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FOREWORD

RECORDING

ECORDINGS are not a new educational "gadget” to high-school language arts teachers. For more than a score of years some teachers have been using a few recordings of literature with varying degrees of success. Today, the extensive range of recordings available, the professional quality of the performances, and the fidelity of the reproductions increase the probability of success for the teacher who is interested in using recordings to foster attitudes of appreciation and to develop skills of communication.

This bulletin presents descriptions of ways teachers are now using commercial recordings in various units of instruction to develop understanding and enjoyment of poetry, drama, fiction, and other literature; to teach intelligent, critical listening; to encourage students to study language as a social process which leads to cooperation, approval, disagreement, or conflict; and to promote continuous, developmental growth in oral and written communication skills needed by youth and adults in America today.

The bibliography of records includes nearly 500 titles. Most of the records listed have been produced since the end of World War II. Except for the sections on International Selections, Historical Selections, and Religious Selections, recordings are grouped by type of literature: Poetry, Drama, Biography, and others. No appraisal of recordings is offered as it is believed that students may engage in a profitable learning exercise by making their own selections with the help of the teacher.

WAYNE O. REED

Assistant Commissioner

Division of State and Local
School Systems

IV

GALEN JONES

Director, Instruction,
Organization and Services
Branch

USING

RECORDINGS

in high-school language arts classes

"You can say what you want to about using records in the English class, but about all they have ever given me is a lot of trouble. I haven't had much luck with them except maybe once or twice." This judgment was made by an experienced teacher at an informal, after-school meeting of the ten English teachers in a large city high school. Various approaches to developing understanding and enjoyment of literature were being explored by the group as they relaxed over tea and cakes.

"Could you tell us about the one or two times you had good luck with the records? Why did you use them and how did you plan your work?" the department chairman asked.

"Well, we were going to study ballads and when I announced this unit to the class one of the boys asked if 'On Top of Old Smoky' was a ballad. I thought it was so I said, 'Yes.' Then he wanted to know if he and some of his pals in the class could sing it. When I said not today but maybe later, he asked whether he could bring his records in for the unit. He said he had ‘Irene,' 'Frankie and Johnnie,' 'The Cowboy's Lament,' and several Negro spirituals. Then one of the girls who had just quarreled with her boy friend, the captain of the football team, said she thought there was a good moral for girls in 'Frankie and Johnnie' and 'On Top of Old Smoky.'

"After a lot more student discussion, we decided to make an inventory of ballads that the students had at home, to find out what a ballad is, to set up criteria for selecting the best ones, to organize committees on different kinds of ballads, like cowboy and sea ballads and Scotch ballads, and to figure out ways for the committees to present their programs. Of course all this involved some teacher planning, guidance, and structuring, too."

At this point one of the men teachers who was known as a defender of the classics in the English curriculum interrupted with the question, "But didn't you have any good literature-after all, we can't make music halls out of English classes. I am using music hall in the British sense. Can we?"

Several tea cups clicked as they were carefully put back into their Members of the group leaned forward slightly.

saucers.

"Well, I don't know exactly what you mean by good literature; but one of the girls brought in an album of Carl Sandburg's poems sung by him, students played many Scotch and English ballads, they played and chanted Vachel Lindsay's "The Congo' and part of the 'Santa Fe Trail,' and they listened to folk songs of America recorded by John Lomax. Then they wanted to hear Robert Frost read some of his own lyrics and so we listened to them. Of course, the students played a lot of ballads sung by Burl Ives, Huddy Ledbetter, and Woody Guthrie. But they especially enjoyed hearing the ballads and singing them. In fact, they have formed their own ballad club and now meet once a week after school to sing ballads.

"But most important, I think, is that they learned how poetry is like music and how much pleasure they can get from verse rhythms. Of course they learned something, too, about the pioneer spirit of America, our country's history, its heroes, and the life of the people, especially as shown in spirituals and work ballads. Not everything they heard would be called classical, I suppose, but it didn't take long before they learned to tell the better ballads from the poorer ones. Those who purchased their own records during and after the unit had a new set of standards to go by. And some of the boys who hated poetry before are even looking at lyrics, odes, and sonnets with tolerance and mild approval. I think their liking for ballads has somehow been transferred to poetry in general. Of course, I don't know how long this attitude will last."

The chairman of the group then spoke up. "But at the beginning you said that records had given you a lot of trouble. What difficulties have you had in using them? So far you haven't mentioned any."

"Well, one of the big difficulties is finding the right record for a particular purpose. Last winter I wanted to create interest in Julius Caesar and to give the students an overview of the play. Therefore, I used a set of records which the English department had purchased several years ago. I first told the students a little about the background of the play and what conflicts to watch for in the records. But while they listened, they had trouble understanding the Oxford English of the actors playing the part of Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. Also the play had been telescoped into soliloquies, the funeral scene, and a few other dramatic parts. And one of the records annoyed us with its scratchy sounds. One actor was so melodramatic that the students laughed when he tore a passion to tatters.

"Then there were some other times when I tried to use poetry records. I had received a catalog from a record company, and so I ordered an expensive set of records with titles of good English and American poetry.

But when I played these records to the class, my students were unable to follow the meaning of the lines in some poems as the narrator's enunciation was poor. However, not all the poems were unintelligible. Those with which the boys and girls were familiar could be understood fairly well. My point is that the value of the selections for class use varied considerably."

"I have found that to be true also," added the chairman. "Perhaps we should have a small committee study this question of how to use recordings to advantage. Who would like...?"

Usefulness of Records Today

1

Records of one type or another have been used in the language arts classroom with varying degrees of success for several decades. During the thirties many teachers in America used literature records which they obtained through the National Council of Teachers of English. In 1942 the bulletin, Recordings for School Use, 1 which was published as part of the Radio in Education Series, listed many recordings and appraised their educational value and technical quality. However, not until World War II was ended did the high-school English teacher have available to her hundreds of recordings of literary and historical significance. Today there are dozens of Shakespearean albums for sale, scores of poetry records, and hundreds of disks with ballads and folk songs. In addition, there are recordings of famous historical events, of novels and short stories, and of twentieth century drama. Most of the literary selections are narrated or sung by professional artists, famous British and American actors, actresses, and singers. Some of the poems are read by the poets themselves: writers like Robert Frost, Lew Sarett, Carl Sandburg, and Stephen Vincent Benét. Furthermore, the quality of records has steadily improved. Fidelity is excellent and wearing quality is good. Also, the long-playing record helps to sustain mood in plays and other long pieces of literature.

Most language arts teachers realize that poetry and drama should be heard as well as read. In fact, a good poem, like classical music, needs to be heard several times before its beauty can be fully appreciated. Emotional and rhythmic qualities of literature are more truly communicated to the listener by voice than by only the verbal symbols on the printed page. Unfortunately, but understandably, some English teachers today have neither the speech training nor the native vocal abilities to deliver Hamlet's soliloquy beginning, "O, that this too too solid flesh would melt. . ." or Tennyson's "Break, Break, Break." The odds are 1 Miles, J. Robert. Recordings for School Use: A Catalog of Appraisals. New York, World Book Company, 1942.

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