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I6T « _ •£}uno£) hi 'XOIHXSId 1OOH0S •snoisiAOjd ossq} odjojuo puB 1:0000 0} sjoqocox 3° A 'l n P *m si n -osuodxo omo siq 513 51 ootqcl itioqs eq '31 sW:jsop jo 'soSb -rai:p 'sasoi oq jj -j 1:1.104 ura OApooa -o.id jotjjo jo jaded qiiM 31 joaoo Pinoqs oh qidnd x? oi rioAiS'aq nuo 3{ooq suo Xjno :>ooS pioiA* it 3L'q; os 'ojbo qjiM jjooq siq; pue SuipjBnS A'q oi\qg oq; ;sissfc 04 S[idnj 30 £;np oqi si 41 sooa iXHX HJ.VJ.S VSISHX £*Uc CALIFORSIA STAT IC SERIES PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE A MANUAL FOR TEACHERS TO ACCOMPANY THE PRIMER, FIRST, AND SECOND READERS OF THE READING-LITERATURE SERIES BY FREE AND TREADWELL APPROVED BY THE STATE BOAED OF EDUCATION, SACRAMENTO ROBERT L. TELFER SUPERINTENDENT, STATE PRINTING Copyright, 1916, by The People of the State of California Copyright, 1916, by Bow, Peterson & Company I In the compilation of this book certain matter from the Primary Manual of the Reading-Literature Series by Free and Treadwell has been used. All such mat- ter is protected by the copyright entries noted above. EDUCATION DEPT. INTRODUCTION The "Reading-Literature Readers" by Free and Tread- well, were not designed to be what is commonly known as "method readers." There were already too many so- called method readers. Most of them have been arranged without reference to child-interest and solely to the end that certain methods might be developed and used. The "Free and Treadwell Readers" aim first, last, and all of the time to secure and hold the child's interest. They were compiled, in the schoolroom, from child litera- ture that has held the interest of children through genera- tions that are gone and that will be read with equal interest by millions in the years to come. In the beginning the publishers had prepared a brief teachers' manual to accompany the Primer. Beyond that it was then thought and is yet believed that any good lm'thod may be successfully used with these books. Since the books have become very extensively used it has been found that, owing to widely different degrees and kinds of preparation, many need, or think they need, more help than was provided in the original manual. The book aims to show teachers how simple and natural are the essential principles of teaching young children to read; to outline clearly and definitely simple methods in harmony with the most approved ideas of teaching reading, yet leaving the directions so flexible that teachers may be strengthened by their helpful guidance rather than ham- pered and weakened by an artificial, daily routine ; and to enlarge the conception of the significance of the best litera- ture in the early years of the child 's life. 3 4 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE The manual aims to be suggestive. It is not desired that any teacher follow it slavishly; rather that relatively inexperienced teachers shall find in it helpful guidance. The efficient, progressive teacher is always larger than any method that another can prescribe. Nor is it the purpose here to outline a new and startling plan. The aim is rather to gather and organize the experience of the best primary teachers of recent years, in what may well be called a * ' combination method. ' ' The methods suggested have been based upon and made to fit the content of the readers — a plan in direct variance with that usually followed, in which the content of the books is prepared to fit a preconceived, artificial method. The book is offered to teachers, who use and will use the "Free and Treadwell Headers, " in the earnest hope that it may serve to make the day's work more joyous; that, through its organization of material, it may lead to a solution of many difficulties; and, finally, that it may help millions of little learners to find their way more easily and more quickly into the delightful realms of book-land. The basis of this book was "First- Year Reading," pre- pared by Anna Morse of the Charleston, Illinois, Normal School. Among those who helped in the enlargement and remaking of the book are Supt. "W. R. Siders, Pocatello, Idaho; Miss Mary L. Robinson, Peoria, Illinois; Miss Martha Olson, Evanston, Illinois, and Dr. Harriett Ely Fansler, Columbia University, New York. The Publishers. GENERAL PRINCIPLES Primary reading, as is true of all reading, is for the purpose of promoting thought, and right reading habits are laid by first developing an interest in and love for reading. Reading is not, primarily, word study or word recognition. Even the simplest kind of reading means getting thought and feeling from written or printed char- acters. Oral reading is a still more complex process, involving, not only getting ideas, but all that goes to make oral expression of the thought and feeling. Children are led by desire and interest to get the thought, and the in- terest is sustained through their love for stories. The most important factor in teaching a child reading is to develop and foster his desire to read. The only means of ensur- ing these conditions is to provide reading matter that all children enjoy. The process herein suggested consists in the following distinct steps : The telling of the story so that each child has the thread of interest; the reproduction of the story by the pupils dramatizing it, or one or more telling it. The presentation of the sentence, as it appears in the Primer story; teaching the individual words of these sen- tences, from the sentence, as sight words; a phonic drill to be given daily after the reading of the first Primer story. The first work on phonics will consist in the drills on consonant values in words known to the child. Later, these consonant elements will be used in blending with phonograms to form words. Ultimately, the drill will be in the phonic analysis of the new words as they appear. 