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Below is an article about me and my fourth-grade class that recently appeared in a local newspaper. 

PVE CLASS WRITE AND RECORD A RADIO BROADCAST  

by Linda Koehler

lkoehler@tnonline.com                         June 12, 2007

The children were gathered around the radio and were listening very intently. Huge smiles were pasted on their faces. They clapped, they giggled, they gave each other high fives.

They were listening to themselves on a prerecorded radio broadcast on station WESS FM at 90.3, East Stroudsburg University Radio.

Pleasant Valley Elementary teacher Dave Webb and his fourth grade class wrote and starred in their very own radio show of news, commercials and personality pieces.

"I've been doing this for 10 years but this is only the third time I've been able to get it on the air," says Webb.

He started doing the class project when he was teaching at St. Jude's in Mountaintop. The project was a morality show that focused on honesty and respect. It aired on King's College radio station in 1996.

"For the last two years, I've been working with East Stroudsburg University's radio station. They have been very supportive. They aired my Chestnuthill fourth grade class program last year and this year it was my PVE fourth grade class," he says proudly.

Webb says that after the stress of the PSSA (Pennsylvania System of Student Assessment) testing is over, he likes to do a project with the kids that is fun yet still incorporates learning, using a crossover of English and social studies classes.

"When I was a kid, I wanted to be on the radio. I imagined I had my own radio station, WEBB Radio."

Today, he is helping kids realize a dream he had at their age in a way that enhances their listening and speaking skills, not to mention the creative writing it takes to put a radio program together.

"The kids worked in groups to write the commercials. I wrote the fake news and interview stories and they would act them out," says Webb.

He then recorded it all on a four-track mixer.

To add to the excitement of the project, Webb wanted a "star" for the program. Searching the internet, he picked Bella Thorne, a nine-year-old actress, best known for her appearance in the Texas Instruments DLP commercial with the elephant that debuted during the Super Bowl game, and Target print ads. She has appeared in seven films and several commercials. Bella is also the same age as his students and in the same grade. He contacted her agent and before he knew it, he was sending her the script for "Recess Monkey." She recorded it at home and sent it back to him.

"Her family has been very supportive of this project. We sent Bella pictures of our class and pictures of the kids recording the segment," says Webb.

Bella became an inspiration for Webb's students.

"When we have guided reading, I tell them to read like Bella, with more expression," says Webb.

For even more encouragement, he gave out Bella-related prizes for good behavior, like the DVD (VG) of "Ant Bully" in which Bella is one of the voice-overs.

Bella, in return sent a special voice message to the class, which really impressed the kids.

Mr. Webb made sure every student of the class had at least one line to say on the recording.

"I have one rule and that is only kids' voices are recorded on the program."

"It was fun and exciting to hear ourselves on the radio," says Melanie Mazon, 10. "It was awesome."

"It was really funny. I liked it," says Spencer Andrews, 10, of the program.

Ronald Moore's line in the commercial of the Parent Controller was, "When I used the Parent Controller, I loved it!" But he thinks the best part of the project was having a Hollywood star appear in it. He thinks this was a great experience and wants to someday be a professional comedian. "People tell me I'm funny."

Tiffany Fabel, 10, says her line was "Oh tay" in the segment of Voice Activator 3000. Her favorite part of the program was hearing Bella Thorne say, "Here Monkey Monkey" in the  "Recess Monkey" segment. She adds, "I didn't like the way I sounded but I had fun doing it."

Webb found a way to make a classroom project so much fun, the students' behavior was the best it was for the whole school year during the three-week period they worked on it.

Mrs. Derr, PVE's assistant principal, told the class after the broadcast, "You should be very proud of yourselves."

And they are. Maybe this experience will even produce a future radio personality.

Copyright 2007 Times News