1761. Inside/Out: Can I Help? (22:39)

Date:
1973
Main contributors:
Agency for Instructional Television
Summary:
Lisa's class is on a field trip to a Civil War fort. As the children inspect the fort and the park that surrounds it, forest ranger Bob Kempf describes the strategy of a battle once fought there and remarks, "Many men died needlessly because there was no one to help them." This moves Lisa, who says earnestly to her friend Julie, "If I had been there, I would have helped them." A classmate of theirs, Jamie, overhears her and scoffs, "There's a lot of difference between really helping and pretending." The children are given a forty-five minute break, and Jamie rushes off to hunt for artifacts. He scrambles along the edge of a steep cliff to reach for an old watch, but stretches too far and falls over the side, dropping to a ledge and injuring his leg. He calls desperately for help, and Lisa, who is the only person close enough to hear him, first tries to get to him by herself, but then realizing that she herself might fall, runs off to search for someone to help her, although Jamie pleads with her to stay with him. Unable to spot her teacher or the ranger, she runs to a group of houses. She finds no one at the first house; and at the second an angry woman who suspects a prank tells her to go away. Finally, she sees a man at work in his yard and frantically begs him to come with her. They arrive just as Jamie is being brought up from the ledge on a litter. While Lisa has been out looking for help, her friend Julie has alerted the forest ranger that she and Jamie have strayed off from the rest of the class, and it is he who has discovered Jamie and worked out a rescue. As Jamie is carried up past Lisa, he asks her, "Why did you run away? Why didn't you help me?" She answers plaintively, "But I did help you ... I did everything I could to help you."

1762. Inside/Out:Just One Place (22:28)

Date:
1973
Main contributors:
Agency for Instructional Television
Summary:
Kevin has always taken the run-down city neighborhood where he lives pretty much for granted. His attitudes start to change, however, when he goes off with his 4-H club on a week-long camping trip in the country. For the first time in his life he encounters the unspoiled beauty of green open fields, clear streams, and wild flowers. The experience moves him to think about his own environment, and he talks it over with Jimmi, the club's adult leader, who tells him that the easiest way to make the city better is to find "just one place" and make it beautiful. Kevin follows the advice and starts looking for that one place. He finds some children who are working together to clean up a lot, and they tell him that they're going to plant a garden so that they can raise and sell vegetables in the fall. Kevin decides to help them out, and one of the girls, Marinda, shows him how to plant seeds. Later in the summer the garden has become a reality. Kevin is intensely proud of the accomplishment, and Jimmi is an admiring observer of the project. But Kevin's fortunes change suddenly, when one night some older boys, messing around on their way home, run through the garden and thoughtlessly tear it up. The children discover the mischief the next day and, angered and depressed by the senseless destruction of something they've worked long and hard to create, Kevin and Marinda talk over with Jimmi whether it's really worth the effort to try again next year.

1763. Inside/Out: Someone Special (34:01)

Date:
1973
Main contributors:
Agency for Instructional Television
Summary:
Remembering what he was like as a boy, David wistfully recalls the crush he had on his teacher, Miss Simpson. "I thought she was the prettiest lady in the world." His fantasies come back to him-how he would prove himself a hero in her eyes by winning races and saving her from a mugger. There were furtive phone calls and bicycle rides past her house, even a ruse about selling raffle tickets. As a nine-year-old, David dreams that Miss Simpson has fallen in love with him, but when he confesses his feelings to his best friend, he learns that she is engaged. His classmates tease him on the playground, until he works up the courage to ask her if she likes him more than anyone else in the class. He catches her at the wrong moment after school when she is hurrying to finish up her work. She tells him rather curtly that no, she likes all of her students just the same. But David hears only that he has been rejected and goes away hurt. From then on his conduct changes radically: he picks fights when he is teased and "stops being good and starts causing trouble" to win Miss Simpson's attention. One day after school he rushes into the empty classroom and begins to gash "I hate you" on her desk. The principal catches him in the act, and afterwards in the school office, Miss Simpson tries to help him gain a greater understanding of what they both have experienced.

1764. Inside/Out: I Want To (22:26)

Date:
1973
Main contributors:
Agency for Instructional Television
Summary:
In an imaginary courtroom scene, Patricia is demanding her rights as a nine-year-old, accusing the rest of the Michaels family of treating her like a baby. Through her friend Bud, who acts as her advocate, she tries to prove that she is old enough to take on more and greater responsibilities. Her parents, her older sister Joan, and her brothers Tony and Kevin dispute her claims, through their own advocate, Elvira Smith, asserting that she isn't ready yet to do all the things she wants to do. The court, presided over by a friendly grocer, proceeds to hear both sides of the case, examining a series of witnesses to determine who is in the right Patty tells of trying to do the family wash as a birthday surprise for her mother and being scolded because things went awry; of not being allowed to go to the movies by herself because it might be too dangerous; and of being assigned trivial jobs by her parents. The other family members take the stand to explain their attitudes, pointing out Patty's shortcomings and admit.ting some of their own. The case ends in confusion when supporters of both sides start milling around the bench. A TV announcer for the program "You Wanted It," which is presenting the trial, leaves the verdict to the viewing audience.

