Written Exercise.Choose what you will write about for the circus book. Think what you can say that your classmates will enjoy reading. Then write the account. Better write a short and bright account than a long and stupid one. First, write on your paper rather rapidly the best account you can. When this is finished, read it several times and try to make it better.If you were writing about the juggler, your first, rapidly written account might read like this:
THE JUGGLER AT THE CIRCUS
There was a juggler at the circus. I cannot tell all the tricks he did. It must take a long time to learn to do tricks. I wish I could do some.
There was a juggler at the circus. I cannot tell all the tricks he did. It must take a long time to learn to do tricks. I wish I could do some.
Of course this first, rapid account can be made much better. It does not tell how the juggler looked. It does not tell clearly what he did. After you have added these and other points, the account might be like this one:
THE JUGGLER AT THE CIRCUS
I saw the wonderful Japanese juggler at the circus. He was dressed in red silk. He stood in the ring before all the people. I saw him do one trick after another. It was like magic. He threw five shiny, sharp knives up in the air. He kept them flying up and down without dropping one.
I saw the wonderful Japanese juggler at the circus. He was dressed in red silk. He stood in the ring before all the people. I saw him do one trick after another. It was like magic. He threw five shiny, sharp knives up in the air. He kept them flying up and down without dropping one.
Group Exercise.Some of the circus stories should be copied neatly on the board. Then the whole class may try to make them better before they are copied on the pages of the circus book.[75]
Oral Exercise.Make believe that you are one of the performers or one of the animals in a circus. Tell your classmates two facts about yourself: (1) what you look like and (2) what you do. But do not tell what you are. Thus, you might say:
I look just like you, but I spend much of my time in a cage. No, I am not a monkey. It is my business to be in a cage. Lions are afraid of me, and I am afraid of them, but you can see us side by side in the same circus cage in every parade. What am I?
I look just like you, but I spend much of my time in a cage. No, I am not a monkey. It is my business to be in a cage. Lions are afraid of me, and I am afraid of them, but you can see us side by side in the same circus cage in every parade. What am I?
Or you might say:
My face is pale, and my clothes are white. I look like a very foolish, sad, and solemn person. Everybody laughs at me. I don't mind it. It is my business to look silly. If I did not look silly, I should lose my place in the circus. What am I?
My face is pale, and my clothes are white. I look like a very foolish, sad, and solemn person. Everybody laughs at me. I don't mind it. It is my business to look silly. If I did not look silly, I should lose my place in the circus. What am I?
Your classmates will try to guess what you are.
Group Exercise.1. Some of the riddles may now be written on the board. Then the class will try to make them better. The teacher will write each improved riddle beside the one from which it was made.
2. When everybody in the class has made a riddle, and all the riddles have been guessed, you and the other pupils will enjoy having a circus parade. In this circus parade the whole class marches around the room and up and down the aisles. Each pupil plays, as he did in making the riddles, that he is one of the performers or one of the animals in a circus. Each without speaking tries to show what performer or animal he is. For example, if you are a circus horse, show it by prancing about, but do not lose your place in the parade. If you are an elephant, show it by your walk. You might use a piece of rope or cloth for an elephant's trunk. If you are a horseback rider, show it by talking to your horse in low tones and by holding him in line. If you are a clown, show it by acting as clowns do.[76]If you are a musician, play your instrument as you march.
Perhaps the teacher will let the parade pass into the hall, so that the piano may be played as the class marches.
Sometimes boys and girls play menagerie. Each makes believe that he is the keeper or trainer of some wild animal. When his turn comes, he stands before the class and tells about the animal that is supposed to be in a cage at his side.
AFRICAN LION
Oral Exercise.Choose the animal of which you will play that you are the keeper. Then tell the class about this animal. Tell everything interesting that you know or can find out about it. Perhaps the following list of questions will help you to think of what to say:
1. What does the animal look like? What is its size, color, and shape?2. Where does the animal live?3. How does it live? How does it obtain its food?4. Is the animal very different from most wild animals in any important ways?5. Can it be easily tamed?
1. What does the animal look like? What is its size, color, and shape?
2. Where does the animal live?
3. How does it live? How does it obtain its food?
4. Is the animal very different from most wild animals in any important ways?
5. Can it be easily tamed?
Group Exercise.1. The two following accounts are such as a make-believe trainer might give of a lion. One of these is much better than the other. Can you tell which is the better one?
2. What do you like in the first account? Notice that all of the sentences begin in the same way. Do you like that?
3. Do you like the wordframesin the second account? What is the difference in meaning betweendangerousandcruel?
4. After each talk the class should tell whether that talk was more like the first or the second of these accounts:
I
The lion is a large animal. It has four legs, one on each corner. Its body is covered with yellow hair. It has a shaggy mane. It has a long tail. It lives in the wild parts of Africa. It will eat human beings.
The lion is a large animal. It has four legs, one on each corner. Its body is covered with yellow hair. It has a shaggy mane. It has a long tail. It lives in the wild parts of Africa. It will eat human beings.
