GIFT OF TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ BT PAUL KLAPPER, Ph.D. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION COLLEGE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1920 COPYRIGHT, 19x4, igi6, BX D. APPLETON AND COMPANY GIF1 fl /1 7 ' ' ^ } C^^-2 iX FOREWORD The author feels impelled to set forth the purpose and the scope of this volume, lest the student of education in search of new theories and experimentations in the physi- ology and the psychology of reading, be led astray. This book is given solely to the task of aiding teachers, who are seeking a method that has stood the pragmatic test, and that may, therefore, help them in their day's work. The author acknowledges his indebtedness to the large number of teachers from whose methods of instruction, he has gleaned much that is practical in this volume. 425474 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGX I. THE MEANING AND THE PROBLEMS OF THE TEACHING OF READING ..... i II. PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE OF READING . . 7 III. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING ... 17 IV. PEDAGOGY OF READING 27 A. When Shall Reading Be Taught? . 27 B. Basic Aims in Reading ... 32 V. THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING . 36 Evolution of Modern Methods of Pri- mary* Reading 36 The Synthetic Methods .... 37 The Analytic Methods .... 43 VI. SPECIAL MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING 58 VII. THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING . 82 A. The Primer 82 B. Reading to Pupils .... 89 C. Telling Stories to Children ... 92. vii viii CONTENTS CHAPTER PACK VIII. PHONICS: THE STUDY OF SOUND PRODUCTION 102 IX. READING IN THE INTERMEDIARY GRADES . 125 (The Third Year through the Sixth Year) X. THE TEACHING OF A MASTERPIECE . .159 APPENDIX: Recent Methods of Teaching Reading to Beginners 206 INDEX ........ 237 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ CHAPTER I THE MEANING AND THE PROBLEMS OF THE TEACHING OF READING Reading Essentially a Problem of Thought Acquisition. The word "Reading" is traced to the Anglo-Saxon "raedon," which means "to advise." "Raedon" re- ferred to the process of searching in books (of bark) for counsel. The Latin "lego" means "to gather," hence the derived meaning "to gather ideas from writ- ten sources." These etymological definitions, crude and far from the vital problems that must be solved in teaching children to read, nevertheless reflect the essence of the function of reading, viz., "to impart ideas, thoughts, inspirations." To the ancients, reading was a "mysterie," a magic art, understood by the sha- mans and the medicine men. Although the ability to read is today part of every citizen's educational right, we must, however, realize that it is none the less a "mysterie," when we consider what a complex psycho- physiological process it is. How can a collection of symbols, static and formal themselves, arouse dynamic thought and living inspiration in the mind of the child? The Elements of Beading. i. To Extract Thought. TEACHING. CHIT-JDREN TO READ As far as the classroom is concerned, reading must discharge certain definite functions. We must con- sider these before we discuss methodology in reading, for they indicate the goal of all method. Classroom reading must seek to develop first, in each child, the ability to extract thought from the printed page. Since this is essentially the object of reading in after life, it must become the governing aim of the teacher's endeavors. All other aims, such as pronunciation, ex- pression, language, diction, must be subordinated to reading for thought. 2. Proper Vocalization. The second function of classroom reading is to develop the ability to properly vocalize, in the words of the author, the thought that was gained; in other words, the ability to read with accurate enunciation, clear articulation, and convincing expression. Here is posited a secondary aim of read- ing, which, however necessary in the classroom, forms no part of the reading of after life. The teacher finds this added function of reading exceedingly vital. Un- less the child has proper vocalization how can she test his ability to recognize symbols, to speak articulately, to utter thought expressively? Through the oral ren- dition the teacher even learns whether the child has the author's thought and responds to the emotional appeal. But, in after life, the sole function of reading is the acquisition of thought, while proper oral reading is regarded as a delightful accomplishment. In the final analysis, reading is a means of gaining thought, while oral reading is a means of expressing thought. 2 MEANING AND PROBLEMS 3. Literary Appreciation. But a course of study in reading, the aims of which do not transcend thought acquisition and thought expression, fails in its most vital function. It must strive to develop, in addition, an appreciation of the best in literature. Reading that does not accomplish this end is sterile in those endeavors in which it ought to be most productive. We have left behind the formal conception of educa- tion which holds that the school must give only the symbols of knowledge. With such an aim in elemen- tary education reading is complete that teaches how to gain thought and vocalize it correctly. But the scope of education, even of elementary grade, must be more liberal. It must be cultural and inspirational. No school subject is so well adapted to develop this spirit as reading. It introduces the child to the best thoughts and ideals in the life of the race. Its subject- matter, literature, should stimulate the finer emotions, train the imagination, and develop the aesthetic sense. A school course in reading which discharges these functions has fulfiled its raison d'etre, for it has given the child the most effective instrument for self-culture and character development. This literary ideal should determine the choice of subject-matter from the very first grade. The school primer, whose inspirational appeal is summed up in "See the black cat!", "What ails the lock?", must rapidly become a relic of past pedagogical practice. Charles William Eliot, of Harvard University, voices the ultimate end of reading in the school when 3 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ he tells us, "From the total training during childhood, there should result in the child a taste for interesting and improving reading, which should direct and in- spire its subsequent intellectual life. That schooling which results in this taste for good reading, however unsystematic and eccentric that schooling may have been, has achieved a main end of elementary educa- tion; and that schooling which has not succeeded in implanting this permanent taste has failed. Guided and animated by this impulse to acquire knowledge and exercise his imagination through reading, the in- dividual will continue to exercise himself all through life." G. Stanley Hall reenforces this statement with, "The prime object of the reading series should not be the cultivation of the art of reading, nor training to good style, nor grammatical or linguistic drill, im- portant as these are, but the development of a living appreciation of good literature and the habit of read- ing it, rather than bad literature, for with this end all others are secured." The Problems in Teaching Children to Bead With this view of the function of reading, what are the problems that confront us in teaching this art of thought acquisition? To begin with, we must look upon reading as a physiological process, for we must know how these symbols give rise to images on the retina, how the eye moves over this series of symbols, the strain that is experienced, the causes of fatigue and the conditions governing accurate and rapid visual grasp. Reading must be looked upon, secondly, as a 4 MEANING AND PROBLEMS psychological process f for the vital questions here are : "How are these visual symbols interpreted into thought?" "How can speed and accuracy of this in- terpretation be promoted?" And, finally, we must regard reading from its pedagogical aspect, for the teaching problems are many. Reading is an artificial process with artificial symbols. How shall it be made natural to the child? What means of motivation shall we use? Of the imposing array of methods in read- ing which shall we select, and what shall be the princi- ple of choice? Should ninety-five per cent, of class- room reading be oral, if ninety-five per cent, of the reading of later life is silent? Will this training in oral reading make us proficient in silent reading? Should we train pupils to read slowly and orally in the classroom, in spite of the fact that the reading of mature life is visual and rapid? Does the slow oral reading of the classroom prepare for the rapid visual reading of later days? Is that recitation in reading efficient which requires that all children rivet their eyes on a single paragraph as some unfortunate victim labors through it? Each error makes the pupil more self-conscious and less able to perform the task. What do the other children learn ? How much reading does a child learn by listening to others read, even though they be good readers? These are a few of a host of problems that arise in the teaching of the subject. Their answers are vital and make up the pedagogy of reading. The reader's attention is therefore invited to three successive phases of the subject, which are 5 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ treated in the chapters entitled, "The Physiology and Hygiene of Reading/' "The Psychology of Reading," and "The Pedagogy of Reading." SUGGESTED READING 1 ARNOLD, SARAH L. Learning to Read. Silver, Burdett & Co. CARPENTER, BAKER and SCOTT. The Teaching of Eng- lish, 66-75. Longmans, Green & Co. COLBY, J. R. Literature and Life in the School. Hough- ton Mifflin Co. GOLDWASSER, I. EDWIN. Method and Methods in the Teaching of English, chap. I. D. C. Heath & Co. HUEY, EDMUND B. The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, chap. I. The Macmillan Co. LAING, MARY E. Reading ; A Manual for Teachers, chap. XXL D. C. Heath & Co. McCLiNTOCK, P. L. Literature in the Elementary School. University of Chicago Press. 1 The bibliographies at the end of each chapter are not exhaus- tive. The aim is, rather, to suggest such reading as will am- plify and elaborate the various phases of the subject treated in each chapter. Where the publisher is not mentioned, the reader will find the book or the reference listed at the end of a previous chapter. CHAPTER II PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE OF READING Processes in Oral Reading. An analysis of the proc- esses in oral reading will readily show the teacher that they can be summed up under four heads. It is obvi- ous that the first must be visual images of the words in the text. Just as soon as these are formed they call up automatically the second, auditory images of these same words. The mind hears the sounds of the words. These auditory images, in their turn, prompt the third, vocal motor images. The organs used in sound production seem to be set in motion by an imperative command and the sounds are produced. But words have meaning, hence we find, in the fourth place, ideas and imagery arising from a central thought process. In the discussion of the physiology of read- ing we must begin with the first of these problems, viz., the formation of visual images. The others will be treated in the following chapter, "The Psychology of Reading." Eye Movement in Beading. We must first note care- fully that the eye, contrary to the layman's impression, does not move across the line at a uniform rate, but rather in jerks or short sweeps, pausing at regular in- tervals at points on the line. The movement of the eye in reading may be graphically represented thus: 7 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ i i 111 2 2 22 111 1 I 1 2 22 2 2 111 1 111 22 22 2 CHART A. Diagrammatic representation of eye-sweeps (i) and pauses (2) of four people reading a line of about three inches. It is also important to note when the actual reading takes place, whether during the movement or during the pause. Through careful experimentation we find that reading takes place during the pauses, not dur- ing the sweeps or glances. o-4 t-h-o [clyc Ut I re a dlllo g- 2 1 i V .. Movcm eP-jH o-f* t-h e ejyje in roodog CHART B. Actual eye-sweeps (i) and pauses (2) of same four people reading same line. 8 PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE OF READING Practical Importance of Eye Movement in Beading. This physiological fact is important, because it helps us to realize what a fatiguing process reading really is for the child. The average person reads an ordinary page in two or three minutes. To do this about 150 of these eye movements are necessary. Let us try to move a finger or a hand 150 times in so short a given time and then note carefully the fatigue that is experi- enced. This gives us an idea of the severe strain to which the eye is subjected continuously. It shows us that the eye is an organ designed primarily for the sight that must be achieved in rudimentary society, yet doing twentieth century work. As the book is brought nearer the eye the number of sweeps over each line decreases, and more is caught at a glance, but as the page recedes from the eye the number of sweeps in- creases. The page, kept at a proper distance from the eye, therefore makes a greater drain upon the energy of the eye, and the child, instinctively seeking relief, brings the page nearer and nearer, until myopia, "shortsightedness," sets in. The teacher must realize how much care must constantly be exercised if chil- dren are to be kept free from eye ailments that follow in the wake of reading and study. Regularity of Eye Movement Determines Ease in Read- ing. A second important matter in this connection is the fact that ease in reading is produced by motor hob- its of breaking the lines into a given number of regular pauses and moves, each line showing the same number of stops and sweeps. Lines on a page should therefore 9 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ be uniform in length and rather short. But a cursory examination of the average popular primer shows that this rule is honored more in the breach than in the observance. Irregular and broken lines seem to be the general law on pages enlivened by pictures. What is the invariable result? The eye is fatigued by the necessity of readjusting itself to a new set of moves and pauses with each varying set of lines. The sooner one acquires a rhythmical movement the surer is he to read with ease, speed, and minimum fatigue. Hence, the ideal page has lines of uniform length one and one-third times that of the average newspaper line, or 75 to 80 mm. Limited Length of Eye Sweeps. Since this rhythm of movement and periodical pauses causes such eye fatigue, we naturally ask, "Why not increase the sweep until it includes the whole line?" This is im- possible, for the field of vision is naturally very lim- ited. For those who are not aware of how limited it is, a surprise is in store. Let them select any letter or small word on the page and fix the eye upon it, then try to name the surrounding letters or words. In non- sense syllables four letters are usually caught in one sweep, while seven is an exceptional number. When the letters form words sixteen to twenty can be caught at once. In reading ordinary prose four to six words are included in one sweep. The obvious generalization is therefore: the greater the rational association the more we seem to acquire in a limited time, and the fewer are the eye sweeps per line. It is therefore nec- 10 PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE OF READING essary to differentiate between what the eye actually sees and what the mind contributes in all reading. This difference will receive more careful consideration in the next chapter, "The Psychology of Reading." Importance of the Problem of Optic Fatigue. The teacher must be familiar with these physiological phe- nomena of eye movement in reading, because any practice which operates counter to the natural move- ments of the eye causes reading fatigue, and brings with it dangers that are severe and far-reaching. It is a common experience of the nerve specialist to find that optic fatigue most surely becomes general nerve fatigue. Optic fatigue brings in its wake sick head- ache, dizziness, digestive disturbances, general debility, and irritability. Serious nervous disorders may have their origin in optic fatigue. "Eye strain is in closest relation to nerve strain . . . we seldom or never have the former without the latter." When one is physi- cally tired he cannot read. He can listen to music, follow a discussion, and even argue a point, but he turns instinctively from a book. Long reading makes one physically tired, because of the constant nervous drain that is involved in this complex of phy- siologicSr activities and adjustments. Causes of Eye Strain and Optic Fatigue. What is there about the process of reading which brings about this severe nervous drain and its resulting optic fa- tigue? The conditions are many so many that a child's inattention during a reading lesson whose con- text is not very interesting should not be regarded as ii TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ an unpardonable offense. Chief among the factors which produce optic fatigue we may name the follow- ing: 1. In reading much nervous energy is necessary to adjust the eye for near accommodations. The natural tendency is for the eye to adjust itself to distant vision, and give itself over to the round of varied presenta- tions within its range. 2. In order to get each succeeding phrase of any sentence into the brightest part of the field of vision, the eye moves over the lines by means of the succes- sion of sweeps and pauses that were considered. This is the greatest single factor in nervous strain caused by reading. 3. During reading the eye muscles are not in mo- tion nine-tenths of the time. But, while they are mo- tionless, they are strained, trying to hold the eye in focus, so that each visual grasp of the line will fall on the most sensitive area of the retina. This strained rest is far more fatiguing than ordinary movement. 4. In the reading position the muscles of the neck are strained to hold the head in proper position. This adjustment, when continued for a protracted period, causes an obvious nervous strain. Brain energy is thus reduced and mental vitality is lowered. 5. The forward bend of the head produces a blood congestion which aggravates the symptoms just noted in preceding causes. 6. Prolonged reading periods in ill-lighted rooms, 12 PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE OF READING and in seats and at desks that are poorly adapted to the children, cause myopia, which is a constant drain upon neural energy. Myopia is not only an eye de- formity but it is also a progressive disease. In the light of the seriousness of eye strain and the prevalence of its causes, we see the need of books that meet hygienic requirements in print and in arrange- ment. To continue putting the prevailing books into the hands of children is to court optic fatigue, general nervousness, and myopia. We must, therefore, decide on the hygienic requirements of a book before we consider its pedagogical merits. Hygienic Requirements of Properly Printed Books i. The Size of the Type is the Most Important Single Factor. There is an unmistakable and an unvarying law for size of type, viz., as the type decreases in size optic fatigue increases. The effects of insufficient illu- mination are less marked than those of undersized type. Legibility of type is determined by a number of considerations which must be observed by the makers of textbooks: (a) the thickness of the vertical stroke, (b) proper spacing between vertical strokes, (c) proper spacing between the lines, (d) clearness of the tops of letters, (e) proper size. The standard for the size of type which has met the approval of most spe- cialists in the hygiene of reading is clearly formulated by Shaw, in his "School Hygiene" (p. 178). Its re- quirements and illustrations follow: "For the first year the size of the type should be at 13 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ least 2.6 mm., and the width of leading 4.5 mm., as shown in this example: Little drop of dew, Like a gem you are; I believe that you Must have been a star. "For the second and the third year, the letters should not be smaller than 2 mm., with a leading of 4 mm. Some of the more carefully made books for the second and the third years are printed in letters of this size, as shown in the following example : Children of eight and nine should not read type smaller than this. "For the fourth year, the letters should be at least 1.8 mm., with leading of 3.6 mm., as follows: Children in the fourth^school year should read type of this size and appearance. "For some grades succeeding this, the type should be kept well above the minimal requirements for adult readers." 14 PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE OF READING 2. The Length of the Line is the Factor Next in Importance. Short and uniform lines, measuring be- tween seventy-five and ninety millimeters, are de- manded by most expert investigators. Ninety milli- meters is most favored. A full line in this book meas- ures about 90 millimeters. The short line saves a num- ber of eye movements, for the eye begins each line at a point indented, and it stops at a point some distance from the end of the line. Experiments show that we have a greater visual grasp when the lines are short than when they are long. Another cardinal require- ment here is absolute uniformity in the length of the lines. 