GROUP D(Possessives: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs)
—This book is my bookThis book ismine—This book is your bookThis book isyours—Those pencils are his pencilsThose pencils arehis—Those pencils are her pencilsThose pencils arehers—That house is our houseThat house isours—This money is your moneyThis money isyours—Those seats are their seatsThose seats aretheirs—This place is its placeThis place isits
The function of the pronoun as a substitute for a noun has been made clear in the analysis of the above sentences. After the children themselves have composed the first sentence with the colored cards they form the second sentence by taking away the noun card and substituting the corresponding pronoun. In the work done by the teacher to give the child an idea of the normal position of the pronoun, let her remember that in Italian personal pronouns precede the verb except in interrogation (where the subject may follow) and in cases where the subject is specially emphasized and where the pronouns appear as a suffix (infinitive, participle and imperative).
He soothed her with a kiss.He her soothed with a kiss, etc., etc.
[It will become apparent that in English the personal pronoun takes the position of the noun, whereas for Italian the pronoun shifts to a position in front of the verb.Considerable variety develops in English when the noun is replaced by a relative pronoun. However, the different problems arising in connection with pronouns generally are so complex that we return to this subject, especially to the question of subject and object forms, in dealing with sentence-analysis later.]
Subject:
Subjective Personal Pronouns: I, you, he, she, we, you, they (io, tu, egli, essa, noi, voi, loro, etc.).
Explain these pronouns as briefly and practically as possible from the point of view of speaker and listener, etc., one child commanding the others while theyexecutethe command along with him. Example: The teacher, named for instance Anna Fedeli, explains in this way: "I don't sayAnna Fedeli;I sayI." "To Carlino here I don't say Carlino; I say,you." "Of Gigino, over there, I don't say Gigino; I sayhe," etc., etc.
Command:—
The command is given by a child; but he himself executes the first personal form along with the other children:
The command is given by a child; but he himself executes the first personal form along with the other children:
—Iwalk around the table—Youwalk around the table—Shewalks around the table—Hewalks around the table—Wewalk around the table—Youwalk around the table—Theywalk around the table—Iraise my arms—Youraise your arms—Sheraises her arms—Heraises his arms—Weraise our arms—Youraise your arms—Theyraise their arms—Ilift the chair—Youlift the chair—Helifts the chair, etc., etc.—Itake the ink-stand—Youtake the ink-stand—Hetakes the ink-stand, etc., etc.—Iwave my handkerchief—Youwave your handkerchief, etc., etc.
From these exercises the notion gradually develops that:
thefirst personis the one whospeaks;thesecond personis the one wholistens;thethird personis the one spoken of.
Other commands may be dramatized by small groups as follows:
—The first person must put a question the second must answer, and the third from a distance must try to hear both of them.—Let the first one write, the second one watch, and the third one say "That is not right."
—The first person must put a question the second must answer, and the third from a distance must try to hear both of them.
—Let the first one write, the second one watch, and the third one say "That is not right."
The following commands may be read aloud by the child:
—Iask you a question very softly.Youanswerme;andhe, over there, must try to hear both of us.—Ishall write;youmust act as if you were trying to read what I am writing; and thenhe, over there, will call out: "That is not right."
—Iask you a question very softly.Youanswerme;andhe, over there, must try to hear both of us.
—Ishall write;youmust act as if you were trying to read what I am writing; and thenhe, over there, will call out: "That is not right."
Subject:
Direct Objective Personal Pronouns: me, you, him, her, us, you, them (mi, ti, si, lo, la, ci, vi, si, li, le).Reflexives and reciprocals: myself, yourself, etc., each other.
Direct Objective Personal Pronouns: me, you, him, her, us, you, them (mi, ti, si, lo, la, ci, vi, si, li, le).
Reflexives and reciprocals: myself, yourself, etc., each other.
