IRature 
 
 for 
 
 Copyright 1906 
 
 By Persis K. 
 Supervisor of Practice Public Schools 
 Baltimore,
 
 2OG5G43
 
 FIRST GRADE. 
 Lessons with Animals. 
 
 BIRDS. English Sparrow. 
 Common Crow. 
 Downy Woodpecker. 
 
 Pets and Domesticated Animals. 
 
 Home pets of the children. 
 
 School pets owned and cared for by the class. 
 
 Lessons with Plants. 
 
 Flower and vegetable raising. 
 Competitive flower raising. 
 Window gardens. 
 
 Gardens. 
 
 Lessons with soil and germination that will make the children 
 more intelligent in the care of plants. 
 
 Trees. 
 
 Study one tree throughout the year. 
 
 Weather Conditions. 
 
 CHART. Picture of day. 
 
 Picture of moon. 
 
 Stories of the winds. Stories of the moon. 
 
 Stories of the sun. Stories of the stars. 
 
 Stories of clouds. 
 
 Incidental lessons with plants, animals, and minerals brought by the 
 children : Songs, stories, myths, poems, legends.
 
 SECOND GRADE. 
 Lessons with Animals. 
 
 BIRDS. English Sparrow. 
 Robin. 
 
 Common Crow. 
 Bluebird. 
 Chickadee. 
 Junco. 
 
 Pets and Domesticated Animals. 
 
 Home pets of the children . 
 
 School pet owned and cared for by the children. 
 
 Lessons with Plants. 
 
 Flowers and vegetable raising. 
 Competitive flower raising. 
 Window gardening. 
 
 Gardens. 
 
 Lessons with soil and germination that will make children more 
 intelligent in the care of plants. 
 
 Trees. 
 
 Study two trees throughout the year. One of these may be the 
 one previously studied in the first grade. 
 
 Weather Conditions. 
 
 CHART Throughout the year. Picture of the day. 
 
 CLOUDS In a very general way. Winds in a very general way. 
 
 Incidental lessons with plants, animals, and minerals brought by the 
 children : Songs, stories, myths, poems, legends.
 
 BIRDS. 
 First and second grades. 
 
 List of birds' names for study for the year. This list is 
 suggestive only. It consists of birds common around the city 
 and includes both winter and summer residents. 
 
 First Grade. Second Grade. 
 
 English Sparrow. English Sparrow. 
 
 Downy Woodpecker. Common Crow. 
 
 Common Crow. Review the two above, they 
 
 must be types to city children. 
 
 Robin. 
 
 Bluebird. 
 
 Chickadee. 
 
 Junco. 
 
 For identification see Blanchan. Bird Neighbors. 
 
 For an insight into the meaning of the common actions of 
 birds, for good stories from bird observers see the following : 
 
 English sparrow. Seton. Lives of the hunted, p. 107. 
 " A Street Troubadour," being the adventures of a cock spar- 
 row. (A story of considerable length.) John Burroughs. 
 Winter Neighbors, p. 70. 
 
 Common Crow. Wm. J. Long. Wild Woodfolk, p. 101. 
 Chapter entitled, Crow- Ways. The same can be found in 
 Fowls of the Air, p. 235. 
 
 Olive Thorne Miller. Little Brothers of the Air. Chapter 
 called the Comical Crow Baby, p. 236. (Good.) 
 
 Seton. Wild Animals I have Known. Silverspot. (Story 
 of some length.) Olive Thorne Miller. Second Book of Birds, 
 p. 117. (Good.) 
 
 John Burroughs. Wake Robin, p. 131. 
 
 John Burroughs. Riverby, p. 120. (Manners of the 
 crow.) 
 
 Downy Woodpecker. John Burroughs. A Year in the 
 Fields, p. 24. (Good.) 
 
 John Burroughs. Winter Neighbors, p. 84. 
 
 American Robin. Olive Thorne Miller. My Saturday 
 Bird Class, p. i.
 
 Bluebird. Olive Thorne Miller. In Nesting Time. Chap- 
 ter V. (Good.) 
 
 Chickadees. Win. J. Long, Ways of Wood Folks, p. 135; 
 also p. 143. (This is also found in Fowls of the Air. W T m. 
 J. Long, p. 63.) 
 
 Win. J. Long. vSecrets of the Woods, p. 135. 
 
 John Burroughs, Wake Robin, p. 104. (Nest.) 
 
 The following references are for the general seasonal read- 
 ing of the teacher, and are, as the writers indicate, interpretive. 
 
 Spring. 
 
 John Burroughs. Signs and Seasons. 
 
 Chap. IV, Tragedies of the Nest. 
 
 Chap. X, Bird Enemies. 
 John Burroughs. Winter Sunshine. 
 
 Chap. X, A March Chronicle. 
 John Burroughs. Birds and Poets. 
 
 Chap. IV, April. 
 John Burroughs. Wake Robin. 
 
 Chap. I, The Return of the Birds. 
 
 Chap. IV, Birds' Nests. 
 
 Chap. V, Spring at the Capital. 
 Wm. Hamilton Gibson. Sharp Eyes. 
 
 Chap. I, Spring (excellent general reference.) 
 
 Summer. 
 
 Wm. H. Gibson. Sharp Eyes. 
 
 Chap. II, Summer. 
 Fall. 
 
 John Burroughs. Winter Sunshine. 
 
 Chap. VI, Autumn tides. 
 
 Chap. II, The Apple. 
 Wm. Hamilton Gibson. Sharp Eyes. 
 
 Chap. Ill, Autumn. (Excellent general reference) 
 Winter. 
 
 John Burroughs. Signs and Seasons. 
 
 Chap. VII, Winter neighbors. 
 
 Chap. Ill, Hard fare. 
 Wm. H. Gibson. Sharp Eyes. 
 
 Chap. IV, Winter (Excellent general reference.)
 
 So long as the English sparrow is our common city bird, 
 it must be the one most studied by city children. We must 
 have some bird for a standard with which to compare others. 
 " As large as the English sparrow," "flies like the English 
 sparrow, &c." So study this sparrow thoroughly even 
 though we may be pretty well agreed that he is not a desirable 
 bird when we recall birds that were here before he was intro- 
 duced, and consider work they did, and he does not do, in the 
 protection of trees. Indeed, " no doubt the time is near at 
 hand when we shall have to wage serious war upon these 
 sparrows as long as they have had to do it on the continent of 
 Europe." Burroughs. But it is perhaps best that we do not 
 prejudice the children against him but let him settle his own 
 case with them, leading them to draw conclusions from the 
 knowledge they get, first hand, through continued observation 
 of his ways. 
 
 Suggested flethod. 
 
 Start with a story of some of the common things 3 on see 
 the sparrows do on your way to school the simplest things 
 are good if they are your own ; you will tell them with a zest 
 that can not be gi:;en the story of someone else. 
 
 Following is suggestive only. It is a true story. 
 
 Place ; North Ave. and Linden, small triangle opposite 
 grocery. 
 
 "Just outside the little triangle a number of English 
 sparrows were busy as they could be picking up something 
 from the ground. I wanted to see what they were eating so I 
 walked around the triangle to get nearer. Then I saw one 
 little fellow with a short tail which I took to be a young one. 
 I also noticed a number of sparrows sitting on the low fence 
 around the triangle. But I saw something else. The old cat 
 that lives in the grocery on the corner was stealing across the 
 street so softly I think she must have been coming on her 
 tiptoes for I could not hear her, and I was afraid the birds 
 would not either, though she crept closer and closer to them 
 while they kept on eating. But I think they must have seen 
 her all the time, for when she came a little nearer, they
 
 hopped away, all but the little fellow with the short tail ; and 
 the old cat was just ready to spring on him, when flash ! came 
 old Mother Sparrow from the fence crying, and, "fly, be 
 quick !" she seemed to say to her little son. And he did. The 
 old cat jumped, bounced, but just missed him." 
 
 Tell the children that to-morrow they may play sparrow 
 game. All who know how to be little sparrows must look at 
 the sparrows to learn how. That is i. To get over the 
 ground like sparrows (Hop). 2. To eat like sparrows. 3. Fly 
 like sparrows. (If this seems too much to see in one day, give 
 only one action and fit a story to this movement.) 
 
 The next day let all who can get over the ground like 
 sparrows show you. (When children play bird they must be 
 quiet. If a child starts hopping noisily, ask him if he heard 
 the birds.) All who can eat like sparrows, stand and find 
 crumbs on their desks. Can they fly like sparrows ? Now 
 select for your play. Who shall be the birds on the ground ? 
 Who the Mother bird ? Who the old cat ? W 7 ho the little 
 bird ? As you tell the story the children act it. A child will 
 have to be alert to be the Mother spanow and chirp in time to 
 get the little one away from danger ; the little sparrow must be 
 prompt or the old cat will have him and change the ending of 
 the story. And because of this required alertness it affords an 
 excellent training for the listless child who does not do things 
 on time. Play the same game over and over. Children like 
 the old ones bet. Only let the play be spontaneous ; anything 
 like drill loses the point of the work which is the expression of 
 their observation of bird actions through play. 
 
 Continue to tell simple stories of the things you have seen 
 birds do and to play them until children see things which they 
 wish to tell. 
 
 Draw the English sparrow. Free cutting of stories. Lay 
 it in lentils, life size. Mould in clay. 
 
 Then let them tell their own stories and act them, such as 
 are worth emphasizing, for the teacher must keep in mind 
 a basis of selection. Not all reports will be worth using.
 
 Use such Stories as 
 
 1 . Show right feeling toward birds. 
 
 2. Care of the young. 
 
 3. Observation of birds' habits. 
 
 4. Have dramatic possibilities. 
 
 5. That lend themselves to blackboard illustration 
 for reading lessons. 
 
 6. Lend themselves to free cutting or outlining in 
 lentils. 
 
 As the year progresses do the children as a class take de- 
 light in telling the simple things they have seen the birds do ? 
 Is this always based on the personal, "I saw" ? Do they 
 enjoy playing little English sparrow stories that show action ? 
 Have they seen how he bathes in water (to keep himself 
 clean)? In dust (to destroy bird lice)? Do they know 
 some of the things he eats ? Have they seen a nest ? (This 
 should be part of the property of every primary schoolroom ; 
 it is the only legitimate tangible thing about a bird that can 
 come into it.) Do they know some of the things the birds 
 put into the nest in the building of it ? Have they traced 
 where the bird found the material ? Do they know where 
 some of the birds stay at night ? Have they noticed how some 
 of the birds shake their feathers over their feet to keep them 
 warm on cold days ? Can they tell Jack (by his brown tie) 
 from Jenny, (with her grey front) ? Have they found things 
 in the room the same colors as the sparrows ? Do they begin 
 to show that they are noticing the quarrelsome disposition 
 of the sparrows ? All these questions apply as well to the 
 winter and spring as to the fall, since they suggest continued 
 observation, not a list of facts to be learned. One can never 
 teach all there is about a bird while it is alive. 
 