II
Ladies and gentlemen, the big animal that you see in this cage is a lion. See his beautiful yellow coat. See the shaggy mane that frames his head. You probably know that the lion is a dangerous beast. But do you know that he is the most dangerous and cruel of all the wild animals? The father of this fine-looking specimen before you was caught in Africa. Human bones and several copper bangles were found in his den.
Ladies and gentlemen, the big animal that you see in this cage is a lion. See his beautiful yellow coat. See the shaggy mane that frames his head. You probably know that the lion is a dangerous beast. But do you know that he is the most dangerous and cruel of all the wild animals? The father of this fine-looking specimen before you was caught in Africa. Human bones and several copper bangles were found in his den.
BENGAL TIGER
Now you and your classmates are ready to make a book about wild animals. Every page of the book should contain a short but interesting account of some wild animal. A cover of stiff paper might have these words written or printed on it:
Written Exercise.Write your page[78]for the class book about wild animals. Better write it twice. After the first, rather rapid writing is finished, read it over several times and try to make it better. Try to put better words in the places of some of those you used. Try to add a bright sentence or two. Leave out sentences and words that are not needed. Copy what you then have.
Group Exercise.Before each pupil's account is put in the book, that account should be read by the class to make sure that there are no mistakes in it. The class might be divided into a number of groups of five or six pupils each. Each group could then correct its five or six accounts. The pupils of each group would work together, correcting one account at a time.[79]In this work of finding mistakes the following questions[80]will be useful:
1. Does every sentence in the account begin with a capital letter?2. Does every sentence end with a period or question mark?3. Is every word correctly spelled?4. Are there any mistakes in English?
1. Does every sentence in the account begin with a capital letter?
2. Does every sentence end with a period or question mark?
3. Is every word correctly spelled?
4. Are there any mistakes in English?
Some pupils make the mistake of using the wordgoodwhen they should usewell.
The wordgoodis correctly used to tell what sort of person or thing you are speaking of. Thus, you may say, "He is agoodwriter."
The wordwell, on the other hand, usually tellshowsomething is done. Thus, you may say, "He writeswell."
Game.Tom plays that he is the manager of a circus. His classmates want to work in the circus. Each one makes up his mind what kind of work he will play that he can do. Then one after another raises his hand and asks Tom for a position.
For instance, Fred says: "Tom, have you a position for me in your circus?"
Tom answers: "What kind of work can you do well, Fred?"
Fred says: "I am a good ticket seller. I can sell tickets well."
Then Nellie asks: "Tom, have you a position for me in your circus?"
Tom answers: "What kind of work can you do well, Nellie?"
Nellie replies: "I am a good cook. I can cook well."
Other pupils are good musicians, they can play well; or good tightrope walkers, they can walk the tightrope well; or good singers, they can sing well; or good drivers of horses, they can drive horses well; or good shoemakers, they can repair shoes well. After each pupil has told what he can do well, all those who made no mistake in speaking to the manager of the circus may march around the room, saying or singing, "We are good circus workers. We do our work well."
Oral Exercise.Talk to a classmate over the make-believe class telephone.[81]Play that he is the ticket seller in a circus. You want to know about the prices of seats. Ask the time at which the doors are open. Ask him whether you and your two children may all go in on one ticket. He will say no to the last question. Try to make him see that he should let you in on one ticket. Then telephone to other classmates. The following ideas[82]for telephone talks will help you think of what to say:
1. Telephone to the lion trainer. Tell him that you want to become a lion trainer. Ask him what you must do to get ready for this work. Ask his advice about it. Perhaps he will tell you something interesting about lions.2. Telephone to the keepers and trainers of other wild animals.3. Telephone to the clown, or the juggler, or the tightrope walker, or the horseback rider.4. Telephone to a pupil and try to make a plan with him for going to the circus to-morrow. Where shall you meet him? How will you prove to your parents and to your teacher that it will do you more good to spend the afternoon at the circus than in school?5. Telephone to a classmate and ask him where the circus is to be. Play that you are a new pupil in the school and do not know the roads and streets very well. Keep asking the classmate questions about how to reach the circus grounds. He should answer so clearly that a stranger would not miss the way.
1. Telephone to the lion trainer. Tell him that you want to become a lion trainer. Ask him what you must do to get ready for this work. Ask his advice about it. Perhaps he will tell you something interesting about lions.
2. Telephone to the keepers and trainers of other wild animals.
3. Telephone to the clown, or the juggler, or the tightrope walker, or the horseback rider.
4. Telephone to a pupil and try to make a plan with him for going to the circus to-morrow. Where shall you meet him? How will you prove to your parents and to your teacher that it will do you more good to spend the afternoon at the circus than in school?
5. Telephone to a classmate and ask him where the circus is to be. Play that you are a new pupil in the school and do not know the roads and streets very well. Keep asking the classmate questions about how to reach the circus grounds. He should answer so clearly that a stranger would not miss the way.
Oral Exercise.Pronounce each of the following words clearly and distinctly as the teacher pronounces it to you. Then pronounce the entire list as rapidly as you can, but still clearly, distinctly, and correctly.