Command:—
(Here too one child commands executing the first personal forms, while the others act out the second and third):—I touch the oil-cloth on the table; I touchmyself;I touchyou;you touchyourself;I touchhim;you touchher;let us toucheach other;you touchme.—Charles, take the whisk-broom and brush the table; Charles, brushme;Charles, brushhim;Charles, brushher;Charles, brushyourself.—Mary and I bow to the teacher; now we bow toyou;now we bow tohim;now we bow toher;now we bow toeach other.—I lead George by the hand to the window; I leadyouby the hand to the window; I leadhimby the hand to the window; he leadsusby the hand to the window; we leadherby the hand to the window.
(Here too one child commands executing the first personal forms, while the others act out the second and third):
—I touch the oil-cloth on the table; I touchmyself;I touchyou;you touchyourself;I touchhim;you touchher;let us toucheach other;you touchme.
—Charles, take the whisk-broom and brush the table; Charles, brushme;Charles, brushhim;Charles, brushher;Charles, brushyourself.
—Mary and I bow to the teacher; now we bow toyou;now we bow tohim;now we bow toher;now we bow toeach other.
—I lead George by the hand to the window; I leadyouby the hand to the window; I leadhimby the hand to the window; he leadsusby the hand to the window; we leadherby the hand to the window.
Subject:
Indirect object personal pronouns: me, te, se, mi, ti, si, le, gli, lui, lei, noi, voi, ci, vi, loro (the disjunctive pronouns, used after prepositions, etc., do not differ in English from the simple direct object forms).(The commands are still executed as above):
Indirect object personal pronouns: me, te, se, mi, ti, si, le, gli, lui, lei, noi, voi, ci, vi, loro (the disjunctive pronouns, used after prepositions, etc., do not differ in English from the simple direct object forms).
(The commands are still executed as above):
Commands:—
—I am going to distribute these pencils: one toyou, one tohim, one toher;one tomyself.—Louis, givemea command; givehima command; givehera command; giveyourselfa command.—Attention! Charles, givehera blue bead! Mary, givehima red bead!—Alfred, give a white bead tome;givemealso a yellow bead!
—I am going to distribute these pencils: one toyou, one tohim, one toher;one tomyself.
—Louis, givemea command; givehima command; givehera command; giveyourselfa command.
—Attention! Charles, givehera blue bead! Mary, givehima red bead!
—Alfred, give a white bead tome;givemealso a yellow bead!
Subject:
Demonstratives for persons (questi, costui, colui; the second person, "that one near you," is lacking in English, which also fails to distinguish between persons and things and between genders).
Demonstratives for persons (questi, costui, colui; the second person, "that one near you," is lacking in English, which also fails to distinguish between persons and things and between genders).
When the distinctions in space represented by these pronouns have been taught as above the children read and execute as follows:
Commands:—
Distribute the pronouns to different children in the class;questi, "this one (near me),"costei(feminine);costui, "that one (near you),"costei(fem.);colui, "that one (over there),"colei(fem.); when the children are in their proper places, give to each child a different command.—Call to you a boy and a girl, and then command:that one(costui) go and get a case;that one(costei) go and get a counter;those(costoro) keep far away and preserve complete silence.—Point to two children, one standing near you and one far away; then command:that one(colui) go and fetch an armchair forthat one(fem.costei) and a chair forthis one(questo); then have him return to his place. Then have all the children execute the commands whichthose(costoro) will now give.
Distribute the pronouns to different children in the class;questi, "this one (near me),"costei(feminine);costui, "that one (near you),"costei(fem.);colui, "that one (over there),"colei(fem.); when the children are in their proper places, give to each child a different command.
—Call to you a boy and a girl, and then command:that one(costui) go and get a case;that one(costei) go and get a counter;those(costoro) keep far away and preserve complete silence.
—Point to two children, one standing near you and one far away; then command:that one(colui) go and fetch an armchair forthat one(fem.costei) and a chair forthis one(questo); then have him return to his place. Then have all the children execute the commands whichthose(costoro) will now give.
In case the class is made up entirely of girls or entirely of boys, the children find considerable amusement in trying to imitate the manners of whichever opposite sex is missing.