 Work toward these things, do not force them, nor is it 
 expected that any one teacher will cover all of them; but play 
 birds, model birds, draw them as well as talk about them, 
 and, if the weather is hard on them, feed them.
 
 10 
 
 The Sparrow's Nest. 
 
 Put together, odds and ends. 
 
 Picked up from enemies and friends, 
 
 See bits of thread, and bits of rag, 
 
 Just like a little rubbish bag. MARY HowiTT. 
 
 For full poem, see Nature in Verse, p. 225. 
 
 The Downy Woodpecker. 
 
 Very few city children have seen this bird or are even 
 likely to see it during the lessons about it. But there must be 
 some bird lessons that are inspiration lessons, knowing that 
 " when we have the bird in the heart we will find it in the 
 bush." Make a story of this and tell the children of the little 
 bird that makes a snug home for himself before cold weather 
 sets in so he may be comfortable all winter. Tell them of the 
 little round front door that opens into a little round hall that 
 runs back a few inches into the tree, then turns and runs 
 down a few inches, and there at the end of the hall in the 
 heart of the tree is the nest of this little bird who lives all by 
 himself all winter. "It is a satisfaction during the cold and 
 stormy winter nights to know he is warm and cosey there in 
 his retreat. When the day is bad and unfit to be abroad he is 
 in there too." Burroughs. 
 
 What do you think he has for breakfast ? For dinner ? 
 He finds his meals on the trees. And what do you think he 
 finds ? Sometimes caterpillars that have rolled themselves up 
 under the bark ; sometimes eggs that old mother flies have 
 hidden under the bark, and many other things that the old tree 
 does not want. Sometimes he has trouble to get enough to 
 drink when the streams are frozen. Tell how he looks. (See 
 Blanchan for description and picture.) Tell the children, 
 also, how some people put out things that they know he likes, 
 for this bird to eat. A bone upon my window sill attracts 
 both nuthatches and downy woodpeckers. A bone nailed to a 
 tree a few feet from the window attracts crows as well as lesser 
 birds. Even the slate-colored snow-bird, a seed eater, comes 
 and nibbles at it occasionally. The bird that seems to think 
 he has the best right to the bone both upon the tree and upon 
 the sill is the downy woodpecker, my favorite neighbor among 
 the winter birds." BURROUGHS.
 
 11 
 
 This is story work for the winter time, but looking for 
 the woodpecker must extend into the spring. (There are two 
 woodpecker holes in the same old trees, east of the Maryland 
 Building, in Druid Hill park.) 
 
 Mold section of branch with round front door; mold 
 woodpecker. Draw with colored crayons. Lay in lentils, life 
 size. Free cutting. 
 
 The above lessons are suggestive of the two types of bird 
 lessons one, a series of observations of birds we can all see; 
 two, the inspirational lesson in which we use pictures of the 
 birds and stories of them to inspire children to look for them 
 and to love them. 
 
 The Red Headed Woodpecker. Cooke. Nature Myths, 
 p. 29. Appropriate for any woodpecker chat; have even the 
 red patch on the head. The treatment of these birds suggests 
 lessons with others. For information see references. Always 
 consult Blanchan, Bird Neighbors. 
 
 The Common Crow. (See suggestions for English Sparrow and Downy 
 Woodpecker. 
 
 Have the children watch for crows, especially toward 
 night. Where did they see them? Point in the direction 
 toward which they were flying. (Have the children tell by 
 the setting sun.) Show how the crow flies. Show how the 
 English sparrow flies. If the children have noticed the 
 flight of these birds it will be apparent when they play "crow" 
 and "English sparrow." If no difference is shown, have 
 them look again. As they observe more keenly, they will 
 imitate so closely that the class can tell whether they are 
 crows or sparrows. Continue a minute or two quick, lively 
 playing each day until you have the children observing keenly, 
 when the imitation will take care of itself. In one first grade the 
 children on a field lesson saw turkey buzzards flying over them, 
 and the teacher noticed one little girl with her face uplifted 
 and her little arms outstretched imitating the flight of the 
 birds a long float, then two or three flaps of the wings, then
 
 12 
 
 a float, and the little girl seemed almost to float herself so 
 intent was she upon the bird's motion. Children will, of 
 course, catch from each other, but do not show them how it is 
 done and do not suggest by questions. 
 
 Have they heard the crows talking to each other? Can 
 they talk like a crow? An English sparrow? What are they 
 saying to each other? Where do crows spend the night? 
 (Crow roosts.) What do they eat? How can you help these 
 birds in cold weather? Would you like to help them? Are 
 they good friends of yours? (Rather neutral; the good they 
 do destroying grubs is about balanced by the grain they eat. ) 
 
 Why the crow is black. Wilson Nature Reader II, p. 141. 
 
 Caw! Caw! Caw! 
 Over in the meadow, 
 
 In a nest built of sticks 
 Lived a black mother- crow 
 And her little crows six. 
 "Caw," said the mother, 
 "We caw," said the six; 
 So they cawed and they called 
 In their nest built of sticks. 
 
 OLIVE A. WADSWORTH. 
 
 Chickadees. (See suggestions for English Sparrow and Downy Wood- 
 pecker. ) 
 
 Many chickadees have been seen around the Maryland 
 Building, in Druid Hill Park, and they are common in other 
 parks and in the fields around the city. Look for one your- 
 self and you will be apt to find him. Tell the children where 
 you saw him, something you saw him doing; not forgetting to 
 tell how he calls out his name, for he introduces himself. 
 Tell them where this little bird will spend the winter. What 
 can he find to eat? ("When heavy snow and, especially, sleet 
 covers the trees, be sure to see that your chickadees are pro- 
 vided with food. A fresh bone with marrow and meat on it, 
 or a piece of suet fastened to the limb of a tree and kept free
 
 18 
 
 from ice from time to time may save dozens of these precious 
 lives during the winter." Hodge, Nature Study and Life.) 
 
 Has he a home to stay in? When a cold night comes 
 would you rather be a chickadee, an English sparrow, or a 
 downy woodpecker? Do you think they ever have to go to 
 bed without their supper? Without anything to drink when 
 the streams are frozen? Again, what can you do to help them? 
 Are the chickadees good friends of ours? How? (Probably 
 no bird possesses a higher economic value than the chickadee. 
 All summer he feeds on insects and all winter on the eggs 
 which they lay on the twigs and bark and around the buds of 
 trees. Professor Forbush reports finding 5500 eggs of plant 
 lice in the crop of a chickadee, this number representing what 
 the bird had gathered for a single breakfast. Hodge Nature 
 Study and Life.) There is no bird that has been written 
 about more lovingly than this one. You will appreciate his 
 "sound heart and merry throat" for yourself as you know him 
 better and realize the hard conditions that this little fellow 
 comes up against. The merry throat may be making light of 
 a very empty little larder, for the stout-hearted little black- 
 cap keeps up a brave show under conditions that silence other 
 birds. 
 
 Read to children The Chickadee, in Poetry of the Seasons, 
 p. 318. 
 
 The Bluebirds. (See suggestions for English Sparrows and Downy 
 Woodpecker. ) 
 
 Bluebirds are the first birds to come and the last birds to 
 leave. Indeed, some of them remain the entire season. The 
 former superintendent of Druid Hill Park, Captain Cassell, 
 reported bluebirds and redbirds coming to his house each 
 morning during the winter for their breakfasts. They have 
 been reported on the bird chart by children of different school 
 buildings in widely separated localities. This may also be 
 true of the robins, but they have not been so reported as yet. 
 This winter may see the appearance of their names among the 
 scarce winter birds.
 
 14 
 
 Soon as you sing, then the springtime will come, 
 The robins will call and the honey bees hum, 
 And the dear little pussies, so cunning and gray, 
 Will sit in the willow trees over the way; 
 
 So, hurry, please do, 
 
 Little Bird Blue. 
 
 From Youth 's Companion. 
 
 The Robin. (See suggestions for English Sparrow and Downy Wood- 
 pecker. ) 
 
 The North story of how the robin got his red breast. All 
 the Year Round, part III, p. 59. 
 
 Examine the English sparrow's nest early in the spring; 
 follow this with the story of The Oriole's Nest. Wiggin. The 
 Story Hour. Spring. 
 
 Read "Who Stole the Birds Nest?" Graded Literature II, 
 p. 151. 
 
 In the fall tell "The Crane Express;" in the Child's 
 World. 
 
 "Hiawatha's Chickens;" Child Life II, p. 80. 
 
 "Hiawatha's Brothers;" Child Life, p. 82. 
 
 Play some of the bird songs the children sing. Page 10 
 Songs of the Child World, Gaynor, is instanced to illustrate 
 this. 
 
 The children form a circle. 
 
 Choose the mother bird. 
 
 Choose the father bird. 
 
 Choose the three little birds. 
 
 As the children sing, "There are three baby birds in the 
 wee, wee nest," the old mother bird stretches out her arms to 
 cover the three little heads of the three little birds, and as 
 they sing, "There are three hungry mouths to be filled when 
 they cry," the father bird flies to the family with something 
 to eat. And, "There they rock fast asleep 'neath the evening 
 sky, Rock-a-by, Rock-a-by," finishes the song. 
 
 Play the poems in reading lessons. 
 
 Songs. The Bird's Nest, Gaynor; songs of Child World, 
 p. 10. The Woodpecker, Eleanor Smith; Primer, p. 82.
 
 "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all thy holy mountain, 
 for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the 
 waters cover the sea." 
 
 ISAIAH XI. 
 
 PETS AND DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 
 
 "Pets are the child's natural introduction to animal life. 
 By their means the knowledge gained of the animal as a whole, 
 its habits, life, individual character, intelligence, disposition, 
 affection for its master, its health and well being, is infinitely 
 more living and real than that imparted b} T any other method 
 of instruction. By its associations with the child's spontaneous 
 activities in caring for his pet, this knowledge becomes a part 
 of his life and will thus enter into the formation of his char- 
 acter to exert its civilizing influence as long as he lives. Of 
 how little value, compared with this, is learning of names, 
 schemes of classification, or anatomical structures. 
 