Game.Ask a classmate a question that has in it one of the words in the list above. The classmate will answer your question, using the same word from the list. If he pronounces the word correctly, he will ask a classmate a question containing another word from the list. And so it will go on until every one in the class has both asked and answered a question.
Soon the school term will come to an end. Then the long summer vacation will begin. What good times you will have! Perhaps your parents have already made plans for you. Perhaps they have planned a trip away. Or it may be that they will send you to the summerschool. Or, like most pupils, perhaps you will spend the summer at home. You will play outdoors with boys and girls who live near you.
Oral Exercise.Tell your classmates what you think you will be doing during the coming summer vacation. Perhaps the following questions will help you:
1. What games do you think you will play during the summer?2. Shall you go to any city parks? What can you see and do there?3. Shall you go swimming or boating? Shall you go on a picnic to a pleasant place?4. Shall you go to the public library?5. Shall you take a trip away from home?
1. What games do you think you will play during the summer?
2. Shall you go to any city parks? What can you see and do there?
3. Shall you go swimming or boating? Shall you go on a picnic to a pleasant place?
4. Shall you go to the public library?
5. Shall you take a trip away from home?
Earlier in this book you read about fairies. You know what wonderful things they can do. They can make wishes come true. If a fairy came to your schoolroom and spoke to you and your classmates, you might be very much surprised. But you would be still more surprised if the fairy stood before the class, perhaps on the top of the teacher's desk where all could see, and made this little speech in a tiny but musical voice:
Boys and girls, I have been very glad all the year to see you having such good times together in this room. I think that young folks who enjoy school as much as you do should have a very pleasant vacation too.
Boys and girls, I have been very glad all the year to see you having such good times together in this room. I think that young folks who enjoy school as much as you do should have a very pleasant vacation too.
As you see, I have brought my magic wand with me. Watch me as I wave it in the air. Yes, I am waving it more than once. I want to make a ring in the air for every boy and girl in the class. There, I have done it. Now each of you may have a wish, just as Peter was given a wish by the strange little old man. Each of you may wish a summer vacation exactly as he would like it best. All these wishes will come true.Some of you boys will probably wish for a trip to the moon in a magic airplane. The trip is yours the moment you speak your wish. Some of you girls will probably wish to spend the two summer months in fairyland. Your wish, too, will come true.Now I must say good-bye. Before I leave I shall make one more circle in the air with my wand. For whom is this? It is for the teacher. When the wishing begins, the teacher must have a wish, too.
As you see, I have brought my magic wand with me. Watch me as I wave it in the air. Yes, I am waving it more than once. I want to make a ring in the air for every boy and girl in the class. There, I have done it. Now each of you may have a wish, just as Peter was given a wish by the strange little old man. Each of you may wish a summer vacation exactly as he would like it best. All these wishes will come true.
Some of you boys will probably wish for a trip to the moon in a magic airplane. The trip is yours the moment you speak your wish. Some of you girls will probably wish to spend the two summer months in fairyland. Your wish, too, will come true.
Now I must say good-bye. Before I leave I shall make one more circle in the air with my wand. For whom is this? It is for the teacher. When the wishing begins, the teacher must have a wish, too.
When the fairy left the room, the planning and wishing would begin. Each pupil would probably have a wish very different from that of his classmates. Some of the plans and wishes would be very interesting. It would be fun to hear them all.
Oral Exercise.Tell your classmates how you would like to spend the long summer vacation if you could spend it any way you wished.[83]
(The page number following each note number indicates the first appearance of the note in the text)
Note 1(page 1). Although the lessons in this book are addressed to the pupil, it will probably be advisable for the teacher to reproduce the procedure of the first ones orally and independently of the text, rather than to confront the class at once with the printed page. In some instances, however, it will be preferred from the beginning to work out each lesson as it stands, the class reading and studying the text with the teacher (the "study recitation"). In no case should there be haste. If the teacher finds that the Christmas lessons cannot easily be reached by December, or the valentine lessons by early February, much depending on the class, judicious omissions are advised. The plan of the text makes this both permissible and easy. The teacher is asked to read the Preface and is strongly urged to read the entire book, including the Notes, at the beginning of the year's work.
Note 2(page 1). The spirit of play should pervade the composition period. Pupils should feel as free and happy as on the playground. It is suggested that they be encouraged to "let go" when they are playing stories. Let there be much action, even exaggerated action. Let there be unembarrassed speaking, even if it be sometimes a little louder than necessary. Let there be energetic pantomime. When animals are imitated, or sleepy boys, or elves, let it be done with a will, perhaps even ludicrously. This freedom and abandon of play and fun will help lay the foundation for natural, vigorous, and interesting self-expression.
Note 3(page 2). A number of pupils may be asked to show how the sleepy boy looked as he wakened. Let each one lie on the platform or floor before the class, apparently fast asleep; then awaken and stretch and yawn prodigiously; and finally awake fully and realize lazily that mother is at the bedside. This may represent an awakening from dreamless sleep. Next, let each player awake with a start, as Tom may have done after his exciting dream. It may be advisable with some classes, as a preliminary "warming up," to ask that (for example) flying a kite, riding a horse, picking flowers, sweeping and dusting a room, rowing a boat, be represented in pantomime.
