"Reading and Writing and Radio" are half-hour radio programs designed to stimulate kids to write, and enjoy doing so.  The program began at the University of Wisconsin's "School of the Air" in 1969, called "The Author is You," and continued there untill 1975 when Sangamon State University's public radio station took over the production, and we aired the program, newly named "Reading and Writing and Radio," directly into area classrooms - from second through 8th grade with some high school classes!

The children listened, wrote, then sent their writing to me. Three weeks were topics to stimulate writing and the fourth week, we read over the air from every participating class. The kids were delighted to hear their work. This radio program continued for twenty years.  After that, many teachers continued it in their classrooms, having taped the segments. Some still do!

The programs here are the ones to stimulate writing. Some are dated but many will never be out of date - such as "Tall Girl" and "I Laughed so Hard I Wet My Pants." I didn't steer away from hard topics: children even wrote on death and divorce.

These tapes are ideal for use in both current classrooms and home schooling. I urge the teacher or parent to realize that these are for the ideas and writing, not a sneaky way to teach spelling and grammar - and especially not the five-paragraph essay, which kills creative writing. Teachers told me about the value of this approach. A poor speller could have his excellent piece read on the air. A kid with terrible handwriting would get equal time and appreciation. Kids who often didn't succeed could be successful. The purpose is to have kids love to express themselves, and not be throttled by the "rules."

The list below represents over 72 hours of "Reading and Writing and Radio. These MP3 programs may be heard by clicking on the selection to open your preferred media player, or you may "Save Link As" to download the file for your use elsewhere. If you listen to or make use of any of these materials, we'd love to hear from you about it. Use the "Contact" menu selection to the left.

A B C D Goldfish?
Adoption
Adventure / Misadventure
Alice , Florence and Medusa: Lost Women
Alicia's Story
Alone
An' the Gobble-uns'll Git You
And All So Still, So Still
And Flip Flop She Flied
And the Tree Was Happy
Anger
Archives
Around the Round Barn
Author Berniece Rabe
Awakening Eye, The

Beautiful is Thy Tongue, 0 Shep!
Birthday Party
Blindness
Body Electric
Bored Outa My Gourd
Breakfast with Arwen
Bruise
Buster Brown and Tige Club, The
But You're the Youngest

Catching Woodies
Cautionary Tales
Clever as Clever
Colorful Symphony, A

Danger! Magic!
Dead as a Dodo
Dial-a-Poem
Disaster Area!
Dischord, Dynne, and the Soundkeeper
Do You Believe in Green?
Doctor is In, The
Don't Just Do Something, Sit There

Earth Day, 1991
Eavesdrop!
Eh, Stupid?
Emily: I'm Nobody

Fairies in a Frenzy
Fantasy Trip
Fingerpainting With Words
Frith in a Fog
Frodo Lives!
Funshop
Future: It Ain't What It Used to Be

Garlic Sang, The
Getting Mad
Goin' Down to Narnia
Grandma Plus
Great Ice Storm, The

Ha! The Butterfly!
He Went Down To Oh-Oh
Heart's Treasury
Honest Injun
House Across the Street, The
How Are You? I Am Fine
How Did Noodle Die?
How Do We Know They Care?
How Much Money Would Make You Happy?

I Am Fed on Proper Meat
I Bet You Never
I Can't B'lieve That!
I Didn't Mean to be Bad
I Forgot
I Got the Power
I Have a Sister - My Sister is Deaf
I Know You Told Me Not To, But
I Laughed So Hard I Wet My Pants
I'm Nobody - Who Are You?
Impulse
International Children's Year
Interview with Abigail
Interview With Elizabeth Konopacek
It's Not the End of the World

Jamboree!
James James Morrison Morrison
Journal Jottings - Virden Variations
Journals from Staley

Kid Power
Kids in Charge! #1
Kids in Charge! #2
Kids in Charge! #3
Kiss and Cuddle Hop, the

Lazyboneitis
Let's Hear It from the Teachers
Let's Raise the Roof for Lindsay
Let's Raise the Roof for Ridgely
Liggle Biggle and In-Betwiggle
Longfellows

Magical Moments
Making Money
Me Best Thoughts
Misery is Doing the Wrong Page in Arithmetic
Mobile Holmes
Monster!
Motormouth Keeps a Secret
Mud Between Your Toes
My Mom, the Mechanic

Neverending Story, the
Nixarolla
No One Knows

O Beloved Kids/Soviet Kids (pen pal program)
O Frabjous Day
O Ye Jigs and Juleps
Off With Your Head
Oh, the Ghosts, the Ghosts!
On Top of Spaghetti
One Square Foot
Ostrobogulous Piffle

Patchwork Quilt
Patty's Story
Pen Pal Rap Session
Pen Pal Time, with Tip Sheet
Pen Pals
Please Call Me Vachel
Poets Laureate - John Knopfle
Poohsticks
Pump Primers
Punc. Sentences
Pure Magic

Ready Heart, The
Return of the Twelves, The
Rockin' Rollin' Down the Pavement
Rollabye
Round Barn Revisited
Round Barn, The
Runaway

S * P * A * C * E * S
Sawdust Cake
Saying Goodbye
Saying No
Scab Sandwich
Scarey Spots & Creepy Corners
She's Got Eyes of Blue
She's So Yitchy and Bliggy!
Showers of Flowers
Silver and Gold
Sing For Spring
Skunk Boy
Small Voices
So Bad it Hurts
Socks Two
Songs for Special Occasions
Sugar and Snails
Swarm in May, A

Talk with Our Congressman, A
Tall Girl
Tending to the Baobabs
Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The
Thank You Very Much (for the Underwear)
That I Must Sing, Sing, Sing
There's Always Pooh and Me
Thumpy's Story - A Loss
Time Capsule
Tizathee
Toad Gets Sick
Toast That Talks
Tricks
True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, The
TV or Not TV
Twelve Full Onces

Very Vuggy

Waltzing Matilda
Warrior Scarlet, A
Way It's Spozed to Be, The
What If?
What is the Point of Life?
What is Your Dream?
What My Ears Hear
What Were You in the Christmas Play?
When She was Bad, She was Horrid
Where the Dashpots Go By
Who Are You?
Whyncha Pick On Somebody Your Own Size?
Wind in the Willows, The
W--K and Another Four-letter Word
Would You Believe...
Wy. Becas It Is Pludid.

Young Ornithologists
You're Pulling My Leg