Lesson Three: Charles Badger Clark, Jr., and Ida Anding McNeil
Focus Questions:
• How did Clark begin his writing career? Who helped him?
• How did Clark make a living?
• How did radio station KGFX get started?
• How did McNeil’s most popular radio program help the community?
Imbedded Information In The Student Lesson:
; "A Cowboy’s Prayer"; state flag
Worksheet:
Classroom Activities:
Have each student write a four-line poem about a historical South Dakota person, place, or event, and illustrate their work. Display the poems and illustrations.
Have students design a new South Dakota state flag. As a class, decide what people, places, or events from South Dakota history they should use in their new design. Students can then each design their own, choosing from suggestions during the discussion. Or, the class can jointly decide what elements the flag must have, and then each student does the individual artwork.
After reading about McNeil and KGFX, have the class listen to a radio station broadcast for ten minutes. Discuss what they heard – news, music, advertisements. How is what they heard today on the radio different from what early KGFX had on the air? Are some things the same? As a related exercise, have the students produce their own radio program, including news, community service information, weather, "talk," and music. Tape it and play it for the class.