3. Books should be small enough to be held in the hand. Books that are large and heavy are usually placed on the desk. The angle of vision is now changed, and the letters, becoming foreshortened, are thus practically reduced in size. 4. The Character of the Paper is Also Very Impor- tant. The most legible print is produced by making the strongest contrast between the color of the print and that of the paper. Since black on a white back- ground forms this contrast in color, only good white paper should be used in the manufacture of school books. Unusual care should be taken to keep out of the school, books printed on glossed paper. The cheap paper with a sheen, that makes up so many of our school textbooks, gives a play of light that is most aggravating to the eye. An equally important require- ment insists that the paper have a minimum thickness 15 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ of .075 mm., so that the print on one side will not show on the other. Boards of Education to Standardize Books In the light of these hygienic demands, how many of the class textbooks are up to standard? An examination with the aid of a millimeter measure and a magnifying glass will show to principals and teachers an amaz- ingly low percentage. But books properly printed need not cost appreciably more. Only when Boards of Edu- cation have adopted a standard will publishing con- cerns refrain from continuing the publication of books that rob eyesight and cause an inexcusable nervous drain. Indifference to matters so vital to health and efficiency is unpardonable. * SUGGESTED READING COHEN, H. The Hygiene of the Eye. The Midland Educational Co. (Ltd.), Eng. DRESSLAR, T. B. School Hygiene, chap. XV. The Macmillan Co. HUEY, EDMUND B. Psychology and Pedagogy of Read- ing, chaps. II, III, XX, XXI. SHAW, EDWARD R. School Hygiene, chap. ' IX. The Macmillan Co. TAYLOR, J. S. Principles and Methods of Teaching Reading, chaps. II, VIII. The Macmillan Co. CHAPTER III THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING Inner Speech in Beading. We come now to a more complex problem, the psychology of reading, which studies how the visual impression of the word stimu- lates the auditory image, thus bringing about mean- ing and interpretations. Because there is an insepar- able association between a word and its sound there is always a problem of inner speech. Just as soon as a visual image of a word is recognized in consciousness an auditory image of it arises, and these two prompt an instantaneous verbal motor expression. Hence the conclusion of investigators is, "In visual reading the auditory and the motor centers work along" (Mess- mer). Purely visual reading is not normal. We have here, therefore, an explanation of the prevalent prac- tice, in early reading, of lip movement. This method of reading is not acquired by the children; it is the result of the natural tendency to give expression to any idea in the mind. No sooner does the mind be- come conscious of the meaning of the symbol which it sees than the organs of speech give expression to it. Reading without lip reaction is an acquired art, a habit to be cultivated. But, even when there is no 17 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ apparent lip movement, there is a muscular reaction going on in the throat, which can readily be detected by the trained observer and his instruments. The preceding discussions concerned themselves with eye reading. In the present chapter we must turn our attention to a second form of reading mental reading. These two forms of reading, eye reading and mind reading, must be differenti- ated very clearly. Because the child, who is learning to read, speaks and hears his native language, he has a feeling for its structure, form, and cadence. It follows, therefore, that most of the expression, the stops at sense pauses, the intonations, etc., in the child's speech, are due to associations formed long ago. In reading "since he" the child naturally expects "he therefore"; likewise "not only" calls up "but also"; "as" "as"; "neither nor" ; "if then," etc. The mind, therefore, makes a liberal contribution to what the eye brings ; a reader perceives mentally more than the eye brings in any one sweep. Since this mental expectancy makes the mind a more rapid reader than the eye, it follows that one often has the meaning of a sentence before the eye has formed a retinal image of the end of it. Relation of "Bate in Beading" to Thought Acquisition in Reading. The practical teacher may now ask, "Why stop at the problems of inner speech in reading, and mental vs. visual reading?" These two questions are important, because they determine a most vital factor in reading as a process of thought-getting, viz., 18 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING "Rate in Reading." From actual observation we find that there are great discrepancies in the rate of read- ing among individuals ; the variations show a usual ra- tio of 1 13, or even 1 14. In other words, it is usual to find among people of the same class, experience, and education individuals who read three or four times faster than others. Generally speaking, the rate in reading is determined by the rhythmical sweeps of the eye over a line; but the rate of rhythmic sweeps is, in its turn, modified by inner speech and mental grasp. The impatient teacher, confronted by actual problems in the teaching of reading, may insist : "What if there is such discrepancy aside from the time con- sumed, what is its importance? After all, is it not more important to consider what we read and what we get out of it, than how much or how fast we read ?" The answer, surprisingly, is in the negative. Rapid readers^ are the more intelligent readers ; they gain ^more_ intensive and more vivid impressions than slow. readers^ Those who indulge in lip movement, in audi- tory aids and the like are not only less extensive but also less intensive readers. Evidence to prove this contention is so great that we need argue the matter no further but examine the conclusions of various im- partial observers: "Experiments show that half-second exposure of a word is more advantageous than a whole second, and one second more advantageous than two. . . . When printed matter was exposed for a short time, about one one-hundredth of a second, more could be read or 19 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ the same amount could be read more easily, than when the exposure was longer." x "Rapid readers remember more of the original thought, and the character of their reproductions is much higher, both generally and with reference to ex- pression and logical content." 2 "It might be supposed that greater rapidity was gained at the sacrifice of exactness or of intelligence. This supposition is negatived by an examination of the amount and quantity of the material reproduced. A comparison between the ten most rapid readers and the ten slowest shows that the rapid readers remember more of the original thoughts, and that the character of their reproduction is much higher, both generally and with reference to expression and logical content. In the auditory tests the ratio of slow to rapid readers is 14.8 per cent, to 20.7 per cent, in the number of thoughts. In quality the percentages are 47.8 for slow readers, 60.3 for fast. The same comparison in the *HUEY. "Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading." 'QUANTZ. Psychological Review, ii, 28, 38. The degree in which the rapid readers excel the slow in eyemindedness can perhaps best be understood by a comparison of extreme classes. The "very slow readers" (3.9 words per second) reproduce 89.1 per cent, as much of the visual selection as the auditory, while the very "rapid readers" (7.3 words per second) are able to recall 123.2 of visual for every 100 of auditory; that is, the ratio of reading rates between the slowest and the fastest readers is 3.9 to 7.3 (i :i.87), while the ratio of visual tendency as com- pared with the auditory is 89.1 to 123.2 (1:1.38). On the princi- ple of correlations this result shows eyemindedness to be a rather strong factor in the determination of reading rates. 20 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING visual tests results as follows : Percentage of thoughts reproduced by slow readers, 14.9; by rapid, 24.4. Quality: Slow, 48 per cent; rapid, 73.3 per cent. The difference in favor of the 'rapids' is consequently much greater than in auditory tests, indicating again that rapid readers are, as a rule, of the visual type. . . . "To emphasize this relation a comparison of ex- tremes might be shown as follows : The ten slowest readers show almost double the amount of lip move- ment that the ten most rapid do. Or, again, determin- ing the rate by means of lip movement, we have : the ten most decided lip movers read 4.1 words per sec- ond; that is, they are between the classes 'slow' and 'very slow' and nearer to the latter ; while the ten who show least movement of lips read 5.6 words per sec- ond, very close to an average rapid." 1 Why the Slow Beader Is the Less Thoughtful One. "Regarding language as an apparatus of symbols for the conveyance of thought, we may say that, as in a mechanical apparatus, the more simple and the better arranged are the parts, the greater will be the effect produced. In either case, whatever force is absorbed by the machine is deducted from the result. A reader or listener has at each moment but a limited amount of mental power available. To recognize and interpret the symbols presented to him requires part of this power; to arrange and combine the images suggested requires another part ; and only that part that remains can be used for realizing the thought conveyed. Hence 1 QUANTZ. Ibid. 21 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ the more time it takes to receive and understand each sentence, the less time can be given to the contained idea, and the less vividly will the idea be conceived." * Conclusions for Teaching. The relation of rate of reading to intelligence of grasp implies important con- clusions for methods of teaching in both early and later grades. The first inference that we can make is that a method of reading must start from the very beginning to teach instantaneous recognition of words, either as a whole or as part of larger language units, phrases or sentences. Any method which begins read- ing by teaching the child to examine each word, to analyze it into component phonograms, to sound each phonogram, to combine these sounds to get the word, places a premium on lip movement and unnecessary audible aids, and promotes slow, ponderous reading, which develops into habits that defy later efforts at correction. Our objection to synthetic methods, like the Pollard Method, and the Emma K. Qordon Meth- od is that they manifest these shortcomings. Meth- ods like the Aldine^ the ^Jcloskey, the Progres- sive Road, and, in a minor way, the Ward Rational System, seek to avoid these dangers. The child must learn to read words in logical sequence, words as wholes, naturally and expressively. Only when proper and natural speed and expression are developed are the analytical and phonetical elements and processes taught. A second conclusion that the observations of "rate 'SPENCER. Philosophy of Style. 22 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING in reading" teach is that, since the mind reads faster than the eye, the learner must be taught to neglect the word and the phrase and seek the thought; in other words, the word-symbols must be subordinated to the meaning. We must make the eye as sensitive and efficient a tool for thought-getting as the ear. In lis- tening to a speaker, if there is nothing unusual about his choice of words or pronunciation, we are hardly conscious of the words; we busy ourselves with the thought. We have thus trained ourselves uncon- sciously in life, to neglect auditory words and seek meaning. In the same way, the method of reading in the elementary school must seek to make the eye so sensitive to meaning that in scanning a page it be- comes as unconcerned with printed words as the ear is with auditory symbols. The child must learn that words are like our eye-glasses they are of greatest service when we look through them, not at them. The printed page must ever be like a glass which we do not see, but through which we see thought. The Fetish of Oral Beading. If we grant this con- clusion then we must change the relative emphasis on oral and silent reading, and give to the latter the prominent place accorded the former in present-day practice. Not only do we place too great an emphasis on oral reading, but we begin it too early in the school life of the child. The popular superstition is that plenty of drill in oral reading in the classroom pre- pares for efficiency in silent reading in the post-school days. Let us examine this contention psychologically. 2 3 / TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ Efficiency in silent reading is determined by the devel- opment of a mental habit to associate instantaneously the visual image of the word with the thought. In all oral reading the visual image must associate itself with the auditory image ; these, then, bring a recognition of the idea represented by the symbol. The final link in this long chain is the verbal-motor expression. Graph- ically, the associations in these two forms of reading may be expressed in the following symbols: Silent Reading: Visual Image Thought. Oral Reading: Visual Image Auditory Image Idea Verbal Motor Image. The brain centers that operate, and also the mental associations and stimulations, are different in the two forms of reading. An overemphasis on oral reading, therefore, trains the mind to make the long circuit, and thus unfits the individual for efficient read- ing in later life. The earlier we develop the short circuit habit of "visual image, thought," in our chil- dren, the sooner are we making them efficient and in- telligent readers. Many writers would go so far as to insist that oral reading should be the exception rather than the rule, and should be tolerated in the class only as an expression of a thought gained or sentiments enjoyed during the lesson. This is obvi- ously an extreme attitude. These educators justify their plea for a postpone- ment of oral reading on the ground that the steps in oral reading are: (i) instantaneous recognition of symbols, (2) extraction of the thought, (3) expres- sion of the thought. Hence no effective oral reading 24 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING can take place unless the child has developed reliable ability and undoubted mastery of rapid symbol inter- pretation and thought extraction. This capability must necessarily come after long, laborious effort. It is because children are asked to read without guaran- teeing this ability that real expression is not only im- possible but is undermined permanently. The blame for the stiff, stilted, artificial oral reading of the ele- mentary school must be laid at the door of premature oral reading. A third lesson that this psychological study teaches us is that from the very beginning the work in primary reading must be conducted in such a way as to develop (i) speed, (2) accuracy, (3) direct association be- tween printed symbol and idea, omitting the auditory image. Therefore, in asking children to read early blackboard exercises, the time during which the sen- tence or phrase or word is exposed should be limited. The subject-matter to be read is shown and then quickly erased or covered. Instead of reading the assigned sentence orally after this limited exposure, let the child give evidence of the possession of the thought in ways other than verbal. Thus the first rhyme of the Aldine Method, "Come, come away and play" is shown. Two children are called, "A" takes "B" by the hand and attempts to lead him away to play. "Have you a knife?" is the sentence given to another lad to read. He looks at it, "sees" the thought, and then says, "Yes, Miss , I have a knife." "The soldiers are marching down the street," 25 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ is an assignment to the next pupil. Instead of reading it aloud, he gives evidence of the thought by march- ing down the aisle like a soldier. In all these exercises the endeavor is to train the child to omit the auditory image, to develop speed in reading and to read for thought. Such drills are a source of absorbing interest to the children and develop a basis of correct habits upon which the teacher can confidently build. SUGGESTED READING BALLIET, THOMAS M. Association of Ideas in Reading. National Education Association, 1893. DEARBORN, W. F. Psychology of Reading. Columbia University Contributions to Philosophy and Psy- chology, V, XIV, No. i. HUEY, E. B. Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, chaps. IV, V, VI, VII, VIII. LAING, MARY E. Reading; A Manual for Teachers, chaps. X, XI, XIX, XX. TAYLOR, J. S. Principles and Methods of Teaching Reading, chaps. I, III. O'SHEA, M. V. Linguistic Development, pp. 163-230. The Macmillan Co. CHAPTER IV PEDAGOGY OF READING A. WHEN SHALL READING BE TAUGHT? A popular question of the day among theoretical educators is when to begin to teach elementary read- ing. Their conclusions show remarkable unanimity, for writers like Dewey, Huey, Laing, McMurry, Mary Putnam Jacobi and Parker insist on the elimination of reading in the first three years of school life. One naturally questions their position. In the main their arguments are fivefold : 1. The Hygienic Considerations. We saw the dan- gers of eye fatigue and eye strain in reading, how ill adapted the eye seems to be for the purposes that present-day civilization imposes upon it. Hence it is ar- gued that the young child should be relieved of the at- tending physiological dangers in learning to read. But we must realize the inevitable fact that the eye must be accustomed to read, must learn to adjust itself to twentieth-century needs. If books were printed in accordance with hygienic prescriptions the attending dangers would be greatly minimized. 2. Psychological Considerations Those educators 27 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ who insist that children in the first three years of the school course should not be taught to read base their position on psychological grounds. In the first place, they argue that coarser adjustments must be made be- fore the finer ones, that the fundamental muscles must be controlled before the delicate peripheral ones. The muscles of the body in general, those in the arms, hands, legs, etc., should be made sensitive and ready to coordinate with the mind before we develop in the child the ability to attend to the more delicate coordi- nations. Their second psychological objection is that concrete knowledge must be acquired before symbols are taught. Hence the opponents of early reading in- sist, why not teach the facts of nature, of local geogra- phy, of industry, of manual work, before giving the symbols for thought-getting in reading. That bad mental habits are developed is another argument of this school. The child is too young to concentrate upon such work, hence mind wandering is encouraged, and the powers for application are undermined. These exercises in symbol interpretation are opposed to the cravings and interests characteristic of the young child, and there is constant aversion rather than attraction. A final psychological objection which these educators advance is that, with the very young child the whole process is an unintelligent one. The processes in read- ing are too difficult, and they hold that all mental ac- tivity goes to the recognition of symbols, rather than to the thought which they symbolize. They argue that this explains the frequency, among children, of expres- 28 PEDAGOGY OF READING sionless reading, constant stumbling and word-reading, rather than thought acquisition, in a word, the wrong habits of reading that defy the teacher's effort. 3. Social Considerations. These opponents of earty reading tell us that for sociological reasons the pre- vailing custom of initiating the young child into the mysteries of symbols is unsound pedagogy. Life to- day, they argue, is industrial and manual. Bookish- ness is not a characteristic of modern social organiza- tion. Reading is too individual a process for the young child, whose life and outlook are intensely self- centered. We must teach the social duties and social relations of life. This seems an imposing indictment against our system of primary reading, but our very social life is the main justification for elementary read- ing in the beginning of school life. The efficiency of our mails, the universality of the newspaper, the multi- plicity of worthy publications, the unprecedented facil- ities of the public libraries, and cheap printing make reading a positive necessity that must be answered as soon as possible. Reading and writing need not mo- nopolize the first three years of elementary training; there need be no reading fetish. But withal, reading deserves an important place in these grades. It is in- appropriate to apply the term, "bookishness" to such work. Once the child has learned to read, he has a source of infinite joy and rich culture. In spite of all that is said to the contrary, there is nothing individual- istic in this pleasure. Reading is a very social process ; it acquaints the child with the thoughts and the lives 29 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ of others, and breaks the confining bonds of the child's personal life. 4. The Culture Epoch Theory Against Early Beading. This theory of recapitulation, when applied to edu- cation, has been interpreted to mean that each indi- vidual should be taken through those stages through which the race passed in its development. The early life of man concerned itself with the concrete; it knew only oral speech; man himself was ear-minded, not eye-minded, in language. Hence, these educators con- clude that all language work in the early grades must be exclusively oral. While all these characterizations of early society are true, we must, nevertheless, realize that, to prepare the child for present and future life, we teach the needs of existing and not of past society. 