Note 4(page 3). No finished dramatic product is looked for in these exercises. The ends are (1) the pupils' keen pleasure in the activity and expressioninvolved in the play; (2) the creation of a situation that means for the pupils freedom and absence of self-consciousness; (3) purposeful speech by the children "in the situation"; (4) development of increasing interest in the story as a basis for further, and now story-telling, expression work.Norehearsing,nomemorizing of speeches, but originality, extemporaneous expression, natural, spontaneous speech, are desired. Later on, different pupils should be asked to be managers of plays, selecting players, giving stage directions, urging the actors to speak more, to act more naturally, etc.
Note 5(page 3). It is desirable that all pupils take part in the dramatizations, and not only the favored or the forward few. Besides, each pupil should be encouraged to play the partas he sees it. Originality, not thoughtless imitation, is desired. It is thedifferencesthat will be recognized as interesting and valuable in schoolrooms where individuality is encouraged; and it is the differences that justify repeated playing of the same story before the same audience. See Note 57.
Note 6(page 4). It is astonishing and delightful how well little people do when they are permitted to take the initiative and to assume responsibility. Frequently pupils should be allowed to work out a play alone, the teacher helping only when asked or when the situation calls loudly for her assistance.
Note 7(page 4). If the purpose of language teaching is the improvement of pupils' speaking and writing, pupils must speak and write abundantly. But they must do more. Two garrulous housewives may gossip over the back fence for years and at the end of that time speak no better than at the beginning. The same grammatical errors with which they began, the same infelicities of expression, the same lack of organization, the same meager and overworked vocabulary, the same mispronunciations and slovenly utterance, will still be there. Why is this? The reason indicates clearly that it is not enough that pupils speak and speak and write and write. This is only half the battle. In addition there must be continual attention to the problem of improvement in speaking and writing. This improvement is a task of years, and only one step can be taken at a time. In these first lessons criticism should be directed mainly to the matter of the pupil's expressing himself fully. See Notes 20 and 64.
Note 8(page 5). As pupils suggest improvements, Tom's dream should be rewritten on the board, sentence by sentence, the point being throughout that Tom did not tell all that he had in mind. The class will greatly enjoy and profit by seeing Tom's original bald, fragmentary story become a vivid narrative, full of interesting detail and realistic color. See Note 64. Later this should be compared with Tom's improved narrative as it stands on pages 5 and 6. Pupils should not conclude, however, thatlengthis necessarily a virtue in compositions. What is desired is not mere fullness but fullness of interesting detail.
Note 9(page 7). After pupils have read the introduction to the poem, or the teacher has freely developed one (see Note 1), the poem should be read aloud by the teacher, in order that the class may be impressed at once with its rhythm and thought. A second reading by the teacher, immediately following the first, may be advisable, in order to deepen the first favorable impression. With most classes every selection in the book should be read, the first time, by the teacher to the class. Many teachers memorize the poems, reciting instead of reading them.
Note 10(page 7). Some teachers will desire to use the second half of this poem. Judiciously employed, that half will be greatly enjoyed by children and will, in fact, give added point to the first half.
Note 11(page 7). When the force of each word has been explained, pupils should use it in sentences of their own and thus show that they understand its meaning.
Note 12(page 8). Far better than the traditional correction of completed papers by the teacher at home it is for the teacher to walk up and down the aisles while pupils are busy copying, and to point out sympathetically their mistakes, making concrete and constructive suggestions where they are needed.
Note 13(page 9). The best way for the pupil to memorize, as is well stated in Pillsbury's "Essentials of Psychology," page 192, is "to read through the whole selection from beginning to end, and to repeat the reading until all is learned, rather than to learn bit by bit." The teacher should join the class in reading the poem aloud repeatedly, in order that pupils may have the right emphasis and expression while they memorize.
Note 14(page 9). Pupils will enjoy, in this connection, hearing some of the wonderful tales, which might very well have been fantastic dreams, of Baron Munchhausen. See "Tales from Munchhausen," edited by Edward Everett Hale (D. C. Heath & Co.). The telling of dreams involving comical situations should by no means be discouraged. The funnier they are, other things being equal, the better.
Note 15(page 9). The termgroup exercisedesignates in this book those class activities in which pupils manage the matter in hand mainly themselves, or in which they work together on a problem as in a laboratory.
Note 16(page 10). It is suggested that the termsentencebe used incidentally by the teacher while writing on the board. The beginning capital letter and the final punctuation mark (period or question mark) should be pointed out, as well as capitalI, also incidentally. Besides, the termspunctuation mark,period, andquestion markshould receive passing notice. The object is to give pupils a preliminary acquaintance with these technicalities. No definition of the sentence should be attempted in this grade, but the foundation for sentence sense may be laid successfully.
Note 17(page 10). Improvement here should take the form of adding interesting and significant details, as was done on pages 4 and 5 in the improvement of Tom's dream. The matter of variety in expression may be lightly touched. By no means should the work be formal or heavy or above the heads or interests of the pupils. So far as possible let them make the suggestions.
