Educational film magazine; (19-)

SCHOOL MOVIES REDUCE TRUANCY Films Prove a Powerful Attraction to AH Scliool Pupils Enabling the Dullards to Keep Pace with the Brighter Ones MOVIES in the auditorium and the classroom are proving a boon to truant officers of the public schools, according to William L. Bodine, superintendent of compulsory educa- tion of the Chicago public schools. "Truancy is no longer the problem it was," he declares. "The low truancy rate of recent years, at least in Chicago, is explained not only in the rigid enforcement of the compulsory education laws and the efficient work of truant officers but by the fact that each year more and more is being done to make the school appeal to boys and girls. "Not only is more altertion being given to attractive subjects like household arts, shop work, music, drawing, but all the funda- mental branches are being taught in a way which reduces the drudgery and increases the interest. "Today truancy in Chicago amounts to barely one per cent of the enrollment—a remarkably low figure for a big city. Slides already are being used in Chicago schools to a large extent, and with the addition of educational movies, which will be shown right in the class room in connection with the lesson, I look to see even that one per cent average considerably reduced. I am strongly in favor of visual education, because I realize that it will do much to promote attendance. Lesson films in geography, his- tory, health and nature study will prove a powerful ally in arous- ing a desire to go to school. ."In every school there is a considerable group of children who, while not exactly in the subnormal class, are just on the border line. Too slow of comprehension to keep up with their quicker- witted classmates, they find themselves dropping further and further behind, and presently sitting in a class with pupils who are far less advanced physically. They begin to feel humiliated and out of place, gradually lose confidence in their ability to learn, and readily fall into the truancy habit. "Motion picture lessons have a good deal better chance than textbooks and oral explanations to penetrate the dull understand- ing of such pupils and to reach their interest. In addition, visual- ized lessons will lend the spice of novelty to school work which these 'repeaters' have reviewed over and over again. They will get a new slant on old lessons, and so be pricked into real enthusiasm and interest. "I believe that the next few years will see visual education established as a national proposition, in small towns and rural communities as well as in the big cities." MOTION PICTURES BASED ON FAMOUS PAINTINGS THE BEGGAR MAID is a motion picture based upon Burne- Jones's painting, "King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid," and" produced by the Triart Productions, Inc., New York. An an- cient story has been woven in with a modern one in which the artist, Burne-Jones, finding that his two models, an earl and a gardener's daughter, are in love, points to Tennyson's- lines to show that love knows no class distinctions. The painting, which is shown in the progress of creation in the motion picture, is shown upon the screen. i The plan to arouse interest in the world's paintings through the motion picture screen has been encouraged by some of America's best known artists and art patrons, including Louis Tiffany, Edwin H. Biashfield. Robert W. Aitken, Francis Jones, Charles Dana Qihaoti, nobert W. DeForest and Daniel Chester French. ATLANTA SCHOOL BOARD VOTES FILM FUND 'T'HE board of education of Atlanta, Ga., is the latest to vote an appropriation for the use of motion picture films in the local public schools to supplement the courses of study. Super- intendent William A. Sutton, who has been working towards this end for some time, declared that "motion pictures are to be- come one of the foremost factors in education." Three projectors have been installed and a director of visual instruction appointed. Films and slides to correlate with both high school and grade school studies will be employed. One of the projectors is to be of the portable type. The pictures are to be shown mainly in the classrooms. Mr. Sutton explained brieHv the proposed mode of procedure: "A certain class has been studying the ancient Romans. The director of visual instruction will be kept informed as to the progress of the class and when the subject has been completed he will be called upon to obtain a film of some historical work directly connected with such study. The students will then review the picture while the director points out the high lights in rela- tion to the course of study just closed. "Literature, biology, chemistry, physics, languages, manual training, and many lesser branches will be brought under this system. A film on Virgil is one we have in mind for those who have been studying his works. Geography is admirably adapted to the picture program because of the numerous travelogs which have been made showing actual scenes and human activi-, ties in almost every country." COMMUNITY MOVIES IN SYRACUSE, N. Y. AN INTERESTING story is told by Miss Minnie Paddock of the South Side Library Club of Syracuse, N. Y. This club desired to obtain money for their branch library. They also wished to build up fine neighborhood feeling. For some time they conducted lawn parties, community sings, stereopticon enter- tainments and lectures. Mr. Sumner, principal of a neighboring school, became in- terested with the club in motion pictures. The friendly theater manager cooperated and offered his theater for a special enter- tainment. They agreed to pay him a rental of $150 for two days; they then found thirty men who raised this money. With the theater at their disposal, they obtained "Selected Pictures," charged 15 cents admission and cleared $400. An Acme machine was purchased for $275 on which a friend underwrote $150 This machine is now being used throughout the neighborhood including the parochial school, the day schools, churches and halls. They rented it wilh an operator for $6 per day. Already the club has raised $50 by these rentals and is making regular contributions to the library while they are building up neighbor- hood spirit. At one of their meetings songs were written glorify- ing Syracuse and set to familiar tunes. THE FILM A PERMANENT SOCIAL EDUCATOR By T. E. Johnson state Superintendent of Schools, Michigan 'T'HE motion picture is a permanent social educator. The school can and should use it. The great problem is to secure the right kind of material both as to subject matter and method of presentation. The time is speedily coming when this will be done. 8