5. Pedagogical Considerations. The advocates for the postponement of the teaching of reading bring, finally, pedagogical considerations to bear out their contention. Why spend so much time and effort on a task that can be accomplished in less time and to greater advantage when the child is two or three years older? The child is a motor animal, with interests that are manual and practical. He turns from the early phases of reading because the work is too formal and lacks vital motive. Here, too, we find an array against early reading which is not as true and as far- reaching as is often supposed. True, reading can be taught the child of ten with greater ease than the child of six, but so can any other serious subject; therefore, why not postpone all school work? The child is a 30 PEDAGOGY OF READING motor animal, but, despite this prominent characteris- tic, he has other interests as well. He is curious; he loves the story; he has a dramatic sense, a feeling for rhythm, etc. Although the child experiences no "per- sonal hunger" for reading, the problem, approached carefully, need not be the arbitrary lesson it is made out to be. The love for the story, and the desire for the acquisition of a practical art, the social use of which the child sees daily in his immediate life, serve to motivate early reading lessons. By erroneous meth- ods and unattractive devices, teachers often kill the vital interest which children bring to this work. This argues, not the postponement of reading, but a decided and immediate reform in methods of teaching read- ing. Despite the long imposing series of arguments to the contrary, the writer feels that reading should be taught at an age as early as the child will allow. Experience shows this to be about the age of seven. Reading is the "open sesame" to those ideals, inspirations and joys of the past, which have been crystallized in literature. The mechanics of reading entail a mastery of arbitrary and unin- teresting symbols. The sooner the drudgery is finished, and we present to our children the vital elements of reading, the surer are we to implant an appreciation of true literature. A cursory perusal of the educational statistics concerning elimination and overage shows that an alarmingly increasing number of children joins the industrial and commercial ranks at the end of the sixth school year. If reading is post- 31 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ poned to the beginning of the fourth year, we shall send out a large percentage of the school population woefully handicapped. In the final view, the practical needs of the community, rather than subtle psycho- logical analyses, must determine the organization of educational systems and their curricula. B. BASIC AIMS IN EEADINQ There are two contending conceptions that govern methods of teaching reading to children in the early grades. One strives to make reading a formal or mechanical process, the other looks upon reading as a cultural or educational influence. The method that a teacher follows gains its life and spirit from the point of view that she takes toward her work. Uncon- sciously she interprets every phase of her work in terms of it. We must, therefore, consider the contend- ing viewpoints in teaching reading. Formal Reading. Educational or Thought Reading. 1. Reading must always i. Reading justifies itself be looked upon as an end in only because it is a means itself. to a higher end, viz., thought. 2. Reading is a technical 2. Reading must be process, and as such is con- looked upon as a process of cerned with giving the thought-getting, of learn- child a mastery of the tools, ing to express thought, of 32 PEDAGOGY OF READING the symbols, by means of which we gain thought. Aside from this technical ability the teacher of read- ing need have no other care nor concern. 3. Since reading is a me- chanical process, it must be taught as an arbitrary proc- ess through hard memory drills. No reason, no mo- tive need be given. 4. To speak of getting thought without making reading a process of sym- bol interpretation is ab- surd. Children leave school hampered in their ability to extract the thought from the printed page because their knowl- edge of symbols, phonics, word analysis, etc., is so vague that the deficiencies in the formal aspect of reading make impossible progress in the rational. 5. That the sentence is the unit of mental grasp, and the word the unit of increasing one's language stock. The mastery of symbols must be incidental and of subordinate inter- est. 3. As a thought-getting process, reading must al- ways start from a con- scious need felt by the child. His love for the story, his desire to know how to read, will rational- ize the work. 4. True, thought-getting is simplified and even made possible only in proportion as the symbols are turned into habit. But the child should begin by reading for thought. All technicalities must be based upon the work thus mastered. 5. If the aim of reading is to develop the ability to extract thought from the 33 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ visual grasp, if the oft- quoted law; hence a mas- tery of words must pre- cede a mastery of the sen- tence. 6. Reading must be a synthetic process ; begin with a study of phonics, phonograms, sounds; com- bine these so that the child learns to read any new word. Typical of the meth- ods conceived in this spirit is the Gordon or the Pol- lard Method. printed page, and if the sentence is the unit of thought, then the child ought to be taught to read sentences first and then to master the words that make them up. 6. Teach reading as an analytical process ; the sen- tence must be mastered be- fore the word, and the word before the phono- gram. The McCloskey Method, The F a r n h a m Method, The Aldine, The Progressive Road are typi- cal illustrations. Conclusion. Despite the sharp line of demarcation that each school seeks to draw, we see that neither has a monopoly of pedagogical wisdom. If we unite these two tendencies we evolve a composite method which insures thoughtful, expressive reading, fluent and smooth, and which also develops that mastery of the technique of symbols that is absolutely essential. A method must begin with thought acquisition. The text of this reading is analyzed and is made to yield material for the study of phonograms, which are basic in independent word recognition. In making our final recommendation for a modern, progressive and peda- gogical method of teaching reading in the primary grades, we shall again refer to this standard. 34 PEDAGOGY OF READING SUGGESTED READING CARPENTER, BAKER and SCOTT. Teaching of English, 75-80. Longmans, Green & Co. CHUBB, PERCIVAL. The Teaching of English, chap. V. The Macmillan Co. DEWEY, JOHN. The Primary Education Fetish. Forum, v, 315-328. Hosic, JAMES F. Elementary School Course in Eng- lish, 35-42. University of Chicago Press. HUEY, E. B. Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, chaps. XV, XVI. LAING, MARY E. Reading ; A Manual for Teachers, chap. II. TAYLOR, J. S. Principles and Methods of Teaching Reading, chap. IV. CHAPTER V: THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING EVOLUTION OF MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY BEADING The Multiplicity of Primary Methods. The student of methodology is bewildered by the numerous and diversified methods that have been evolved for teach- ing children to read. This multiplicity shows clearly that the problem of primary reading is an exceedingly difficult one, and that many of the current methods are ill adapted to meet the needs of the practical classroom teacher. In this vast array of methods we can discern six that are basic in so far as they contribute a dis- tinct idea in the progressive development of methods of teaching primary children to read. These basic methods are grouped under two main headings, the Synthetic vs. the Analytic Methods. The subdivi- sions of these can readily be seen from the following table: TABLE OF BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING Synthetic Methods Analytic Methods Alphabetic Phonic Phonetic Word Basis Thought Basis Ward Sentence Unit Story Unit Farnham McCloskey All Modern Methods are Combinations and Modifications of These. THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING The simplest sequence in this evolution of method is the historical one; we shall examine each of these methods critically in the chronological order. THE SYNTHETIC METHODS I. The Alphabetic Method. The underlying principle of the alphabetic method is that the combination of letters will give the word which is the unit of utter- ance. The method, therefore, teaches the alphabet and then proceeds to develop a mastery of monosylla- bles by a method of oral spelling, c, a, t, cat ; m, a, n, man, etc., are learned by verbal repetitions, reenforced by visual appeals from the blackboard or charts on which these symbols are written or printed. This is the time-honored method which has taught mankind how to read. Limitations of the Alphabetic Method. Despite its great service in the past, the alphabetic method must be set aside today for many serious reasons. ( i ) It is thoroughly unpedagogic, beginning, not with what the child knows, with words, or sentences, but with un- known names of meaningless letters. (2) It is illogi- cal in its basic principle, because only combination of the sounds of the letters will give the word ; a combina- tion of the letters d, o, g will give dee, 0,0,0, g, g, but never the word "dog." The more logical procedure is, therefore, to teach the sounds and make the names in- cidental. It is true that children will eventually infer the sounds of letters from their names, but this makes 37 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ accidental such knowledge as should be focal in the course of instruction. (3) This method is exceed- ingly tedious, because of its absolute disregard of content and because of its utter neglect of the child's interest and viewpoints toward life. (4) As a final indictment of the method it must be urged that it is unduly difficult. Actual test will soon convince the teacher that children will remember the word-pictures "father," "mother," "doll," more readily than the names of the letters "f," "h," "t," etc. The reason is simple. In the case of the word-picture the child asso- ciates an arbitrary symbol with a known name, but in the case of the letters both name and symbol are un- known. The obvious conclusion, therefore, counsels that reading begin at the point of contact, i. e. f with those elements that are part of the child's knowledge and interests. It is because of these serious defects that the alpha- betic method has been relegated to the pedagogical scrap heap. It does not follow that the alphabet should not be learned. It is an aid in spelling, and very necessary for business purposes, for filing of rec- ords, for finding data in directories, telephone books, dictionaries, etc., and should not be neglected. But the alphabet should not be imposed before the second year, when its need is felt in spelling. n. The Phonic Method. The basic fallacy of the al- phabetic method suggests the underlying principle of the phonic method, which holds that since the sounds of letters uttered rapidly will give the word, teaching 38 THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING must begin with the functions, not the names, of let- ters. In the final analysis the method is like its prede- cessor, except for the fact that the child is taught to call the letter by its sound rather than by its name. In all other respects, the same rigorous, synthetic process is followed, with the same utter neglect of content and emphasis on form. The Emma K. Gordon Method is a modern application of this principle of reading. Despite the fact that this principle found wide rec- ognition and application in comparatively recent times, it must not be inferred that the phonic method is a modern inspiration. Ickelsamer is usually credited as the originator, in 1534. He taught reading by an in- ter jectional method7 which associated letters with ani- mals whose characteristic sounds suggested the sound of the letter, or with pictures that suggested the sounds of letters. R was shown with a picture of a dog whose angry brrr suggested the sound of r; sch was seen on a picture of children chasing geese, because the sound which would frighten the animals suggested the sound of sch. The Jansenites (Port Royalists), Buno, Rousseau, Basedow, Pestalozzi, these are only a few names of a host of educators who elaborated the phonic method and introduced the play element, very often to a ludicrous extent. Advantages of the Phonic Method. For this sys- tem of reading we must urge that ( i ) it is more logi- cal to teach the functions than the names of letters; (2) it gives the child a more trained ear and a better articulated speech; (3) it is an aid in spelling, even in 39 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ our unphonetic language, and (4) it teaches the child how to attack a word whose form is absolutely new lo him. Limitations of the Phonic Method. But this meth- od, when applied to English, is very often ineffective. In the first place, it makes the function of letters focal, but the sound of letters is precisely the least fixed ele- ment in our language; the sounds of letters vary to an, exasperating degree. Our thirteen vowel sounds can be expressed in one hundred and four different ways : the sound of 6 is found in float, yeoman, sow, sew, soul, sole, beau, owe, etc. ; ea boasts of an equally rich variety of sounds. In many cases a letter may become altogether silent. A second serious limitation of the method is found in the fact that it may encourage stammering among young children whose coordinations are still unformed and who show a tendency to linger on labials, dentals, and liquids. Any method which teaches reading by a process of phonic synthesis aggravates a tendency which the teacher must assiduously strive to eliminate. For this reason students of methodology and expert investigators like Huey and Hughes are unalterably opposed to this method. Bell calls the school that uses phonic synthesis a nursery for stammering. Class teachers bring practical evidence which bears out this indictment against phonic synthetic methods. Thirdly, it is apparent that this method is no less un- pedagogical than the alphabetic, because it, too, begins, not at the point of contact between the child and read- 40 THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING ing, but at the most painful point, phonics. This ex- plains why the child finds it exceedingly difficult to retain a set of arbitrary sounds for a series of sym- bols that are meaningless. Actual experience proves that the child remembers the arbitrary names of letters more easily than the arbitrary sounds. Final Estimate of the Phonic Method. In the light of the initial conception of reading as a process of thought acquisition, it is obvious that the method of phonic synthesis is not a reading method. It is merely a systematized attempt to give the child a mastery of teoimcaFelements in the reading process. As such, it becomes a necessary part of a method in reading, but not a reading method itself. The skilful teacher uses it merely as a preparatory drill, "a gymnastic which is aimed to sharpen the perception for words and sounds/' III. The Phonetic Method. The enthusiasts for the phonic method endeavored to save it from what they considered the most important criticism, viz., the varia- bility of the function of letters. They endorsed the basic principle, and the general procedure of the phonic method, and then set themselves to the task of making variable sounds permanent. To do this they evolved a complex system of diacritical marks, and distorted forms of letters. Since the sounds of a vary, then the sound of a, in bake, was represented as a, in back, as a, in far, as a, in ball, as a, etc; a was to be taught as dif- fering from a as much as it does from b or d. If c has two sounds, then c represented one sound and C the other. Much ingenuity was spent in evolving TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ these * 'fixing marks," which differed, of course, in each new system of phonetic reading that flooded the school market. The only difference between a phonic and a phonetic method is the "fixing signs," or the diacritical marks. Reading matter took the form of, bftjVe n^tborho^d, laj/gh, zinc, sSf Estimate of Phonetic Method. It is obvious that while this method gains by fixing the variable func- tions it loses by increasing the number of symbols al- most threefold. It makes no other contribution to the phonic method, and is, therefore, not a whit above it in the pedagogical scale. Fitch and Garlick, among others, find fault with the method because, they argue, it is "illusive and postpones the real difficulty." When the symbols are printed the child can read, but just as soon as a book without these hieroglyphics is pre- sented, the child is lost; he was made dependent on a set of aids. This argument against the phonetic meth- od is not borne out by actual practice, nor by psy- chological evidence. Children who for two years have read in a book printed with all the diacritical aids will, when given a page without these, read without any , notice of the absence of the auxiliary marks. This actual result finds its explanation in the fact that we read words as a whole, not by the synthesis of com- ponent sounds or symbols. In the final analysis, the phonetic method contributes a device, not a rational system of reading. 42 THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING THE ANALYTIC METHODS * Essentials of a Modern Method i. A Vital Point of Contact: Reading to Begin in Real Content. All syn- thetic methods, whether alphabetic, phonic, or pho- netic, suffer from the same inherent limitation which militates against ultimate success. They all fail to real- ize that reading cannot be made vital to children unless it begins in their lives, in their needs, and in the prob- lems that present themselves for urgent solution. No child feels an urgent craving for a mastery of letters or sounds ; all normal children are consumed by a de- sire for the story, with its alluring "once upon a time." A modern method of reading begins with a language unit that represents some idea or image. Just what this language unit shall be is a source of much con- tention. To some, therefore, the word is a proper be- ginning; to others, the sentence with its complete thought seems a more rational initiatory step, while ta a third group, the story must be the means of intro- ducing the child to the art of reading. Typical of these three views, we find the Ward, the Farnham, and the McQoskey methods, respectively. We shall presently turn to a detailed consideration of each of these. 1 In treating these methods of teaching reading to beginners the author merely suggests the underlying principle, the gen- eral organization and an estimate of each. Teachers and super- visors who desire a more detailed knowledge of any of these methods must secure the "Teachers' Manual" by the author of the respective method and a full complement of the primers and the readers. 43 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ 2. Reading an Analytic Process. A second requis- ite of a modern system of reading is that it should be- gin by a method of "look and say." The child is shown a word or a sentence, and is taught to recognize this, not by a synthesis of letters or sounds, but by the appearance of words as wholes. Reading is therefore analytic in its nature. 3. Phonic or Phonetic in Its Analytic Development. A third essential insists that, after the mastery of words by a purely sight method, the child should learn the sounds of the symbols that are used. Whether the method be phonic or phonetic, it is absolutely neces- sary that the study of symbols be an outgrowth of the stock of sight words that the child mastered. A method of reading that possesses these three basic essentials is not inevitably a satisfactory one. But a method that violates any one of these principles is so lacking in sound pedagogical organization that it makes impossible the development of proper habits in reading. I. The Ward or Rational Method of Beading. 1 i. Un- derlying Principle. The Ward Method holds that a word is recognized by its appearance as a whole, but words are also the unit of oral speech ; hence, all read- ing should begin by a mastery of a stock of useful sight words. The Ward Method is frequently adver- tised as a sentence method. While it can readily be turned into such, we must remember that the author 1 EDWARD G. WARD. The Rational Method in Reading, Silver, Burdett & Co. 44 THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING of the method says in his manual: "The Rational Method is a peculiar combination of the word and the phonetic method. . . . The word method is used first as principal, because of its value in developing a habit of thought-getting, and afterward as auxiliary/* 2. Organisation of the Method. In its general or- ganization the method consists of four parts: (a) sight reading; (b) the phonetic drill and the blend; (c) the reading in books; (d) writing and spelling. a. Sight reading: The method begins by teaching a list of about eighty sight words. Typical of these are : ail, all, old, an, and, day, ill, take, well, and boy. These words are presented in script on the blackboard, in short sentences. These sentences, "I see/' "I see you," etc., are unrelated, and aim merely to introduce the words which are always focal. The words selected are such as will lend themselves to useful and varied word drills. The drills on these words continue for a number of weeks until instantaneous recognition and permanent fixation have resulted. The children can now read these words from lists on the board, from perception cards, or in sentences. b. The phonetic drill and the blend: In order to teach the child to recognize new words independently, the phonetic elements are then introduced. This part of the lesson begins with attempts at ear training, in which the phonetic element to be taught is introduced at various places in a story. The phonogram, e. g., /, is either put on the board and the children told its sound, or the sight word fold is subjected to analysis 45 t TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ and the children made to recognize that the word has two parts, //// being the first. The early phonograms include f, I, m, n, r } s, a, e, o, ing, ight. The constructive part of the lesson is now intro- duced. The children, knowing the sounds of m, r, s, h i> ight*. are taught to blend these into might, right, sight, light, fight\ etc. After the phonogram old is learned the children blend old elements to produce fold, mold, sold, etc. Thus the ear is trained, oral speech is improved, phonetic elements are learned, the power for independent word reading is given, and the basis for more accurate spelling is laid. If the initial stock of sight words is well chosen, the child has at the end of the first half-year a list of over three hun- dred words, which enable him to read with a fair de- gree of ease, stories beyond the abilities of children who were taught for a whole year by a synthetic method. c. The book: At the beginning all work is limited to script. A transition is now made to the print, either by associating print and script forms, or by associating print form and thought. In the former procedure the teacher puts on the board, and leads the children from the known script to the unknown print. In the latter method, the teacher prints on the board, "I see you. Do you see?", and 46 THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING tells the children what these symbols represent. They thus learn the new form, print, by the "look and say" method, which taught them the original form, script. After a few preliminary transitional drills, the chil- dren recognize the print form and read it as readily as they do the script. All this work in phonetics is taught with diacritical marks. The three lines of work, sight words, pho- netic analysis, and the blend, are carried on through the first three years. In the early part of the second year all the basic phonograms are taught and supple- mentary readers are introduced. Toward the end of the second year the diacritical marks are eliminated. d. Writing and spelling: Simultaneously with the reading the child begins his writing and spelling. The method is the same laborious and imitative procedure that is prescribed in most methods of primary read- ing. It is difficult to understand why spelling which is purely formal and has no relation to reading should be made part of most reading methods. The inclusion of writing at this early stage is justified by the princi- ple of motor appeal and multiple sense teaching, but the attending dangers are many. Writing entails, too, many delicate movements, and too fine a degree of coordination to be begun without a specially prepared series of graded penmanship drills, designed to develop habits of correct posture, form, control, etc. The pen- manship drill must be more than a side show of an ambitious system of reading. 