 In the development of the child's emotional and moral lite 
 this relation to his living pet is of even greater importance. 
 Nothing is better fitted to develop patience and conscientious 
 carefulness than the daily attention to its needs. Unselfish- 
 ness is fostered by this care and by the generous sharing of his 
 good things with his humble friend." Hodge's Nature Study 
 and Life. 
 
 The following steps are planned toward the accomplish- 
 ment of the above. The order is not significant: 
 
 1. Stories of home pets. 
 
 2. The visits of these pets to the school. 
 
 3. The care of a school pet. 
 
 FIRST GRADE. 
 Stories of Home Pets. (September and October.) 
 
 Nature-Study for little children who have just left the 
 home for the school, forming, as it does, a link between the 
 two, makes much of the things that children play with every 
 day the pet dog, the cat, the rabbit, whatever they may have; 
 or of such . things of common interest as the squirrels in the
 
 16 
 
 park. This is done in the nature of informal stories which 
 the teacher leads the children to tell. 
 
 This free discussion of home pets is not a series of informa- 
 tion lessons in which the teacher instructs the children, but a 
 free time of story telling when the child does the talking, not 
 about dogs or cats, but about his dog or cat or horse, as the case 
 may be; the teacher taking advantage of these stories to 
 educate a good healthy sentiment toward domesticated animals; 
 possibly, in some cases to correct abuses. 
 
 Said one teacher, "The children bring so many of these 
 stories, but what am to do with them?" Many things, either 
 through seizing the significant stories, or the significant points 
 in one story. For instance: 
 
 One child in this teacher's school told a story about having 
 left her doggie at home burying a bone. This is a significant 
 statement. Question how many other children have noticed 
 their. dogs doing the same thing. And the smallest owner can 
 tell you he is hiding it and will dig it up some time. But if 
 he hides it carefully, he must think a great deal of it; perhaps 
 he uses it for something beside food. And when curiosity 
 runs high tell them about the bone being a tooth brush for 
 the dog. 
 
 Another child in the same class had something to say 
 about his Patsy always staying by his master's hat. Again 
 significant, and therefore to be impressed. If Patsy will con- 
 descend to pay a visit to the school, by all means invite him. 
 Have him sit by the hat, have the children draw Patsy and 
 the cap, (mass drawing, using black crayon), or model them. 
 Among all the animals this is pre-eminently and probably 
 exclusively a dog possession the propriety sense. Go on 
 emphasizing worthy stories, but a mass of material such as 
 these children bring together in the form of stories, is pro- 
 ductive of little of the educational training possible unless 
 the teacher has in mind a basis of selection. Impress those 
 stories that emphasize. 
 
 1. Right feeling toward animals. 
 
 2. Intelligent care of animals. 
 
 3. Special intelligence or lovable trait of some pets.
 
 17 
 
 A story having dramatic capabilities. 
 A story that lends itself to free cutting. 
 
 6. One that lends itself to illustration for reading pur- 
 poses. 
 
 To give direction to things taught, and spirit and 
 tone to the work, tell a story yourself occasionally. There are 
 some things not worth telling. "It is not intended to give the 
 natural history of each animal pet in the series, and great care 
 must be taken not to allow the lessons to grow with common 
 places that everybody knows, or run off into details of tech- 
 nical and superficial interest that it makes no difference 
 whether anybody knows or not. People may live long and die 
 happy without ever having lumbered their minds up with such 
 ideas as, "a chicken has three ej-elids, " "a dog is covered 
 with hair," "a cat has five toes on the front feet and four toes 
 on the hind feet," and so on ad nanseum. There are plenty of 
 common sense, valuable and interesting things to be learned 
 about animals to occupy the time, and we may leave all details 
 of comparative anatomy to special courses in colleges or medi- 
 cal schools." 
 
 HODGE: "Nature Study and Life." 
 
 The following from John Burroughs is suggestive: "The 
 boy who caught the squirrel in his wire trap had a very bright 
 and nimble dog that seemed to be very sure he could catch a 
 red squirrel under any circumstances, if only the trees were 
 out of the way. So the boy went to the middle of an open 
 field with the caged squirrel; the dog, who seemed to know 
 what was up, dancing and jumping about him. 
 
 The dog was drawn back a few yards and the squirrel 
 liberated . 
 
 Then began one of the most exciting races * * * * The 
 squirrel had all his wits about him and kept them ready for 
 instant use. He did not show the least confusion. He was 
 no match for the dog in fair running, and he discovered this 
 fact in three seconds. He must win, if at all, not by taking a 
 straight course for the nearest tree, but by a zig-zag course, 
 yea, a double or treble zig-zag course. Every instant the dog 
 was sure the squirrel was his, and every time he was disap-
 
 18 
 
 pointed * * * * The squirrel dodge 1 ! this way and that. The 
 dog looked astonished and vexed. Then the squirrel issued 
 from his enemy's hind legs and made three jumps for the 
 woods before he was discovered. 
 
 The dog seemed to redouble his efforts. He would over 
 shoot the game, or shoot by it to the right or the left. One 
 leap more and the squirrel was up in a tree, and the dog was 
 overwhelmed with confusion and disgust. ' Not catch a 
 squirrel in a field like that! Go to! I will have him yet!' ' 
 
 SUGGESTED EXPRESSION WORK (of the above). 
 
 Free cutting; telling what they have cut. 
 
 Tell the story in mass drawing (using black crayon). 
 
 Children play the story as the teacher tells, showing the 
 nimble-footed, quick-dodging squirrel, the slower dog. This 
 is excellent work to train a child in alertness. If he is not 
 quick the dog will really have him. As the children become 
 accustomed to illustrating stories with their play, have a child 
 tell the story, thus giving him the benefit of the language drill 
 and the practice in consecutive thinking. 
 
 Have many of the "true stories" told by the children, 
 continuing to select on the basis suggested and to use those 
 that are valuable for expressive work. 
 
 Encourage the children to bring their pets to school with 
 them. 
 
 What must the nature-study teacher do when a dog comes 
 to school? Just treat him with manners proper to show that 
 dog visitors are welcome; give him a comfortable place to sit, 
 and let him make himself at home. Do not think you must 
 fall to and have some sort of an anatomy lesson about toes and 
 eyelashes; children need humanizing not anatomizing. But 
 do have them cut him or model him in clay. They will think 
 more of him. 
 
 If the children are interested in this work with pets in a 
 human, natural way, you will have many of these visitors 
 invaluable not only from the nature standpoint, but in giving 
 that touch of naturalness and the home feeling that we all 
 seem to strive for and seldom get. One good, old-fashioned
 
 19 
 
 dog will dispel more artificial school atmosphere than any 
 number of blackboard decorations, and please and teach the 
 children vastly more. 
 
 In one First Grade a great St. Bernard gravely guided the 
 smallest little girl in the room to school each morning and 
 home again after the session. He was adopted by the school, 
 or, perhaps, he adopted them. Whichever the combination, 
 those children will all think more of the noble old dog than of 
 an}- other feature of their first school days and all dogdom will 
 be the gainer. 
 
 Have a pet for the room. Almost anything that is. avail- 
 able and practicable. If there is a cat in the building, invite 
 it to come to the room and take its naps in the sunny windows; 
 train the children to treat it well, to share a little of their 
 lunch with it, to see that it has a drink of water in a con- 
 venient place. Name kitty, have the class feel a sense of 
 ownership. 
 
 One little First Grade had a canary bird for which they 
 .cared. The morning bath was a never failing source of 
 delight to the children, and the bird cage on the desk of an 
 unruly little boy, for even a few moments, seldom failed to 
 communicate some of the good spirits and cheery manners of 
 its little tenant to the child. Do not keep the cage away from 
 the children. Let them cut the papers for the bottom of it, 
 get the water for the bath, give the bird its seeds, all that a 
 child can do, and he can do a great deal if he has someone to 
 see that he does it. These real things make the best lessons 
 for the children. 
 
 A white rat delighted another room. The rat being very 
 social and developing and manifesting a decided wish to play 
 with the children, which they were not slow to discover, was 
 a favorite. In another First Grade the children were encour- 
 aged to bring their pets to school, and a couple of young 
 pigeons put out their feathers to the delight of the children 
 who became the warmer friends to all pigeons thereafter. 
 
 The large boys in another building built a substantial 
 rabbit house for the First Grade children. This, with its yard 
 fenced in with wire, occupies one corner of the grounds. The
 
 2U 
 
 children store leaves in the fall for Bunny, feed him, water 
 him, play with him and love him. 
 
 This is no attempt to advocate the keeping of pets that 
 were never intended to be kept in the house, that become a 
 nuisance there like a rabbit or a guinea pig they are out- 
 door animals which, if they can be housed in the school yard, 
 have an excellent influence on the children. 
 
 In preparation, read Shaler's " Domesticated Animals," 
 on the dog, the cat, the horse. (These are the ones most 
 likely to be brought up.) Also Hodge; " Nature Study and 
 Life," chap. III. Be prepared with one good story illustra- 
 tive of a valuable trait in a horse, a dog. The readers are full 
 of them. 
 
 The following stories are suggested as calculated to pro- 
 duce right feeling toward animals. 
 
 Benjy in Beastland. The Story Hour. Graded Litera- 
 ture III. (First and Second Grade.) 
 
 Moufflon. The Story Hour. (Second Grade.) 
 
 FURTHER REFERENCES. 
 
 Pit- Pat (cat story). Lights to Literature II, p. 37. 
 
 Robin's Grumble (against cats). Lights to Literature II, 
 p. 40. 
 
 The Horse. Cyr. Reader III, p. 185. 
 
 Stories of Dogs. Reader III, p. 187. 
 
 The Squirrels That Live in a House. Cyr IV, p. 149. 
 (Good). 
 
 SONGS. 
 
 Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat. Eleanor Smith. Primer, p. 36. 
 
 Mr. Rooster and Mrs. Hen. Gaynor. Songs of the 
 Child World, p. 91. (Second Grade.) 
 
 Harvest of the Squirrel and Honey Bee. Gaynor. Songs 
 of the Child World, p. 65. (Second Grade.)
 