Subject:
Demonstratives of things (questo, cotesto, quello, ciò, ne); here also English has no pronoun of the second person (that near you), nor does it possess the general indefiniteciò(referring to a general idea:that(ciò)is true).When the meaning of these words, in terms of space location, has been taught, the children execute as follows:
Demonstratives of things (questo, cotesto, quello, ciò, ne); here also English has no pronoun of the second person (that near you), nor does it possess the general indefiniteciò(referring to a general idea:that(ciò)is true).
When the meaning of these words, in terms of space location, has been taught, the children execute as follows:
Commands:—
—You children divide into three groups; then go and occupy three different places; change places as follows: you leavethat(cotesto) and occupythatover there; the others leavethat(quello) and occupy this (questo).
—You children divide into three groups; then go and occupy three different places; change places as follows: you leavethat(cotesto) and occupythatover there; the others leavethat(quello) and occupy this (questo).
Subject:
Possessives: mine, yours (thine), his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs.
Commands:—
—Point out various objects, saying: This is my slate; that one isyours, that ishers, and this one ishis.—Point at the different seats, saying: Here are our places, that ismineand this isyours. Those over there aretheirs.—Pass around little baskets, saying: This is my basket. Whose is that? Is thatyours?Is thishers?Are theseours?Is this onehis?
—Point out various objects, saying: This is my slate; that one isyours, that ishers, and this one ishis.
—Point at the different seats, saying: Here are our places, that ismineand this isyours. Those over there aretheirs.
—Pass around little baskets, saying: This is my basket. Whose is that? Is thatyours?Is thishers?Are theseours?Is this onehis?
We dealt with the relatives only incidentally in the analyses (Group C above); we do not treat them here,postponing the study of them in detail to the chapter on sentence-analysis.
In teaching the declension of the pronouns we use the method employed by us in teaching all inflections: bundles of cards, of which one group is tied separately and serves as a guide. The child arranges the cards on the table, working first on the guiding group and putting the pronouns in order of persons: first, second, third.
GROUP A(Personal Pronouns)
MasculineFeminineIweionoiionoiyou, thouyoutuvoituvoihetheyegliloroellaloroshetheyessoessiessaesseittheylolilalemeusluileiyou, theeyouglilehimthemherthemitthem
GROUP B(Demonstratives of Person)
MasculineFemininethisthesequesticosteithatthosecostuicosteithis onethesecoluicoleithat onethosecostorocostorocolorocoloro
GROUP C(Demonstratives of Things)
MasculineFemininethisthesequestoquestiquestaquestethatthosecotestocotesticotestacotestethis onethesequel(lo)quegli, queiquellaquellethat onethoseciòciònene
GROUP D(Relatives)
PersonsPersons and ThingsMasculineFemininewhoil quale i qualila quale le quali;whosechechewhomchichithatcuicuiThingswhichchi (compound = "he who")thatwhat (compound = that which)
GROUP E(Possessives)
mineitsyours (thine)ourshisyoursherstheirs
GROUP F(Interrogatives)
PersonsPersonswho?chi?whose?whom?quale?which?
ThingsThingsche?what?cosa?che cosa?which?quale?