3. The Readers. As is to be expected, a method 47 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ that centralizes all effort on word recognition presents a primer that is dull, meaningless, and often inane. The round of foolish repetitions of the Ward primer reads, "I see, I see you, Do see, Do see me, Do you see me? Do see Jack, What ails the lock?" etc. But the later readers and the supplementary books are a pleasant and welcome contrast. 4. Estimate of the Ward Method. Despite obvious limitations the Ward Method shows a step in the right direction. It begins with that part of language which the child uses, though not with the most vital element in the child's speech. It fosters independence in word recognition, gives training in better articulation, de- velops a more sensitive ear, aids later spelling, and does much to reduce the tedium of phonics by its careful organization and gradation of the mechanics of reading. But we must remember that it is a method that is mechanical in its inception and mechanical in its whole development, It highest aims do not tran- scend word recognition. It therefore lacks inspira- tion and enthusiasm. The only interest it arouses is the interest that the pupil feels in his progress. Huey, however, says that it is the "most valuable method in effect today, though not in line with the changes to be urged for the elementary school." / II. The Sentence or Farnham Method. 1 i. Underly- ing Principle. All sentence methods are based on the principle that, in reading, as in all perception, a unit 1 FARNHAM. "The Sentence Method of Teaching Reading," C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, N. Y. 48 THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING is recognized as a whole, and not by a synthesis of its composing elements. If reading is a process of thought-getting and thinking, then the unit must be an idea. But the language expression of a unit of thought is a sentence ; hence rational reading must be- gin by teaching children to read sentences. The sentence method found its advocates in Come- nius and Jacotot. Not until 1885-1890 did it gain currency in the United States through the efforts of Farnham. 2. The Method. As elaborated by Farnham, the sentence method entails a procedure somewhat as fol- lows : The teacher makes sure of a thought basis for reading by talking about a number of objects on her desk. "What is this?" she asks, holding up a pen, and the child answers, "This is a pen." What have you?" she asks, as she makes the child tjjce the next object, and the child replies : "I have a knife." After a few periods of this concrete language work, the teacher writes on the board the answers to these ques- tions, and tells the children that she has written what they said. Every child knows, therefore, that the first sentence reads, "This is a pen," and the second, "I have a knife." The teacher now secures smooth and easy reading of these two sentences. She points to the one and then to the other, and requires the chil- dren to give evidence of the idea in each by action rather than by reading. The nouns and the pronouns are now changed ; the verbs give way to others equally appropriate, until the children can read a number of 49 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ sentences and recognize a long list of useful words. In this way the child acquires a stock of sight words. 3. Estimate of the Sentence Method. A cursory examination of this outline of the method reveals its weaknesses. The daily lessons lack system and grada- tion; the sentences are insipid and absolutely unre- lated to the child's life. What urgency is there to read, "This is a pen" ? The method boasts of its em- phasis on the objective, but the practical teacher real- izes that it is a stupid and unnecessary use of a con- crete method. Children who do not know such words as pen, knife, I, you, etc., should be taught oral Eng- lish, not reading. Farnham himself tells us that in this method "the teacher's faith and patience may be severely tried." The sentence method teaches us that correct reading is reading for thought, but in its prac- tical application it becomes as uninspirational as the Ward Method, but without the compensating skilful and careful gradation. In the final analysis, the method is merely an introductory device, for it must soon fall back on phonic drills in its endeavor to teach independent word recognition. 4. Modified Sentence Methods. Huey and McMur- ry and other writers have urged modifications of the unrelated sentence method. They advise the selection of some central theme for the day's reading text. If the children have enjoyed unusual exercises in their morning assembly this circumstance is made the theme for oral composition and self-expression. At the end of the period the whole discussion is summarized in 50 THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING five or six short related sentences. These are put on the blackboard, and the class has a living and interest- ing reading text. The suggestion is valuable, for the most enthusiastic reading lessons are often not in the book, but find their authorship in the class or the teacher. But here, too, we have only a suggestion worthy of occasional application, and not a general method, for there is no guarantee of either systema- tized and progressive work, or of an ability to recog- nize new words independently. HI. The McCloskey Method: The Story Method. 1 - i. The Plea for the Story. A system of reading whose systematic and graded organization and whose serious application of all sound principles of reading give it the dignity of a true method, was elaborated by Miss Margaret McCloskey. The method begins with an eloquent plea for literary appreciation. It studies the child at the age when school life begins, and finds him at a stage in his language development that is characterized by an almost insatiable craving for the story, by an imagination that glows in rich imagery and lives in fantastic environs of its own making. The child approaches the reading book, the source of new stories, with all the anticipation that he would feel for a gift. How bitter must be the disappoint- ment when the child finds in his primer, "Oh, see the cat, the black cat," or "Hop and skip," "Skip and hop," "Run and jump." If the teacher seeks to re- fine the emotions of the child and cultivate its imagina- 'MAKCARET MCCLOSKEY. "McCloskey Primer," Ginn & Co. 51 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ tion, then she must begin the reading lessons with a story that has literary worth. 2. The Story as the Initial Step in the Reading Method. The McCloskey Method begins its series of reading lessons with a cumulative tale that delights the child with its round of rhythmic repetitions. The teacher prepares the children for the story of the kid that "my father bought for two pieces of money," and for the chain of tragedies in which the cat ate the kid but was in turn bitten by the dog which was hit by the stick which was burned by the fire that was put out by the water which was drunk by the ox which paid the final penalty when the butcher slew him. The informal narrative is followed later in the day by the formal story with its rhythmic repetitions of, A kid, a kid, my father bought For two pieces of money. A kid, a kid. Then came the cat and ate the kid That my father bought For two pieces of money, etc. A kid, a kid. These lines are repeated frequently. By competi- tive devices, dramatizations and recitations, the inter- est is kept up in the story until it is known by heart. The teacher now suggests the pleasure of reading such a story by oneself, and thus offers motive for the first reading lesson. The first sentence is put on the blackboard and the children who know it are invited to THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING read what was written. After easy and smooth rendi- tion is secured, the pupils learn to recognize father by its place in the context, then by comparing the word father, written in the corner of the board, with the full sentence, and finally when it is shown on a per- ception card by itself. The other words are taught in the same way until the children can read any sentence containing these words, e. g., "For two pieces of money my father bought a kid" ; "The cat ate the kid," etc. The round of repetitions gives plenty of drill, yet the children are not kept too long on one sentence. After the first story is thus mastered, word by word, two other cumulative tales are taught in the same way before the end of the first half year. The children are now the proud possessors of an enviable reading vocabulary. If the teacher will list all the words in these three stories and then do the same to any story found in a synthetic method third reader, she will find that the children know a stock of sight words that enable them to read the story she selected. 3. The Transition to the Book. The McCloskey Method seeks only one form of association in reading, viz., symbol and thought. It is therefore opposed to making the transition from script to print by compar- ing the two as is done in the Ward Method. It pre- sents the story of "The Kid" in print, and teaches the child to read this new form in the same way as he learned the script. Most authorities sanction both forms of transition, i. e., through association of sym- bol and idea, and through association of script and 53 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ print, just as they approve beginning with either print or script, since each has its advantages. The only re- striction that must be made is the simultaneous presen- tation of print and script, for the child is bewildered by the multiplicity of symbols. 4. Phonics. We have seen, thus far, how this method makes reading a process of thinking and em- phasizes content rather than form. The author of the method realizes the need of phonic work that gives the ability to recognize new words, and results in better articulation and sharper auditory perceptions. With this end in view, the sight words that are known are analyzed and the phonograms carefully taught. Man gives m and an; rat gives r and at. * The child is now required to form his own blends of these phono- grams to produce the words ran and mat. The work in phonics is well graded and thoroughly organized for the teacher. The method is therefore well balanced, for it realizes the coordinate position that must be accorded to the content and the mechanical aim in reading. 5. Language Lessons. A final endeavor of the McCloskey Method seeks to establish an intimate cor- relation between reading and oral and written lan- guage work. After the third story is well known an interesting topic is selected from the reading matter, or the child's experience, and is used for oral com- position. The topic is then summarized in a few sentences, which contain the words that the children learned in the course of the reading. By suggesting 54 THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING the desirability of being able to write the subject of the day's lesson to a friend, the teacher motivates the first lesson in written composition. The introductory sentence is written on the board in large, clear charac- ters, and the modus operandi is explained. After giv- ing a vivid visual impression, the sentence is erased and volunteers are called upon to write the sentence. In case no child is ready, the same sentence is again written on the board, explained and erased until some children can reproduce it from memory. A pupil who errs in any letter or word must erase his effort and try over again until the sentence is written as a whole, correct in every respect. At the end of the first period, only two or three successful efforts may be found. At the end of the third lesson, about twenty children can write the introductory sentence. The work continues in the same imitative manner, seeking direct associa- tion between symbol and idea until the children can write the whole composition. A foreign-born gradu- ate of the i A class is the proud author of the follow- ing composition: THE LITTLE HEN One day a little red hen found corn. She asked the cat to help her plant the corn. Then she asked the rat, the dog and the pig. All of them would not help her so she did it herself. She asked them to help her water the corn but they would not. Wheft the meal was baked into bread they all wanted to eat it. But the little red hen said, "No! you cannot help me eat it; I can eat it myself." 55 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ Although the child knows no letters by name, and cannot justify the various punctuation signs, capitals, indentations, etc., he is learning to use symbols as means of expressing his thought. But the teacher must not forget the caution that was urged in the study of the Ward Method, for such premature ef- forts at writing may lead to the development of most objectionable habits in penmanship. 1 6. Estimate of the McCloskey Method. To answer the skeptic who doubts the efficacy of such a method, we must urge pragmatic proof. This method is doing excellent work in foreign sections of Newark, its peda- gogical birthplace, and in New York. Teachers who conceive the ultimate aim of reading to be literary ap- preciation must approve this system. But the formal^ ists, on the other hand, can pick no quarrel with such a method, for its emphasis on phonic analysis and syn- thesis guarantees as great a mastery of the symbols of reading as any purely mechanical method like the Ward. The strength of the McCloskey Method lies in its proportionate emphasis of the two basic aims of reading and its skilful application of modern read- ing standards. From a narrower aspect, this method is not free from faults. Teachers complain that they are handicapped because the method is not developed beyond the work for the initial year. The absence of a printed manual entails unnecessary work by teachers. The content is often ill adapted to the foreign-born city child, whose words are few and whose compre* 1 See page 47. 56 THE BASIC METHODS OF PRIMARY READING hension lies wholly within urban topics. The McClos- key Primer uses quench, shaven and shorn, forlorn, tattered and torn expressions beyond the pale of such children's vocabularies. The stories tell almost exclusively of country themes that are not within the scope of these children's experience. Not one child in fifty in a school in a foreign section of New York knew any but the slang meaning of "A kid." Th<*se mechanical limitations in the organization of the method have left gaps that other reading systems have very successfully bridged. It is for this reason that the "Progressive Road to Reading" bids fair to> sup- plant the Newark system in New York City schools. SUGGESTED READING CARPENTER, BAKER and SCOTT. Teaching of English, 98-121. GOLDWASSER, I. E. Method and Methods in the Teach- ing of English, chap. II. D. C. Heath & ^o. HALL, G. STANLEY. How to Teach Reading. D. C. Heath & Co. HUEY, E. B. Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, chaps. X, XI, XII. LAING, MARY E. Reading, a Manual for Teachers, chaps. VIII, IX. McMuRRY, CHARLES A. Special Method in Reading for the Grades. The Macmillan Co. TAYLOR, J. S. Principles and Methods of Teaching Reading, chap. V, 109-127. TEACHERS' COLLEGE RECORD. January and September, 1906. 57 CHAPTER VI SPECIAL MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING 1 Summary. The last chapter traced the evolution of modern methods of teaching primary children to read. The path is long and circuitous, with many pitfalls and discouraging features to both children and teacher. The synthetic methods made reading a purely mechan- ical process, and sought to give the child a perfect mastery of symbols. To accomplish this end, they began reading with a study of the alphabet, or the sounds of the alphabet. Syllables, phonograms, single letters, all were fused into words as soon as possible. Early reading began, not with real content and thought appeal which give to language a throb of life, but with letters and phonograms, the static, stupid phase of speech. The child's mind was occupied with the prob- lems of first recognizing the phonograms and then synthesizing them into real words. When these two 1 In treating these methods of teaching reading to beginners the author merely suggests the underlying principle, the gen- eral organization and an estimate of each. Teachers and super- visors who desire a more detailed knowledge of any of these methods must secure the "Teachers* Manual" by the author of the respective method and a full complement of the primers and the readers. MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING processes became habit, real reading, reading for thought, was introduced. But the exclusive attention to word forms and elements of words, the unrelenting drills on synthesizing the mechanics of written lan- guage made reading so thoroughly formal that true reading, reading for thought, was almost completely undermined. These methods soon caused a reaction when applied by intelligent teachers. The habits in reading that the children were developing were so positively detrimen- tal that methods diametrically opposed to these syn- thetic systems were evolved. Reading was now made an analytical process; it began with words, or larger language units, and only when these were mastered, were the study of word formation and the independent recognition of new words taught by analyzing the sight words already known. But mastery of sight words, reading of isolated words, soon became as mo- notonous and inane as the reading of syllables and phonograms. The desire for thoughtful, expressive reading from the very beginning brought a sentence method and finally a story method. Only when the child can read the sentences naturally and feelingly is he taught the component words. But, in reading, the sentence is never subordinated to the words in it. The child is never allowed to read a sentence unless he has read it silently, has asked about any word that puzzles him. There must be no hesitation, no loss of thought. The words read at sight in sentences are then taken up, analyzed into their component 59 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ sounds and the mechanics of reading taught in special drills. Modern Methods Tabulated. In the evolution of pri- mary methods that was traced in the last chapter, we considered the alphabetic, the phonic, the phonetic, the word, the sentence, and the story methods; all these passed in review, each making its contribution toward the correct method of teaching, each typifying some tendency, each embodying a definite principle. These methods are the units ; they reflect the types. The list of present-day reading methods is long and varied, but each reading system is either a combination of two or more of the basic methods studied in the preceding chapter, or a modification and elaboration of some one of them. The following table attempts to classify the more popular of the modern methods of teaching children to read. The system of grouping is the same as that offered in the table on page 36, and therefore needs no explanation. A careful analysis by the student of the table on page 61 is now ad- visable. Emma K. Gordon Method. 1 From the table it can be seen that no system of reading brought out by enthusi- astic teachers can claim the honor of absolute original- ity. The Emma K. Gordon "Comprehensive Method" and Pollard's "Synthetic Method of Reading and Spelling" have little in them that was not noted in the analysis of a purely synthetic phonic or phonetic *EMMA K. GORDON. Comprehensive Method of Teaching Reading, D. C Heath & Co., 1902. 