The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 204 The Educational Screen Meadville, Penna., August 30, 1935. Dear Educational Screen Advertising Manager: The noon mail today brought your Macedonian call for our advertising copy for the September number. Here is my excuse for not having the copy ready for the last mail this evening. Three different friends came in for a little visit, each just back from a summer vacation. Each produced the inevitable snapshots of his summer cottage or of the hotel or of the surroundings of his summer location, and each insisted on putting me through the grueling experience we all have once every year of looking at someone else's vacation snapshots. I was just on the point of ignoring your letter al- together when it occurred to me that many school children, every day, are put through the same sort of boring experiences that I had this afternoon. They are required to look at lantern slides or mo- tion pictures, or to read pages from their text- books, for which they have no adequate back- ground of experience. The chief reason why my friends' snapshots bored me this afternoon is the fact that the pictures were of places and things which I had not seen and were not related to things with which I have had personal experience. There is the same reason why children do not respond to many of the pictures to which they are subjected. So, instead of my regular "ad," I wish, Mr. Educa- tional Screen Advertising Manager, that you would call to the attention of your readers the fact that this is just why the Keystone View Company insists on teachers using stereographs, duplicates of lantern slide pictures in many cases, as back- ground with which to build understandings for meaningful educational activities. Stereographs are third-dimension pictures, very realistic and very impressive. When the child sees the third- dimension picture of a situation, he feels that he is there, hie will not be bored by the projected picture in its less meaningful two-dimension form, hie will be more responsive to all the ordinary pic- torial and text materials available and, therefore, a more interested and receptive learner. Very truly yours. ADVERTISING MANAGER of the KEYSTONE VIEW COMPANY GEH-EGV Teaching Egypt with Etched Glass Slides By GEORGE E. HOWARD Principal Maple School LaPorte, Indiana THIS PROJECT was carried out by a group of 5B ' children. The lesson was motivated by the use of a slide map of Africa from which the children located Egypt and its Geographic surroundings. After the teacher had told an interesting story of the ancient life of Egypt the children expressed a desire to make an imaginary journey to that country. The children were given a week's time to collect pictures of Egypt and to learn all they could about their pictures. The children looked thru all the books on the book shelves to gather information. Some went to thd public library. Many of the pictures were taken from the rotogravure section of the Chicago Tribune. As the school had only 23 etched glass, a commit- tee from the class selected the pictures to be repro- duced. Among the most important were a view of the Nile Valley, the Pyramids, the Sphinx, King Tut's Tomb, a mummy, a street scene in Cairo, a cara- van, and a close up showing the costumes of the people. A day was set for the picture "Show". Two boys were taught to handle the slides and as the slides were shown the pupil that made it gave the report. Most of the reports were very good. At the end of each report the members of the class were given a chance to ask questions. If the question could not be answered it was noted for a later discussion. The use of this method of instruction created more interest than any other I have ever used. These boys and girls feel that they have been there and know at first hand something about the manners, customs and life of the Egyptians. It all goes to prove that Visual Aids are a rapid and at the same time a thorough and realistic method of getting information to the pupils. Foreign Films at International House {Concluded from page 187) cinema merely as entertainment, expecting thrills and chills, will be as disappointed as the foot-weary bumpkin who spent a day trying to appreciate the works in the Art Institute with only a funny paper background. The transition from the Sunday comic section to the paintings of the masters is a span in experience which can not be taken in one leap. The pleasure aflforded by the highest forms of painting and literature, like the enjoyment of foreign cine- ma, is not possible without a period of growth rooted deep in significant experience as a back- ground.