Note 18(page 10). Let the dictation clearly indicate, by a dropping of the voice and by a pause, the end of each sentence. Thus the dictation work will be a drill rather than a test in the writing of sentences. Preparation for dictation work may include counting the capital letters in the selection to be written, counting the periods, etc. It is suggested that occasionally the pupils be asked to repeat each sentence aloud as it is read by the teacher, and then write it.
Note 19(page 11). See page 21 for the fuller presentation ofsawandseen. In this connection the teacher need hardly be reminded that good English is largely a matter of habit rather than of knowledge, and that repetition under stimulus and in the atmosphere of interest is the means of establishing habits. Of course the game is one of the best of these means.
Note 20(page 12). Encourage originality. Applaud unusual conceptions. Let pupils give free rein to their imaginations. Some of the best sentences may be written on the board, both for their content interest and to emphasize again the capital letter at the beginning, the punctuation mark at the end, and capitalI. Besides, work in variety of expression or in amplification may profitably become an incident of the game. Thus, a sentence like "I saw an automobile" offers a real opportunity. It should be placed on the board. By means of questions the class should be led to amplify it, to give it definition, color, interest. What sort of automobile was it? Was it new or old? Where was it? Who was in it? Etc. Finally the original meager sentence becomes, "I saw an old, unwashed automobile that stood by the roadside with the driver asleep on the back seat," or, "I saw a shining new automobile spin noiselessly down the street with three laughing children on the back seat." See Notes 7 and 64.
Note 21(page 18). While the fable of the ants and the grasshoppers is occupying the attention of the pupils certain classic phrasings of its lesson may profitably be put on the board. See Proverbs, Chapter VI, verses 6-11, besides the quotations below. A lesson devoted to the study of these may be given, followed by exercises in copying and memorizing.
"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.""Work while it is day: for the night cometh, when no man can work.""There is a time for work and a time for play.""He that will not work shall not eat.""When you play, play with all your might. When you work, do not play at all."
"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
"Work while it is day: for the night cometh, when no man can work."
"There is a time for work and a time for play."
"He that will not work shall not eat."
"When you play, play with all your might. When you work, do not play at all."
Note 22(page 20). Pupils should stand before the class as they tell their stories. Only when theyfacetheir classmates can they speaktothem effectively. There is no good in pupils' speaking unless they speaktosome one. They must, like adults, have a real audience and something to tell that audience which it does not already know. Or, if there be repetition, this must be for a purpose that is of interest to the audience and therefore to the speaker.
Note 23(page 23). A little talk on "Sharp Eyes" is suggested.
Note 24(page 25). The expansion should not go too far. There is no virtue in mere length. Quality of work should be emphasized. Besides, one of these fables, the shortest one, is to be used in the subsequent exercise in copying.
Note 25(page 25). The work in copying should be motivated by placing before the pupils the problem involved, namely, making an exact reproduction of the original.Can it be done?This is the question before the class. Copy only a part of a fable rather than make the exercise too long. See Note 12.
Note 26(page 28). It is suggested that the room be decorated appropriately for these lessons that deal with Indian subject matter. Possibly a small Indian tepee may be pitched in one corner of the schoolroom. A Navajo rug may adorn the wall, and pictures of Indian weapons, tools, utensils, and other articles of various kinds may be drawn in color on the board. Besides the book quoted in the text, Frederick Starr's "American Indians" (Heath) and Gilbert L. Wilson's "Myths of the Red Children" (Ginn), from the latter of which the Indian illustrations in the present textbook have been taken with the kind permission of Mr. Wilson, will be found replete with authoritative information. At the discretion of the teacher this problem of room decoration may be solved in a series of group exercises in English (see Note 15), each pupil expressing his views as he stands before the class.
Pupils will enjoy drawing tepees, tomahawks, Indian chiefs, squaws, and papooses on paper with colored crayons; dressing dolls as Indians; dressing themselves as Indians; making tepees, canoes, etc. out of paper and cardboard; making an Indian scene on the sand table.
The following are war whoops or Indian calls: "Ki-yi, whoo-oo! Ki-yi, ki-yi, ki-yi, whoo-oo!" and "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!"
Note 27(page 39). It is suggested that this exercise be preceded by a pantomime in which a pupil plays that he is wandering through the woods, while the class pretend that they are Indians waylaying him. Some may approach on the river in canoes. Some may follow his tracks on the ground. The women and the papooses would remain in the safe background. Finally the boy is captured. Then a little extemporized dramatization takes place before the captured boy makes his speech. Sensitive children should perhaps be informed that such captures no longer happen.
Note 28(page 40). This game is designed to help stop the incorrect use ofgot. If some chicken feathers can be obtained, each player may wear one.
Note 29(page 41). Some Indians call January "Cold Moon," April "Green-Grass Moon," May "Song Moon," June "Rose Moon," and November "Mad Moon."