 21 
 
 PLANT RAISING. 
 First and Second Grades. 
 
 "No number of object lessons got up as object lessons for 
 the sake of giving information, can afford even the shadow of 
 a substitute for acquaintance with the plants and animals of 
 the farm and garden, acquired through actual living among 
 them and caring for them. Xo training of sense organs in 
 school, introduced for the sake of training, can begin to com- 
 pete with the alertness and fullness of sense- life that comes 
 through daily intimacy and interest in familiar occupations. ' ' 
 
 JOHN DEWEY. 
 
 LES5ON5 WITH PLANTS. 
 General Plan of the Work. 
 
 1. Flower grown in the schoolroom. 
 
 2. Flower raised from seed. Home planting and flower 
 show. 
 
 3. Window or school yard garden. 
 
 Schoolroom Flower. 
 
 A bright, hardy, little, red geranium is the very best 
 thing for the babies. Be sure you start with a sturdy, well- 
 potted, little plant. 
 
 Suggestions for the Care of the Geranium. 
 
 1. Be sure that the flower pot is large enough and that 
 there is plenty of good soil. 
 
 2. Keep the plant in the sun. Turn it around every 
 day so all parts will be exposed to the light. Then the plant 
 will not become one-sided and all the leaves will be green. 
 
 3. Watering soak so that all the soil is wet, then let 
 stand until the surface soil gets dry. 
 
 4. Keep the leaves clean; wash them. 
 
 5. Keep the surface soil fine and loose. 
 
 Suggested Method. 
 
 (Let it be understood from the beginning that it is not the 
 attitude of the scientist, getting at the shape of leaves, parts
 
 22 
 
 of flowers, etc., that we are trying to get the children to take 
 toward their plant, but rather to teach them the things the 
 dear old grandmother knows who can raise the best flowers in 
 the neighborhood. It is knowledge in both cases and both have 
 studied to acquire it, but it is the "grandmother" variety we 
 are going to try to teach the children. 
 
 Have the children realize thoroughly that the plant is 
 yours and theirs together, and that they and you are going to 
 care for it.) Do they know where the plant would like to 
 stand? (The sunniest place in the room. ) Make class exer- 
 cises of the watering, loosening the top soil and washing the 
 plant's face until the children become interested in watching 
 for the plant's needs; have them do these things as class exer- 
 cises until they can do them well. Then you may turn it over 
 to one of the before-school duties. When the blossoms come 
 do- not pick them to pieces, do not try to learn technical terms 
 about them, just get to know them by sight and smell. (See 
 sense games; trees, September and October.) Make much of 
 taking off the dead leaves, have it done in a class period by 
 one of the class. Be sure you wait until the leaf is well readv 
 to come off, like the leaves of the tree. 
 
 Have the children paint the plant; free cutting of the pot; 
 the pot and the plant; paint a leaf, lay it in lentils. Free 
 cutting of a leaf. 
 
 Flower Raised From the Seed. April. 
 
 The dwarf nasturtium seems best for this work in these 
 grades. The seed is large and easily handled, the plant is 
 hardy and showy, the blossoms appear from 45 to 60 days 
 after the planting and are continuous throughout the summer. 
 
 Give the children as many seeds as you can for the home 
 planting with the two following conditions: 
 
 1 . That all the work of planting and caring is to be done 
 by the children. 
 
 2. That one plant is to be raised in some sort of a pot so 
 it can be brought to the school for the June flower show. 
 
 Keep one or two plants growing in the school room or in the 
 yard to show the children how to take care oj theirs. Get the
 
 23 
 
 home people interested as much as possible. Let the children 
 bring their plants when it is convenient, and question 
 about them, how many seeds came up, how often are 
 they watering, keeping in the sun, etc., so that the subject is 
 kept fresh in their minds it is quite a stretch for the patience 
 and faith of a little child, from the planting of a seed to the 
 blossoming of the plant. If this work is going well there 
 will be constant reports offered at all times. Be sure some- 
 thing is wrong if this spontaneous news of the welfare of the 
 plant does not come, and do something about it. 
 
 Give class lessons in the planting of the nasturtium before 
 the seeds are distributed. The following are some suggestions 
 for such lessons: 
 
 1 . Have the children sift the soil. (A piece of wire door 
 screen or an old flour sifter and a paper spread on the floor 
 will do. ) Sprinkle the soil 24 hours before so it will be 
 moist. 
 
 2. Have the children place a round stone or a piece of 
 broken flo\ver pot over the hole for drainage. 
 
 3. Have the children fill the pot with soil; firm it. 
 
 4. Have the children decide the number of seeds to 
 plant. 
 
 (One plant to a pot is enough but best put in three or 
 four seeds; some may not come up.) 
 
 5. Children make holes one inch deep with pencil, put 
 the seeds in the hole, cover, firm. 
 
 6. Plunge pot in luke-warm water, have the children 
 feel, have them watch until the surface of the soil is wet. 
 
 7. Set in shaded place. 
 
 As the soil shows dry on the surface plunge again. Be 
 sure that the soil does not get dry while the seeds ar~e germinating. 
 As soon as green shows put the pot in the sun. If you prefer 
 from this time on water from the top, although a florist con- 
 tinues to plunge. 
 
 Give each child seeds to plant at home. Have a flower 
 show the last of June, at which these home grown plants are 
 exhibited.
 
 24 
 
 At the flower show sing the songs the children know, 
 and have them recite their little flower and planting poems. 
 
 Window or Schoolyard Garden 
 
 When possible, the ideal garden for the little children is the 
 individual garden of about a square foot in size. The follow- 
 ing is a brief history of First Grade gardens at No. 61, lyinden 
 Avenue and Konig Street: 
 
 The bricks were removed 18 inches back along about 90 
 feet of the yard wall and two loads of soil were hauled in to 
 cover the sand which was under the bricks. This, of course, 
 made a light soil but deep enough and rich enough to raise 
 what was put in it. Each child then measured off his garden, 
 one foot in length, and set his stakes to show his property, 
 wrote his name and placed it on the fence at the back of his 
 plat. He had about a square foot that he could work. The 
 children were encouraged to bring a little good soil from home 
 to put on the top of his garden, if not more than a cupful 
 this improvement gave him an added interest in his property, 
 and enabled the teacher to see what idea the children had of 
 good soil. They smoothed the soil and planted the seeds 
 the four dwarf nasturtiums at the back to allow for some 
 seeds that might not come here the value of the previous 
 schoolroom lessons in so planting is seen then they planted a 
 a row of early, round, red radishes in the front. (Be very 
 sure that you have the earliest variety of the round, red 
 radishes, they only require three weeks to produce radishes 
 big enough for pulling.) The children kept the weeds 
 out of their gardens; they kept the soil fine on the top 
 as they must on the surface of the house plant, and they 
 watered them. (This soil was so light as to make watering 
 necessary it is usually not needed when the soil is kept loose 
 and fine on the surface.) 
 
 Have the individual garden wherever it is possible. It is 
 impossible to go into reasons, but it is the solution of most of 
 the problems in the garden woik. 
 
 The tool necessary is the common five-fingered hand- 
 weeder.
 
 25 
 
 If the yard garden is impossible have the window garden. 
 Make the boxes as long and as wide as the windows ledge will 
 allow and at least eight inches high. (Send dimensions and 
 the number of boxes wanted to the Group principal by January 
 i.) It will be more satisfactory to plant only one kind of 
 plant in the boxes all radishes in one box and dwarf 
 nasturtiums in another. Have the children take care of them. 
 Be sure they are \vell soaked Friday. 
 
 Paint the radishes; play feeling games with the leaves. 
 (See September and October tree outline.) Play smelling 
 games with nasturtium blossoms. Paint nasturtium leaves; 
 the blossoms. 
 
 Story. 
 
 The Story of the Morning- Glory Seed. Stepping Stones 
 III, p. 216. 
 
 The Pea Blossom. Anderson. Stepping Stones III, p. 17. 
 Talking in Their Sleep. Edith Thomas. (Second Grade. ) 
 
 Poems. 
 
 Waiting to Grow. Poetry of the Seasons. 
 The Little Plant. Kate S. Brown, in the Child's World. 
 (Excellent planting poem.) 
 
 Songs. 
 
 In My Little Garden Bed. Finger Plays. 
 The Bumble Bee. Gaynor. Songs of the Child World. 
 (Second Grade.) 
 
 Teacher's Reference. 
 
 Hodge: Nature Study and Life, Chaps. VI, VII, VIII, IX. 
 Read also: The Garden of a Commuter's Wife. (Public 
 Library. ) 
 
 Marv's Garden and How It Grew.
 
 26 
 
 TREES. 
 
 "Dance, little leaflets, dance, 
 
 'Neath the tender sky of Spring; 
 Dance in the golden sun, 
 
 To the Tune the robins sing." 
 
 General Plan of Work for Year. 
 
 1. Choice of trees to be studied throughout the year. 
 First Grade, one tree; Second Grade, two trees. 
 
 2. Recognition of trees by : 
 
 1. Sight; the tree as a whole, the leaf, the flower, 
 
 the fruit. 
 
 2. Sound. 
 
 3. Touch; the bark, the leaves, the flower, the fruit. 
 
 4. Smell; the leaves, the flowers, the fruit. 
 
 3. Seasonal changes. 
 
 4. Growth of the tree from the seed. 
 
 September and October. 
 
 Choice of Tree Choose a tree easy of access, in the schoolyard if 
 possible. 
 
 Take the children out the hour you plan to give to the 
 Nature work in order that they may judge of shade conditions. 
 Have them look for the tree they would like best to listen to 
 stories or play games under. Let them run to the trees of 
 their choice. Recall them and question why the special one 
 was selected. Does it give cool shade? Are there comfortable 
 seats under it? Does it look strong?, etc. When the tree is 
 selected identify it, giving the specific name, white maple, 
 American linden, etc. Take them to the tree chosen and tell 
 them a story. This is their tree- warming. 
 
 Recognition of Trees by Sight. (The tree as a whole.) 
 Do not ask children how they know the tree. 
 
