Educational screen & audio-visual guide (c1956-1971])

FILMSTRIPS by Irene F. Cypher There is no "always" when using f ibnstrips— one does not always use a filmstrip after a motion picture; one does not always read aloud the captions; one does not always use a filmstrip for slowly paced, controlled viewing; one does not always use a filmstrip for summarization purposes. It is good sometimes to forget everything you ever heard about using filmstrips and introduce them into a learning situation under entirely new techniques. Forget all you ever heard about motion pictures, and give the filmstrip a chance to stand on its own merits. Let it be the sole projected material in your work, and use it to its fullest potential. Show it in its entirety; go back and re-show several frames by way of introduction to free discussion. Then, perhaps some days Pat, Pending New projector table built exclusively for "safer" operation of your Eastman or RCA projector "Cut-out" front accommodates takeup reel so projector can be set back from front edge. U bolt locks around elevating projector mechanism so it can't be knocked off. W 40 EC (with electrical assembly) $36.95; W 40 C without assembly, $32.95. For details, write: H. Wilson Corporation 546 W. 119th St. Chicago 28, 111. later, show the complete strip again, by way of review and discussion of new things learned after the first use and discussion. Close your ears and avoid these people who go about saying that the filmstrip is to be used only for summarization. They are a hindrance to good instruction. Forget them and use a filmstrip to motivate and introduce new study and work. There is nothing anywhere that says the only place for a filmstrip is at the "end of things." It can just as well be right up at the start of work and lead the way. So many of the newer filmstrips have been produced without any relation to a motion picture, printed material or other material. Producers are beginning to put into the medium a wealth of style, creative thinking and original planning. The end product bears no particular relation to other materials and is an entity in its own right. Take these filmstrips and use them for what they are. Let them do the work they are designed to do, and don't try always to relate them to some other medium. Children's Stories (6 filmstrips, color and 3 double faced, 331/3 rpm records; produced by McGraw-Hill Textfilms, 330 West 42 St., New York 36, N.Y.; $57.50 per set). The Cat Who Lost His Tail; Rumpelstiltskin; The Lion and the Mouse; Hansel and Gretel; The Little Red Hen; Little Sambo are here available for numerous storytelling hours. The pictures, thank goodness, are without encumbering captions and we are free to look at them as a well paced narration unfolds details of the familiar stories. It is certainly a relief to have more of this type of story material in this form and to be able to provide young primary graders with visual and audial combinations that really assist in presenting these stories and do not try to provide reading exercises that are nothing but review and repetition. The drawings are well done and the quality of sound good. First Adventures In Space (6 filmtrips, color; produced by Jam Handy Organization, 2821 East Grand Blvd., Detroit 11, Mich.; $31.50 per set. $5.75 single strips). Interest in space and space phenomena is not confined to adults today. The young scientists of the primary and elementary grades are beginning consideration of space and these strips are planned to help them. Consideration is given to the way in which satellites get into orbit, clothing and transportation problems involved in a trip to the moon, and the way rockets work. The details of all these scientific matters are very clearly outlined. Moreover, use of the materials is by children themselves. The strip showing how to prepare for a space trip is good because we see a young boy handling the space suit and looking at scientific apparatus. There is a level of interest which will meet the needs and interests of the grade levels for which this material is intended. New Zealand; A Regional Study (9 strips, color; produced by Eye Gate House, Inc., Jamaica 35, N.Y.; $30 per set, $5 single strips). All too often New Zealand is included in material dealing with Australia, and the real story of this land and its people is made of secondary consideration. The material in this series pertains to New Zealand alone and gives a good picture of historic background and history, geographic features, plant and animal life, industries, people and the i way they work and live. It is regional geography, and as such shows interdependence of man and the land; it is also a trip through the different areas, with good material on natural resources and points of scenic and natural beauty. We are also given a glimpse of the native Maoris and theii relationship to the white people ol New Zealand today. Primary Club (5 strips, color; pro duced by Filmstrip of the Monti Clubs, Inc., 355 Lexington Ave., Nev York 17, N.Y.; $30 for each clul unit). The separate strips of tliis se are Shadow Play Is Fun; The Road t» the Land of Oz; Fast or Slow; Man ners Wherever You Go; Pictures am Statues. The aim of each strip is t provide the primary pupil with some thing to consider, to explore, to ob serve, or to model or create. The objects which can be shown b' means of shadow play will be delight ful to work out; the interest stimulatein active creation can be carried ou in pictures and statutes by modelini in clay and learning to draw. There activity suggested in all the stripi and they can be used as motivatio points from which to proceed to acti^ work bv class members. The str' 236 Educational Screen and Audiovisual Guide — May, 19(»