60 MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY RXADIMG Synthetic Methods Analytical Method! Phonic Phonetic Formal Thought Gordon NewEduc. Pollard *v Word Sentence Unit Story Unit *Ward Farnham McCloskey or Newark ^ tSum men > Road i Natural Method or Culture Primers < tHorace Read Mann < tFinger Play >- ~< tAl dine ' > A combination word and phonetic method. t A cross between a word and a sentence method. j May be classified as either sentence or story method because the sentences or rhymes are more or less related in thought. method. The former begins its system with the belief that "thorough work in phonics lies at the base of all rational teaching of reading," and shows the teacher how to carry out a severely phonic and syntnetic method. It boasts of its contempt for diacritical marks, of its emphasis on family words, like "talk," "chalk," "walk," "balk," of its phonic games which are only revivals of those played by Ickelsamer's children in the days of 1534. It fails to see that it cannot be a "comprehensive method" if it emphasizes form to the exclusion of thought. Pollard'i Synthetic Metkod. 1 -In Pollard's "Synthetic 1 REBECCA S. POLLARD. Pollard's Synthetic Method of Reading and Spelling, American Book Co., 1889. 6r TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ Method of Reading and Spelling," one finds a method that is purely phonetic, "almost arrogantly so." The mechanical mastery of words; the constant use of dia- critical marks; the use of sound games and phonic pictures (/is the symbol of cats at war, sh of a child being put to sleep) ; the personification of the letters (small letters are boys, while capitals are men, etc. ) ; all these are typical of the archaic devices and organization to which this method has constant re- course. Estimate of Gordon and Pollard Methods. Both these methods can teach children to read. But any method, or even no method, can ; hence ultimate ability to read words and sentences is no criterion. "How agreeably, how thoughtfully, how naturally, how quickly can they do so?" are the questions that must be answered. Despite the fact that these methods are (i) systematic, (2) well graded, (3) capable of teach- ing children how to attack new words, (4) good for ear training and articulation drills, we reject them be- cause they are artificial, with a reading matter that is flat, stupid and disjointed, and because, in their em- phasis on reading as a synthetic process, phonic read- ing before word or sentence reading, they are destruc- tive of the right habits of reading. The New Education Method. This system of read- ing is an excellent example of a modern svnthetic method. Its sponsors claim for it the dubious honor of being the "best of the old," and give assurance that it "will teach the child to read." But "to read" is 62 MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING made to mean by them "ability at instant recognition of symbols." The method begins with a drill in con- sonants, for they are fixed in sound. When the child knows the phonic function of all consonants he is taught a list of sight words for a mastery of vowels and their changing function in varied combinations. The method then emphasizes the art of blending; it shows the child how ight from fight and s from sit give sight. This mastery of technique is followed by a reading of sentences for expression. There is noth- ing "new" nor "educational" in the method. It is a well systematized and graded synthetic organization that militates against the acquisition of necessary habits in thoughtful reading. The Mand Summers Method. 1 This method is more pretentious and more modern. It endeavors to attain a literary level, to teach language, to make reading a pleasurable process, but not at the expense of the mas- tery of symbols. Its intentions are meritorious, but its practical organization often fails to reach this high level. Underlying Principle of the Summers Method. The method is based on three educational principles, which it persistently tries to carry out: (i) Images are necessary. The child must have clear images of his natural environment, of the elements and condi- tions mentioned in the reading matter, otherwise the verbal symbols fail to symbolize anything rational. *MAUD SUMMERS. The Summers Method, Frank D. Beattys Co., N. Y., 1908. 63 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ (2) The mind recognises the whole of things before its parts. The order of teaching must therefore be sentences before words, and words before phonograms. (3) The self-activity of the child must always be aroused. It is the active cooperation of the child, the continued expression of his self -activity which will determine not only the thought he acquires, but also the mastery of symbols that will be developed. These principles determine the organization of the method ; The Organization of the Summers Method. The method has two important elements : the thought and symbols in reading. The thought is the most vital factor in reading, for the ability to associate symbol and idea is determined by the value and the interest which the idea has for the child. Thought is emphasized through: (i) Ac- tion sentences. Dramatization is the important contri- bution of this method. Since the child is an intensely motor animal, he enjoys acting out his ideas. The words and sentences that begin this method are such as abound in children's games. (2) Nursery rhymes form a second important part of the content of primer and blackboard reading. Children have a rhythmic sense that is unmistakable in their games, their songs, etc. Poetry for the child must not only be rhythmic, but it must breathe mystery to stir his imagination. Nursery and nonsense rhymes fulfil both of these con- ditions. They are learned and recited because they train in good articulation, cultivate a cadence in lan- guage, and afford pleasurable reading matter. (3) To 64 MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING keep thought in reading uppermost, this method makes observational lessons part of the method. What the children see and do in their nature-study lessons and in the manual training periods is made the topic for discussion. This is summarized and becomes the sub- ject-matter of the reading lesson from the blackboard. The books are replete with illustrations of artistic merit, in the hope of making thought and action clear. (4) The method, in its literary endeavor, assigns regu- lar "Readings by the Teacher to the Class" of those stories that form the literary heritage of the race. The children listen to these, repeat them, dramatize them, and read them, in summarized forms, from the black- board. The second element of the method deals with the "symbols in reading." Although the Summers meth- od attempts to attain a literary level, it does not neg- lect the mastery of phonograms, which it regards as coordinate with thought acquisition. The method therefore emphasizes voice and ear training, drills in phonic analysis of sight words, practice in synthesizing known phonograms, careful gradation and progressive repetitions in word building in short, the varied forms of exercises designed to develop mastery in the mechanics of reading. Estimate of Summers Method. Despite all its em- phasis on thought, this system starts by teaching chil- dren a list of sight words, like "run," "play," "jump," "hop/ words that can be dramatized and used for word-building later on. The early reading lacks the 65 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ natural and interesting content found in later lessons, and busies itself with such repetitions as "Run and jump," "Sing and jump/' "Run and sing," or "Jack, run and sing," "I run and sing," etc. Its dramatiza- tion often saves it from becoming nothing more than a weary word method. The Aldine System. 1 Basic Principle. This meth- od, organized by Spalding and Bryce, is another sys- tem based on the simple principle that reading is a process of thinking which must leave the child richer in thought and knowledge. In actual organi- zation it wavers between a sentence and a story method. Organisation of the Aldine Method. This method may be divided into five principal elements : ( I ) the story introducing the rhyme, (2) the reading of the rhyme, (3) the study of the picture, (4) dramatiza- tion, (5) phonic analysis and blend. I. The story introducing the rhyme: Progress in the Aldine Method is measured by the complete mas- tery of a set of rhymes used for reading, language lessons, dramatizations, phonics and word-building. The rhyme is introduced through a story which the teacher tells the children ; the story gives an interesting background to the rhyme, suggests it a number of times, but the tale is not memorized as in the McClos- key Method. The first rhyme is introduced by the following story, told by the teacher : 1 SPALDING AND BRYCE. The Aldine Readers, Newson & Co., N. Y, 1907. 66 MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING THE SPRING STORY Once upon a time a little boy and his sister asked their mother if they might have some money and go to the store and buy some candy. "No, dears," answered Mother, "I think you have had all the candy that is good for you to-day. Run outdoors and play." Out walked the two children and sat down on the porch. "I don't want to play," growled the boy. "I think we might just have a little candy," whined the girl. So they sat on the porch and pouted. The little birds flew from tree to tree, building their nests and singing. They were so happy because Spring had come. The squirrels frisked and chattered on the lawn. They, too, were glad the winter was over. Even the yellow daffodils in the garden looked up and smiled at the warm sun. Everyone seemed happy but our pouting boy and girl. Along the street came a crowd of boys and girls, run- ning, laughing and shouting. They were just as happy as the birds and squirrels. When they saw the cross little boy and girl, they shouted : "Stop pouting. Don't you know Spring is here ? Now is the time to play and be glad." Then a big girl, who was leading, called : "Come away, Come and play." TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ All the children took up the cry, and shouted: "Come away, Come and play." They were having such a good time that our boy and girl could feel cross no longer. Smiles chased the frowns irom their faces. They jumped up and ran off with the other children, laughing and singing : "Come away, Come and play." 2. The reading of the rhyme: The rhyme is now memorized, read in script from the board, from printed charts and from cards placed in the hands of the chil- dren. "Come away, Come and play," "Run with me, To the tree," etc., are examples. The reading must be smooth, easy, rapid and thoughtful. 3. The study of the picture: To make the thought stand out more vividly each lesson has its picture. These children are allowed to study in an attempt to infer the story. The pictures are artistic and are thus a source of keen pleasure. Detailed questions, asked by the teacher, elicit a series of answers which give thought background to the rhyme and serve as exer- cises in oral composition. 4. Dramatization: To make the reading more nat- ural, and prevent stilted classroom rendition, every stanza is dramatized as it is read. In the case of the first rhyme, "Come away, Come and play," one pupil is designated as a leader. This child skips through 68 MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING the aisles, choosing his companions by touching each and calling, "Come away, Come and play." 5. Phonic analysis and blend. The sight words thus learned through the rhymes are now analyzed, and thus become a valuable basis for phonetic drills. The consonants are taught separately by consonant cards, in association with a sight word; one side of the card is \ "" | and the reverse side is [ * ]. If the child cannot sound R, he is shown the side that has the word "run" on it. The vowels, on the other hand, are not taught alone, since they vary and take their jound from the group in which they are found. From the stock of initial sight words the children build a list four or five times as long as the original one; thus, the ome of come enables them to get some and likewise run gives gun, fun, sun, etc, They also learn to analyze new words phonetically. The method is exceedingly well organized, moves along rapidly, and has a complete equipment of reading charts, phonic charts, etc., which are not only designed for class reading, but also for profitable individual seat work. Estimate of the Aldine Method. An analysis of the organization of this Aldine system shows that it is a skillful attempt to embody all those principles which seek to make reading synonymous with thought get- ting. It begins at the point where reading touches the child the story. The cadence of the basic rhymes which appeals to the child's innate sense of rhythm is seized on as a means of teaching children a useful stock of sight words in rational and pleasing associa- 69 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ tion. But independent word recognition is steadily kept in view ; a carefully planned series of phonic exer- cises achieves this end. When followed by an enthusi- astic teacher the results are gratifying indeed. The manual is a good treatise on reading, and the primers are well organized and illustrated. The great danger of the system is that, in the hands of a dispirited teacher, it degenerates into a stupid sentence method. In the final analysis the Aldine Method is a sentence method; only the skilful handling of the introductory stories by the teacher saves it from the weaknesses in- herent in a pure sentence method. The Finger-play Method. 1 Its Underlying Principle. Another system, closely allied to the Aldine Method, is the Davis- Julien Finger Play Method. It, too, be- gins with the hypothesis that, to read for thought, one must begin with thought. The foundation of the reading matter is a series of rhymes, based on familiar nature facts, and used in connection with finger plays. But, unlike the McCloskey Method, the purpose of this system "is not to gain memorized reading, but to acquire independence through power in phonics. " The reading text is, therefore, only a natural means of in- troducing phonics. Organisation of the Finger Play Method. The Finger Play Method has four important components : (i) the thought basis, (2) sight reading, (3) pho- nics, (4) extensive correlation. 1 DAVIS AND JULIEN. Finger Play Readers, D. C. Heath & Co., 1909. 70 \ MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING 1. The thought basis: Unlike the Ward Method, no list of unrelated sight words is used to introduce the child to sight reading. The charming story of the life and work of the bee forms the initial lesson in reading. The beehive is brought into the room, the bees themselves are the all-absorbing topic of the day, and their very song is sung. Any sentence about bees that the children invent to express their interest in the lesson is written on the board by the teacher, and is read by them after her. At the end of the first lesson, the class can read bee and beehive, distinguishing them by their varying lengths. The succeeding lessons begin with the song of the bees, or the game of the children in the beehive, as they recite the first rhyme, "Here is the beehive. Where are the bees? Hidden away where nobody sees." The children, then closing their fingers into a fist, continue: "Soon they come creeping out of the hive, one, two, three, four, five"; at each count a finger is opened, until the five bees fly away. A dramatization, in which all the children save five form a beehive and allow the five bees to fly away as they recite the complete rhyme, is one of many pleasant devices of the method. 2. Sight reading: The sight reading follows, in the main, the procedure noted in other systems. The rhyme is mastered first, then phrases, words, sounds, and their reconstruction into words, form the order of succession. 3. Phonics: The Finger Play Method, unlike other methods, begins its phonic work at once. The first TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ sight word, bee, is used as a basis for phonic analysis into b and ee, and for their phonic synthesis into bee* The work in phonics is well graded in progressive repetitions and is designed, by the end of the term, to give the child a knowledge of most of the useful pho- nograms, and to develop a gratifying ability in phonic analyses and blends. 4. Extensive correlation: Another strong element in the organization of this method is its extensive cor- relation. Music is made a helpful basis in phonic exer- cises; a living interest in nature is developed through its nature-study context; building the beehive, folding papers into "chicadees," etc., numerous drawings, are forms of manual training that afford excellent seat work; the games and the dramatizations are pleasant forms of physical exercise for the children; the early emphasis on writing is another link in the long chain of correlations. Estimate of Finger Play Method. Stripped of all its devices, this method is really an analytic-phonic reading system. The first concern of the authors seems to be to evolve a series of well-selected and graded phonograms; their second concern is to fit an agreeable subject-matter to these phonic elements. Through songs, games, dramatizations, manual work, and nature appeals, the content is skillfully made to cover the early phonic structure. Some teachers com- plain that in the latter part of the primer the round of repetitions grows monotonous. But these graded rep- etitions insure early independent reading, so that the 72 MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING children are soon ready for supplementary texts and varied reading matter. The later readers are excel- lent in content, organization and artistic design. The illustrations are superb. The Horace Mann System. 1 Basic Principle. The latest method of reading which is attracting attention is the Horace Mann System. We must consider it carefully, in order to place it properly in the list of methods for primary reading. Its underlying princi- ple is, "Let thought lead. . . . Reading, after all, is an affair of thought, imagination, emotion, and ex- pression. " Not only are the initial sentences related in thought, but the successive lessons are so interre- lated in theme and vocabulary that they are designed to promote "constructive thinking." Organization of the Horace Mann System. From the very beginning the teacher is cautioned to see that all reading is properly motivated for the children, i. e., that they feel a personal hunger to read; that they know the words reasonably well; that the theme is part of their experiences and cravings ; that the prepar- ation reveals only that which will stir curiosity, but conceals enough to lead them to "read to learn," rather than to "learn to read." The reading text is introduced through various media, each of which guarantees an interesting thought basis. In one situation, the medium may be a Label- ing Process. A picture or an object with its descrip- J HERVEY AND Hix. The Horace Mann Readers, Longmans,. Green, & Co., 1912. 73 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ tive words is hung before the class. In the ensuing language lesson the teacher leads the class to associate the symbols with their objects. In the next lesson the symbols recall their respective objects. Story-telling, in which the teacher puts recurring sentences or phrases on the board, is another device for introduc- ing sight reading. The natural repetition of these expressions affords a drill which enables children to recognize, first, the sentence or phrase, and then the component words. Reading by Position is also used. A known rhyme is read and the words are learned by their position in the memorized context. Silent Read- ing is still another form of sight reading. A given sentence is put on the board. If it is a command, the teacher executes it and the children infer what the written sentence says. If it is a question, the teacher answers it, and the children construct the interroga- tion. Context Reading, in which the children read a sentence of known words and supply an omitted word, is a favorite means of teaching new sight words. Games and songs, in which rhymes or stanzas are learned, afford excellent means of memo- rizing texts, which are read, as in the other systems, at sight. In every lesson there is, therefore, a thought basis for sight reading, and every means has been taken to make the reading expressive and the phrasing correct before phonic analysis receives attention. This method then posits the principle that to neglect phonics is to fail to develop independent reading; to focalize 74 MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING phonics is to develop ability to recognize words but not to read. Having made reading an "affair of thought," it now concerns itself with organizing, grad- ing, and vitalizing phonic elements. All phonograms find their origin in the reading text, and receive ample drills through wise repetitions in succeeding reading matter. Drills in ear training, enunciation, phonic analysis, and synthesis are integral parts of each of the progressive series of lessons. However, this meth- od does not place emphasis upon learning to recognize the greatest possible number of sight words, but rather on the power to work out new words inde- pendently. Estimate of Horace Mann System. This bold out- line of the organization of this reading method shows that it contains no new theory nor a new suggestion to modern methodology. All that it attempts to do has been done by reading systems in use today. But its eclectic character, its wise application of all sound principles and devices for teaching reading, its con- sistent call on the child's self -activity, its graded and applied work in phonics, and its excellent manual, which is a treatise on reading, will undoubtedly lead to its adoption, and enable it to achieve successful re- sults. The Progressive Road to Reading. 