/internal/media/dispatcher/73152/fullScott Foresman and Company Linguistic Block Series Set1963Box: 9 1/8 × 6 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (23.2 × 17.1 × 3.8 cm)
Block: 1 1/16 × 1 1/16 × 1 1/16 in. (2.7 × 2.7 × 2.7 cm)Cardboard; Plastic; PaperThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection2022.024.00010Scott Foresman Linguistic Block Series 1963, Phoncs 10 Blocks, Consonants G. Set includes the following parts:
1. Original box
2. Instruction booklet
3. Cardboard tray for blocks
4. Set of 10 pink plastic letter blocks
These same educational learning tools were stored in the 6th floor boxes used in the sniper's perch and rifle location of the Texas School Book Depository building during the Kennedy assassination.Artifacts663992.698755397517.14503429012.698755397523.177546355173431Toy2.69875539753.8100076200Linguistic Block Series phonics teaching aid produced by Scott Foresman and Company education publishers in 1963. The cardboard box, measuring 9 1/8 in. H × 6 3/4 in. W × 1 1/2 in. D, contains a teacher's guide and ten plastic linguistic blocks with letters printed on all sides. The 1 1/16 in. square plastic blocks can be arranged in a variety of ways to spell a series of simple words. This teaching aid was intended for first grade classroom use and was part of Scott Foresman's Rolling Phonics/Rolling Readers series.ToysSniper's perchEducationBoxesTexas School Book DepositoryScott Foresman and CompanyDallasAt the time of the assassination in 1963, the southeast corner of the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository contained boxes of books from Scott Foresman and Company education publishers. Although the company was most famous for their "Dick and Jane" series of early readers, Scott Foresman published a wide variety of titles for preschools and schools across the country. Some of the boxes found in the sniper's perch area, including the two boxes closest to the brick window ledge, were stamped "Ten Rolling Readers." Although most might assume that these boxes contained ten books, Rolling Readers were not actually books at all. In their 1964 Report, the Warren Commission noted that the Rolling Readers cartons near the window ledge "contained, instead of books, light blocks used as reading aids. They [the boxes] could be easily adjusted and were still solid enough to serve as a gun rest." In fact, the Rolling Readers were part of an educational linguistic block series. A description from 1970 explains: "Though not a reading series, the linguistic blocks could be described as a tool to aid in the teaching of the following aspects of linguistics: the alphabetic principle, major spelling patters and basic sentence patterns. The plastic blocks are arranged in a series of five sets, including these 'Rolling Readers,' one set for consonants, and one for vowels." This copyright 1963 box of Scott Foresman linguistic blocks, labeled "Rolling Phonics - Consonants," is similar to the block sets found in the "Ten Rolling Readers" boxes located in the sniper's perch on November 22, 1963. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator