Utilization of Materials

IN

Bess Dixon

N this age of conservation and thrift the teacher is a prominent factor. The importance of conserving materials at home and at school is impressed, and the saving of pennies for the purchase of thrift stamps is emphasized in many ways. So far, so good. The Teacher is doing a great work.

But should not conservation and thrift become a factor in the teachers' life also? The teacher says, 'I do not spend money as I used to do. The conservation and thrift problems have done as much for grown-ups as for the children." But does that teacher use "eyes" and thinking cap when it comes to utilizing materials at hand? Is the teacher not seeking hand-work suggestions, correlation ideas and appropriate blackboard borders? Are not many dollars spent in the effort to get these?

The desire to possess good materials is laudable. But why not use materials at hand? The teacher who subscribes for a standard educational magazine, has much good material. I advise that teacher to keep every copy of the magazine. The saving of these copies will help to solve many problems. Would you like some concrete examples? Have you been a subscriber to PRIMARY EDUCATION? If so, let us look through the old copies as well as the new ones. Just suppose we want appropriate

blackboard borders.

Is not "migration" discussed in October's work? Give the children hand-work worth while. In making the blackboard border which typifies migration they not only get ideas of interior decoration, but the idea of nature study correlation is revealed to them and the border is highly appreciated. A copy is shown on page 507 of the October, 1918, PRIMARY EDUCATION. If the teacher does not possess a hektograph, six or eight copies of things found in this border can be taken off by the use of carbon paper. These models can be cut out and given to the children to trace around. Thus, each child can make a copy of each thing they found in the border, color and cut out ready for blackboard mounting.

In November, the Harvest Home idea is prominent. This blackboard idea is to be found on page 573 of the November, 1918, PRIMARY EDUCATION. How well this border correlates with nature study and history!

Then comes December, with the Christmas ideas and the historical study of the Wise Men. As this is a miniature suggestion, the work would have to be done freehand. Pictures and crude blackboard sketches, however, will make the work easy. For this beautiful border, look on page 626 of the December, 1916, PRIMARY EDUCATION. January is usually a gray month. "Brighten the corner where you are." Boxes of hyacinths made according to page 29 of the January, 1919, PRIMARY EDUCATION will do this. A lesson on thoughtfulness can be correlated. Some of the prettiest boxes can be sent to some "shutins" of the community. This will mean much to the givers and the receivers.

February arrives. Valentine suggestions are here and there. Page 116 of the February, 1917, PRIMARY EDUCATION will bring some of these ideas to the schoolroom. Historical ideas are embodied in this border. If a patriotic border is desired, see page 99, February, 1919.

March winds suggest Holland. So will the border on page 159 of the March, 1919, copy of PRIMARY EDUCATION. It affords a geographical correlation and is much appreciated by the youngest children. Let the front board border of tulips would be appropriate for another blackshow this border. Tulips are blooming in Holland. A board. Page 167 of the March, 1918, PRIMARY EDUCATION will portray this, and so will page 29 of the January, 1919, copy.

If a study of the work of the wind is being made, a border of this type can be found on pages 180, 181 and 184 of the March, 1917, PRIMARY EDUCATION.

When Easter approaches, use the blackboard border suggested on page 250 of the April, 1917, copy. opportunity for nature correlation. Bowls of jonquils April is here. Signs of spring abound. Hence, the are found on page 252 of the April, 1917, PRIMARY EDUFor April shower suggestions see page 235 of the April, 1918, copy.

CATION.

(Continued on page 542)

Viewpoint of Lesson

In arranging a composition lesson it is necessary to plan from several points of view. First, the material must be, in itself, worth while. There is no time in modern education to waste in drilling for expression with questions beloved of olden days. How many angels can stand on the point of a needle? The modern critic draws the pencil ruthlessly through all such exercises. Given material that is worth while, the next question to be faced is, What application is being made of those facts? We have gone beyond the day when facts in themselves were supposed to be valuable. The problem method of study has revolutionized our manner of planning. Given material of importance, a logical application of the facts to be used, the next point is, what is the phase of composition to which the particular lesson will apply.