Note 30(page 42). The antidote for theandhabit is not adon'tbut ado. If pupils are trained to drop the voice at the ends of sentences and to make a pause there, not only will many thoughtlessand'sremain unspoken, but sentence sense will be developed. Let the class read the January selection in the text, exaggerating the pause at the end of each sentence.
Note 31(page 46). The teacher should not hesitate to modify any game to suit the needs of the class. Games 1 and 2 on pages 46 and 47 should be played on different days, to avoid confusion. Few mistakes will be made in these easy games, nor are mistakes desirable. The repetition of the correct form is desirable. It must not be a thoughtless repetition.
Note 32(page 47). Parent coöperation in the work of eradicating common errors is to be sought. Some schools send cards to the pupils' homes, explaining the errors for the removal of which the teachers ask the help of the parents.
Note 33(page 47). Pictures of fairies should now be drawn on the board, in order to help create the proper atmosphere for the present lessons. Later in the month let Christmas decorations be added. Perhaps a small Christmas tree could be brought in and ornamented with inexpensive colored papers. See Note 26.
The story in the text may be used for story-telling, although it is given here merely to create an appropriate atmosphere for the pupils' stories and as a prelude to the work of the next weeks.
It depends very much on the class whether teachers will read or freely retell the stories and other selections in the book or whether they will utilize them for reading lessons or for study recitations. With many classes it will be decidedly best for the teacher to read or reproduce the stories and selections. See Notes 1 and 9.
Note 34(page 64). A number of possible exercises suggest themselves here. Thus, several lesson periods might profitably be devoted to each pupil's explaining how to make a toy or other Christmas thing. If correlation with manual training be possible, pupils may actually make toys, Christmas cards, New Year's cards, and calendars. This may be handled dramatically. Pupils may play that they are a band of fairies going to Santa Claus to offer their services in the great toyshop. One pupil is Santa Claus. He asks each pupil toexplainwhat he can do in the way of making Christmas things. Then he puts them to work. See the game in section 67.
Note 35(page 67). Teachers who preserve the best riddles will find them useful means of stimulating subsequent classes to their best endeavor. A riddle book may gradually be made by a teacher's successive classes, each class contributing its best. Only worthy pieces of work may be included. Thus a school or a schoolroom tradition in English may be made to grow up, whose educational value would be not inconsiderable.
Note 36(page 67). An exchange of papers, or the correction of each paper by a small group of pupils working as a team, will often prove desirable.
Note 37(page 69). Very incidentally during the study of the poem, use the wordstanzato designate each of the three large sections of it, and call attention to the interesting fact that every line of poetry begins with a capital letter.
Note 38(page 72). The teacher may read or tell the class the Spanish fairy tale "The Three Wishes" (see Wiggin and Smith's "Tales of Laughter," Doubleday, Page & Company). The story of Midas should be postponed until the fourth grade. See "Oral and Written English" (Ginn), Book One, page 100.
Note 39(page 74). The last lesson period preceding Christmas may be given to the teacher's reading aloud "A Visit from St. Nicholas," by Clement C. Moore.
Note 40(page 75). Dictate twelve dates, one in each month. Remind the pupils of the spelling ofFebruaryand of the fact that the names of the months begin with capital letters.
Note 41(page 75). Let children of foreign parentage tell about their unusual customs. Let them realize, as they tell about their home traditions, that they are making a most interesting contribution to the class entertainment.
Note 42(page 78). Pupils will enjoy and profit by a pantomimic presentation of the scene, as a preparation for the real dramatization. Let one pupil show how Jack slowly and painfully rose from the ground. Let another show the alarmed mother, another the wise doctor. Then ask each actor what the person represented might have said. See Notes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 27.
Note 43(page 80). Other subjects will readily suggest themselves: as, a toboggan party, making an ice rink, trapping for muskrats or rabbits, fishing through the ice, ice boating, visiting the museum, visiting the zoo, visiting the botanical gardens, visiting the aquarium, a class dance, a class workshop for making things of wood, paper, or cloth.
The meeting may be presided over by a member of the class. Set speeches should be required and order maintained. The discussion should not lapse into undirected, fragmentary conversation. It is not enough for a pupil to say, "Let us go to the museum next Saturday afternoon." The speech should say when and where the class is to meet, how long it is to stay, what it is to do when it reaches the museum, who the leader is to be, whether the teacher is to be invited, and why this plan is preferable to the others proposed.
For seat work the class may make a picture book of winter fun, using colored crayons. An opportunity will here be incidentally offered to impress pupils with the fact thatif they could only write their thoughtsthey might now make a real book about winter fun, and not simply a picture book. The promise may be made that as soon as they learn to write their thoughts well, they will be given a chance to make books.
Note 44(page 81). The moment a word is mispronounced in the story-telling or other exercises, it should be added to a list kept on the board. Pupils will soon become alert for errors of this kind. From such a small beginning may well grow a class language conscience, a class pride in its English, and thus finally an individual conscientiousness in the use of the mother tongue.
