What was the Untied States like in 1938? What were the concerns of Americans in the post World War I era? What were their fears? What were their sources of news and entertainment? To understand the reaction to Orson Welles' radio broadcast of War of the World groups research various aspects of American culture and the power of radio in 1938 and present their findings to their classmates.

Concepts

the war of the worlds, science fiction

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Additional Tags

h.g. wells, horror genre, radio shows, war of the worlds, post wwi, english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Begin by playing the audio of a old radio show
• Present just the audio of a recent news broadcast

Pros

• Home group experts share their findings in a jigsaw activity

Cons

• None

Common Core

RI.9-10.1 RI.11-12.7