The cards given to the child for this work are green for the personal pronoun subjects, and red for the verb forms of the three simple tenses, present, past, and future. There are, for Italian, three groups corresponding to the three conjugations:amare,temere,sentire. The child's work is to place the pronouns in the proper order of person (first, second, third, singular and plural) and to put after each pronoun the corresponding verb form. Each child corrects his work by his own sense of the language; however, the teacher looks it over to verify it. The resulting exercises when correctly performed are as follows:
GROUP A
io amo ("I love" etc.)Io amavo ("I was loving")io amerò ("I shall love")tu amitu amavitu ameraiegli amaegli amavaegli amerànoi amiamonoi amavamonoi ameremovoi amatevoi amavatevoi amereteessi amanoessi amavanoessi ameranno
GROUP B
io temo ("I fear")io temevo ("I was fearing")io temerò ("I shall fear")tu temitu temevitu temeraiegli temeegli temevaegli temerànoi temiamonoi temevamonoi temeremovoi temetevoi temevatevoi temereteessi temonoessi temevanoessi temeranno
GROUP C
io sento ("I hear")io sentivo ("I was hearing")io sentirò ("I shall hear")tu sentitu sentivitu sentiraiegli senteegli sentivaegli sentirànoi sentiamonoi sentivamonoi sentiremovoi sentitevoi sentivatevoi sentireteessi sentonoessi sentivanoessi sentiranno
GROUP A(Simple Tenses)
I loveI lovedI shall loveyou loveyou lovedyou will lovehe loveshe lovedhe will lovewe lovewe lovedwe shall loveyou loveyou lovedyou will lovethey lovethey lovedthey will love
GROUP B(Progressive Forms)
I am lovingI was lovingI shall be lovingyou are lovingyou were lovingyou will be lovinghe is lovinghe was lovinghe will be lovingwe are lovingwe were lovingwe shall be lovingyou are lovingyou were lovingyou will be lovingthey are lovingthey were lovingthey will be loving
GROUP C(Interrogative Forms)
do I love?did I love?will I love?do you love?did you love?shall you love?does he love?did he love?will he love?do we love?did we love?will we love?do you love?did you love?shall you love?do they love?did they love?will they love?
GROUP D(Intensive and Negative Forms)
I do (not) love etc.I did (not) love etc.I shall (not) love etc.
The child can shuffle his cards in various ways, mixing the verb forms of the three different Italian verbs, or the four tense forms of the English verb; passing then to a reconstruction of the different tenses according to the pronouns, the order of which has by this time become familiar to him.
The next step is to conjugate properly.
MATERIAL
In our material we offer (for Italian) the conjugation of the two auxiliary verbs (essere"to be,"avere"to have") and the model verbs of the first, second and third conjugations. The colors used for the five verbs are all different, yellow foressere"to be," black foravere"to have," pink foramare"to love," green fortemere"to fear," light blue forsentire"to hear." Each card has both pronoun and verb form. This is not only to simplify and expedite the exercise but also to make sure of auto-exercise, since the pronoun guides the order of the forms in each tense. These verb forms of a given verb preceded by the pronouns are, accordingly, made into a little package. Here, however, the groups are not so simple as in other cases. For the verb, the cards are kept in a sort of red envelope tied with a ribbon. The infinitive of the verb is written on the outside of the envelope, which, though very simple, is most attractive. When the whole verb is wrapped in its package and tied with the ribbon, it forms a small red prism of the following dimensions: cmm. 35 X 4 X 5.5. On untying the ribbon and opening the envelope the child finds inside ten little "volumes" with red covers. These volumes represent themoodsof the verb and they have the following titles inscribed on the first page:
Indicative MoodConditional Mood (for Italian)Subjunctive MoodImperative MoodVerbals
To facilitate replacing these materials in an orderly way and to be sure that this order is recognized, the child finds in the corner of each envelope a Roman numeral (I, II, III, IV, V); and besides that, an Arabic numeral indicating the number of tenses in the given mood. On opening the little volume and taking off the cover we find many other tiny volumes with red covers. These are the tenses. In the middle of each cover is written the name and, to one side, the number indicating the relative position of the tenses in the following manner: thesimpletense is marked with the letterSand thecompoundtense with the letterC. The titles, then, of the eight booklets contained in the little volume for a given mood are:
Present Tense 1sPast Tense 2sFuture Tense 3sPerfect Tense 1cPluperfect Tense 2cFuture Perfect Tense 3c
(For Italian the tenses are: Present, 1s, Imperfect 2s, Remote Past 3s, Future 4s, Perfect 1c, Pluperfect 2c, Past Anterior 3c, Future Perfect 4c.)
Finally, on opening each of these little booklets (which, by the way, are 3.5 X 4 cmm. and only a bare millimeter thick) we have the cards with the verb forms preceded by the corresponding pronoun.
