RADAR
(Recognizing And Dramatizing Alternative Registers)
Playwriting and Drama-based Residency for Developing Mainstream Academic English Skills
Grade Levels: 3-8
Program Components:
20 classroom sessions + culminating performance with professional actors
About the RADAR Residency
RADAR teaches Mainstream Academic English (MAE) through imaginative, high-energy activities. Created by Playwrights Project in 1996 for English speakers who don't hear MAE at home or in their neighborhoods, RADAR has convinced students in over 25 classrooms that it's "cool" to know MAE when you need it. RADAR is a 20-session residency for grades 3-8, culminating in a performance of drama-based exercises and students' scenes. The sessions use theatre games, improvisation, writing exercises and informal readings to give students practice in code-switching (using the language register appropriate for a particular setting and purpose). Building on each student's strengths, RADAR integrates family experiences and home languages into classroom activities. Time is spent developing trust, exploring individual choices, sharpening oral and written skills, and stretching the imagination. RADAR supports the Visual and Performing Arts Framework, as Literacy Content Standards.
What Students and Educators Say about RADAR
"It's very important to know the difference between what you speak outside and what you speak inside"
-8th grade student
"The drama helps me to learn the words. It helps me to pay attention. My mom teaches me correct English at home all the time, but here I learn the whys."
-8th grade student
"The teacher helped me realize that in order to succeed in life, you can't be shy no matter what. The real fun was when we wrote the script. I have to be honest, I didn't think it would be as good as it was!"
-8th grade student
"The RADAR program is endorsed highly by all stakeholders-students, teachers, and parents alike. Informal classroom observations revealed that if enthusiasm were an indicator, students would earn high ratings in classroom participation and in their engagement in the culminating performance...and beyond qualitative aspects, study findings also suggest objective gains in the acquisition of language and communication skills in general and Mainstream English in particular."
-1997 Study of the RADAR Program by San Diego City Schools Planning, Assessment, Accountablity, and Development Division
