The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

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School Department 229 as industrious picture-gathering, for the avel stories must be plentifully illus- ated, and sources hitherto little appre- ated became storehouses of material for le clippers. In this connection the chil- ren were very naturally led to a careful int in worth-while magazines with hich they might otherwise have re- ained unacquainted, and the reading of mple accounts of travel was encour- ?ed. After a study of each topic "on the round" so to speak, an outline of a leme or "story" was worked out in class, ere, as in all other phases of the project, ie children suggested what had most terested them, and the teacher merely lped to organize the outline into a well- mnded whole. Then the class wrote the cry, which was submitted in first draft ir corrections. Here was an opportu- ty for a tie-up with the English De- .rtment. Before the travel book could ceive any account, it must first pass irough the hands of the English instruc- »r, and be approved. Slides were invaluable. They were used the study of nearly all the subjects eated, and in some cases—such as the ory of iron ore—no other means was > valuable. Motion pictures played a large part, or instance, the class "saw" New York ty via the camera; they had a trip rough portions of Puget Sound and the ty of Tacoma by the same, means, and e journey through the Panama Canal as taken on the modern "magic carpet" •the strip of celluloid. Maps—both wall and desk outline maps •were made, and added to, continually, ot only was a map of the United States :pt as a frontispiece to the travel book, i which were filled in features of those )rtions of the country visited from time | time, but maps of smaller regions such i New England were a necessary means • the learning of place relationships in e region. Coast features could be learned so well in no other way. Color- ing a map usually meant added interest in its making. Map games were most eagerly followed —and here the blackboard outline maps came in. The games were of the chil- dren's own invention for the most part. Sometimes one of the class was elected to be "it" while others in turn asked him to point out places which had been "vis- ited," or previously discovered in connec- tion with some commodity studied. He was allowed to play until he missed when his place was taken by someone else. At other times the game was reversed. The one at the board asked the question, "What is here," or, "Name this feature," pointing to a location on the map, and calling upon others to answer. The sand table was useful in many cases. Massachusetts Bay became a sub- ject for modelling in connection with the study of Boston, and one of the finest pieces of work done during the project was a "model" of the Panama Canal with its locks and cuts and different levels ac- curately portrayed. It is not to be inferred that in the en- thusiasm for visualization no textbook work was required. Quite the contrary was true. With the problem defined, the pupil was sent to his text or to references se- lected, for all the information he could gather. The result of the experiment was sur- prising even to a staunch advocate of the visual idea. The novelty, not only of the project, but of the method of approach, replaced apathy toward a subject little understood, with an enthusiasm not pre- viously apparent. There can be no doubt that the eighteen weeks resulted in a firmer groundwork in simple essentials, making it possible for the pupils to go on with the work of their grade with some chance of success. A high score was made in final examination questions like these: "Where have we seen an island? an isthmus? a peninsula? a bay?