 Suggested Method 
 
 Provide children with scissors and paper, take them to 
 the tree; cut it. Have the cuttings colored under the tree if
 
 27 
 
 possible, if not, have the children match something with the 
 bark and the leaves, and color in the schoolroom. * * * * 
 Have the class decide which cutting they like best, giving one 
 reason for their choice. Pin this one in a conspicuous place. 
 Continue these tree cutting lessons throughout the year, 
 always having the children select the best giving a reason, thus 
 calling attention to points to be observed. These points will 
 be incorporated into later cuttings. Continue to cut and paint 
 the fall tree until the children express themselves with a fair 
 degree of clearness. * * * '* For cutting suggestions see 
 drawing outlines, p. 6, First Grade. In all field lessons look 
 for brothers and sisters of the tree. Have the children also 
 look for brothers and sisters of their tree at home and on the 
 way to school, bringing leaves, that 3-011 may correct cases of 
 mistaken identity. 
 
 This work in training to see true shapes continues 
 throughout the year, it is of slow growth for all of us. When, 
 toward the close of the year, the cuttings are better done they 
 will show 7 in a general way: 
 
 1. What part the trunk is of the height of the tree. 
 (y 2 , */3, etc.) 
 
 2. What part the greatest width is of the height of the 
 tree, (ft, /3, etc.) 
 
 3. Where the tree is widest. (Half way to the top, etc.) 
 
 4. The shape of the top. 
 
 (These are the points that make for the shape of any tree, 
 and the teacher will have them in mind and gradually lead the 
 children to see them as their number work progresses so they 
 are able to see proportions. ) 
 
 Recognition of Leaves By Sight. (Suggestive Method.) 
 
 Provide each child with one or more leaves from his tree. 
 Have him look at them closely. Place all the leaves in the 
 desks. Choose ten children to find leaves of the same kind in 
 a boquet of mixed leaves, and present them to other children 
 who must decide if they are right. Play the same game many 
 times, mixing the leaves with all sorts until you are satisfied 
 the children can recognize their tree leaves wherever they see
 
 28 
 
 them. Ask no explanations of how they know them. Have 
 the game move along briskly. 
 
 Have the leaves drawn, cut and colored; laid in lentils. 
 
 If fruit is found on the tree follow suggestions for playing 
 seeing games, under leaves. 
 
 Recognition of Tree By Sound. 
 
 . Poplars and evergreens are the only trees that we can 
 identify by the sound they make, but teach the children to 
 love the song the tree sings when the wind blows through it. 
 Before the leaves have fallen, when the children are under the 
 tree for cuttings, have them close their eyes and listen to what 
 the tree is wispering. Is it south wind that is whispering in 
 in the tree today? North wind? (See ' ' Winds. ' ' ) Does 
 south wind sound the same as north wind? To whom is the 
 tree whispering; to the sun; to the birds? Just visiting among 
 themselves? Or are they telling secrets to the old tree? And 
 what do you think they are saying? For "we have a right to 
 a poetic interpretation of nature. The child comes to know 
 nature through its imagination and feeling and sympathy. ' ' 
 Bailey. The child who exclaimed, "All the leaves are singing 
 to-day they're so glad the sun is shining!" made an interpreta- 
 tion as true to nature and as charming in its fancy as the poet 
 who made the leaves say. 
 
 "Dear Father Tree, behold our grief:" 
 Open to the child the happiness which comes through using 
 his own powers of imagination and feeling; then, when he is 
 able to appreciate it, teach him what others have heard the 
 tree say. This is the only way whereby nature literature may be 
 interpreted through the experience of the children and not compel 
 them, "after the manner of Aesop s crow, to adorn themselves with 
 strange feathers." "Men must be lead as far as possible to 
 draw their wisdom not from books, but from the consideration 
 of heaven and earth, oaks and beeches." Comenius. 
 
 Suggested Forms of Expression. 
 
 i . Play The sound and motion of the trees are insepar- 
 able; associate the two.
 
 29 
 
 In their little marches have the children play they are 
 the tree when it is so still that it is not even whispering, again 
 be the tree when it is singing the birds to sleep; when it sings 
 a bold, loud song. 
 
 This calls for action imitating that of the tree which 
 produced the sound. Very straight for silence, gently waving 
 the arms when the tree sings softly, tossing arms when the 
 tree shouts. 
 
 2. Imitate the sounds of the tree at different times. 
 
 Recognition of the Tree By Touch. (The Bark.) 
 
 Have the children feel the bark of the tree; then blind- 
 folding a child lead him to a tree when he decides whether it 
 is the one he felt at first. 
 
 In playing this of course barks of decidedly different 
 degrees of roughness must be used. 
 
 Recognition By Touch. (The Leaves.) 
 
 Play a sense game. 
 
 Have the class feel the leaves carefully, close their eyes 
 and feel again, to see if they think they would know them. 
 
 Select a number to come to the front of the class. 
 
 Have them close their eyes. 
 
 Using, say, two kinds of leaves, the one of the class and 
 one other, place each leaf in the hands of different children; 
 when the two children who receive the leaves first have satisfied 
 themselves the teacher passes them to two other children until 
 each one in line has handled one leaf. 
 
 Vary the ways of receiving decisions. The children may 
 open their eyes and tell the class, one by one, what they 
 thought they touched; the class deciding if they are right or 
 wrong. Or eyes may remain closed while the teacher asks 
 all who thought they touched their tree leaf to raise hands. 
 Children whose eyes are open who know if they are right will 
 lead them to their seats. 
 
 Always have those who have failed feel of the leaf again; 
 do not, however, test them immediately after, as the original 
 impression, unmixed with others, must be deepened.
 
 30 
 To Recognize Leaves By Odor. 
 
 Play sense games, substituting smelling for feeling. 
 
 All these sense games must be played over and over; they 
 are not lessons to be recited and all accounts closed when a 
 correct answer is given; they are for continued sense training. 
 
 Seasonal Changes of the Tree. 
 
 Watch for the changing of the color of the leaves and 
 their falling; encourage the children to bring in the very 
 prettiest leaves they find each morning; press them and put 
 them up in the room. (Press the leaves with a warm iron on 
 which a little ordinary wax has been rubbed. This produces 
 a lustre which is somewhat unnatural, but the leaves will keep 
 nicely and are very attractive; small twigs can be preserved in 
 this way and make pretty ornaments for the room during their 
 season.) 
 
 Teach the children to make wreaths out of the leaves; 
 encourage them to play in the fallen leaves. If they are 
 not swept up as fast as they fall, have the children see where 
 they are taken by the wind. What are they covering? Are 
 any also used for blankets at the children's homes? 
 
 (Many of the children have seen them used to cover roses 
 and other flowers.) In the field lesson find the sleepy leaves 
 and see what they cover. 
 
 Under the tree itself "tell the story, "How the Leaves Came 
 Down," Susan Coolidge. When the time is ripe for it, teach a 
 favorite stanza or two to the children. 
 
 THE FIELD LESSON. 
 September and October. 
 
 The field lesson, with trees as the central topic, is for two 
 purposes a general and a specific. 
 
 The special aim is a .step toward the accomplishment of 
 the general and also considers the teacher's comfort in con- 
 ducting the lesson. 
 
 Classes of children, especially those not accustomed to 
 field work , are apt to scatter so it is hard to keep track of them 
 and there is a time when they first reach the woods, when
 
 31 
 
 they seem at a loss to know what to do besides shout. Now, 
 there does not seem to be anything radically wrong in this 
 noise, but it may disturb possible neighbors and we can do 
 away with it if we wish, without trouble to ourselves or 
 ruffling the tempers of the children, as follows : 
 In a class room lesson: 
 
 1. Give a few definite things to look for. 
 
 2. Give a few definite things to bring back to school. 
 These things are the outgrowth of previous lessons and 
 
 are the ostensible reason for the trip, the greater aim being 
 kept in the background. 
 
 Have the First and Second Grades in the fall: 
 
 1 . Look for brothers and sisters of their trees. 
 
 2. Bring home the prettiest leaves they can find. 
 
 Press them and put them up in the room. 
 
 3. Bring home any nuts they may find. 
 
 4. If there are squirrels in the woods take some nuts 
 
 for them. L,et the children see how near they 
 can coax them. 
 
 5. Lister, for birds. 
 On another lesson: 
 
 1 . Bring home the prettiest leaves they can find. 
 
 2. Look for the fallen leaves. (A windy day is best 
 
 for this trip.) Are there any of last year's 
 leaves near? What are they making a nice 
 blanket to cover? What will pat the blanket 
 down and tuck the seed babies in for the 
 winter's sleep? (They have heard the same 
 little fingers pattering on the windows (rain) 
 and they have seen another beautiful white 
 coverlet that will press this one yet closer 
 (the snow) . 
 
 Sing songs and play games. Make wreathes of leaves. 
 While the general aim must not be discussed with children, 
 it is, nevertheless, most important that the teacher have it 
 clearly in mind, comprehending from the start that while the 
 beginnings are npw, the growth reaches on into the years that 
 are to come influencing the actions of men and women who
 
 32 
 
 are the little children now. Briefly stated, it is this that 
 children may come to love the great tree world, a beautiful, 
 health-giving, soul-restoring world to love it actively because 
 it is a real world to them to which the} 7 turn; so that the 
 woods may come to take the place of the jading, questionable 
 ways of spending holidays. Instead of Coney Island, a day 
 spent in healthy, hearty exercises and games in the woods. It 
 is one of those "large interests" we cannot give children too 
 early. The study of their special trees, the isolated forest 
 trees that are serving as shade trees, is not an end when 
 considered in this connection, but a means which serves to 
 introduce the children through a loving interest in their own 
 special tree to the tree world. It is the first step in the 
 acquaintance and the second step is the field lesson, which 
 takes them to the home of the trees the woods. City children 
 need to have this world opened to them, country children 
 should be lead to appreciate it. Make as many pleasant 
 associations as possible. Play games. Play tree-tag, when 
 everyone must touch a tree except the one who is "it," 
 changing from tree to tree, when the catcher may tag anyone 
 not touching a tree. The one so caught must take his turn at 
 being " it.'' Have older grades play " maple-tag," which, as 
 its name suggests, means that all find maple trees to touch, 
 being liable to be tagged if they are not touching trees of 
 this kind. Or make it oak trees, or pine, or anything you 
 choose and the woods furnish. 
 
 The games do two things; teach to identify trees and 
 suggest amusement to children. 
 
 When they have done the special things they came to do 
 and are tired of the games, find the prettiest place of all and 
 eat the simple lunch the children have furnished just an 
 apple; one a piece will do, or a box of wafers. Sing some of 
 the school songs they know. 
 
