Flannel Boards And How To Use Them 1958

[Music] those titles. have introduced you to the flannel board. What is a flannel board? A flannel board is a useful teaching aid that holds things. Flannel boards provide a means for you to put things up, take them down, move them around. You may have heard these aids called felt boards or by other names, but we're going to call them flannel boards arbitrarily. One of their most unique advantages is this one of arrangement and rearrangement. Flannel boards provide action, a second good reason for their use. Action arouses interest. It also compels attention. Flannel boards provide logical sequence as a means to develop a thought. Children like to see things develop in this way. Teachers do too. [Music] Flannel boards can provide build-ups in 3D like this relief map of South America. People made 3D aids are particularly meaningful. It's quick and easy to make visual aids for flannel boards. Within a few minutes, you or a student could prepare these circles. [Music] Flannel boards give you animation. This illustration uses cutouts to show the development of a plant from seed to full bloom. You can probably think of many more examples. Flannel boards offer economy. First in time, as you have already seen, and second in expense. Schoolmade flannel covered boards will cost between $1 and $3. The same area covered with felt will cost between $6 and $10. [Music] Commercially built boards, depending upon size, type, and material, cost about $4 and up. Now that we've learned a few reasons for using flannel boards, let's find out more about the boards themselves. Fundamentally, flannel boards are nothing more than a stiff material like cardboard or plywood over which flannel or felt is stretched. The rough side of chapco board or masonite without any covering will also work well. You can buy ready-made flannel boards such as this aluminum framed folding model. Choose one large enough for John to see from the back row. This roll-up type board is convenient, as is this small folding one for desktop use. And this compact board complete with desk stand. If you would prefer to make your own similar to these two, we'll give you some suggestions for making simple flannel boards. You will probably think of other ways. Cut the cloth so that it overlaps the edges of the backing piece about 4 in on each side. Then stretch the cloth and fasten it on the back with masking tape. You can also use thumbtacks if you prefer. Another method of fastening the cloth is to use ordinary ironing board cover springs. Or you can lace it tight with a rug needle and twine. Still another way is to insert your cardboard or other backing material into flannel sewed like a pillar slip with one side open. After stretching out all the wrinkles, you can base the fourth side or pin it and then sew it by hand. You'll now have a board with two sides. Some teachers make permanent lines on one side, such as a music staff or a map, and leave the other side blank. Use your own ideas for this. To give your board a more decorative appearance, make a frame from ordinary molding purchased from a building supply house. If you want a smaller board, try one of these made of heavy cardboard fastened into a triangle with staples or with masking tape as you see here. Flannel or felt can be stapled or taped onto the cardboard to make a good display surface. [Music] A cigar box makes a good individual flannel board. The box itself is convenient for holding the display items. Some teachers use this type of manipulative aid with shut-in children. For use, flannel boards may be placed on easels, in chalk trays, or on stands made from heavy cardboard or plywood. Have the board high enough so that all can see. What materials will stick to these flannel or felt covered boards? Flannel and felt. They come in many colors. Use your imagination to cut all kinds of display items. [Music] Other materials include construction paper, masonite, chapco board, balsa wood, yarn, blotters, and sponges. You'll find that some of these stick better than others. Magazine and newspaper cutouts must be backed with some adhering material before use. Felt, flannel, and sandpaper cut into strips can be fastened on the back of your cutout pictures with rubber cement, vegetable glue, or other all-purpose glues. [Music] Commercial backing materials are better and easier to use, although more expensive. Cotton makes an interesting three-dimensional display. Now, let's look at some flannel boards in action. They're fine for developing arithmetic concepts. That's largely because the students, as well as the teacher, can manipulate the materials. To add more interest, use large three-dimensional objects like these. Just scrape the wax off one side of the empty carton with a razor blade and glue on your backing material. This manipulative device will make an introduction to measurement easier. Later, students may use it for drill or review. A flannel board can help teach art. Here, it's used for color recognition. The balloons are felt glued to poster board. For variation, use the balloons and listing the names of students on daily cleanup committee, traffic patrol, and so forth. You can probably think of many more uses. Posters like this may be pinned on the bulletin board, but here's a way to vary this approach. Often a good teaching technique. Cut the poster into sections. Discuss each piece as it is put up. If you don't finish today, leave it and continue tomorrow. [Music] There are many uses for a flannel board in language arts, too. This boy is telling a story about a picture he has drawn. Other teachers might have the children tell stories with illustrations they have cut from magazines or old picture books. After gluing one of the adhering materials on the back, these can be used over and over on any flannel board. There are also many commercially prepared flannel board materials available. Here's an approach to root words with their suffixes and prefixes. Start with the outline of a house. You or your students can put the root within the house, the prefix on the front steps, and the suffix on the rear steps. You can even make these cards for several uses. See how easily the chalk letters can be erased. Make up several different size sets of poster board or tag board cards. Seal one side with shellac or resz and then apply a coat of ordinary chalkboard paint. Put felt flannel or sandpaper on the back. Now write on the front just as if you had a chalk board but with an added advantage. You can manipulate these cards. Another use for the cards is diagramming sentences. You can make lines with yarn, flannel back construction paper, or just strips of flannel. You can probably think of many other uses for such cards and lines. And here's an idea for music. A permanent staff on a piece of flannel that can be put over your regular flannel board. Have the board low enough so the children can use it. Put permanent lines to use in your subject area. [Music] One way to make permanent lines is to use a grease pencil or an ordinary crayon. Press the flannel with a medium hot household iron on the side opposite the markings. This will set the lines and keep them from smearing. Commercial felt nib pens also make good permanent lines on both felt and flannel. Good safety rules can be demonstrated on flannel boards. Diagram a street crossing near your school. Lightweight dime store cars and trucks with sandpaper glued on the bottom and stick figures made from pipe cleaners can be manipulated to work out all kinds of problems. Social studies offers many possibilities for the flannel board. To introduce map reading to elementary school children, place a flannel board flat on a table or on the floor and orient for cardinal direction. The arrow points north. Black strips of construction paper illustrate your community's street layout. Children can create their own neighborhood by using symbols for various buildings. The flannel board keeps all of the symbols from slipping around as they would if paper were used. For more advanced work, you can dramatically illustrate size relationships by overlaying flannel cutouts. But a word of caution for map work. To get accurate map cutouts, they must be made from a globe. Trace the outlines on acetate or tissue paper and then enlarge them in an opaque projector. Mark the outline on flannel with a soft pencil. Complete the map by drawing permanent lines with India ink. Various colors can be used. You'll find that every subject area, every grade level will benefit from the use of flannel boards. In high school science, show the structure of organic molecules. In business education, pipe cleaners make fine aids that will adhere to flannel boards. Once made, these shorthand characters can be used over and over. A flannel board used in this way will help home economics students quickly understand where we get various cuts of meat. There are many flannel board uses in both boys and girls physical education. Here a coach with his team playing at another school carries a flannel marked with a basketball court. Discs representing players can also be carried to quickly illustrate play formations. In art, the color wheel can be gradually built up by starting with primary colors, then secondary, and so on. When opposite colors are mixed, they make gray. In audiovisisual courses, the flannel board can show how certain machines operate. Inside parts can be cut away and simplified to explain broad basic principles. Since any diagram is highly abstract, have the real thing nearby to refer to frequently for general orientation. [Music] We have seen that whatever your subject area or grade level, if you have learning problems in your classroom, flannel boards can help solve them. Just use your own ideas, your own imagination to create your own learning devices. Find out for yourself that flannel boards are an effective learning device.