This rather resembles the famous egg in which a number of smaller and smaller eggs were enclosed. For this beautiful package forming as a whole the entire conjugation of the verb contains the booklets of the different moods, which in their turn contain the smaller booklets of the tenses. The orderly enumeration of the moods and tenses, together with the pronouns which serve to show the order of the verb forms, allows the child to conjugate the entire verb by himself and to study the classification of the different forms that make it up. In fact the children need no help in this exercise. Once they have this attractive, complicated, and mysterious little red package, they evolve on their little tables in an orderly way the entire conjugation of the verb. Having learned the verb forms little by little they shuffle the cards of the different tenses in various ways and then try to put them in their regular order. At length they are able to shuffle all the cards in the entire verb as the children in the "Children's House" did with the sixty-four colors; and to reconstruct correctly the whole conjugation by tense and by mood. They themselves finally ask to write the verb and they prepare of their own accord new booklets writing out the new verbs as they meet them.
For this purpose we have included in our materials many booklets likewise covered in red and filled withblankcards of a variety of colors. The children themselves fill out these cards in conjugating their new verbs.
The exercises both of working out the conjugation of the verb and of writing out new verbs may be performed at home.
CONJUNCTIONS
Material: This box has eight compartments for the title cards, which are tan (article), black (noun), brown (adjective), red (verb), violet (preposition), pink (adverb), green (pronoun), andyellow(conjunction). It also has the usual place for the sentences that are to be analyzed. These again are given in groups.
GROUP ACoordinate Conjunctions(Copulative, Disjunctive, Illative, Adversative)
—Put away the penandthe ink-stand.Put away the penorthe ink-stand.Put awayneitherthe pennorthe ink-stand,butthe paper.—The table, therefore, is bareandin order.Forall your things are in their places.—Do not leave the objects you use here and there about the room,butput them all back in their places.—Speak to your nearest school-mate not aloudbutin a whisper.—Move your table forward a little,butonly a littleandwithout making any noise.
set of cardsGrammar Boxes, showing respectively eight and nine parts of speech.
GROUP BSubordinate Conjunctions(Time, condition, cause, purpose)
—You can push down a key of the piano without making any soundifyou push it down slowly.
—You could write with your left handifyou "touched" the letters with that hand.
—You will get silence from the childrenas soon asyou write "silence" on the blackboard.
—That child is happy: he always singswhilehe works.
—Always shut the doorwhenyou go from one room to another.
—Everybody must be orderlyin order thatthe "Children's House" may look neat.
GROUP CSubordinate conjunctions,continued(Cause, concession, alternative)
—The "Children's House" is attractivebecauseit is pretty andbecauseit is so easy to keep busy all the time.
—I shall give it to yousinceyou have asked me for it very politely.
—We shall go to walk in the park ratherthanin the crowded streets.
—I shall give you that toyalthoughI should have preferred to let you have a beautiful book.
—You may promise to go and visit him to-morrowprovidedyou keep your promise.
children sitting at tables in classThe children are permitted to work at their various occupations in complete freedom. (The Lenox School, Montessori Elementary Class, New York.)
The removal of the conjunction destroys the relationship between the words, and this brings out its function in the sentence:
Put away the pen and the ink-stand.Put away the pen the ink-stand.Put away the pen or the ink-stand.Put away the pen the ink-stand.You could write with your left hand if you touched the letters with that hand.You could write with your left hand you touched the letters with that hand.
The conjunction must be placed between the words it connects: otherwise the meaning is changed or destroyed:
Put away the pen and the ink-stand.Put and away the pen the ink-stand.The "Children's House" is attractive because it is pretty.The "Children's House" is attractive it is pretty.
Subject:
Coordinate conjunctions: and, or, neither, nor (e, o, nè).
Commands:—
—Come to "silence" where you areandmove only at my call.
—Come to "silence" where you areor elsemove silently among the chairs.
—Walk on tip-toe about the room, being carefulneitherto meetnorto follow one another.
Subject:
Declarative: that (che).
