How To Prepare A Class Report (1953)

[Music] you know Dan this class report is a little different I'm used to book reports it's different but I think I like it I can make a report on something that really interests me yeah but I'm interested in sports can I write about that well I think so let's see the reports are on occupations you could write about we'll say the life of a professional football player say that's an idea what are you going to write about well I haven't really decided yet I'll have to think it over well I'll see you around Dan would have to think it over thinking it over over was the first step in preparing his class report his assignment to make a report on an occupation what occupation it should be something that would interest him and his class at dinner Dan was thinking it over dinner is a real family gathering at his house maybe Dan could get some help in picking a topic maybe he should ask dad he usually has a suggestion or maybe he should ask his brother Pete must have had class reports to do but no thought Dan this is the time to think for myself develop one of my own ideas the next day Dan began to narrow down the possible subjects he thought of things he liked to do and subjects in which he had special interest railroads had always interested him he even made model trains there were all sorts of occupations in that field he liked Sports of All Kinds but then his friend Ted was probably going to report on that he liked Automobiles and mechanical things he did but what about his audience how many of them would be interested in the life of a mechanic Dan wanted a subject that he could make interesting to everyone in the class just as he hoped their reports would interest him Dan also wanted a topic that would make the work of preparing the report more interesting for him look a farm Dan knew he had found his topic the library would be his base of operation and the card cat catalog his first source of information under the subject listing he found available books that might help him with his report Dan was careful to pick books that were really informative rather than any literature that presented a slanted viewpoint he kept a list of the books he used this is called a bibliography besides including this list in his report Dan would give credit in a footnote whenever he directly quoted an author magazine articles occupied Dan's attention on another trip to the library he found these by Consulting the reader's guide which indexes articles appearing in magazines and other regular Publications these two he included in his bibliography then Dan discovered another source of information films that gave him a real insight into the life of a farmer at home by checking the newspapers Dan found there were many radio programs that could help him with his research makers of the world's finest chicken feed present the Farmers Almanac of the air first the weather report then a quick rundown of grain prices after this message of interest to every farmer who wants to inrease but still Dan felt his research was not complete say Dad I'm making a class report on the life of a farmer how can I go to a farm and find out what it's really like I don't know son there are no Farms close by maybe you could work on a farm this summer you don't understand dad my report's got to be in next week I just have the weekend off a couple of days well let's see your Uncle Jack has a farm but he's pretty busy with his family and all the work and everything well I could help him out couldn't I I'm afraid you wouldn't be much help to him well I'll try D honest I will well all right you call him up and if he says all right I'll let you go swell dad excuse me information please so Dan found himself up on the farm for the [Music] weekend this was certainly different from life in the city people were spread out more just when Dan thought the day's work was all done there were a lot more chores he tried everything though not always with with great [Music] success when he could he took pictures that would be part of his [Music] report it was a long day but after dinner Dan made some notes on the day's activities little incidents he might use in his report but tomorrow tomorrow is another day and Uncle Jack's family went to bed early for once Dan wanted to go to bed in one day he had learned quite a bit about the life of a farmer the next day was Sunday and although the farmers still had morning chores and some distance to travel The Country Church was well [Music] attended soon after church it was time for Dan to go home he had had an interesting visit to his uncle's farm he had made a personal investigation that was fun for him and would add life to his report to guide him in preparing his class report Dan had a checklist it was time to look it over choose a subject well remember Dan had done that he had almost asked for help but in the end his idea was his own think of your interest and your audience Dan's topic was one that interested him and he felt he could make it interesting to everyone in his class next gather information he had certainly done that he'd made frequent trips to the library for research of all kinds from books magazines and films and he'd made a personal investigation of his topic to give him a further knowledge of the subject organize presentation now Dan had a week to do that as he started to think about organizing his material he began to feel he would need the weak at first what he had learned came to him in jumbled unorganized thoughts it was going to take work Dan was glad he had had experience in outlining and revising outlines organizing material in a clear effective manner because Dan was interested in his work and because he knew he had done it well he had a real sense of accomplishment and he actually was looking forward to the day he would make his report there are many ways to make a class report could you organize and present a report now that you've seen Dan go through the process how how would you present your class [Music] report