The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 10 The Educational Screen with Oscar. They were very quiet as she returned and put him down on the ground near the cup of berries. Oscar had never seen any berries before. He smelled the ground around the cup. When his little sharp nose finally came to the cup with the berries in it, he im- mediately began eating them. He took some berries in his mouth, held his head high and back, and chewed very fast. The children were delighted over the discovery that Oscar liked huckleberries. After watching Oscar and his cup of berries a short time, we returned to the room and put the remaining berries in Oscar's cage. Betty Jean looked at Oscar and said, "We could sure write a good story about this." I asked, "What could we write?" Before anyone could say another word, Patsy Ann spoke up, "We will have to name the story 'A Good Walk.' " The children agreed on this title for the story. Three sentences were finally selected by the group and written on the board. A Good Walk Look at Oscar. He is eating huckleberries. We found them for him. After the story was written on the board, Thomas said, "We have three lines on the board." I remarked, "Yes, they are called sentences." Another child said, "One, two, three. We have three sentences on the board." I then asked if anyone could write the number of sentences on the board. Four chil- dren went to the board and wrote "3." Charles said, "I can write a number for each sen- tence." He went to the board and wrote "1, 2, 3." Wayne said that he could draw a picture under the story. He went to the board and under the story he drew a circle. He then added ears and a tail to make it represent Oscar. He also drew a bush with many dots on it. Johnnie wanted to help with the picture so he went to the board and drew a cup with a very large handle. Later I typed the story on a plain piece of paper for use in the opaque projector. Since that time we have used the story along with others which we have pre- pared for use with the machine. The story was also printed on a large piece of cardboard and placed with the other charts. Now that the children were through with the story of Oscar and the huckleberries, they were ready to talk about the leaves which had been placed on the table when they returned to the room. They noticed the difference in color, shape, and size of the leaves. From the science reader I read some stories about leaves and the effects of weather on them. Some of the leaves were used to decorate the room while others were placed in the collection cabinet. The stereoscope aids picture study. The collection cabinet has furnished much interest for the children. Our cabinet has four shelves. One shelf, they call the whatnot shelf. On this they have a ship, small dogs, a miniature soldier, two elephants, a lion, a lamb, three horses, a cow, four dolls, a gold pitcher, two vases, and two birds. On another shelf they have assembled their clay models. Some of these are painted, while others are left as they were when modeled. On a third shelf is the collection of rocks, shells, petrified wood, Indian arrowheads, alligator tusks, and Indian beads. The fourth shelf contains Spanish moss, pine burs, sweetgum balls, feathers, leaves, and bark from trees. On top of the cabinet stands a big bronze bear with skis and a pack on his back. The items on each shelf brought about much discus- sion. Stories were written and rhymes were made. Care was taken by the children to choose the best clay models for the cabinet. Likewise, the most interesting rocks, the most colorful leaves, and leaves from a variety of trees, were selected for display on the shelf. The following are samples of stories composed by the children: The Collection Cabinet Look at our cabinet. James brought some rocks and shells for the cabinet. Carrol Jean brought a dog and a gold cup. We are all going to bring something for the cabinet. Things for the Cabinet Pick up leaves, pick up leaves. We have pretty leaves for the cabinet. Some are red, some are yellow, and some are brown. The leaves came from oak, sweetgum, pecan, China- berry, huckleberry, blackgum, and holly trees. The pine needles came from the long leaf and the short leaf pines. Perhaps the most readily available of all visual aids are small pictures. Valuable illustrative material can be found in advertising columns of magazines, newspapers.