The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 136 The Educational Screen Elementary-School Clinics Orville T. Bright, Superintendent of Schools, Flossmoor, Illinois, Chairman Three Sessions of Elementary-School Clinics included demonstrations of the use of visual aids in six different sub- ject areas at primary, intermediate, and upper grade levels. The first demonstration, a sixth-grade lesson centering around the sound film The Perfect Tribute, was conducted by Miss Mildred C. Letton of the University of Chicago Elementary School. As an introductory to the film-showing. Miss Letton read parts of the story and asked the pupils to see how closely the film followed the book. The significant value of films in correlating history and litera- ture became apparent as the class dis- cussed and compared in terms of their historical significance the motion picture and story versions of Marian Shipman -Anderson's classic. A sheet was then distributed to the pupils on which they were to fill in the film version of the various scenes. Hand - made and photographic slides were used in a primary reading lesson demonstrated by Miss Florence Hedtke of Bowen School, Riverdalc, Illinois. The children read a simple story as it was flashed on the screen in thought units. Later these thought-unit slides were com- bined with other slides which provided situations for the children to identify, and tasks for them to perform to indi- cate the extent of their comprehension. The point was brought out that many more things were used in this lesson than are normally used in a class period in or- der that teachers could see the many possibilities. Physical education and social studies were correlated in the demonstration of Miss .Aileen McAllister of the Nichols School in Evanston, Illinois. Other active contributing fields, Miss McAllister stated, were art, music, dramatics, langu- age arts, health and physical fitness. Because of the current interest in South -America, the Inca civilization of Peru was selected as the theme for a pageant. Materials used in the preparation included slides and movies related to the subject content and dance composition, and a school-made film for self-evaluation. The children interpreted several aspects of the Inca culture in dance and panto- mime. Records of pupil- narration and choral singing were played to explain the action. The class was divided into three groups, each responsible for a scene in each unit. The audience was also shown the film which had been made of the children's work, and which the children had used as a basis for self-analysis and improvement. The film taught them the need to express themselves more freely in movements and to improve posture. Maps, charts, and slides were used in an introduction to a unit on the geog- raphy of Australia by Miss Monica Kurch of the Flossmoor School, Floss- moor, Illinois. In this lesson the visual Students on school journey taking notes from plaque on top of Starved Rock aids were used to present information that created a background of understand- ing and raised problems for further re- search and study. Miss Kurch's upper elementary school class showed by their work tliat visual representation is an efficient method of summarizing a large body of abstract material. The use of a film to demonstrate and arouse interest in an art technique was demonstrated by Mrs. Kathryn D. Lee of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. In the short period after seeing the film, Broadstrokc Drawing, the upper elementary school children in the demon- stration class created several original compositions. These compositions were then exhibited and discussed in the terms of the contributions of the film to the learning of the specific art techniques used. A silent motion-picture film, entitled Learning by Doing, documenting a sec- ond-grade unit in foods, was presented by Mr. George Mclntire of Michigan City, Indiana. The activities of tlie chil- dren in planning and carrying out their study of foods were shown in great detail in the film. The teaching technique in this social science unit followed the general principles of progressive educa- tion. Secondary-School Clinics RoDGKR E. Stutz. Science Instructor, East High School, Aurora, Illinois, Chairman Three clinics were held to demonstrate the uses of visual and sound materials in secondary schools. E. M. Wells, Joliet Township High School, Joliet, Illinois, showed the con- tribution of various types of visual aids in teaching auto mechanics. It was his belief that the type of lesson plan fol- lowed was unimportant. All are equally effective if properly carried out and if some definite objective is reached in the work. Charts are a valuable teaching aid but do not give a complete picture. Pro- jection is necessary for that. The Joliet Township High School has had vocational trade training classes since 1922. At that time the staff began using a ten-reel film on the automobile. The need for modernization to keep pace with the industry and the lack of suit- able films made necessary the develop- ment of other means of studying the newer trends in design. The opaque projector was added so that pictures of new ideas and certain parts small enough to fit in the machine could be shown much enlarged on the screen. For tliese pictures manufacturers' bulletins, adver- tising and shop manuals were used. In the industrial arts classes where the balance swings to theory and away from practice, the film strip and slide projector are of greater value. Here the unit of study is relatively large and more can be accomplished in a class period. The film strip projector with audio transcription does the best job in trade-training classes where much de- tailed information about a single unit of instruction is required; It has the ad- vantage also of a well-prepared script and continuity. The sound movie is used for large coverage of non-techni- cal information requiring a considerable amount of continuity and showing a relationship between several units of in- struction. It is best used in teacliing larger units to greater numbers than can be done in a single class. Emphasis should be given to special- ized instruments called "Rube Goldbergs" which are used for checking the opera- tion of various parts of the car. These are a boon to the trade and a fine learning device in the shop. To connect the relationship of the information in a lecture with the hand skill or technique of doing the job a combination of the two may be further augmented by the use of large charts or specially prepared equipment.