 Nothing suggests picnic so much as refreshments, no 
 matter how light, and with games that can be played in the 
 woods and a lunch, we have all the ingredients of the picnic. 
 Be sure the charm of this clay will suggest to these children a 
 way of spending other pleasant days.
 
 33 
 
 November and December. 
 
 Continue looking for the colored leaves, pressing and 
 putting up some of the prettiest. Also continue to note the 
 fall of the leaves; what kind of nights bring down most? 
 When the wind is high and leaves are blowing through the air, 
 call it to the attention of the class, if they do not forestall you 
 and bring it to your notice. Where does the wind finally drop 
 them? Continue to look for them in field lessons and encour- 
 age the children to tell you where they have seen them lodged. 
 Tell them the following story, teaching the stanza the children 
 like best. 
 
 LEAVES AT PLAY. 
 
 Scamper, little leaves, about 
 
 In the Autumn sun; 
 I can hear the old wind shout, 
 
 Laughing as you run. 
 And I haven't any doubt 
 
 That he likes the fun. 
 
 When you've run a month or so, 
 Very tired you'll get; 
 
 But the same old wind, I know, 
 Will be laughing yet, 
 
 When he tucks you in your snow- 
 Downy coverlet. 
 
 So run off and have your play, 
 
 Romp with all your might; 
 Dance across the autumn day 
 
 While the sun is bright; 
 Soon you'll hear the old wind say, 
 
 "Little leaves, good night." 
 
 SHERMAN. 
 
 When the leaves have fallen from the tree, see if the 
 children can still tell three brothers and sisters, or, in other 
 words, if they can recognize the bare trees. 
 
 Suggest, through questioning or otherwise, how light and 
 straight and strong the tree must feel now that he is not
 
 34 
 
 holding the leaves out on his arms, and how he looks as if he 
 could stand any storm that may come. 
 
 Note change in the sound of the tree. 
 
 Let us listen to the song the tree is singing these windy 
 days, when he is all ready for winter and waiting for it to 
 come. What is he saying now? And to whom is he singing? 
 Does he say anything to you? Can you make the song the 
 tree sings? 
 
 Suggested Form of Expression. 
 
 1. Cutting and coloring of the bare tree. 
 
 2. Drawing of the bare tree. 
 
 (Always discuss the work with the children, having them 
 select the best ones. Growth should show through keener 
 observation an increased skill of expression.) 
 
 TWIG LESSON. 
 Suggested Method. 
 
 What has the tree been doing all summer? (Growing, 
 shading, looking pretty, singing may be some of the answers.) 
 
 But the tree has had a secret all summer. Perhaps the 
 leaves may have whispered it to the birds. I do not know. 
 Or the wind may have heard the leaves whispering it as he 
 went through. I do not know that either. Or the merry 
 little yellow sunbeams may have seen it. They danced around 
 among the leaves. But, if they did, they did not tell me. 
 Maybe the little black ant, creeping around the tree, found it 
 out. But, if he did, he never told anyone that I know. 
 
 Not one of them told me, but I found it out for myself 
 one day after the leaves were gone. 
 
 And to-day I have begged a few little branches of the old 
 tree, telling her what sharp eyes you have, and that I was 
 sure you would find what she has been doing so quietly all 
 this time. 
 
 And the children never fail to find buds, although they 
 may not know what they are called. 
 
 Have them count the buds on their twig; think how many 
 the old tree has made, and then how she must have worked to 
 do all this.
 
 35 
 
 We will not harm what she has worked hard to put away 
 so snug and tight, but wouldn't we like to know what it is 
 she has wrapped inside? And what she is going to do with 
 them? 
 
 But, while the children must draw the inference that 
 there is something very precious in the buds and should be 
 curious to know what it is, do not let them dissect them, and do 
 not, at this time of the year under any circumstances, force 
 the buds in the room. This subject is continued in following 
 months. 
 
 Evergreens. (Before Christmas.) 
 
 First grade One tree; spruce. 
 
 Second Grade Two trees; spruce and pine. 
 
 Have the children recognize the leaves through the 
 senses of 
 
 1. Sight. 3. Taste. 5. Sound (if possible). 
 
 2. Smell. 4. Touch. 
 
 Connect Christmas sentiment with the trees through song 
 and story. 
 
 November and December. 
 Suggested Method. 
 
 Provide yourself with good-sized branches of the evergreen 
 to be studied and any others that may be convenient; get the 
 cones also if possible. Have the children bring evergreen 
 twigs. They find them on the ground where Christmas trees 
 are for sale. Other evergreens besides the ones selected for 
 special study, are necessary in order that sense games may be 
 played. 
 
 Different kinds of evergreen are common in the suburbs, 
 and the superintendents of the different parks respond most 
 courteously and generously to requests for such material. It 
 is very easy to have on hand through the contributions of the 
 children and specimens obtained from the parks and surround- 
 ing country, the following: 
 
 Spruce, a branch two or three feet long. 
 
 Pine, one or more of the species. 
 
 Cedar. Arbor vitae. Hemlock.
 
 36 
 
 It is indispensible that the children have some idea of the 
 size and shape of the tree. Is the spruce as tall as their own 
 tree, is it the same shape? Here the children who bring the 
 specimens help out with their knowledge, but even they 
 should come to realize that the Christmas trees are but the 
 baby trees the old trees would be so big you could not get 
 them inside the house, many of them are much taller than 
 houses. 
 
 , To impress the shape, draw a picture on the board. 
 (Prang Drawing Book No. 6.) 
 
 Play sense games of seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing and 
 touching. (For directions, see outlines for playing sen^e 
 games. September and October. ) 
 
 In playing the game have the children feel of type tree, 
 say spruce, only. When they are lined up in front of the 
 class, the game shall be to tell whether they touch spruce or 
 not. Be sure those at the seats see which ones touch spruce, 
 if that be the type tree, and which ones touch something else, 
 and that children at the seats decide which are correct. 
 
 Have the games go on with snap. 
 
 The following order is a good one for the touching game, 
 first placing with the spruce the evergreen most unlike it, 
 then one differing less, and so on to the one most like it. 
 
 Spruce. 
 White pine. 
 
 Spruce. 
 Arbor vitae. 
 
 Spruce. 
 Austrian pine. 
 
 Spruce. 
 Hemlock. 
 
 The following order is better for the smelling games: 
 Spruce. Spruce. 
 
 Arbor vitae. White Pine. 
 
 For the listening games, wave one of the large spruce 
 branches in large circles. Here the necessity of a good-sized 
 branch is seen, the smaller ones will- not give off the sound the
 
 37 
 
 trees make when the wind blows through them, while the 
 large branch produces an excellent effect. A handful of white 
 pine twigs will give a very different sound, as will a branch of 
 oak that still retains its leaves. 
 
 Have the children listen to these sounds with their eyes 
 open, then, closing their eyes, tell which tree is talking. 
 
 Tasting Games. (If thought desirable.) 
 
 Played as in the touching game, substituting tasting for 
 touch. Taste the leaves at the seats. Arrange for a little 
 time to elapse between -the first and second tasting, or the 
 strong flavor which remains in the mouth will prevent the 
 recognition of any other. 
 
 If open cones have been obtained, have the children hold 
 them high and shake them to see the seeds fly out. 
 
 Have the children find the leaves on the tree; they are so 
 unlike those of the deciduous trees to which they have been 
 accustomed that they may fail to recognize them as leaves at 
 first. 
 
 Why are these leaves fine for a tree that keeps them all 
 winter? (Being so needle-like the snow and wind can slip 
 through them as it could not through the leaves of their tree.) 
 
 Has this tree any little friends who love it? (Little boys 
 and girls; little birds.) 
 
 After all these sense impressions of the evergreens, tell 
 "The Story of the Forest," found in Story Hour. 
 
 TREES. 
 
 January and February. 
 
 During the cold and storm and stress of these coldest 
 winter months, how are the little buds coming on? Invite a 
 few of them indoors to see if they can tell you. (Unless the 
 tree is a large one, do not try to have more than a twig to 
 each two children.) 
 
 Suggested Method. 
 
 Have the children tell you why the}' themselves are 
 dressed so differently now from the summer time to keep the 
 cold out; why they button their coats so tightly when the
 
 38 
 
 very cold days come. Recall the little buds they studied in 
 November. 
 
 Find if the little buds have a coat. More than one. Are 
 these little bud-coats fastened tight? Feel carefully to see. 
 Can you get your finger between the coats? A pencil point? 
 If your coats were fastened as snugly, do you think the wind 
 could get in? 
 
 But what else do these buds have to stand? (The same 
 thjngs the children do when they come with umbrellas the 
 rain and snow, of course.) And how do the little buds get 
 on without umbrellas? How do some of you get on? (Rain- 
 coats. ) And how do you know if your raincoat is a good one? 
 (If the rain does not come through.) If some one can think 
 how, you may test this little fellow's raincoat, and some one 
 will think to drop water on the bud, holding it as the old tree 
 holds it, and dropping the water as the water falls on it out of 
 doors. The water will roll off, satisfying the children that the 
 bud has as fine a raincoat as any of them. 
 
 But there is one thing more that sometimes troubles us 
 that waits for us around the corners and whistles for us to 
 come on. What does he do to your hats? And don't you 
 think he may try to get the buds off the old tree? Look at 
 your twigs carefully and see how many buds are there. Now, 
 you may be north wind and see how many buds you can get 
 off. And the wonderful adequacy of the little buds to meet the 
 hard conditions, puts the children in a healthy attitude toward 
 nature, not one of pity, but one of admiration, full and 
 unbounded, for even these little buds, doughty little fellows, 
 are well equipped to go on through to the end and perform 
 their work. 
 
 Suggested Forms of Expression. 
 
 i . Continue to play the tree in different kinds of weather. 
 
 Play you are the tree when the wind whispers so softly 
 that the tree has to keep very still to hear what the wind says. 
 
 Play you are the tree when old north wind and the tree 
 are having a frolic.
 
 39 
 
 The tree is singing a loud song; show how it makes its 
 song. (By the waving the branches violently, etc.) 
 
 2. Paint the bare twigs. 
 
 3. Cut the bare twigs; color them. 
 
 First Grade. (March and April.) 
 
 In Baltimore the buds burst during these months. The 
 children should see the change in color, should discover what 
 the old tree has been hiding all winter inside these little coasts. 
 They should be glad when the tree makes shadows enough 
 for them to get under, for now the lessons under the trees may 
 be resumed as often as the weather permits. 
 
