so that students could analyze Julius Caesar
and demonstrate their knowledge of the play along with their knowledge of advertising,
propaganda, and persuasive techniques (Ohio Content Standards that are not always
easy to tie into other curriculum). I assessed my students by asking them to create
a radio show with propaganda ads for the leaders of Rome, music that related to
the plot of Julius Caesar, and advertising that dealt
with aspects of the play. The results were entertaining and intriguing podcasts
for students to play for one another.
My first step for the project was to invite in a DJ from a local radio station to
discuss how radio stations operate— how much time the DJ spends talking, how stations
bring in advertising revenue, etc. Our DJ helped our students design their own unique
radio stations and helped them decide what kinds of advertising each station would
use, based on its demographics. Next, students wrote out their basic radio information— call
letters, name, catch slogan, etc. They included the types of advertising and advertisers
they used and why, based on their average listener (see
Handout 1, "Julius Caesar Podcast Radio Stations").
After writing up their radio format, students had to commit pencil to paper again
to create their entire show. They wrote what they would say as a DJ and composed
their propaganda ads for each potential leader in the play (Brutus, Caesar, Cassius,
and Antony), using propaganda and persuasive techniques to highlight the specific
characteristics of each figure from the play. Students also had to write up three
advertisements that related to Julius Caesar in some
way with appropriate ad techniques for their station. Finally, they had to include
any other scripted parts— callers, contests, etc. (see the radio station information
and rubric in Handout
1).
Once they finished their writing, students each checked out for the class period
a Macintosh laptop computer with GarageBand*
software already installed (see
Handout 2, "Creating Your Own Podcast"). The software allows students to
record voices, song clips, and a variety of effects to create a unique radio show.
The recording and music/effects additions took most students about three days of
class time. Upon completion, students saved their GarageBand recording as an MP3
file that could be downloaded into iTunes. When they submitted those electronically
to me, they also had to hand in a rationale detailing their connections between
Julius Caesar and each song picked, the ideas and techniques
behind their advertisements, and the persuasive and propaganda methods utilized
in their leadership spots (see "Rationale" in
Handout 1).
To finalize the podcasts and make them more authentic, I took the students' saved
files and downloaded them to Moodle, a discussion bulletin board where students
with passwords can discuss and download information. Students were able to download
one another's podcasts and rock out on their computers or iPods to modern-day songs
and ads with classical themes! I am including a sample of what they have done here.
Podcast One is one student's complete podcast, and Podcast Two is a mix of podcasts.
Overall, I had several students who greatly enjoyed the project— some spending extra
time during study halls and outside of class to make their broadcasts unique. One
student who abhors all fictional literature actually won an award for the most creative
podcast— she had Brutus call in to request Eye of the Tiger.
I actually awarded several prizes, including best station name, best radio voice,
best propaganda, best advertising, and best song choices. However, not all of the
students did their homework, and many of them failed to finish their podcasts because
they could not start until their station script was finished. I learned that I need
to differentiate the assignment more so students could all finish— fewer ads and
propaganda spots for those less capable and more push for a unique radio aspect
(contest, callers, etc.) for each station.
Yet all my students, finished or not, have requested another opportunity to create
podcasts in conjunction with our studies— they love the opportunity to add their
own effects and music and personalize their learning. Now I just have to find a
new standard to tackle with technology to keep my zany last period focused!
*An alternative to GarageBand is the free software Audacity found at
http://audacity.sourceforge.net.
Sarah Ressler has been teaching English for nine years and earned National Board
Certification in 2006. She recently became the English Department chair at R. B.
Hayes High School in Delaware, Ohio, and just published a chapter in the book Interpretative
Play: Using Critical Perspectives to Teach Young Adult Literature. She is ready
to embrace a new challenge with the impending birth of her son, with husband Chad,
in early April of 2008.
Return to top
|
|