Command:—
—Tell two of your schoolmatesthatyou know a conjunction.
Subject:
Adversatives: but, however, instead (ma, invece).
Command:—
—Form two lines; now one line face about turning from left to right; the other line,instead, turn in opposite direction.
—Form in one long line and advance; when you reach the end of the room, do not stop,butturn to the left.
Subject:
Condition: if (se).
Command:—
—You will be able to hear this drop of water fall,ifyou remain for a moment in absolute silence.
Subject:
Time: while, when, as soon as (mentre, quando, appena).
Command:—
—A few of you walk about among the tables; then stop in the center of the room,whilethe others gather round you and try to cover your eyes with their hands.
—One of you start to leave the room.Whenyou are about to cross the threshold, the others will block the way compelling you to stop.
—All of you ready!As soon asI say "Go!" run to the other end of the room.
Subject:
Purpose: so that, in order that (affinchè, perchè).
Command:—
—One of you stand in the middle of the room; the others try to pass near him quicklyso thathe cannot touch you.
—I am going to whisper a command: listen in perfect silencein order thatyou may hear what I command.
Subject:
Alternative: rather than (piuttostochè, anzichè).
Command:—
—Those children who wouldratherworkthango out of doors rise from their places.
Subject:
Cause: because, since (perchè, poichè).
Command:—
—Before beginning to work let us become entirely quiet,becausethen we can think about what we are going to do.
Subject:
Exception: except, save (fuorchè, salvochè).
Command:—
—Get the counters and place one on every table in the roomexcepton this one. Gather up all the counterssavethe red ones. Return all the counters to their box.
Series A
—Of these two long rods, this one is thelonger.Of these three rods, which is thelongest?—This rod islongerthan that.That rod in thelongestof the three.Which is thelongestof the series?—This cloth issmootherthan that.This cloth issmoothestof all.—Of these two shades of red which is thedarker?Of all these shades of red which is thedarkest?—Of these two prisms which is thethicker?This prism isthickerthan that.Of these three prisms, which isthickest?—Which of these two children is thetaller?Which is thetallestchild in the room?
Series B
—Which of these two pictures is themorebeautiful?This picture ismorebeautiful than that.—Which of these three pictures ismostbeautiful?Which is themostbeautiful picture in the room?—Which of these two games is themoreamusing?This game ismoreamusing than that.This game ismostamusing of all.—This drawing is good.That drawing isbetter.That drawing isbest.—There are some beads on this table.There aremorebeads on that table.There aremostbeads on that table.—There is a little water in this glass.There islesswater in that glass.There isleastwater in that glass.—Of these two children John is theelder.Of these three children Mary is theeldest.Mary isolderthan John.John isolderthan Laura.
A set of exercises may be arranged to bring out the paradymns of comparison by means of suffixes (-er,-est) and of adverbs (more,most). Here the series of cards for the positive adjectival forms are, as usual, brown, the phonograms for-erand-estin lighter and darker shades of brown respectively. The cards formoreandmostas adverbs are colored pink. When properly arranged, the cards appear as follows:
longtallthicksmoothlongertallerthickersmootherlongesttallestthickestsmoothestshortdarklightroughshorterdarkerlighterroughershortestdarkestlightestroughestbeautifulamusinginterestingmorebeautifulmoreamusingmoreinterestingmostbeautifulmostamusingmostinteresting
A second exercise contains cards for each of the forms for these same words. There are three colors: brown, light brown and dark brown (superlative). There are in addition similar cards for the adjectives of irregular comparisons, and three title cards:Positive,Comparative,Superlative. The exercise results as follows:
PositiveComparativeSuperlativelonglongerlongesttalltallertallestthickthickerthickestsmoothsmoothersmoothestshortshortershortestdarkdarkerdarkestlightlighterlightestroughrougherroughestbeautifulmore beautifulmost beautifulamusingmore amusingmost amusinginterestingmore interestingmost interestingoldeldereldestmanymoremostgoodbetterbestbadworseworstlittlelessleast