How to Use Classroom Films (1963)

[Music] n [Music] the room lights are dimmed the projector is running the classroom has become a setting for use of a very effective teaching tool the classroom film yet what these young people learn and how well they learn it rests largely with how the film is used it does work we've constructed an electric motor from a few simple materials let's review what happens by looking at a diagram here is the permanent magnet like all magnets it has a North Pole and a South Pole here's the block of iron with the coil of wire around it an electromagnet the coil of wire is attached to wires leading to a dry cell when current starts to flow the coil becomes an electromagnet with North and South Poles these poles of the electromagnet are attracted by the poles of the permanent magnet and the block of iron turns if we reverse the direction of the current in the coil by changing the dry cell connections the North and South Poles in our electromagnet reverse this puts two North Poles together and two South poles together since like poles repel each other the electromagnet rotates until opposite poles are attracted to one another if we add the automatic switch to our diagram it will look like this now if the wires are connected to the dry cell the motor will continue to rotate in one direction for a science class concerned with how an electric motor works a classroom film has Illustrated a complex process in simple understandable terms the film as is often true has proved itself an effective and valuable teaching Aid this is particularly true when the film has been carefully selected for content and when the students have been correctly prepared for viewing the film activities which follow the film are also important activities such as a post- film discussion now can someone explain to me the function of one of the basic parts of the electric motor Danny well without that autom switch the part called the commutator the motor would make a complete Revolution do you all agree with Danny's statement George yes I do because on the diagram you could see that the commutator reverses the current if it didn't the motor action would stop all right now from what we've seen in the film in talk about can someone give me the definition of a commutator Sharon give me your definition a commutator is a device for reversing the direction of a current a film has been used to convey information and to stimulate deductive thinking this kind of discussion of content is as much a part of using a film as the actual showing of it for a film however good it may be is still only a teaching tool and Depends for its greatest Effectiveness on how it is used by the teacher effective use of a film begins days perhaps even weeks prior to the showing when the teacher selects the film the director of her local instructional material Center can often provide helpful advice about which of several films in the same subject area will best suit the teacher purpose of course one may have to rely on the resume in a catalog to determine a film's Content as well as its running time and the grade level for which it was intended the important thing at this point is that selection is not a hit or miss Affair but keyed to a lesson plan and made on the basis of the best information available about a film The Next Step you as the teacher take in using a film is to become familiar with it yourself if the film is available to you for only a short time you may have to limit your own preparation to studying the teacher guide for the film if it is available here you will find usually a more complete description of the film's content than is possible in a catalog or file along with a question you may want to ask following the showing of the film comments from previous users of a particular film if they are available are also helpful an ideal way to study a film and prepare to use it with your class is to preview it with pencil in hand taking notes as the film progresses it can be a real help to have one or more of your students in the preview room with you as they watch from a Viewpoint which is different from yours they will detect new or unusual words or situations which may require explanation before the film is shown to the group they may also reveal interests a teacher may use to motivate the entire class well Billy was there anything you didn't understand well I don't understand why the farmers and Cattleman had to fight so much why couldn't the farmers just settle and plant their crops in the areas where the Cattleman were located how about you Mary any words you didn't understand well well blooded something blooded stock I think it was creative teachers have many ways of developing class Readiness for seeing a film preparation often starts the day before unusual words may be defined beforehand you recall that yesterday we talked about the problems of settling this large area of our country known as the Great Plains today we're going to see a film that shows us those problems very clearly of course when the Great Planes were being settled in the 1850s and 1860s the movie camera had not yet been invented so in this film we get the story as we look at famous paintings and drawings made by artists who were there at the time now Kathy do you recall the problem about the Plains area that we discussed yesterday well there was constant fting between ranches and Farmers over the use of land so neither of them could become really prosperous and we decided that this situation kept many people away who might otherwise have come and helped to settle the great plans yes very good summ Kathy now in this film we're going to learn about some other problems that faced these people and what they finally did about