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Kids Talk about Star Schools

Students at King Estates Middle School in Oakland, CA worked with Radio Magic and the Distance Learning Resource Network to produce a series of public service announcements (PSA) celebrating the successes of the Star Schools Program. The King Estates sixth grade students, who used the TEAMS Media Literacy programming, wrote, edited, and recorded the PSAs with Madeleine Wild, Director of Radio Magic. The students interviewed parents, teachers or students from the CLASS, Mountain Plains Distance Learning Partnership, SERC, USDLC and TEAMS projects.

How does Radio Magic work?

Director Madeleine Wild spent five sessions with the students teaching them how to interview and write public service announcements, or "spots", how to use the Radio Magic portable recording studio and how to perform the spots. Writing the spots required the students to learn about the benefits of the Star Schools Program and its various distance learning techniques. Part of the process included interviewing, at a distance, parent, teacher, and student participants of the Program, and to creatively incorporate this information into thirty-second spots. Ms. Wild and her associates also trained the students to use the Radio Magic portable recording studio and to engage students in the process voiceover actors experience in making commercials or spots. Finally, Ms. Wild taught the students specific voice techniques and reading skills to make the spots sound authentic and lively.

What do kids say?

The students successfully completed these PSAs and enjoyed participating in this project. Some of their comments submitted on evaluation forms include:

"I learned that if a group really tries, they can succeed in a project."
"I learned to speak with more emphasis and to be more motivated."
"I learned how to use my voice in many ways."
"I learned that it is not easy to put together a commercial. It takes a lot of time to get the lines right…I also learned it was fun."
"I learned how to speak clearly."
"The highlight was writing the scripts for the commercials."
"I learned how Star Schools can help students learn by distance learning."
"I enjoyed using the microphone to make funny voices."
"We learned how to interview and how to do a commercial. It was fun and educational."
"I learned how to work with other kids without getting into a fight. The best part was making our commercial with my group."
"I learned to take things seriously, read clearly, pay attention to your work and how important correct spelling and grammar are."

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