1765. Inside/Out: Just Joking (33:55)

Date:
1973
Main contributors:
Agency for Instructional Television
Summary:
Although David is really more mischievous than malicious, his idea of amusing himself is playing jokes on others. On the morning of the all-school hobby day, he scoffs at the doll clothes his younger sister Sandy has made to show to her class, and she gets back at him with a prank that spoils his breakfast. Their mother scolds her, cautioning that "jokes are all right if they don't hurt anybody." David rushes off to school without breakfast and along the way teases a girl by grabbing a package from her and running off with it. During the course of the day he tricks a candy store clerk, snatches away a classmate's glasses, and puts a sticky sign on another student's desk seat. There is a turn of events when David gets up before the class to discuss his own hobby and show a model airplane. So far David hasn't learned that what seems funny to him isn't very funny to anyone else. Suddenly, as he looks into his package, he imagines vividly what might have happened if each of his jokes had turned out differently. When his daydream is over, David discovers that although he's been the joker, someone else has had the last laugh.

1766. Inside/Out: But They Might Laugh (22:39)

Date:
1973
Main contributors:
Agency for Instructional Television
Summary:
Becky and Laura are whispering in class about their ice-skating lessons later that afternoon, but the conversation is interrupted when Becky is called to the board to spell a word. When she makes several false starts, the other children laugh at her mistakes, and she gives up in frustration. Although Laura offers encouragement, Becky grumbles that she can't do anything when anyone laughs at her. At the skating rink Becky struggles to keep her balance, but takes one tumble after another. When her classmates again laugh at her, she quits and goes off to the side, where her teacher, Mrs. Johnson, urges her to keep trying. The children ask their teacher to join them on the ice, but she begs off, promising to skate with them the next day. On her way to school the next morning, Becky, knowing that she will have to try to skate again that afternoon, bandages her knee to feign an injury and limps into class late. Mrs. Johnson announces that she won't be able to go skating after all, because she has to attend an important meeting. After school she tries to leave without being seen by any of the children, but encounters Becky, who now has no trouble running. Mrs. Johnson confesses that she had lied to the children about having to go to a meeting and admits that she didn't want to go skating because she was afraid of falling down and making a fool of herself. When Becky discovers that her teacher is also afraid of being laughed at, she and Mrs. Johnson decide to go together to the skating rink. Moving uncertainly, the teacher edges along the ice while Becky watches anxiously from the side. Mrs. Johnson loses her balance and takes a tumble, but her students encourage her to try again. Becky nervously twists the laces of her skates, unable to decide what she should do now.

1767. Inside/Out: I Dare You (22:36)

Date:
1973
Main contributors:
Agency for Instructional Television
Summary:
Clarissa, a new girl in the neighborhood, wants to join the "gang." To be accepted as a member, she must carry out a potentially dangerous dare. The gang is also shaken by the potential danger and debates whether the dare is necessary and how hard it should be. In a series of flashbacks each child recounts this particular dare. Yes, Clarissa must accept the dare to join the gang; her trial will come later in the day. Torn between a desire for social acceptance and a concern for her safety, Clarissa fantasizes many of the possible consequences of taking the dare and argues with herself about whether membership in the group is worth the risk. When the moment of decision arrives, she is urged on by the gang, who shout fiercely, "Go! Go! Go!" As the tension reaches its highest point the program ends .... What has Clarissa decided to do? (with captions)

1768. You're It (15:46)

Date:
1970
Main contributors:
National Instructional Television
Summary:
From the series Ripples. Eight seven-year-olds enjoy a unique visit to the National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C. The surprising tour be-gins with a warm-up in which the children relax and learn to "feel" with their eyes.Then they learn to concentrate on what they see by actually trying to become ladies and gentlemen in Eighteenth Century portraits,people and shapes in an emotional scene,and even the shapes and sounds in a "noisy"Twentieth Century abstract.

1769. Income Tax and You (18:46)

Date:
unknown/unknown
Main contributors:
Agency For Instructional Technology
Summary:
Episode 1 from Understanding Taxes. Uses dramatizations to highlight teenagers' firsthand experiences with the effects of taxation and to explain the reasons for taxes.

1770. Walk and Run (22:30)

Date:
1975
Main contributors:
National Instructional Television
Summary:
From the series Wordsmith. This popular series is based on contemporary concepts of vocabulary and linguistic theory. Each program centers on a themes like food, size, or communication. But from then on, anything goes--word cells cavort about to instruct and entertain, animated characters get their words in edgewise, word lore of all kinds lights up the nooks and crannies of the English language. Designed to arouse students curiosity about words and to sharpen their awareness of language, the series includes standard vocabulary development and incorporates terms from specialized vocabularies, foreign languages, and slang. Bob Smith, wordsmith and author of the teacher's guide, has taught English, philosophy, psychology, education, Latin, and mathematics at levels from the seventh grade to post graduate study. His television work began in 1962. Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago, and three advanced degrees in philosophy and linguistics from Gonzaga University and the University of Michigan.