 77iere is just a right time for the lessons on twigs in the 
 spring, which is as the buds burst; otherwise the children will not 
 see the connection between the winter, and the spring and summer 
 life. 
 
 It is impossible for an adult, and many times more so for 
 a little child to appreciate what is packed away in buds, unless 
 he sees the leaves and flowers unfold before his very eyes. It 
 is one of life's miracles and is not credited in the heart, save 
 it enter through the senses. * * * 
 
 Suggested Method. 
 
 When the children begin to leave their coats unbuttoned, 
 ask them what beside little boys and girls were wearing coats in 
 the winter? Why do the children leave their coats unbuttoned? 
 (So warm, of course.) Have the little buds begun to unbutton 
 their coats yet? (Bring some into the room.) Would the 
 boys and girls like to take their coats off altogether? (Doubt- 
 less many of them would.) Then why do they not do so? 
 (Usually their mothers insist that they shall keep them on.) 
 Do you think the little buds may be getting impatient like the 
 little boys and girls to take off their coats. Perhaps their 
 mother is making them keep them on, and she may be making 
 them keep them buttoned tight long after the children have 
 loosened theirs. When a cold day brings wraps out again, 
 call the attention of the children to the trees. Could she put 
 the coats on again if the buds had taken them off?
 
 40 
 
 When the buds begin to burst, have some brought into the 
 room, for close examination, during the different stages of 
 unfolding. 
 
 How many coats are there? Find something the color of 
 the outer ones, the inner ones. What colors are they? 
 
 What have they been hiding all winter? (Some of the 
 children will doubtless answer leaves, but you will have some 
 of the old pressed leaves left from last fall which you can 
 present to the children for their bewilderment, for that guess, 
 "which is often more fruitful than an indisputable affirma- 
 tion," because it leads to further insight into the truth. And, 
 with most children, it is a guess that these are leaves, the 
 leaves and flower being too small to suggest what they are 
 from their appearance. L,eave the children with curiosity 
 well excited as to what they really are; then will you have the 
 tree closely watched and reports galore of changes. 
 
 This is the time for twigs in the schoolroom, to keep 
 closer watch of the unfolding of the buds. 
 
 When the development has progressed sufficiently to show 
 the leaves beyond a question, plan another lesson. 
 
 Where are the coats? Can you find where the coats were? 
 (They have left scars, usually spoken of as rings, which the 
 children may discover. Do not force it, however, if they do 
 not.) How many leaves were in the bud? What color are 
 they to-day? How long are they to-day? 
 
 Suggested Forms of Expression 
 
 Cut the tree; color it. Be careful to express the change 
 in color. Paint a twig 
 
 Continue to follow the development of the buds; on some 
 trees the blossoming takes place before the leaves appear, 
 when it will be the flower buds that develop first; on others 
 the leaves and blossoms come together from the same bud; on 
 still others, as the linden, the flowers are late coming; but, 
 regardless of the order of the changes, give lessons when 
 decided changes occur. This means that you must be a close 
 observer, or the beauty of the unfolding of the buds will be 
 lost to both you and the children.
 
 41 
 
 Learn over again to recognize the tree by 
 
 1. Sight. 
 
 2. Sound. 
 
 3. Touch both bark and leaves. 
 
 4. Odor. 
 
 For suggestions, see outlines for September and October. 
 
 The Flowers. 
 
 Learn them by sight and by odor. (See sense games in 
 September and October outlines.) If possible, see some of the 
 visitors that come to the flowers (the bees, flies, etc.) ; tell any 
 prett) 7 child-stories you ma} 7 know about the blossoms. This 
 seems sufficient. Do not dissect them, do not teach technical 
 terms, do not teach things in which you may be interested 
 because you take to classification children do not. 
 
 Growth of the Tree From the Seed. 
 
 Have the children watch for the forming of the fruit on 
 their tree. For its falling. How far from the tree has it 
 fallen? Who can find the one the farthest of all? Look for 
 some that have started to grow, mark a few and watch them. 
 Have the children take some to the schoolroom and plant 
 them as nearl) T like the old tree plants them as possible. How 
 deep did she plant them? In what kind of soil? Are they 
 doing well? In the case of the tree it can well lose many of 
 them, so it is best that the birds and the insects get some, and 
 that others do not grow because the proper conditions do not 
 offer. All this shortage has been allowed for in the super- 
 abundant harvest. But have the children watch some seeds 
 that do grow, and, imitating the conditions, start some of their 
 own in the schoolroom, transplanting them later into the 
 school -garden. Silver and red maple germinate in early part 
 of June. 
 
 Care of the Tree. 
 
 As occasion arises, call the attention of the children to 
 the effects of bruising or cutting trees, the loss of sap. 
 Have them look on other trees for the scars left from former 
 injuries.
 
 42 
 
 If, at the close of the year, we can look back on material 
 voluntarily brought us before school, on information given 
 with all the eagerness that comes when confidence and common 
 interests exist in school life, to little faces upturned to an old 
 tree asking of it its secrets, and, best of all, to happy hours we 
 have spent with children under that same old tree, then we 
 may be assured that our work has been a success. 
 
 References. 
 
 Leaves at play. Frank Dempster Sherman. Little Folks' 
 Lyrics. (Quoted in text.) (Windy Day in Fall.) 
 
 A Story of the Forest. The Story Hour. (Christmas. ) 
 
 The Story of the Poplar. Nature Study in Elementary 
 Schools. Wilson. 
 
 The Tree. Bjornson. Lights to Literature, III, Nature 
 in Verse, p. 26. 
 
 A Story of the Wood. Graded Classics, III. 
 
 The Boy \Vho Hated Trees. Graded Literature, III. 
 (Second Grade). 
 
 Whispering Pines of the Forest. Cyr, II, p. 126. 
 
 How the Leaves Came Down. Susan Coolidge. Through 
 the Year, I, p. 55. 
 
 Linden and Oak. 
 
 Bancis and Philimon. Cooke's Nature Myths, p. 71. 
 Wilson's Nature Reader, II, p. 220. 
 
 Oak. 
 
 How the Oak Tree became King. Through the Year, II, 
 p. 54. Stepping Stones to Literature, III, p. 174. 
 
 Poplar. 
 
 Story of the Poplar. Wilson's Nature Reader, II, p. 230. 
 The Poplar Tree. Cooke's Nature Myths, p. 56. 
 
 Walnut. 
 
 The Walnut Tree That Wanted to Bear Tulips. Wilson's 
 Nature Reader, I, p. 193. Wiltze's Morning Talks, p. 35. 
 
 The Burr. (Poem.) Nature in Verse, p. 213. (Tell or 
 read . )
 
 43 
 Songs. 
 
 The Tree's Friends. Gaynor. Songs of the Child World, 
 p. 74. 
 
 The leaves' Party. Gaynor. Songs of the Child World, 
 p. 64. 
 
 WEATHER CONDITIONS. 
 
 "Robins in the tree top, 
 
 Blossoms in the grass, 
 Green things a growing 
 f Everywhere you pass ; 
 
 Sudden little breezes, 
 
 Showers of silver dew, 
 Black bough and bent twig 
 
 Budding out anew ; 
 Pine-tree and willow-tree, 
 
 Fringed elm and larch, 
 Don't you think that May time's 
 
 Pleasanter than March?" 
 
 SKY AND WEATHER OBSERVATIONS. 
 General plan for the year. 
 
 First Grade. 
 
 1. Observations and stories of winds. 
 
 a. North wind. 
 
 b. South wind. 
 
 c. East wind. 
 
 d. West wind. 
 
 2. Observations and stories of clouds. 
 
 3. Observations and stories of the moon. 
 
 4. Stories of the sun. 
 
 5. Chart work. 
 
 a. Picture of the day. Daily record. 
 
 b. Picture of the moon. Weekly record. 
 
 Second Grade. 
 
 i . Continue observations and stories of winds, clouds, 
 the moon, and the sun.
 
 44 
 
 2. Chart work. 
 
 a. Picture of the day through first half of the year. 
 
 Daily record. 
 
 b. Winds ; direction in a very general way. Oc- 
 
 casional records of noticeable winds entire 
 year. 
 
 c. Clouds ; classification in a very general way. 
 
 Occasional records when cloud forms are 
 very distinct, the entire year. 
 
 Winds. 
 
 i 
 
 When the north wind blows so that the children are 
 chilled and impeded on theif way to school, ask them what 
 the wind did to them this morning. When they have told 
 you a number of things blew off their hats, made their noses 
 red, their hands cold, made the leaves dance, etc. tell them 
 a story of the north wind, preferably one that personifies it. 
 Follow the same plan with south wind, east wind, west wind. 
 
 Story of the North Wind, page 151; 'Round the Year in 
 
 Myth and Song. (Adapted from Hiawatha.) 
 Story of the East Wind, page 146. (As above.) - 
 Story of the South Wind, page 149. (As above.) 
 Story of the West Wind, page 145. (As above.) 
 Also p. 65, in the Chid's World; Poulsson. 
 
 (Direction of winds seem to be hard data for higher grades 
 to get, therefore do not expect these little children to do much 
 with it. But there are other things beside naming winds that 
 are important for us to know about them. If, through simple 
 observations of type winds, through personifying them as they 
 do Jack Frost, children come to know some of the things 
 Kabibanokka (the north wind) does, or the east or south or 
 west wind, it is better than naming a meaningless direction. 
 Some idea of direction will gradually follow through such sug- 
 gestions as "Where does Kabibanokka live ? Point toward his 
 home," etc. 
 
 On other windy days call for other observations and do 
 not hesitate to tell the same story again or have children tell 
 it. Use the stories again and again until the} 7 are very familiar
 
 45 
 
 to the children. Connect these nature stories and poems with the 
 phenomena that inspire them and use them after the children have 
 observed the thing itself. 
 
 Listen to the song North Wind sings, South Wind, 
 etc. Whose song do they like best? Which one whispers 
 oftenest to the flowers ? Which one sings the loudest, cheeriest 
 song in the winter? (See also " Trees.") 
 
 Teach some extracts like the following : 
 
 The North Wind doth blow, 
 And we shall have snow, 
 
 And what will the robin do then, poor thing ? 
 He'll sit in a barn, 
 And keep himself warm, 
 
 And hide his head under his wing, poor thing. 
 
 OLD SONG. 
 
 ' ' \Vhichever way the wind doth blow, 
 Some heart is glad to have it so ; 
 Then blow it east or blow it west, 
 The wind that blows, that wind is best." 
 