Note 45(page 83). Freely rendered after Chance's "Little Folks of Many Lands." Other books containing suitable material are Andrews's "The Seven Little Sisters" and "Each and All," as well as Peary's "Snow Baby" and "Children of the Arctic." Some Eskimos do have houses of wood, mainly driftwood, but others do not. It is with these latter that the present lessons are concerned.
Note 46(page 86). It is advised that, as pupils suggest improvements, each account be rewritten by the teacher. The improved account should be placed on the board beside the original, so that the differences may be apparent to all. Teachers should guide in these criticisms and reconstructions, but very gently, leaving pupils free to suggest and change, making them responsible for the improvement, putting nothing down that does not appeal to the class, thusconfronting the pupils with the problem of making each account betterand permitting them to feel and to enjoy the full challenge of this problem.
Note 47(page 89). Parents may be invited to hear the class recite poems. This will give an occasion and reason for reviewing the poems learned during the year.
Note 48(page 96). It seems inadvisable, in the present state of conflicting usage, to follow the greeting of some letters with a comma and of others with a colon. Not only may this arbitrary distinction prove embarrassing when a writer does not wish definitely to commit himself as to whether his letter is strictly business or merely friendly, but it also compels the teaching of two forms where one will do.
Note 49(page 97). Since the question may arise, why the subject should not become a matter of class discussion, it is advised that emphasis be placed on the fact that each pupil would probably prefer to talk the matter over with the teacher privately. Few pupils would like to announce publicly their desire to be postmaster, but all would be willing to tell this wish to the teacher alone. All these individual conferences, however, would be impracticable for the reasonsstated in the text. There thus arises a real occasion and need for the personal letter from each pupil to the teacher.
Note 50(page 97). This will probably prove the strategic time for a conference between the teacher and each pupil. The letter written by each pupil alone should be made the occasion for this meeting. Sympathetic, constructive suggestions by the teacher, covering letter form (just taught) as well as the capitalization and punctuation of sentences, will do much toward giving letter writing a promising start with the class.
Note 51(page 103). Some of the best letters, as well as some of the poorest, should be utilized for criticism, in order that pupils may appreciate the excellence of the best and, on the other hand, may have ample opportunity for constructive, improving work in making over the poorest. See Note 20.
Note 52(page 106). This exercise involves, of course, the description of each pupil by himself. It is suggested that the spirit of play and fun be permitted to permeate the exercise, in order that wooden descriptions, mere catalogues of qualities, may be avoided.
Note 53(page 109). A committee of pupils, or several committees, may profitably be appointed to see that each pupil rewrites and copies neatly his sketch of himself. The committee would have charge of the making of the book after each sketch has been finished. During this work the need may arise of learning ways of lettering book titles. Then and there the teacher should study titles of books and articles with the class and inductively teach the rule that the first and every important word in a title should begin with a capital letter.
Note 54(page 113). Do not hurry in these critical exercises. Continue each one as long as the interest of the pupils will permit.
Note 55(page 114). If pupils manifest a desire at this point to talk about ponies, horses, goats, chickens, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, or other domestic animals, this desire should be utilized for a series of exercises similar to those about dogs.
Note 56(page 116). Pupils should arrive on their bicycles in animated talk, should dismount and lean the bicycles very carefully against the tree. Then they should step cautiously into the boat. When the boat leaves shore, the boy in the stern is sitting half twisted around and talking to his dog, while the other boy is seated squarely, well braced, so that he may row with steady strokes. Two girls may play the story as if it were about two girls.
Note 57(page 116). Repetition in these dramatizations must always have a clear and justifiable purpose that pupils understand. For instance, having a new audience (the pupils from another room or a visitor) would usually constitute a good reason for a second performance. Then, repetition before thesameaudience might be justified by the endeavor to improve the playing by introducing moreaction or more speech and thus achieving a better representation, which the class recognizes as desirable. But every wise teacher knows that the play must stop before it has lost its savor. See Note 5.
Note 58(page 118). If this exercise is to reach the maximum of profit for the class, it will include constructive work in word study, variety in expression, expansion by happy additions of words and sentences, contraction, rearrangement, combination of sentences, shortening of sentences, the striking out of needlessand's, as well as attention to mistakes in grammar. Only one critical question should be considered at each reading.
Note 59(page 120). Nine pupils may work at the board at the same time, each writing one of the nine sentences.
Note 60(page 123). Teachers will arrange matters tactfully, that every pupil may receive a letter from one of his classmates. Pupils may write more than one letter if they wish, but the postmaster should accept no slovenly mail.
Note 61(page 124). It is recommended that this correspondence be permitted to continue as long as pupils take pleasure in it. There should be allowed great freedom of content. Let pupils tease each other, poke fun at each other, even ask silly questions. See Note 2.
Note 62(page 125). Pronounced se̅´re̅z, pro̅-sûr´pĭ-nȧ,ȧ-pŏl´o̅, plo̅o˝´to̅.
Note 63(page 131). Since the next dozen lessons or more assume the spring-time as their background, it is strongly recommended that the room be fittingly decorated. If a class excursion could be made into the woods or to a river or park, it should be done. Some time during this group of lessons dramatization may take the form of playing that the schoolroom is a meadow or a wood in which pupils wander about picking flowers, seeing birds and animals. These they describe to the class.
