An Award-Winning Teacher Relies on the Tube

All those who believe that television has led to the downfall of reading should pay a visit to the classroom of Los Angeles teacher Milton Goldman.

Goldman tapes popular sitcoms such as “The Cosby Show” and “Family Ties” and screens them for his remedial reading students at Hamilton High School. After five minutes, he cuts off the sound and forces them to follow the story by reading captions superimposed on the screen.

Goldman’s unusual use of television is an example of how some teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District have come to rely on the medium as a learning tool.

Some teachers have their students produce videos in place of term papers. And many others regularly show instructional programs offered by the school district’s KLCS-TV, Channel 58.

Goldman, who has won a district teaching award and a grant from CBS, started showing sitcoms in class two years ago. He tapes the programs, omitting commercials, on a home video recorder. Then, using a decoder purchased from the National Captioning Institute, he makes captions from the dialogue.

He previews difficult words with the students and follows up with questions that test their comprehension and require analysis of the theme or conflict depicted on the program.

‘They Like It’

When the sound goes off, “of course, they yell at me,” Goldman said, “but they concentrate. They concentrate more on reading 20 or 22 minutes of captions than they do when reading a book. And they like it.” The method, he said, also has seemed to improve his students’ vocabularies.

Mark Green, a teacher at year-round South Gate Junior High School, assigned group video projects to a health class this term. In addition to producing a written report, his students will be responsible for making videos based on interviews and library research about a particular topic, such as ocean pollution, and showing them in class. In addition to learning about the subject, he hopes students will improve their speaking skills.

Andria Gordon of Vine Street Elementary School has her students interview one another on camera, asking such questions as “What TV show do you like best?” and “What is your definition of a good friend?” She also tapes class productions of plays. “It’s very motivating,” she said, “and fun.”

Jeffrey Reed of Huntington Park High School is producing a video flash card of images to help his students remember historical events, such as the Boston Massacre and the Civil War. He has amassed more than 1,000 pictures, mostly taken from books and old newspapers. “In history,” he said, “images are part of cultural literacy. If the image is imprinted in your mind, it can enhance your understanding of the subject.”