1 Underlying Prin- ciple. A system of reading unanimously praised by those who use it is the "Progressive Road to Reading." iShimer, Ettinger and Burchill: "The Progressive Road to Reading," Silver, Burdett & Co. 75 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ Like the "Natural Method" (Culture Primers), 1 it is an extended and systematic application of the princi- ples and organization as worked out in the story method of Miss Margaret McCloskey. Organisation of the "Progressive Road to Read- ing." i. The teaching of the story: The teaching of the basic story comes first. The cumulative story of the "Hen and the Bag of Flour" is told by the teacher, then made the subject of conversa- tion lessons, and finally reproduced by the children, with the aid of appropriate dramatizations. The blackboard wgrk is now introduced. The first sen- tence, printed on the board or on a chart, is read, as a sentence, then verbal relations are recognized. The children learn independent word recognition (i) by the position of the word in a known sentence, (2) by comparison with the same word in the known sen- tence, and (3) by reeding new sentences from old words. To illustrate: The known sentence is, "A hen had a bag of Hour" The children learn the word "hen" by its position in the sentence ; hen is the second word. At a later stage in the drill the teacher has the sentence on one board and the word hen on another. The children look at the isolated word hen, then at the sentence, and see that the lone word hen looks like the second word in the sentence. When mastery of all the words in the sentence is thus attained, new sen- tences are constructed by the teacher and the children *MRS. ELLEN KENYON-WARNER. The Culture Primers (Nat- ural Method), C R Merrill Co. 7 6 MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING are called upon to read these. "She tried to carry it home herself becomes "She herself tried to carry it home" ; this in turn is changed to "The hen tried to carry the bag of Hour home herself." So, too, the sentence, "But the hen said 'no,'" becomes succes- sively, " 'No? said the hen," "The hen herself said, 'No; " "Said the hen, 'No/ " "The hen said, 'No.' " Rote work is thus guarded against very successfully. Each child whispers the sentence to the teacher, and is placed in one of three sections, depending upon his ability. 2. Phonics: The second part of the method deals with the problem of phonics. The procedure is the same as in the McCloskey Method. The sight words afford the basis for phonic exercises. These words are analyzed; the component phonograms are studied and then blended. Thus, hen gives "en"; the "p" the "t" the "d" the "m" are brought from other words, and the child learns to read pen, ten, den, men. In this way the ear is trained, the ability to read new words is given, and the children are prepared for spelling. 3. The written language: The third part of the method, like the McCloskey Method, deals with "writ- ten language." Each grade teaches the writing of words and of sentences. A word like "it" is put on the board, explained, written again and again, erased, and then the children imitate it. Then on, no, me, so, will, etc., are added. New words are built on these; "will" gives sill, till, bill, kill, etc. When enough words are mastered, they are joined into short sen- 77 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ tences. These are put on the board, the children study them, and, after they are erased, they imitate them. If the children fail, the sentence is again put on the board, again visualized, and again erased. Pupils once more attempt a complete reproduction. The results 'of this written work were noted and discussed in a previous connection. 1 Estimate of the "Progressive Road" Method. The method is sound theoretically, thoroughly modern in spirit, and well graded in organization. Although in the final analysis it is very similar to the Newark or McCloskey method, it is more enthusiastically re- ceived by teachers because it has a better selection of stories, is more systematic, continues its plan for longer than the first year, and offers a carefully elabo- rated manual, which readily guides the teacher inex- perienced in teaching primary reading. How to Judge Any System of Reading. In this hasty survey of the various systems of primary reading no attempt was made to study each in detail. The teacher who is teaching by any one of these methods will find every step well developed, illustrated, graded, and ex- plained in its respective manual. These manuals are often excellent treatises on the subject of primary reading. The aim of this and the preceding chapter was merely to give the point of view, the classifica- tion, and the final justification of each method. No one method is recommended, for the choice of a sys- tem of reading must be made by the teachers in con- 1 See page 55. 78 MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING ference with their principal. It is necessary, there- fore, to suggest an outline of study that teachers should follow who are sincerely searching for a read- ing system that will most efficiently meet their prob- lem and the children's needs. The following is sug- gested : In studying a method of primary reading, we ask: 1. What is its basic theory, or underlying principle? 2. How should it be classified ? 3. What is the method? a. What is its procedure in reading for thought? In developing independent reading through power in phonics ? Are these two aims rationally balanced ? b. What device does it use, not found in other systems ? c What equipment does it necessitate charts, cards, pictures, etc.? d. Does it provide a manual for the teacher? 4. Primers and Readers? a. Content Aspect: Has content any relation to child's life? b. Formal Aspect : Are they graded, progres- sive, within the comprehension of the children? Is phonics well treated and duly emphasized? c. Pedagogical Aspect : Well illustrated ? De- signed to arouse an interest in good reading ? 79 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ d. Hygienic Aspect: Do they meet hygienic requirements ? e. Later Readers and Supplementary Readers: Are they literary in aim and content? Progressive and graded? Do they in- spire love for reading? 5. Is the method as elaborated consistent with its theory? Does it accomplish its object? 6. How does it compare with others ? a. In speedy results in mechanics of reading? b. In arousing activity of children and their love for reading? c. In arousing interest in teachers, etc. ? d. In developing independent reading through power of phonics? e. In developing habits of thought acquisition in reading? 7. Criticism? a. Points in its favor? b. Its limitations? c. Is the method in harmony with the best the- ories of the psychology, pedagogy, and hygiene of reading? Conclusion. The skeptic asks, "Why all these peda- gogical inventions; did not the old alphabetic method teach humanity how to read ?" The alphabetic method did teach us how to read, but it cheated the child of the joy of the story for many years, and, in the end, often made him a lip reader, or a ponderous word 80 MODERN METHODS OF PRIMARY READING reader. It is for these reasons that we seek a method which makes reading a thought process, and makes the initial lesson a delight to the story-loving child. 1 SUGGESTED READING BAYLES, MARTHA B. McCloskey Method of Teaching Reading. School Work, vi, No. 3. GRIFFIN, SUSIE A. Ward Method of Teaching Reading. School Work, vii, No. I. HAGAR, CAROLINE. The Aldine Method of Teaching Reading. School Work, vii, No. 3. HUEY, E. B. Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, chaps. XIV, XVII, XVIII. HUGHES, JAMES L. Teaching to Read. A. S. Barnes &Co. KARR, GRANT. Summers Method of Teaching Reading. School Work, viii. No. 2. KENYON-WARNER, E. E. Natural Method in Reading. School Work, vii, No. 4. LAING, MARY E. Reading, a Manual for Teachers, chap. IX. McMuRRY, CHARLES A. Special Method in Reading for the Grades. The Macmillan Co. MOUNT, CHRISTIANA. New Education Method of Read- ing. School Work, viii, No. I. 1 In the Appendix (pages 206-236) will be found criticisms of the following systems of method readers : the Edson-Laing Readers; the Merrill Readers; the Elson-Runkel Method; the Beacon Readers ; the Riverside Readers ; the See and Say Series; the Story Hour Readers; the Natural Method Readers. 81 CHAPTER VII THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING A. THE PRIMES Development of the Primer. A system of reading, planned from the point of view of the child, embody- ing all the tendencies indicated by sound psychology, often fails because of the limitations of its reading matter. Primers have too often been written to meet the needs of the method, to supply words for the pho- nic exercises, to sound an ethical platitude, or to state a patriotic sentiment. They are seldom written from a sympathetic study of the life, the interests and the ex- periences of the children whom they are to inspire. It is interesting to trace the growth of primers from the early New England forms, in which the governing object was to give the child religious and moral in- struction or elaborations of the copybook maxims, to the best of our day, which seek to present reading matter that is simple in thought and form, intimate in its relation to child life and child cravings, and valuable from the point of view of literature itself. Characteristics of a Good Primer. A model primer meets certain primary demands in content and in me- chanical organization. Let us turn to each. 82 THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING i. Content of the Primer. The primary requisite of the content of a primer 'or an early reader is that it should be good literature. Children should be given reading matter that is worth while, for its own sake. An examination of the flat, insipid, uninspiring sub- ject-matter of the average primer shows at once how many reading systems are hopeless from the very be- ginning. Although the content must be within the child's sphere of comprehension and interests, it should be decidedly above his level of style, expression, and language possessions. A second characteristic of proper reading content is that it should be varied. When we scan the wide field of possibilities we readily realize how easily this sec- ond requisite can be incorporated. In brief, what can be included in this early reading matter? We may include the following : a. The nursery rhymes that have stood the test of time make delightful content; they are loved by the children, they develop a language cadence and a sense of rhythm; they are adaptable for play and drama- tization. b. Personal stories of class and school life and ex- perience should come next as part of the reading mat- ter. Any event in the day's experience about which the children are enthusiastic should become the basis of that day's reading matter. After discussion by the children, the teacher puts the reading lesson on the board, and frames it in terms of words, expressions and phonetic elements that are known. The most de- 83 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ lightful reading lessons are not printed in books. They are outgrowths of class life and find their au- thorship in the teacher. c. Fairy tales offer the next contribution to content. If there were no other justification for their introduc- tion it would suffice to say that children love them. They are most germane to the child's interests. They are a source of infinite joy, because they color with poetic charm the common human virtues; "they pre- sent truth through the guise of images." The stories of "The Ugly Duckling," or of "Cinderella," are illus- trations of the ingenious teaching and the poetic con- ception of everyday faults and virtues. These stories feed a glowing imagination and answer the cultural needs of later life, for they recur in music, in painting, in sculpture, and in adult literature. d. Animal and nature stories receive a hearty re- sponse from the children. The child is interested in living nature next to real humanity. These stories must be literature first and science second. The ani- mal or the plant must be humanized, it must be imbued with the same yearnings, the same loves and hates and temptations as the child himself feels, if it is to become part of an agreeable reading content. e. Folk tales and fables come next in the list of varied elements in the reading content. They contain in simple form a liberal stock of the world's wisdom, given not in the form of moral talks, but through real actors, usually through an animal as the agent. The ethical lessons are usually effective, because the moral 84 THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING situations picture concretely and with a tinge of humor, the inevitable results of greed, selfishness, kindness, cruelty, or truthfulness. The moral conclu- sions are of a worldly sort, exceedingly practical and far from the lofty and impossible levels of the aver- age ethics lessons. This accounts for the general dis- repute into which the fable has fallen. Dr. Adler thinks they are of dubious merit and fraught with danger, for they inspire in the child respect for cun- ning and craftiness. But every situation that is prob- lematical in its nature is liable to misinterpretation by the immature child unless the teacher, by skilful ques- tions or suggestions, undermines the wrong attitude. f. Cumulative tales, with the rhythmic round of repetitions of the type of "A Kid," "The House That Jack Built," have a legitimate place in the primer. The constant repetitions afford a means of ready and nat- ural retention with minimum effort, for the repetitions are not indulged in for the sake of reiteration, but are part of the story itself; their cadence and rhythmic appeal are added factors in producing more permanent impressions. The humorous and the human elements in these stories guarantee an enthusiastic reception by the children. g. The humorous story is another element in early reading content that is conspicuous by its absence. The humor of these stories is a tonic to the nerves, for it has a relaxing property. "The delicious shock of sur- prise at every ' funny spot' is a kind of electric treat- ment to the nerves." The list for reading cannot be 85 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ complete unless we include the dramatic stories that make the nerves tense and suspend the breath, the Bible stories, with their delightful narratives free from moralizations, myths, and the host of stories, legends, traditions, that have been a joy and an in- spiration to successive generations of youth with vo- racious literary cravings. A third requisite of the content of primers is that early reading must be well illustrated. The picture, in a good reading system, is often an integral part of the reading method. It must, therefore, be artistic in drawing, form and color, even when judged by adult standards. We must discard the cheap cuts that are scattered haphazard throughout the books to relieve the monotony of print and swell the number of pages. The illustrations must be full of action, must arouse constructive fancy and prompt rich and productive imagery in the minds of the children. But the developing mind of the prepubescent or the pubescent in the grammar grades makes unnecessary elaborate and numerous illustrations. Used with in- judicious frequency, these graphic appeals are positive dangers. They weaken imagination by giving it un- due aid; they prevent the artist in the child's mind from painting his own picture by restricting him to what the eye sees; "they appeal to the senses, where mind and heart should be touched." The fourth requisite of the content of the primer demands that the theme of the reading matter be ad- justed to the experience of the child. A general con- 86 THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING tent will not suit all children ; there must be a wise and discriminating organization so that content most nat- ural to city children will not be imposed on country children, and vice versa. Too often the content un- duly transcends the circumference of the child's exper- ience. The best of the most extensively used primers are found to contain stories and reading matter deal- ing with the cultivation of soil, the products of garden and orchard, the habits of common animals, etc., concepts that are native to children in rural sections, but foreign to their city cousins. An examination into the content of the minds of children brought these remarkable figures : 54 per cent, of the children in a school did not know a sheep; 18 per cent, a cow; 52 per cent., a bee; 19 per cent., a hen; 50 per cent, a squirrel ; 70 per cent., a snail. Nevertheless, the read- ing content of their primers assumed a first-hand knowledge of these nature facts. While the reading matter should widen the child's horizon, it is evident that the pupil must be taken out of his sphere of ex- perience gradually and with due preparation. 2. Mechanics of the Primer. But there is a second side to the organization of the primer. Not only must the content be literary, but it must be designed to de- velop ability to extract thought when new words or new combinations of phonic elements occur. The primer must meet these mechanical requisites if it is to develop independent reading. To these we must now turn. First, there must be repetition to insure mastery of 87 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ form. The reading matter must be so framed that the same words occur again and again, and new words are introduced that are built on the same basal phono- gram. But at no time must repetition be secured at the price of literary content. Such text as "What ails the lock? Why do you fail to see the tails of the flock ?" shows an attempt to reduce the phonic elements ail and ock to habit, but the exercise is only a phonic drill, and cannot attain the dignity of a reading lesson. A cumulative tale in the McCloskey Primer, or in the "Progressive Road to Reading/' is an illustration of content designed to give necessary repetitions without sacrificing form to thought. Secondly, phonic difficulties must be well graded. Each new lesson and each succeeding story must not only introduce a new set of words having the same family trait, but must also repeat preceding words and utilize old phonograms until their recognition is in- stantaneous. The forms in reading must be reduced to habit; habit knows only one price, repetition. Finally, the primer must meet the hygienic requi- sites that were outlined in a previous discussion. The illustrations must be so placed that they allow for a fair degree of uniformity in the length of lines; the lines must not be long; the type must be of standard size, and the paper must be of a white or yellowish tint, and completely free of gloss. Conclusion. The primary teacher reviewing this long list of requisites may feel discouraged when she seeks them in the books given to her class. The limi- THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING tations in the content can be counteracted, however, for blackboard and charts can be used frequently to give better subject-matter. But, although nothing can be done if the book is wrong in its mechanical or- ganization, it is, nevertheless, worth knowing the limi- tations under which we labor, for only then are we ready to demand intelligent reform. 1. HEADING TO PUPILS Value of Systematic Reading to Pupils. An excellent method of developing a literary sense in children is to bring them into contact with as much appropriate literature as possible from the very beginning of the school course. The formal reading periods are usually governed by specific difficulties of technical English, and do not allow the teacher to give the class more than a glimpse of the vast literary treasures in store for them. Only by systematic reading to pupils can we give them that acquaintanceship with literature that develops a sense of appreciation for literary master- pieces. Such an interest in literature gives excellent occupation for leisure hours, teaches a new means of recreation, cultivates imagination, refines emotions, and creates ideals of right living. Reading to chil- dren gives them not only this wider knowledge of liter- ature, but presents to them models of correct speech. It is evident, then, that reading to children must not degenerate into a mere pastime, nor be indulged in spasmodically at the passing whim of the teacher, or 89 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ as a means of relieving the mental ennui of the chil- dren. Part of the general reading course must assign systematic, regular and graded material to be read by the teachers to pupils in every class. Suggestion to Teachers in Beading to Children i. These values of reading to children cannot be realized unless the teacher sets up a definite aim in each selec- tion and then tries to realize it. Thus, one selection is read because its dialogue affords the teacher an oppor- tunity of offering the class a good model of oral read- ing, another, because of the ethical principle which is so vividly taught, or another, because it is a good means of introducing children to a type of story, or to the works of a particular writer. The aim gives method and meaning to each period. 2. In reading to children, teachers must make a practice of stopping at logical pauses and questioning the class on the content. If the pupils remember the phraseology of the text, they should be allowed to use it in their answers. In addition to making for greater familiarity with the material presented, this question- ing enriches the children's vocabularies. 3. As far as possible, the child should be more than a passive listener throughout the reading. Dramatiza- tions, pictorial representations, and oral discussions, are forms of expression that should be required of children to make them active agents in the lesson. 4. In all questioning the teacher must not allow the period to degenerate into an informal one designed to elaborate the work of geography, history, or nature 90 THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING study. The distinctive characteristic of this reading must be its literary spirit. 5. In all reading great care should be given to clear- ness of articulation and enunciation. Sounds incor- rectly uttered by the children should be exaggerated in correctness by the teacher so that each child's ear reverberates with the correct auditory impression. 6. In reading to the class the teacher's eyes must not be riveted on the book. There must be enough familiarity with the matter read to enable the teacher to look from the page to the class. The changes in facial expression and the appeal of the eyes enable the story to "come across" and make for a sympathetic response from the children. 