them afterwards I want you to be able to identify and discuss the problems and to describe how the eventual solution of these problems affected our country's history all right let's have the film it wasn't like the days when Cowboys fought Indians between Cattlemen and Farmers nobody had the what for to make the difference both had six shooters and both could use them peace depended it seemed on finding a cheap and practical fence some tried a thorny hedge the 's orange for fencing and it was Pig tight horse high and bull strong but it took four years and more to grow others tried just plain old white fire but cattle shoved right through it and the search continued the search for a fence that would combine the low cost of wire with the Thorns of a hedge [Music] [Music] [Music] in 1874 Joseph Farwell glinton a 60-year-old farmer was granted a patent for a barbed fence wire that worked the following year Jacob H received a patent for his improved sarb steel fence wire both methods were practical and inexpensive the West got its fencing but the new fences blocked off the cattle trails to the railroads and there were some who resisted the the changes on the planes brought about by barbed wire some fenced off water holes forcing others to become fence Cutters but the bark of six shooters diminished laws were passed to protect both sides and in time barbed wire turned out to be a blessing to the Cattlemen too they had built their industry on the native Texas Longhorn a tough mean orary Critter as tough on the table as he was on the range with barbed wire Fen the Cattlemen could separate their herds introduce blooded stock and Supply the demand for better beef soon the Great Plains became a new land the railroad the Colt revolver the Arian well the windmill new ways of farming dry land and of course barbed wire enabled our country to settle a vast interior to turn what was once the Great American desert into Rich fertile farmland who can give me some reasons why the invention of barbed wire was so important to the development of the great PLS Jimmy well the barb wire helped both farmers and Catlin because they could keep the cattle where they were supposed to be and the farmers could do more farming and less fighting yes and this was the only kind of wire fencing ever invented that could do the job wasn't it why didn't they build wooden fences Karen the was wasn't any wood yes that's right Karen now I think it might be interesting to find out why there was no wood available in the Great Plains area this will take some research so Karen you Betty Tom and Allan prepare a report on this we're all going to spend some time reporting on other aspects of this subject too who would like to find out more about the benefits the barbed wire fencing made possible for the Cattleman Bob well I recall the film mentioned something about separating the herds and introducing blooded stock I'd like to know more about this okay Bob you team up with George Bessie elain and Frank on that question there are many ways to conduct post film activities profitably the objective should always be to use the film as a springboard to learning understanding and creating assigning a research project on a topic related to the film will help the student to form relations of ideas Concepts and facts and thereby provide Creative Learning experiences in any review of effective use of classroom films we should not Overlook the importance of physical details for example proper arrangements for seating lighting ventilation and placement of equipment also if you plan to run the film yourself check ahead of time to make sure you are familiar with the project VOR and its operation how to thread it and how to operate the controls where these details are handled by a student projectionist it is still important for you to make sure that these arrangements are made beforehand all these physical details May contribute or detract from the showing and hence they are relevant to the creative use you make of a film as a teaching tool remember also that since using a film is part of a creative process the steps you take reflect your own creative ability the first point at which you put your creativity to work is in the selection of the film choosing it for your purposes on the basis of your evaluation of it for the effectiveness with your students the second point is the key to all the steps following it your own preparation for showing the film this is the point where you decide whether you will show the film all one sitting or use only an excerpt which applies to the particular topic being studied it is the point at which you make final plans for how to use this teaching tool at the third point class motivation you develop Readiness for viewing the film this may be a simple procedure of telling your students the title of the film why they are seeing it and some idea of what they are expected to learn from it or it may be as elaborate as using other teaching Tech techniques over several periods leading up to the showing point four the showing of the film when the creative process is seemingly out of your hands still reflects your guiding role particularly if you decide to repeat the showing of the film or to shut off the projector at a certain spot for a predetermined reason at point five the creative teaching aspect comes into full play for student participation includes all the followup activities which round out your purpose in using the film discussion testing for Content research work report writing problem solving any or all of these postf film activities plus many many more that you will think of are your contribution and it is your contribution which is the single most important factor in using a classroom film [Music]