Special Days and Their Observance: September 1919Anonymous
History
Special Days and Their Observance: September 1919
Anonymous
Holidays -- United States; Schools -- Exercises and recreations -- New Jersey
Among our national holidays Thanksgiving should be a red letter day.
We need these days so that the modern tendency of reducing all days to
the same mediocre level may be overcome. Such days, when contrasted
with common school days, show a wonderful stimulation. Hence it is
urged that the celebration of Thanksgiving take on the aspect of the
play-festival. The play-festival will have a potent effect on the
audience and the actors. The audience will be composed for the most
part of the school body and on this body the festival program will have
a unifying effect. For this reason it is further urged that an entire
grade, or perhaps a group of grades, be employed to render the program.
Such a rendition will be treated as a contribution from a part to the
whole.
The festival to be effective must bind the entire school into one
social group. The response of the audience will be complementary and
the spirit and the pride of the school will give forth inspiration to
the actor and the audience. The performer must make others feel what he
knows, and thus his learning becomes intensified. The result is that
the play-festival has two high values, the social and the educational.
The essential problem which arises, and which must be answered by every
teacher, is, "What shall be done to provide a good program, and how
shall it be done?" The answer will come from a careful survey of the
needs, capacities, and make-up of each individual or group of pupils.
The answer includes the utilization of the dramatic instinct, i. e.,
the play instinct, which finds expression through singing, speaking
and dancing. The successful festival must be well organized, and
this organization must be effected according to a suitable program.
(1) The history of the day must be clearly brought to the attention
of the pupils. (2) There should be a committee appointed to have
supervision of the arranging of the festival. (3) A program full of
content should-be arranged. (4) What constitutes the proper program for
a Thanksgiving festival should have the careful thought of those in
charge. The children should be actual factors in planning the program,
as well as in presenting it.
In order that Thanksgiving Day may be celebrated in an appropriate
manner it is necessary that its history be fully comprehended by the
entire school. Teachers of all grades should use the historic material
that will meet the needs and capacities of their pupils. This material
should be correlated with as much of the regular school work as may
seem advisable. It is essential that the entire school fully appreciate
the historic foundations of the day, so that they may comprehend the
setting which has so much to do with this holiday. Furthermore, a full
comprehension of the history as a background for this festival will
stimulate the school audience, so that they will receive from the
program those things which we believe they ought to receive from the
celebration.
HISTORY
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