 In the spring, tell the following when weather conditions 
 suggest it : 
 
 The Wind and the Sun. Poulsson ; In the child's world. 
 
 Clouds. Suggested Method. 
 
 Follow the above plan with clouds. When they are very 
 distinct, like the fleecy cloud forms piled up in the sky, have 
 the children notice them ; what do the} 7 think they look like ? 
 Make some on the board. Then tell a story. 
 
 Apollo's Cows. 
 
 Wilson : Nature Study in Elementary Schools. Second 
 Reader, p. 4. 
 
 High above us, slowly sailing, 
 
 Little clouds so soft and \yhite, 
 You are like the wings of angels, 
 
 Watching o'er us day and night. SELECTED. 
 
 On bright days note the sunbeams; let them shine on the 
 face and hands to see how warm they are. Does the little
 
 46 
 
 schoolroom plant love them ? How does it sometimes show it ? 
 (Let the plant stand several days with the same side toward 
 the window and observe how it bends toward its friend, the 
 sun) . What else loves the sun ? Does the schoolroom canary 
 sing more when its cage hangs near the window ? (The cage 
 should not hang in the direct sunlight in warm weather. ) 
 Teach some of the following : 
 
 " Little yellow sunbeam, 
 
 Tripped into the room, 
 Sweeping out the darkness 
 With her golden broom." 
 
 " ' Now, what shall I send to the earth to-day ? ' 
 
 Said the great, round, golden sun. 
 ' Oh! let us go down there to work and play,' 
 Said the sunbeams, everyone. 
 
 So down to the earth in a shining crowd, 
 
 Went the merry, busy crew ; 
 They painted with splendor each floating cloud 
 
 And the sky while passing through. 
 
 ' Wake up, little children! ' they cried in glee, 
 
 'And from dreamland come away! 
 We've brought you a present, wake up and see! 
 We have brought you a sunny day.' " 
 
 " Good morning, merry sunshine, 
 
 How did you wake so soon ? 
 You have scared the little stars away, 
 And driven away the moon." 
 
 Tell the following : 
 
 Phaeton, Wilson's Nature Reader; Book II, p. 36. 
 Graded Classics; Book II, p. 143. 
 Stepping Stones to Literature; Book IV.
 
 47 
 
 Teach this some snowy morning : 
 
 " Old woman, old woman, old woman, so high, 
 You're picking your geese, the white feathers fly." 
 
 And this, another one : 
 
 " Tiny little snowflakes 
 
 In the air so high, 
 Are you little angels 
 Floating in the sky ?" 
 
 Teach this some rainy spring day : 
 
 Patter, patter, let it pour, 
 
 Patter, patter, let it roar; 
 
 Soon the clouds will burst away, 
 
 Soon will shine the bright spring day, 
 
 Soon the welcome April shower, 
 
 Will awake the sweet May flower. Selected. 
 
 Chart Work. 
 
 For suggestions of size and forms see diagram. Use 
 Manila paper or tag board. Make the squares 2^ or 2 inches. 
 Cover the squares with circles on which the picture of the day 
 has been made. Have the children cut the circles which you 
 have previously outlined with a compass on ordinary drawing 
 paper. Give each child a slip containing two or three circles. 
 Have the cutting done during a seat work period. (Do not 
 do this yourself, it takes time from the teacher much better 
 spent out of doors; it takes excellent cutting lessons from the 
 children.) Cut a few circles from silver paper for the moon. 
 In coloring the circles remember that it is an expression of 
 "the kind of day in color" you are seeking, not a landscape 
 or a picture of the sky ; therefore use the colors of the poets 
 when they talk of a grey day, yellow sunshine, dark weather. 
 Do not use colored paper. A child's expression of his obser- 
 vation cannot be made through the medium of colored paper, 
 when the circles done by children often show as complex 
 pictures as the following : at the left pale yellow, made by 
 closely paralleled yellow lines, indicating pale sunshine; toward 
 the middle of the day grey, made by closely paralleled black
 
 48 
 
 lines, indicating growing cloudiness; then a streak of white, 
 a snow flurry, followed by bright yellow, the sunshine after 
 the snow fall. 
 
 In building up a chart from day to day, class co-operation 
 is all important. From a number of devices for carrying on 
 
 1st Plan. At the close of the session when the record is to 
 chart work the following two are offered as suggestive : 
 be made, five children pass to the box containing circles, secure 
 one each, pass to their seats, take their crayon boxes and with 
 no suggestions from teacher or pupils, picture the day as they 
 have seen it. While they are doing this, the remainder of the 
 class sing, or recite a poem in concert, or listen while a child 
 recites one. When the children have colored their circles they 
 step before the class, hold up their work, and the class selects 
 the one that looks nearest like the day as they have seen it. 
 The child whose work is selected gets the paste and secures 
 his circle to the chart. The others lay theirs on the teacher's 
 desk. In this plan the teacher does nothing but select the 
 children no passing of material, nothing whatever. This 
 work requires about three minutes. 
 
 2nd Plan. At the close of the session 5 children are chosen 
 to color circles which the}' make on the blackboard. They select 
 the colored crayon they wish to use and picture the day as 
 they have seen it. The other children are interested in watch- 
 ing these pictures grow. The instant the circles are colored 
 the decision of the class is asked ' ' Which picture is nearest 
 like the day as you have seen it ? " The child whose picture 
 is chosen colors a paper circle and pastes it on the chart. He 
 does this as the children are passing out, or the children sing 
 or recite a poem as he works. 
 
 The two methods suggested above will secure class co-ope- 
 ration. They are only suggestions however; introduce others 
 that will bring class judgment on the circle which goes on the 
 chart. 
 
 Chart Summary. (At the end of the month.) 
 
 The children count the number of sunny days ; cloudy 
 days ; partly cloudy days ; partly sunny ; point to the very
 
 49 
 
 nicest days of all. Why do they like that one best ? Point to 
 the darkest day ; the sunniest week ; the darkest week. 
 
 Further for Second Grade : What wind has visited us 
 this month oftenest ? What other winds have blown ? Point to 
 a day when a cold wind blew, etc. 
 
 The Moon. 
 
 This is made part of First Grade chart work, not that it is 
 expected the children will be taught anything about moon 
 phases, but because so many pretty childish fancies and so 
 much interesting children's literature cluster around the moon. 
 Children love the night sky. Once a week is often enough to 
 cut the picture of the moon, when changes are very percepti- 
 ble. Do not have it put up unless the children see and cut it. 
 Have the horns of the new moon point on the chart as they 
 do in the sky. 
 
 " Lady Mt>on, Lady Moon, where are you roving? 
 
 Over the sea. 
 
 Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving? 
 All that love me." 
 
 (The Neiu Moon.} 
 
 " If I were up there, 
 With you and my friends, 
 
 I'd rock in it nicely, you'd see; 
 I'd sit in the middle 
 And hold by both ends; 
 
 Oh, w r hat a bright cradle 'twould be. 
 
 I would call to the stars 
 To keep out of the way, 
 
 Lest we should rock over their toes; 
 And then I would rock 
 Till the dawn of the day, 
 
 And see where the pretty moon goes. ' ' 
 
 As the children look at the night sky they will notice the 
 stars as well as the moon. Teach a few pretty star- thoughts 
 like the following:
 
 50 
 
 "At evening, when I go to bed, 
 I see the stars shine overhead. 
 They are the little daisies white 
 That dot the meadows of the night. 
 
 And often, when I'm dreaming so, 
 Across the sky the moon will go. 
 She is the lady, sweet and fair, 
 Who comes to gather daisies there." 
 
 Further stories, myths and poems related to this topic: 
 Moon Diana. Wilson's Nature Reader, II, p. 65. 
 'Round the Year in Myth and Song, p. 65. 
 Rain The Rain and the Snow. Legends of the Red Children, 
 
 p. 50. 
 Rainbow The Rainbow. Legends of the Red Children, 
 
 P- 45- 
 Sun Phaeton Drives the Sun Chariot. Graded Classics, II. 
 
 Seasons How the Summer Comes. Legends of the Red 
 
 Children, p. 70. 
 How the Spring Comes. Legends of the Red 
 
 Children, p. 66. 
 
 Persephone. Cooke. Nature Myths, p. 48. 
 Wind Bag of Winds. Gayhy's Classic Myths, p. 137. 
 
 Graded Literature, Book III, p. 13. 
 Odysseus and the Bag of Winds. Poulsson, in the 
 
 Child's World, p. 69. 
 
 Songs Jack Frost. Gaynor. Songs of the Child World, p. 68. 
 References to further literature and songs will be found 
 in reference list at the close of the outlines, also in Course of 
 Study in English, 1905-6.
 
 51 
 
 OCTOBER, 1904 
 (First Grade) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Monday 
 3 
 
 Tuesday 
 4 
 
 Wednesday 
 5 
 
 Thursday 
 6 
 
 Friday 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Monday 
 10 
 
 Tuesday 
 11 
 
 Wednesday 
 12 
 
 Thursday 
 13 
 
 Friday 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Monday 
 17 
 
 Tuesday 
 18 
 
 Wednesday 
 19 
 
 Thursday 
 20 
 
 Friday 
 21 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Monday 
 24 
 
 Tuesday 
 25 
 
 Wednesday 
 26 
 
 Thursday 
 27 
 
 Friday 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 

 
 52 
 
 OCTOBER, 1904 
 (Second Grade) 
 
 Picture 
 of 
 Day 
 
 Monday 
 3 
 
 Tuesday 
 4 
 
 Wednesday 
 5 
 
 Thursday 
 6 
 
 Friday 
 
 7 
 
 Winds 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Clouds 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Picture 
 of 
 Day 
 
 Monday 
 10 
 
 Tuesday 
 11 
 
 Wednesday 
 12 
 
 Thursday 
 13 
 
 Friday 
 14 
 
 Winds 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Clouds 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Picture 
 of 
 Day 
 
 Monday 
 17 
 
 Tuesday 
 18 
 
 Wednesday 
 19 
 
 Thursday 
 20 
 
 Friday 
 21 
 
 Winds 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Clouds 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Picture 
 of 
 Day 
 
 Monday 
 24 
 
 Tuesdav 
 25 
 
 Wednesday 
 26 
 
 Thursday 
 
 27 
 
 Friday 
 
 28 
 
 Winds 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Clouds