Note 64(page 133). By seeing written products grow in clearness, force, interest, beauty, and language effectiveness as the class faces the problem of improving them, by seeing the better word displace the good and the phrase of color the colorless one, by watching the vague thought give way to the vivid thought, pupils will be impressed as in no other way with the fact that the first draft of any written expression, brief or long, is merely the first draft, merely a basis, a beginning, a preliminary sketch, for the finished written composition. See Notes 7 and 20.
Note 65(page 141). By having another pupil stand before the class and speak for the pupil who is a bird, flower, or animal (replying, for instance, "No, he is not a dandelion" or "Yes, he is a sparrow") the gameI am notis easily transformed into the gameHe is not. Similarly, the gamesHe has notandHe does notmay easily be devised.
Note 66(page 143). A classroom correspondence, that is, a class exchange of riddles through the class post office, may be desirable at this time.
Note 67(page 149). The playing of this story, the preliminary pantomime, the discussion before and after, the playing by different groups in friendly rivalry, may well occupy several English periods.
Note 68(page 150). It is recommended that a real spring festival be held. See Percival Chubb's "Festivals and Plays" (Harpers). A committee of pupils may be appointed to take charge of it.
Note 69(page 151). During the telephone game the teacher may now and then take the receiver and show what clear, polite, efficient telephoning is. In fact, the entire game may be played between the teacher on the one side and different pupils in succession on the other.
Note 70(page 152). Sending by mail may not seem advisable in some schools; but if it is decided on, it should be preceded by an exercise on the writing of addresses.
Note 71(page 153). The writing of the titlesMr.,Mrs., andMissshould not be made the object of any extended drill at this time. Pupils should know how to write them for the purposes of the present exercises and of a few of the succeeding exercises.
Note 72(page 154). While some pupils are copying at their desks, others may copy at the board. The latter will write copies for class criticism. Then other addresses, supplied by the teacher, may be written from dictation or copied, other pupils now writing at the board.
Note 73(page 155). It will be delightful to decorate the schoolroom for this lesson and the lessons immediately following. Pictures of wild animals, of trick riders, of circus parades, should be hung on the walls. It would be the best of good luck if a large circus poster could be obtained and fastened on the front wall. See Note 26.
Note 74(page 156). In many schools the making of the book will be doubly enjoyed if the carrying out of the plan is put in charge of several committees of pupils, after the work has been initiated by the teacher.
Note 75(page 157). A committee of pupils, or several such committees, may now take upon itself the work of helping in the improvement of the remaining circus stories, their final copying, and their arrangement in the book. The whole class may be divided into six or eight small groups for this coöperative work. The teacher, apparently in the far background, is in reality in the thick of the work. See Note 79.
Note 76(page 159). A march may be played while the parade is on its way around the room. Let fun and play abound. Let pantomime be as extravagant as these dictate. The parade may well precede as well as follow the making of riddles. In fact, there might be an alternation of making riddles with marching, a short march following each half-dozen riddles.
Note 77(page 159). Wood's "Animals: their Relation and Use to Man" (Ginn) is recommended to teachers who wish interesting and reliable information about lions, tigers, elephants, and other wild animals.
Note 78(page 163). For the sake of difference from the preceding oral work it may be desirable to let each animal tell its own story in the written accounts for the class book. Each animal may say where it came from, how it used to live, how it was caught, how it likes to travel with a circus, and what it would do if it were free again.
Note 79(page 163). While this correction work is apparently entirely in the hands of the pupils, the teacher should make the most of the situation, first, by allowing pupils to feel the weight of responsibility (for a book with mistakes is no book at all, since it cannot be shown to other pupils and teachers), and, second, by imperceptibly and constructively assisting in the finding and correcting of mistakes. The teacher should pass from group to group, ready to help where help is needed, but very cautious about interfering or dominating or overturning the delicate balance of enjoyment, responsibility, and coöperative endeavor in any social group of workers.
Note 80(page 163). Only one question should be considered at one critical reading.
Note 81(page 165). The more realistic this can be made, the more fun there will be for the pupils, and the more profit for them from the English teacher's point of view. Each child should have a telephone number. A "Central" should answer rings and make connections. A little bell might be used. Toy telephones might be employed. The children are to play at telephoning, with emphasis on theplay. Not until we have a deep stream of pleasure running in the class consciousness can we float the technical freight for whose sure delivery to the pupils the language teacher is responsible.
Note 82(page 165). Pupils will enjoy pretending to telephone to the animals in the circus. These may tell how they like circus life, what they think of their trainers, whether they would like to return to their homes in the wilds, what they think of other animals in the menagerie tent, and which kinds of people they like to have look at them. For still further variation, the different circus animals, as well as the circus people, may telephone to each other.
Note 83(page 168). If written work be desired at this time, it is suggested that this oral exercise be followed with the making of a book of vacation wishes or vacation plans.
(The numbers refer to pages. The Notes designated are the Notes to the Teacher, printed at the end of the text)