7. At times the teacher may be relieved from con- tinued oral reading by a pupil, but in all such cases only the best readers should be called. Suggestions for Supervising "Reading to Children." If interest is to be maintained, and the children are to derive the fund of values that were ascribed to "reading to children," supervisors must see that these readings are systematic, graded and varied through- jout the course. It is not unusual to see daily sched- ules of primary classes with no provision for reading to children. These periods must be as definitely indi- cated as others. Supervisors allow each teacher to read what seems appropriate to her; the inevitable result is lack of gradation and duplications in succes- sive grades. It is the duty of the supervisor to collect as many sources of reading material as possible; appli- TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ cation to the nearest library authorities will usually bring a host of titles of appropriate readings. Each teacher is then invited to select from these recom- mendations what she considers best suited to her grade; this becomes the assignment for her class for the school term. At the end of the term each teacher criticizes the assignments, indicating those that were found uninteresting, or too difficult, or too simple, or better suited for another grade. The supervisor must correct the assignments in the light of the experience of the teachers and her personal judgment. The sec- ond term finds a more favorable allotment of material in each grade. In this manner the "reading to chil- dren" becomes graded, systematic, and varied, and thus contributes liberally to each child's literary stock. 0. TELLIKS iTOWEI TO CHILDREN The Dignity of Story-telling. The poet who laments "The days of minstrelsy are gone" expresses for youth its deep sense of loss. Every child is a romanticist, in whose life the minstrel occupies an exalted place, satisfying a deep-seated love for story, which is part of childhood itself. Story-telling has, therefore, a dignity and an importance all its own. It is an art that few teachers possess and many must . cultivate. The art of story-telling must be emphasized in the classroom today, because there is vital need of giving our children part of their heritage of literary lore long before they are introduced to the symbols of read- 92 THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING ing. The more the love of story is strengthened, the more eager does the child become to satisfy it Hence, when the child is old enough to learn to read, he finds urgent motive for mastering symbols and phonic elements, for these he regards as the path to new joys new stories. Secondly, the story is a vital part of many methods of teaching reading to begin- ners. Unless the story is told well in a method like the McCloskey, or the Progressive Road, or the Al- dine, the spirit of intense pleasure and anticipation is lost, and the work becomes the same arduous task as in the other methods. Purposes of Story-telling. But story-telling, like any part of classroom work, has its definite purposes. What ends must we have in view in telling the chil- dren a series of selected stories? 1. Our first aim and the object that should be part of every story period is to give the child the joy to be found in our literary possessions. A story, like any other literary form, is basically a work of art; the justification for the art element in the curriculum is the justification of the story. Pleasure is hence its keynote. The story plays an important part in the game of life, its function being to add the spirit of excitement, beauty, and emotional strain, to life's rou- tine. Pleasure, not instruction, is the message of the story. "The story must enlarge and enrich the spir- itual possessions of the child." 2. A second aim of the story may be the informa- tional end. But this must be incidental and thor- 93 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ oughly subordinated to the former. It must be both secondary and implied. One learns history, sociology, psychology, etc., from the drama and the novel, but this aspect in these literary forms is neither vital nor basic. 3. The story may well be used as a means of giving relief from classroom intensity. At the end of a regu- lar physical training lesson, with its demand for uni- formity, close attention, keen concentration, and readi- ness for instantaneous response the child may be just as fatigued mentally as before the lesson. The story brings complete relief and it relaxes the strained nerves. This complete relief serves to intensify con- centration when work is resumed. 4. A story is often the best medium of establishing a bond of sympathy between children and teacher. It is an effective instrument for creating the necessary "rapport"; it is an "open sesame" to the heart of children. Many a sad substitute teacher has found the story the best means of introducing herself to the class and seizing hold of the situation. 5. The story is an excellent medium by means of which the power of sustained attention can be devel- oped in the children. Their fleeting interests, their evanescent joys, must become long-lived; these shift- ing mental activities must be sustained until they can carry the child to a desired end. What better means to introduce sustained attention in the child's mental life than the story? 6. As a means of developing the expressional pow* 94 THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING ers of the children, the story has no equal. The teacher of composition in the primary grades finds that the children's natural timidity and backwardness, their self -consciousness, form the first serious diffi- culty. The story enlists their interests, they become absorbed in it, and, for the time being, forget them- selves. Spontaneous expression is now made possible. What forms of expression shall we demand? In the main any one of the following three ways will suffice : Mere retelling in the child's own words, even with a touch of originality as to details and sequence, is one way. Pictorial illustration is a second mode of ex- pression. Where drawing in the early classes is taught as a form of composition, a medium for the expres- sion of one's thoughts in graphic rather than verbal form, the pictures, characters, or situations of the story can be drawn by the children. Dramatization forms the next important means of expression. But, in car- rying it out, we must remember that all children must participate in classroom dramatizations. A star per- formance has no place in the class. Then, too, the timid child must not be forced; he may be invited, coaxed and encouraged. Failure in a forced attempt may mean permanent discouragement. 7. The final purpose of the story may be to arouse moral judgments. We must not force a moral if the story does not yield one spontaneously, nor is it neces- sary that every story should be freighted with a moral. Selection of Stories to Tell. Before telling the story one naturally submits it, consciously or unconsciously, 95 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ to the standards: "Is it appropriate? Is it well ar- ranged ?" But we must be sure that we answer these questions from the children's viewpoint, rather than from our adult judgment. What do they seem to pre- fer in stories? A similar series of varied stories was read to different groups of children. At the end of the term, a vote was taken, and it was found by Miss Bryant that "The Three Bears," "The Little Pigs," "The Woman and the Pig" were voted the most popu- lar. From their selections and from their eliminations we can readily outline a series of merits that children demand in stones. Three characteristics of the stories chosen by the children are: (i) The story must abound in action. "Something happens all the time. Each step is an event." There are no descriptions, no gaps, no moralizing, nothing to impede the movement of the story. (2) The pictures must be about things well known to the children. In the "Three Bears" we have the animals, a spoon, a house, a chair, a bed, etc. The story so orders these that an element of mys- tery tinges all the incidents and transports the children into Bearland. (3) The stories must be cumulative, repetitive. Each story is built up by a spiral of repe- tition, each circle repeats the previous incident and adds a new touch. This type of story appeals to the child, because it gives increased familiarity with each phase of the story. Just as we experience a feeling of joy in recognizing a quotation, or a motif in music, so, too, the child is delighted to recognize and feel each repetition. There is a joy in keeping the sequence 96 THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING accurate. This can be done with no effort in the cumulative tale, because of the repetitions. How to Tell a Story. The successful story-teller fol- lows, unconsciously, perhaps, a few important princi- ples. What shall the inexperienced narrator remem- ber to guide him ? 1. Know the Message of the Story. Since a story is a work of art, it has a message. We must make sure that we have found it before we attempt to give it to others. The message varies with the story. It may be one of humor, of pathos, of sincerity, of mor- ality, or of nonsense. We must find the basic appeal of the story and then let it control the whole period. 2. Feel the Basic Emotion. The message of a story cannot be delivered unless it is actually felt by the messenger. Hence, one must never attempt to tell a story one does not feel. The sham of pretense is apparent at once; the appreciation must be genuine. The final test before telling a story is, "Does the narra- tor enjoy the telling?" 3. Aim at Correct Technique. The technique of the telling has considerable influence in determining the appeal and the effect which the story will make. Hence we must be sure of a number of factors that determine effective, well-polished technique. (a) Know your story. In the telling there must be no halting for a name, a place, or a date. The narrator must not allow the story to show contra- dictions of facts or incidents. The story must be so 97 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ familiar that at no point does it become necessary to improvise. It must have the smoothness of a personal incident, free from every suggestion of effort and labor. (b) The story need not be memorized. To secure the proper grace and ease of narration many profes- sional story-tellers memorize their stories in their early attempts. The opinion seems general that in memori- zation there is grave danger of becoming stilted and artificial. As the words fall mechanically from the lips, they betray a lack of spontaneity. (c) Proper physical conditions must be secured. If possible, children ought to be seated in a semicircle, or in two semicircles, while listening to the story. With the unfortunate furniture which prevails this is impossible, but in almost every class children can be brought closer to the narrator. The children must always see the teacher's face ; they must be "physically close to be mentally close." (d) The voice is the chief agent in technique. The teacher must never stop the story to admonish William or Mary for a petty offense. Continue with the story, in the hope that it has enough charm and interest to quiet the children. The voice should at all times be sympathetic and subdued. A loud voice kills all feel- ing and makes proper atmosphere and appeal impossi- ble. But there is no reason for painful refinement or an artificial whisper. (e) Be in the mood. The best means to get oneself into the proper emotional setting is to have the charac- 98 THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PRIMARY READING teristic picture of the story flash repeatedly through one's mind. There must be a sincere effort to take on the dominant mood from the very beginning. (f) Tell it "simply, directly, dramatically" This is the essence of Miss Bryant's advice. "Simply" cautions against posing and affectations. "Directly" advises that we go straight through the story, get to its very heart, but with no explanation. "Dramati- cally" cautions to avoid the mannerisms of the elocu- tionist. It urges a vivid, responsive, sincere narra- tion, with the gestures, the voice, and the speech pauses of natural life. If the story itself cannot touch the child's heart, no ranting or gesticulating will. The Moral. Many an excellent story loses its ap- peal, fails to grip the children and provoke the de- signed response because of the moralizing indulged in by the teacher. "Don't Moralize" should be embla- zoned in shining letters as a warning against the com- mon pitfall. Let the story, through its sentiments, make its own appeal. If the story cannot, the teacher cannot. An explanation or a concrete application that is deemed necessary may be given briefly at some point during the story, but in the end the story must teach its own lesson ; the final appeal must be the appeal made by the story itself. No story has ever made a good child of a bad one. But the cumulative effect of story upon story, appeal upon appeal, has a keen and subtle influence which we cannot estimate. The moralizer robs the story of its lasting effect. 99 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ SUGGESTED READING BRYANT, SARAH CONE. How to Tell Stories. Houghton, Mifflin Co. BRYANT, SARAH CONE. Stories to TelL Houghton, Mif- flin Co. CARPENTER, BAKER AND SCOTT. Teaching of English, 81-98. CHUBB, P. The Teaching of English, chaps. VI, IX. GOLDWASSER, I. E. Method and Methods in the Teach- ing of English, chaps. VI, X. Hosic, JAMES F. The Elementary Course in English,, pp. 57-121, and the Appendix. University of Chi- cago Press. HUEY, EDMUND B. Psychology and Pedagogy of Read- ing, chaps. XIII, XIX. LAING, MARY E. Reading, a Manual for Teachers, chaps. XV, XVI, XVII. MOSES, MONTROSE J. Children's Books and Reading. Mitchell Kennedy. PARTRIDGE, E. N., and G. E. Story Telling in School and Home. Sturgis and Walton. REEDER, R. R. Historical Development of School Read- ers and of Methods of Teaching Reading. Colum- bia University Contributions to Phil. Psy. and Ed. f viii, No. 2. Macmillan Co. READING LISTS FOR CHILDREN. A. L. A. List, Washing- ton, D. C. Pittsburgh Library List. Chicago Public Library, "Help to Teachers," No. I. New York Public Library, Juvenile List. Course of Study in Reading, Indianapolis, Indiana, 100 THE SUBJECT-MATTER -OF PRIMARY READING ST. JOHN, ED. P. Stories and Story Telling in Moral and Religious Education. Pilgrim Press, Boston and New York. VOSTROVSKY, CLARA. A Study of Children's Reading Tastes. Pedagogical Seminary, vi, 523-535. CHAPTER VIII PHONICS: THE STUDY OF SOUND PRODUCTION The Objects of Phonics. However literary a reading method may be in its inception and early development, its final efficiency is appreciably decreased if it does not develop power for independent reading by reduc- ing the recognition and interpretation of symbols to the plane of habit. Phonics, or phonetics, must be coordinate with thought in any reading method, for the following reasons: 1. The child must develop a habit of attacking new words that occur in his reading. 2. Ability to recognize these new word-forms is determined by a knowledge of phonograms and the sounds which they represent. This knowl- edge of phonics serves an equally important role in spelling. 3. The correct sound cannot be uttered unless the child hears it correctly. A study of phonics must sharpen auditory perception and develop greater sensitiveness for correct sound through systematic ear training. 4. Correct sound cannot be uttered unless the child has perfect control of the necessary organs of 102 PHONICS speech. Through phonic drills the child learns to use the organs of speech in perfect coordi- nation. 5. A systematic and graded study of phonics de- velops clear articulation, correct enunication, and proper voice control; without these, the purity of spoken English degenerates to the careless and vulgar level of the street. The Necessary Facts of Phonics. The efficiency of the teacher's work in phonics will be determined by her knowledge of the basic facts of sound production, as well as by her pedagogical expertness. We must summarize, therefore, the necessary basis of facts. Terms Defined. The terms phonic and phonetic are used loosely in the literature of reading. Most writers make no distinction between them beyond the diacritical marks that characterize phonetics. Some authors use phonics to refer to the study of sound, and phonetics, in a larger sense, to include sound and its representation by symbols. Since these distinctions are more honored in the breach than in the observance, we may define both phonics and phonetics as the sci- ence of speech sound, while a phonogram is merely the written representation of a sound. The symbols b f d, k, ight, ing, f, are therefore phonograms. What is Speech? We must distinguish two impor- tant phases of speech, the organic and the acoustic. The former refers to the organs of speech production, which can be grouped under three heads: (i) Or- gans of Articulation: teeth, tongue, lips, and palate; 103 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ (2) Organs of Breath and Voice: vocal chords, laryn- geal muscles, glottis; (3) Organs of Cooperation: chest, abdominal muscles, lungs, diaphragm, etc. The great number of cooperating organs necessary for speech explains why accurate articulation and enuncia- tion are impossible very often with young children, who have not developed reliable coordination; why speech is physically fatiguing; why speech, which, un- der ordinary circumstances may be careful, often be- comes careless during fatigue; why conditions which are enervating always aggravate speech difficulties of stammerers, and why habits of correct speech are de- veloped with such difficulty in foreign-born children. The acoustic phase of speech concerns itself only with the quality of sound, control of breath, and resonance. In the light of its organic and acoustic aspects, speech is only breath expelled by the lungs and modi- fied either in the throat or in the mouth. If the reader will merely exhale a breath through the mouth he will find that no speech sound results. Let him now expel a breath again, and modify it in the throat, and he will recognize some vowel sound; the utterance of ah, or eh, will illustrate this process. If he will now expel breath and not interfere with it until it gets into the mouth chamber, but there subject it to some modifi- cation, a consonant sound will be produced. In giving the sound of s, t, p, he will go through this process. Classification of Sound According to the Manner of Production. An analysis of the mode of speech pro- duction, i. e., breath expelled by the lungs and modi- 104 PHONICS fied by the throat or the mouth, gives three classes of sounds, as can be seen in the following table : How Produced Illustration Technical Names I. Those in which there is mere breath explosion or fiction. 2. Those in which there is a vocal murmur modi- fied by the size and the shape of the mouth . 3, Those produced by combining breath ex- plosion or friction with a vocal murmur wh-p-l-k-f-lh as in thin din ate, at, far, fall. uihAv m th an in thtm Pure Consonants, Atonies, Surds. Breath consonants. Vowels, Vocals, Tonics. Semi-Consonants, Sonanta, Subtonics, Voiced Con- sonants. The reader can best understand this grouping by actually uttering these sounds and studying the proc- esses involved. The Consonant Further Considered. From the table it is evident that consonants are the result of "audible friction, or stopping of the breath, in some part of the mouth or throat. " All consonants can therefore be whispered, while no vowel can. An attempt to whis- per the sounds of wh and w f p and b, t and d, k and g, th as in thin, th as in them, will reveal the fact that the pure consonants which are produced by mere breath explosion or friction can be whispered more softly and with greater ease than those which have an element of vocal murmur in them. Here we have the reason for the usual classification of consonant sounds into "voiced" and "unvoiced," such as is given below. Consonants are usually more important in oral speech than vowels, for their careless utter- 105 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ ance does more to produce lack of clearness than wrong vowel values. Let the reader speak a sentence twice, first giving the vowels wrong values and then slurring the consonants; he will notice that, while the first reading gives mispronunciations the second pro- duces an unintelligible result. The following table * of consonant elements in the English tongue is much used today; it groups the sounds not in alphabetical order, but according to the mode and place of utterance. TABLE OF CONSONANT ELEMENTS m ENGLISH Nasal Mode and Place of Utterance Momentary Continuous ~C5nT tinuous Surd Sonant Surd Sonant Sonant or or or or or Breath Voiced Breath Voiced Voiced Lips p i m m Lips and Teeth / t Tongue and Teeth Mink th em Tongue and Hard Palate (forward) Tongue and Hard Palate (back) Tongue, Hard Palate and Soft Palate ?t ch d s sh 8.T zh.r y* w Tongue and Soft Palate k g f Indeterminate (Various Places) h Vowels Further Considered. A vowel, we saw, is nothing more than voice (breath murmured in the throat), modified by the shape of the mouth. Let the reader utter the vowel sounds in the words bee, gay, ask, cwt, awful, pool, and notice that the same voice is used in all, but the configuration of the mouth is changed by the movements of the tongue, lower jaw, lips, and soft palate. The mouth is a resonance cham- - COE and CHRISTIE. Story Hour Readers Manual, 127. HER- VEY and Hix. Horace Mann Readers; Daily Lesson Plans, xlviii. IOD PHONICS ber, which changes the quality of a vowel with its change in shape. Vowels are the musical elements in speech, for they can all be sung. Since the changing value of vowel sounds is pro- duced by changing the configuration of the mouth, it becomes necessary to arrange the vowels in a graded scale so that, in going from each successive one, the shape of the mouth chamber changes gradually. The old classification studied the sounds of a as a (ate), a (at), a (far), a (fall); then of e as e (mere), e (nest), e (her) ; then of i, o, and u. There is obvi- ously no gradation of vowel values in this series. Bell arranged the vowel values in the following sequence, according to their values. If the reader will sound the successive vowels a few times to become familiar with them, and then repeat the exercise and note the changing positions of tongue and lips, he will see at once the basic principle in this sequence * : Lip Changes Bell's Vowel Chart The lips are tense C I and parallel at ee -s 2 (bee) and * (p*n) L 3 ee i a Gong) (short) (long) bee ptn gay 4 e (short) met (loner) e'er 5 a (short) hat The lips are re- 6 a (long) ask laxed and round- - 7 a (long) father ed at a (ask) 8 e (long) hr 9 u (short) cut (long) curtain 10 o (short) not II aw (long) awful The lips are puck- 12 (long) old ered at oo (good) 13 00 (short) good oo (long) pool J The tongue gradually moves down and back in going from ee (bee) to e (her) The back of the tongue grad- f.ually moves up and back in Agoing from u (cut) to oo (pool) Value of Scientific Gradation of Vowel Values. The practical teacher may admit that Bell's vowel 1 Rearranged by Prof. Frederick B. Robinson. 