Blackboard Illustrations.
By G. H. B.
THE legitimate uses of blackboard illustrations in Sabbath-school may be many and various, but the one all-important use is that of gaining and holding the attention to what the teacher is presenting. True, the teacher must rely mainly on word-pictures; yet a little timely assistance from the crayon or the pencil is often valuable. Lessons for children, on whatever subject, should be mainly narrative. Children appreciate a truth much better when brought out in a narrative than they do when it is presented in any other way. Their love for story-telling is given them by a Creator who knows how to adapt means to an end. Hence it is that children receive more moral and spiritual culture from the stories of the Bible than they do from its precepts. Curiosity and imagination are especially active in childhood; and whoever would hold the attention of a child must give room for the exercise of those faculties on the subject he is presenting, or they will immediately fall into employment on some other subject. A healthy child can be made to see, in imagination, all the scenes and surroundings of a narrative almost as clearly and vividly as though they were presented to him in vision. How important, then, that the first presentation of a subject be as nearly perfect as possible; since first impressions are lasting, and can seldom be effaced or changed. I would recommend, therefore, that a lesson for small children be first presented by the teacher, or by some person equally skillfull, and studied afterward. To this end the teacher might devote the first part of the time to the recitation of the lesson that had been studied during the week, and the last part of it to teaching the lesson that is to be studied during the coming week, and recited the next Sabbath. In some cases it might be better to take the time of "general exercise," and present the lesson to an entire division. Teaching a lesson is very different from hearing a lesson. In teaching a lesson, the first thing is to get the lead of all the minds in your class,—to get them all to think and talk about some one thing, and then to follow you from one thing to another until you come directly upon the subject of the lesson. This is generally best done by means of questions, and does not usually require more than a minute or two. Strike in somewhere, and ask a question that will be sure to bring an answer; let that answer determine what the next question shall be; and so on. The drawing should proceed no faster than the story. Thus the curiosity of the class is all the while in exercise, not only to know what you are going to tell next but also to see what you are going to make next. In order not to take too much time, the drawing must necessarily be very rude; but the quick imagination of the children will make up great deficiencies. A lady who was teaching about the battle with the Amalekites, remarked, after having drawn Moses, Aaron, and Hur on the top of the hill, "Now the armies fought on this plain, but there were so many men that I cannot make them," when the children at once cried out, "We'll help you; straight marks will do well enough for men." So the little hands went to work, and in a few seconds the plain was covered with men "armed to the teeth, and ready for fight." When she came to tell how the Amalekites were beaten, and fled, she said, "We cannot make these men run," when one of the children immediately replied, "Rub 'em out, and that'll show that they've gone!" Be careful not to draw too much; just enough to keep the attention, and stimulate the imagination. Remember that the object to be gained is to cause the children to see the events as though they were really taking place before their eyes at the moment. Thus when you come to review, a series of pictures, or rather scenes, will present themselves in succession, until by and by the learner can call up the entire drama of sacred history from Genesis to Revelation. No picture made beforehand, be it ever so fine, can so well answer the purpose as this off-hand work; for in that case the child's curiosity is at once satisfied; and his imagination, if it works at all, will be employed on plans reaching beyond your present purpose, and foreign to what you wish to teach. Sometimes, however, the principal features of a landscape may be drawn beforehand, and the events to be represented upon it be illustrated while teaching the lesson. The necessary skill on the part of the teacher will soon be acquired by those who are earnest and enthusiastic in the work. Success depends more upon invention than upon execution. Those who are original and inventive soon learn to execute. Be careful not to let your drawing take the place of talking. Remember that you must depend mainly upon the tongue, rather than the hand. The latter must serve the former. Crayon marks are a poor substitute for the subtle power of language, which cannot only make the strongest pictures, but at the same time give them a coloring that will move the affections and touch the hidden springs of action. Do not, then, give up talking for the sake of drawing, but use the latter to allure wandering minds, and bring them where your words may take full effect. With reference to the abuses, or misuses, of illustrations, it may be sufficient to say that whenever they serve merely to excite curiosity or admiration; whenever they serve to draw the attention to the skill of the performer, or his aptness in getting curious combinations of words or figures; or whenever they tend in any way to divert the mind from the leading theme of the lesson, they seem to be turned from their natural use; and there is danger that while they accomplish a small good, they will do a greater harm.—G. H. B., in S. S. Worker.