The Conversation Lesson

Not every bit of talk between teacher and pupil is a conversation lesson. In defining composition we decided that seeing, organizing and expressing are the necessary operations. In the conversation lesson we plan to use material with which the child is already familiar. We are, therefore, concerned with the manner in which he performs the two operations of organizing his thoughts and expressing them. It is of the utmost importance that he shall not be conscious that his expression is under criticism, therefore it is well that the lesson lead directly to something which is new. It must have a purpose. If the child simply tells over what he already knows in a form which is naturally his, the time is wasted from the standpoint of English. It may have some value to the teacher as a means of insight into the child's interests, but it is then introductory to work, not properly a part of instruction.

A Workable Plan

Several teachers of one-room schools have lamented that their program gives no time for the study of language by first grade children. Discussion revealed that they have two fifteen minute periods for reading. With no other possible opening they must take a part of that reading period for language work. It is not so unfortunate a predicament as it seems at first glance. A lesson in the reader used by these teachers contains the word "apple." Any language work done must tend to strengthen the reading, or the time filched must be accounted for. There is little time enough for reading in these schools. Is a double use of the time possible? Easily.

These teachers worked out their problem in the following manner. The apple was the subject of the lesson, its appearance the center around which they organized the children's thoughts. It might equally well have been the use, or the culture, from the standpoint of the adult mind, but little children respond more quickly to the appearance. The simplest unit of organization is the best. The teacher then draws from the children statements as to the color,

curb wandering. For this exercise not more than three minutes can be used by the teacher with many classes, but this three minutes is enough for the small class to devote to it. From the standpoint of reading the time is justified, the alertness and preparedness (must this word be dropped from ordinary use?) will make the children grasp the word "apple" much more quickly. There is another point in favor of this conversation lesson which passes at once into the reading lesson. It gives a natural end to the composition and prevents the scrappy results from a lesson given solely for the sake of expression.

Observation Lesson

The observation lesson naturally follows the conversation lesson. The only difference is that in the conversation lesson the first step in composition is done outside the school and without supervision, in the observation lesson the seeing is a part of the planned lesson.

Abuse of this Type

abused. Observation does not mean the gathering together There is probably no type of lesson which has been more of the greatest possible number of facts in the shortest possible time. What good is there in this? We complain of the flightiness of the American mind, its lack of concentration, and then we put a bird or a plant before the child

and ask him what he sees.

The following plan for an observation lesson on the potato was prepared by a young girl in her first week's training.

Observation Lesson - A Potato

Look at the potato carefully.

What are the little spots on the potato called? Of what use are these eyes? If you should cut out these eyes and plant the rest of the potato, would a new plant grow?

Would a potato grow if you should plant only one one eye? If you should cut a potato so that you could plant more than one eye, would it grow better than if only one eye was planted? Why?

The lesson has obvious faults. Many of the questions guessing on

can be abswered by yes or no; this will mean

the children's part, not observation. It is an easy lesson to plan as the material she gives for it can be obtained at any time. Another student in the same class planned more carefully.

The Potato

Material A whole potato, a sprouted potato and a potato plant. (Second Grade.)

I think you all know what we have here. I will write its name on the board.

John may come and see if he can find the potato plant that was planted to make it grow. He did not find it.

Where has it gone?

What has it done for the potato?

Then what can we say the potato really is?

on this

(Answer to be obtained is: A storehouse for food of the

plant.)

child will learn from this one lesson to organize his own

single fact to be learned.

continual drawing back to the central thought will tend to

marketable condition, a beautifully rounded lesson could be given.

The children know they use the potato for food, they see the sprouted potato, observe that the sprouts come from the eyes, that the sprouted potato is much less firm than the newer one, see the bit of potato disappearing from the root of the young plant. If the lesson comes at the right season of the year they may observe that the plant dies when the potatoes are well grown.

It is a pretty little study of the plant, the potato from which the children get strength; the sprouts do the same, the young plant takes all there is in the potato, grows big and strong and in its turn gives its strength to the potatoes forming at the roots, where it will be kept for another year. This lesson is not too difficult for the average third grade and is the best possible training in composition. It insures the pupil's having something to say and, by being done orally, makes it possible to supply what words are needed. Points for Teacher to Watch

The teacher must be careful that the questions by which she directs her pupils are so worded that actual seeing is demanded, that she group her questions about logical centers and that she has a definite end to which all this looking is to be applied.

Will another example of a young teacher's plan be tiresome?

A Lesson on Puss

When are Pussy's eyes brightest? Why? How about the daytime? How do the eyes look at night? In the daytime? Can Pussy hear well? Does she need to hear well? What is inside the ear? Of what use are these hairs?