107 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ table is more logical and even more scientific than the old classification of the sounds according to a, e, i, o f and u, but still may ask, "What is its practical peda- gogical value ?" Let us assume that a child of foreign birth cannot utter the correct vowel value in the words cut, up, sup ; each of these he reads as cot, op, and sop, respectively. Imitation proves useless, for the child has few English sounds in terms of which to apper- ceive the vowel sound in question. Instruction as to proper relative positions of the organs of speech is equally useless, because the differences in the organic processes of u in cut and o in not are too slight to ad- mit of demonstration to such a child. Let the teacher have recourse to the Bell table and require children to sound the vowels in succession, from number one through eight. If the child can sound these correctly, the vowel in question, u in up, will be uttered without difficulty, because the gradual and successive changes in the configurations of the mouth for the first eight sounds will practically force the proper mouth con- figuration for the ninth vowel value. The phonic les- sons in any system of reading should teach the vowels in this scientific gradation, rather than in the hap- hazard sequence which is determined by successive sight words. Diacritical Marks. A source of endless strife in phonic work is the use of auxiliary symbols to fix vari- able sounds. Most of the recent methods either en- tirely eliminate diacritical marks, or else use them only in exceptional cases. Experience shows that diacriti- 108 PHONICS cal marks in early reading are usually of little service to children and sometimes are the cause of much con- fusion. But this does not mean that they are never to be taught. While they are unnecessary in early phonic and word recognition, they are invaluable for later use when the dictionary becomes an important factor in the child's linguistic studies. Some standard set of diacritical marks should be divided among three or four grades, and taught gradually in lessons designed to develop ability to use the dictionary. The Gradation of Phonograms. It is obvious that no attempt can be made to grade phonograms unless there are definite principles in accordance with which we are to distinguish a difficult from a simple phono- gram. The distinction between simple and compound phonograms affords no basis of gradation. A simple phonogram is a one-letter phonogram, like f, I, m, p, k, w, while a compound phonogram is one that con- tains a number of letters, like ing, ight, ar, er, or at. Length is no index of the difficulty of a phonogram. Ward, in his "Rational Method of Reading," gives the following three principles that determine which phonograms shall be taught early: 1. Those that are uttered with ease by the children: m > P) i^ s are examples of these, while th, wh, r can- not be included under this head. 2. Those that can be prolonged into words without losing their identity. The phonogram ight is com- pound, but, when it is sounded in words like light, bright, night, its sound, It, is as clear as when it is 109 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ sounded by itself. But, let the reader sound the pho- nograms ar, er, or, first, as three separate sounds, and then speak the words beggar, editor, and singer. The untrained ear hardly differentiates the sound of beg- ger from beggar, or editor from editor. Hence, er, ar, ir, ur, or, are classed as difficult phonograms. 3. Those that are common to many words of fre- quent use. The phonogram th (voiced) is difficult, but must be taught early because the frequency of its occurrence tends to make its correct enunciation more simple. If a reading method begins, not with a few unre- lated sentences, but with an entire story, the stock of sight words is sufficiently large to enable the teacher to choose only such words for phonic analysis as will teach the easier phonograms first How to Teach a Phonogram. Let us assume that the phonogram ight is to be taught. How shall the lesson be developed, in order to secure the best results in the limited time? The progress of the successive steps is indicated in the following outline : i. The Teacher's Preparation. The teacher must ask: a. Is the phonogram in the correct place in the graded series of phonic lessons? b. Does the phonic element ight grow out of sight words previously learned? c. Will the phonic element be useful in later word- building? Will it give the child ability to read a long list of words independently? no PHONICS d. Have all the mechanical details been mastered? i. Is there doubt about the pronunciation? ii. Is there doubt about the position of the organs of speech, in order to produce the sound of ight? iii. Is the complete list of words containing the phonogram ight ready? 2. The Lesson. a. Ear training is the initial exer- cise of the lesson. The children hear the teacher pro- nounce a number of words containing the phonogram ight, with exaggerated clearness. The children are then called upon to sound the words individually, and are criticized by the teacher and their classmates. The teacher tells the children a story, and introduces the words might, right, fight, sight, etc., with unusual dis- tinctness and clearness, and then calls on the pupils for individual reproductions of these words or sentences. Another procedure is to give the children a few of these words, might, iight, and ask them to think of other words that rhyme with these. Any method that will sharpen auditory perception, make the children sensitive to the sound of ight, and give them a good apperceptive auditory stock, is an excellent preparation for the lesson. b. Phonic analysis, which isolates the sound of ight, is the next effort in the lesson. This the teacher can accomplish in one of two ways: (i) by exagger- ated slowness of uterance, /// it, mmm it, or (ii) by a comparison of the family of ight words. In the sec- iii TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ ond procedure the teacher asks the children to listen for a similar sound in the following series, right, fight, tight, etc. When the sound of ight is isolated, chil- dren are called individually to utter it with great dis- tinctness. This step ends when the children learn the and for the sound. visual symbols "ight c. The synthetic step or the blend is the last step in the lesson, for the child now learns to read any word whose basal phonogram is ight. It is here that the fruits of phonic analysis and ear training are reaped, and the child develops independence in read- ing. To facilitate the drill of blending known phonic elements with ight to produce a new word, mechani- cal devices are suggested. Typical of these easily made aids we may mention the following: An ordi- 112 PHONICS nary board, about 30 inches long and 3 inches wide, has a hole (y) at one end by means of which it is suspended from the frame of the blackboard, and a nail (JT) at the other, which acts as a pivot on which circular cardboards are revolved. A circular disk, having a diameter of about 15 inches, is cut from ordinary cardboard. The center is perforated and is revolved on the pivot nail. On the circular disk the teacher writes s, I, f, n, r, t, and on the board ight. By revolving the cardboard disk, the words sight, light, light, etc., can be produced instantaneously. Other drills, with stairs, ladders, railroad ties, games, etc., will be found in manuals of primary reading. These mechanical devices enable the drill to become spirited and help toward permanent fixation and the inculca- tion of the habit of instantaneous recognition. General Directions for All Phonic Lessons Cumula- tive experience has shown the wisdom of certain de- vices in the teaching of phonics, and the limitations of others. We must, therefore, sum up for the class teacher, the constructive suggestions for all phonic lessons. i. The Analytic Synthetic Procedure. Every phon- ic lesson must begin with words containing the spe- cific phonogram to be taught. The words selected for phonic analysis must also be such as are known at sight. The sequence of the complete lesson is there- fore: from sight words to phonogram, and then back again to a rich stock of words formed by phonic syn- thesis. "3 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ 2. Motivation. As far as possible the objects of phonic drills shall be made a conscious goal for the children. After a few lessons, they should be led to realize that phonic mastery means better speech and independent reading. The new attitude which the children will take toward ensuing lessons dispels the seeming drudgery, and guarantees active cooperation and interest in personal progress. 3. In the Blend, Place the Burden on the Child. The test of the efficiency of the lesson lies in the abil- ity of the child to read new words. It is therefore unwise to give undue aid during the synthetic step. If unusual difficulty is here experienced, the cause lies in lack of preparation or lack of mastery of phonic elements previously taught. 4. The Content Aspect in Phonics. Although phon- ics deals with formalism in language, thought need not be excluded. All results of phonic blends should be real words. Frequently children should be required to give evidence of ability to recognize new words by acting them out, drawing them, or pointing out the objects they represent. Thus, the phonogram taught was ing; when the teacher puts the word sing on the board during the blend, the child regards it as a re- quest, and sings, do, re, me; at the word ring, another child draws a circle on the board. These exercises tend to reestablish the basic association in reading, symbol-thought association, and add an interest which comes from dealing with ideas, rather than with pure form. 114 PHONICS 5. Instantaneous Recognition. It should be the aim of the synthetic step to develop almost instantaneous recognition of new words. A well-graded course that unfolds the phonic elements slowly, and provides suffi- cient drill, can develop the habit of rapid word recog- nition without slow, laborious lip-reading. In all grades lip-reading should be discouraged; in the third year it should be prohibited, for it tends to develop habits of word reading instead of thought acquisition. 6. Grouping According to Specific Inabilities. In all phonic work, concert answering should be regarded skeptically. Each child, whether correct or not in his utterances, becomes an unconscious model for his neighbor and the successive imitations sink gradually, but surely, to lower levels. The rapid individual reci- tation is imperative in phonic lessons. The mode of instruction, as well as the conduct of the recitation, must be thoroughly individualized. All children have their difficulties in phonics, but not all labor under the same limitations. Some can recog- nize all phonograms, but are defective in enunciation; other children utter some sounds accurately, but are unable to reproduce others, etc. It is evident that any system of class teaching in phonics will give children only passing attention in their weak points, and expend much more time in drilling on what they know. As soon as practical, the class should be grouped according to weaknesses along important lines, and the instruction should seek to give to each child his specific needs. 7. Undue Emphasis on Organic Phase of Speech. "5 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ Advisable as it is to teach the correct relative position of the organs of speech in difficult sounds, it is never- theless wise to realize the limitations of this informa- tion. The following procedure for teaching correct sound is outlined for teachers in a certain manual: (a) Utter the sound; (b) explain position of organs of speech; (c) let each child with mirror in hand study the relative position of his own teeth, tongue, etc.; (d) let the children attempt the pronunciation. Here we have an illustration of undue emphasis on the or- ganic aspect of speech, which must be condemned. All speech eventually sinks to the level of habit. The aim must therefore be to make utterance of speech an unconscious process. Let the teacher utter the sound with exceptional clearness and accuracy, and call upon the children individually to imitate. A few attempts and repetitions will show that a majority of the class learns new sounds by imitation, and through repetition develops the habit of correct speech. To emphasize the organic aspect of speech to these children makes speech a conscious process for them. It should also be noted that a nervous child, who often succeeds when he imitates the teacher, fails after he learns the correct position of the organs of speech, for now he has a new set of conditions to control and added coordinations to make consciously. Only those chil- dren who cannot reproduce a sound correctly after repeated attempts to imitate the clearly enunciated speech of the teacher, should be introduced to the or- ganic phase of speech. 116 PHONICS The Elimination of Habitual Mispronunciations The occasional mispronunciations that one hears from chil- dren, municipal, executive, and the like, need cause little worry. These drop out in time in the course of experience, because of corrections by teachers, contact with older people who speak correctly, attendance at lectures, etc. These errors are usually personal, and differ with each individual. The types of mispronun- ciation that must be the concern of the school are those that are heard in ever-increasing circles, and tend to drag our spoken language to the level of the street. Errors like Jat, goft, hist-ry, singin', w'ite, t'row, Toosday, are no longer individual weaknesses, but are found in large groups in every class; their eradication is an imperative duty. It is evident that these linguistic mutilations can be traced to definite contributing causes and that remedial measures which do not take cognizance of these causes and seek to counteract them, are inevitably doomed to failure. Our procedure will be to ascertain the causes and then evolve a remedial program. Causes of Habitual Mispronunciations. Chief among the conditions that make for slovenly speech we must enumerate the following: i. Foreign linguistic characteristics are carried over into English. The Jewish child hears and speaks in his home the language of peculiar gutturals. He brings these over to his English, and turns song into sonk, and Long Island into Lonk Kiland; the German child brings the flat, dull d and the broad vowels of 117 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ his language to the word that, and turns it into daat; another child of foreign parentage intonates his Eng- lish with the cadence peculiar to the language of his parents. 2. The influence of the street helps to keep spoken English on a low level. Few children have the cour- age to carry the correctly enunciated th or wh of those and which, or the correct u in duty, to their playmates. In the few hours allotted to it the school must engage in conflict with innumerable retarding forces that make up the greater part of the child's social environ- ment. Not only must the school develop habits of correct speech, but it must spend much of its energies undermining existing habits of incorrect speech. 3. Indifference to proper speech, or sheer careless- ness of utterance contributes materially toward the slovenliness of the language of the street. Not until children understand the need of correctly spoken lan- guage will they experience a motive sufficiently vital to stir in them an honest endeavor at self -improvement and a pride in purity and grace of speech. 4. Lack of proper apperceptive auditory basis is another contributing cause of incorrect oral speech. Many children of foreign parentage hear so little Eng- lish that the auditory center fails to interpret accu- rately the sounds that are made by the teacher. The ear has become so accustomed to the competing lan- guage that it can no longer hear accurately the pure English sound. Many such children make no distinc- tion between t'row and throw, w'ite and white, in 118 PHONICS their speech, because they hear none in the most accu- rately enunciated speech of others. Tireless patience, repeated appeals, exaggerated enunciation and a more intimate relation to the English language in the hours after school, gradually develop an auditory sensitivity which enables the child to hear these differences. 5. Wrong position of the organs of speech makes correct utterance impossible. Where imitation fails, the teacher must show the child the necessary posi- tions and coordinations of the speech organs. 6. Physical or physiological impediments, like the absence of teeth, poor articulation of teeth, thickness of tongue, short ligaments, malformation of the jaw, are handicaps to correct speech that teachers must note, for some of these can be corrected by surgical or dental treatment. The Correction of Habitual Errors. i. Passing at- tention to mispronunciations will not develop habits of correct speech. In every grade the teacher is held responsible for the correction of all errors in children's oral speech. When the mispronunciation is heard, the child is corrected and the matter is dismissed until the child offends again in his pronunciation. It is obvious that such spasmodic and haphazard correction lacks the vigor and the concentrated drill that tend to eradi- cate these habits of erroneous speech. To eliminate these, each teacher must be held responsible for a few definite corrections. The principal or supervisor should list all common mispronunciations that occur in children's speech. These should then be subdivided 119 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ among the grades of the first five or six years. Such a list will not contain more than eighteen or twenty common mispronunciations ; dividing these among the six grades, from the beginning of the third year through the end of the fifth, we have an average of three to a grade The third-year teacher feels that by unrelenting drill and by emphasis in every lesson, she must break the habit in her children of ( i ) dropping final g, "seeing" (2) slurring or omitting r, "bold," and (3) turning th (them) into d f "dem." In this grade other mistakes are corrected when they occur, but only three are singled out for vigorous drill. In this way, all common errors can be eliminated by the end of the fifth school year. This seems a reasonable result. But to require every teacher in every grade to correct every error of oral speech is to court failure. 2. Make a strong auditory appeal Having deter- mined to eradicate cfem for f/iem, the teacher now sounds a list of words that begin with the voiced th. This list is repeated two or three times with exagger- ated enunciation of the th until every ear reverberates with the sound of the voiced th. If the child hears foreign sounds in his home, or incorrect th on the street, his ear must be forcibly assailed by the cor- rect th. 3. Secure motivation and imitation. After leading children to realize that correct pronunciation has un- mistakable worth in their social intercourse, let them reproduce the sound as made by the teacher. Those who succeed are given sentences to read that involve 1 20 PHONICS d and th, e. g., "Don't deny them those delights."" This is kept up until correct th becomes a habit in speech. 4. Explain organic processes to those who fail. Only those children who fail in their repeated endeav- ors to imitate the teacher's model speech must be shown how the organs of speech are to be used in order to produce the sound in question. Each pupil should have a small mirror, and should study the or- ganic processes necessary for correct utterance of the sound. The children should look at the teacher care- fully as she whispers these sounds to them; they should be told to speak these sounds without voice as the teacher watches them and criticizes the positions of the different organs of speech. If the organic phase is correct, children should be called upon indi- vidually to produce the sound simultaneously with the teacher. As each child succeeds he is put into the group that reads sentences designed to make the cor- rect utterance of the sound an unconscious process. Infinite patience is required. After all this careful work, foreign children, when called upon to pronounce them, often put the tongue between the teeth, vibrate the tongue a moment and say ththth Jem. These children evidently hear the correct sound, have learned its organic phase, but have not yet developed the coor- dinations necessary to produce it. Untiring drill will bring results. 5. Employ certain mechanical aids. a. "Tongue Twisters" is the inelegant name for those artificial 121 TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ rhymes and nonsense jingles designed to give practice in certain sounds. The famous query, "If Theosophus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter, sifted three thou- sand thistles through the thick of his thumb, then where are the three thousand thistles that Theosophus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter, sifted through the thick of his thumb?" is an illustration of the host of tirills found in any technical volume on phonics. A list of these books is given at the end of the chapter. b. The lisper, who turns all sounds of ^ into th,