Evening star., 1938-11-17
Little Pupils Reveal Reading
Tastes in School Broadcast
Is Face Mike Like Veterans to
Tell Of Ferdinand, Jody and Others

Thirteen eager, bright eyed
youngsters. not the slightest per-
turbed over their first face-to-face
meeting with that oft-unnervlng OBJ
ject. the radio microphone. disclosed
to the public yesterday that their
current reading tastes run to:
l. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
"The Yearling" current No. l best
seller in the land).
2 "Ferdinand" that little num-
ber by Munroe Leaf about the small
bull which just sits quietly and
smells the flowers.
3. The Sad-Faced Boy" by Bon
temps.
These youngsters-seven girls and
six boys not yet in their 'teens-left
their classrooms in the Brightwood
Elementary School to take part in
the second radio broadcast on the
modern little red school house-a Sc
ries sponsored by The Star. Radio
Station WMAL and public school au-
thorities. to explain the technique
OF modern teaching.
Answers Impromptu.
It was the first time ION the air"
for the children. They had no
script to follow. No one told them
what to say. Grouped in a circle
around the mike" they faced the
teacher-Mrs. Frances Wolowitz-
and answered eagerly whenever they
drew her attention to their waving
hands.
In fact, they left the small studio
audience of teachers and parents
with the impression that somewhere
along the line someone must have
quietly added another "R" to the
standard three RS OF the elementary
school curriculum-then new one be-
ing for radio broadcastlng technique.
There was brief furry of excite
ment among the youngsters just be-
fore the program went on. but at
the signal for silence. they settled
down and awaited their turn to
demonstrate how book reports are
made in the modern elementary
classroom.
Mrs. WoloWitz opened the class"
by asking what books the children
have been reading lately. Several
hands went up. The youngsters
named The Yearling" and "Ferdi-
nand.'
Now tell me. Bobby, what's The
Yearling' about?" Mrs. Wolowitz
asked.
Child Of Nature.
"Well, it's all about a boy named
Jody. l guess he's boy about our
age and he learns a lot about the
outdoors. He never had much
schooling, but he could tell us how
fast animals run and things like
that"
DO you think you'd like to have
Jody for a playmate?" the teacher
asked another.
"Oh, sure another boy replied.
Hes different. He could tell us all
about his experiences around his
home and we could tell him about
arithmetic and things like that"
Mrs. Wolowitz then turned to re-
ports on the reading of Ferdinand,
the Bull"
What did you like about that
book?" she asked. Practically every
one wanted to answer.
1T was fun reading it." said one.
Ferdinand isn't like other little
bulls. He liked to sit under a tree,
while the other little bulls 60 around
humping each others heads
Il liked the fine illustrations" said
another.
A third pupil volunteered the in
formation that Walt Disney Is going
to make a movie of Ferdinand.
"The Sad-faced Boy was de-
scribed by one of the young readers
as kinda humorous and adven-
turous and the author wrote 1t IN
good words"
Prior to the demonstration, Miss
Ida May Lind, director Of elemen-
tary education in the District pub