What is on each side of a cat's mouth? Of what use are they? What do they tell Puss in the dark? How does Pussy's tongue feel when she licks your hand? How does this help her?

What have you seen Pussy do with her claws? What does she do with her paws? What would she do if teased? Can you hear Pussy when she walks? Why?

The plan was read in class and the students were asked to suggest any changes they felt desirable. Two criticisms are appended.

The points concerning the hearing and seeing of the cat are all very fine and especially so when we consider how they lead to the one thought that these are all means by which Pussy is able to get her food. The bad point is, that after all these excellent points of acute hearing, sight, whiskers, padded feet, etc., are mentioned, the questions do not lead to the fact concerning the catching of Pussy's food, and there is no apparent aim in the lesson, which could be brought out so well.

Not enough was made of the cat. In talking about the eyes, the pupils (of the eye) should have been pointed out as the parts that get smaller and larger. In speaking of the cat's ability to walk softly the pads on the feet should have been examined. Her claws, also, should have been noticed and the cat's way of putting them out and back again. Such questions as, "Show me something about pussy's feet that enables her to walk softly," "Show me where her claws are," etc.

One girl has emphasized the need for clear seeing, the other for a purpose to direct all these random notes. Observation lessons will never be perfect, for teachers as well as pupils have defects to overcome, but if each teacher criticises her own efforts as these girls did the one given the lessons will be of immense value.

behind her? How many does that make? The artist might well appear to forbid this use of his picture. We are taught nowadays that painting is a means of self-expression, as is speech. If we use a picture, we should apply it to produce the impression the artist intended. Most of those used in the lower grades have an emotional appeal. They are not mathematical. If you need aid in that work buy the cards which are brought out to aid in computations. I have seen a set in which one black pig is set apart from the herd but connected with it by a plus sign. The detached pig plus the grouped pigs can supply as many problems as the sheep and there will be no unpleasant after effects. However much one's later knowledge may add to one's appreciation of a picture or poem, the first image is never erased. The child who learns addition by means of the distant boats in "The Helping Hand" will never see the beauty in the picture that he might have felt if his approach had been different.

Selection, not Indiscriminate Agglomeration

The purpose of the observation lesson is achieved by the child who selects his points to illustrate the effect which is desired. Show the picture. Ask who is helping. What makes you think she is helping? Does the man really find it easier because she is there? Would he be willing to do without her help? See that the pupil is looking for those details which expresses the artist's idea, not for the accidental details which balance in the background. "The Highland Shepherd's Chief Mourner" is not intended to illustrate a lesson on the shape of a dog's head, but on joyalty, love and devotion.

Proper Use of the Observation Lesson

The observation lesson is one of the most important in all the gamut of English instruction, furnishing, as it does, opportunity for exercise in all the operations of composition: seeing, organizing, expressing. Each is clearly given a part in this work. The observation lesson should begin as soon as the child enters school and should continue through high school. The directions as to what to look for should grow less minute from year to year. In the upper grades it is well to make the pupils find their own center of interest, but this should never be until they are used to knowing that every observation should be considered as a cause or a result and traced back to its logical connection.

Chestnut Time

What are these upon the ground,
Dressed in satin jackets brown,
White fur collars, slender neck,
Heads with caps that tassels deck,
Hiding under fallen leaves

That are scattered by the breeze?
These are chesnuts, brown, you see,
Come to visit you and me.

They've been swinging many days,
Where the birds have sung their lays;
Prickly houses, closed so tight,
They were hidden from our sight,
Till the frost came to their home
And invited them to come,
Spend the winter, share the joys
Of the happy girls and boys.
O, for happy chesnut time,
And the trees we love to climb!
Shake the limbs, the chesnuts fall,
Leaves will try to cover all.
We will find them, but leave more
For the squirrel's winter store.
We'll undo their coats so neat,
Eat the kernels good and sweet..

- Malana A. Harris

I

T is the purpose of this series of articles on art appreciation to set forth a few simple methods for the teaching of well-known pictures. Every great picture has a message. This message must be understood by the teacher before she attemps to interpret a picture to little children. In order to better understand the pictures under consideration a few general instructions should be observed.

Study the picture yourself until you are thoroughly interested in it. Ask yourself the questions and note the suggestions. When you have made the picture yours, take it before the class and make it theirs in the same way. The enthusiasm of the teacher will mean much to the child. If she enjoys the picture and makes the children feel that she does, their interest and appreciation will respond to hers. Respect the pupil's individual suggestions. They will always be valuable to him and sometimes to you. While it is hoped that the suggestions herein given will be helpful to those teachers who are less experienced in the work, it is recognized that they involve a certain danger. If the teacher takes them, not as suggestions, but as a formula to be absolutely followed they will wholly defeat their purpose. For this purpose the following suggestions are offered:

Ask no question of which you do not see the point or give information which is meaningless or uninteresting to you. Almost every question should be followed with, "Why do you think so?" or "How do you know?" or "What tells you that?"

Tell the pupil nothing that he can learn from the picture. Question him and make him hunt, even though you have to tell him the answer in the end.

You cannot interest pupils by calling attention toward unimportant suppositions. You cannot teach pictures by studying unrelated things. The more the pupil respects and loves his picture, the more easily he will get its message. Aim to lead the children to form the habit of carefully observing pictures, to read a picture for its story, then to talk freely, telling what they have seen. A few welldirected questions will soon open the children's eyes to see that everything in the picture helps to tell the story the artist wants them to know.

It is sometimes best to ask the questions based on the picture and so develop the story and meaning of the whole. Again it is wise to first read the story, or better, tell the story of the picture, afterwards questioning the class on its meaning.

The pictures selected for this series are such as appeal to all children - animal, child, and family life, happy incident and mother love.

Suggestive Method of Study

The study of other pictures by Landseer may accompany the consideration of this portrait.

What do you think the man in this picture may be doing? What is the large flat object before him? What does he hold in his right hand? What is inside the other

hand? Is this man looking at his drawing board? Why

not? What sort of hair, eyes, nose, and mouth has tyis man? How is he dressed? What do you see looking over his shoulders? Why do these dogs sit so close to the artist? What kind of dogs do you think they are? What kind of coats have they? Where are they looking?

What forms a background for the picture? Have you a dog of your own? Is he fond of you? What can he do? Why do you like this picture? Have you studied other pictures of animals? Name the pictures. Who painted them?

The Story of the Picture

Almost any picture by Landseer might be called a "famous picture," for his popularity has hardly ever been rivaled. Landseer's pictures of animals, especially his pictures of dogs, just touch the heart. Engravings of them have circulated far and wide to be cherished in thousands of homes in England and America.

Perhaps you have heard that pictures that tell a story are not good art. Many people, especially artists, are incline to think little of such pictures. This is because they are chiefly interested in the method of putting on the paint, the technique, as it is called. But those who complain that Landseer's paintings are story-telling pictures, zadmit that he had also a fine technical ability. Landseer understood the brute creation in the same way the child does, through sympathy and true affection. This is the picture of a man who liked animals, especially dogs, much preferring them to people as subjects, when he was about to paint a picture. When he was a boy he had so many dogs and so often drew pictures of them that he came to be called "the little dog boy." This is perhaps the reason why he painted this picture of himself just as we see it. Sir Edwin Landseer, for that was the artist's name is here seated before his drawing board. A crayon holder with which he has been drawing is held in his right hand, while in the other he holds an eraser, probably a bit of bread, and the edge of the drawing board. Sir Edwin'seyes are very kindly, looking directly at us. Two beautiful dogs, favorite pets of the artist, are looking over his shoulders. The dogs look intelligent enough to criticise the sketch. The foliage of a great tree forms

a background for the group.

The Story of the Artist

Sir Edwin Landseer (land ser) (1802-1873) was the artist who painted "Portrait of Landseer" (The Connoisseurs). He learned how to draw from his father and when he was but five years old he could draw very well. When he was seven, his father would take him to the fields to sketch the cows and sheep grazing there. Little Edwin did not care for books and often hid from his teachers. He had three dogs of his own and they were always with him. He was so very fond of drawing them that he neglected his lessons. Edwin, his two brothers and three sisters were allowed all the pets they wished-dogs, rabbits

and pigeons.

When Edwin was only thirteen years old two of his pictures were exhibited at the Royal Academy in London.

and puppies. Many of the little boy's drawings are

don. When Landseer was but a lad a lady once asked Ihim how he came to know so much about dogs and he

replied," By peeping into their hearts, madam."

Edwin was a bright, gentle little boy with blue eyes and light curly hair. He thought that animals under