5 6 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE SIGHT WORDS Every teacher knows that once the child has made a beginning, he will recognize many words at sight, from the context. But, relying upon sight-word drill alone has never resulted in independence in the recognition of new words. Therefore, after the first few lessons in the Primer, the drill in phonics should begin and should receive con- stant, systematic, daily attention until the children are able to sound out most new words for themselves. PHONICS It is not the purpose here to set forth a ''scientific sys- tem" of phonics. It is not believed desirable that children in these early grades have even a "complete system" of phonics. It is the aim to give, in this manual, only such work as experience has shown necessary to train children into independent power over words in their reading vo- cabulary. There have been complete and scientific systems used for drill in the past. There are such systems yet in use in some sections of the country. But these systems have proved generally unsatisfactory. Their failure may be very clearly traced to the fact that they are too complex and elaborate. While it is true that the child needs to know the vowel values only as he may find them in combinations, he must know all of the consonant values. These should be taught from words which the child knows at sight. True, some of the consonants have more than one value but if those which occur most frequently in his reading are first taught, he will get the others in much the same way that he gains a knowledge of the vowel values — from letter combinations and from context. Most of the consonants have only a single value. These DISCUSSION OF PLAN 7 are b, d, f, h, j, k, I, m, n, p, qu, r, t, w, y. Wh as in wheat or as in cry, sk as in sky, gr as in ground, c (hard), g (hard) and s (sharp) are other values that the child will need for drill in the use of the " Reading-Literature Primer." DIACRITICAL MARKS Diacritical marks are used, in the main, to show vowel values. If the varying sounds of the vow r els are to be taught, in the abstract, these marks or some similar aid will be necessary. But it is not necessary that the vowel values should be so taught. Indeed, it is not even desirable. It is much better to teach these values in combination with final consonants and in phonograms. In most cases, the conso- nant or the combination of letters immediately following the vowel will control the value of that vowel. It is better to ignore the use of these marks until about the fourth grade, when the dictionary is brought into use. Then pupils may gain a working knowledge of them in a very few days. NON-PHONIC WORDS It may be suggested that these drills will not give power over non-phonic words; but if the child receives regular and thorough training in the essentials of phonics, he can easily be led to use his knowledge, with increasing power, in mastering all new words. However, there is no good reason why sueh words as will not readily answer to his knowledge of phonics may not be taught as sight words. A good way to learn to recognize new non-phonic words is to cover or omit the new word, reading the rest of the sentence, then judge what w r ord will fit the context. This plan is strongly recommended because it trains in reading ideas. In teaching words at sight, the teacher will devise many 8 PEIMAKY READING AND LITERATURE ways of securing repetition. The aim is to get interest- ing presentations. One good way is to write the word sev- eral times in easy sentences, or alone, with colored crayons, etc. Of course, this is drill, and drill may become a mechanical grind. But drill is necessary, and the teacher must exercise her ingenuity to secure variety, so that the work is done in a snappy way. With an indolent and inefficient teacher, any kind of drill is likely to become monotonous. Teach new words by relating the work to new steps in the story. Words that have little individual meaning — as conjunc- tions, some adjectives, prepositions, etc., should be dropped into the thought by making use of them. EXPRESSION There can be no reading without the right sort of expression. Children, before entering school, have learned to express themselves in words almost entirely by imi- tating those with whom they have been most closely asso- ciated. They are likely to imitate even the tone and inflection of those for whom they have the greatest affec- tion. This leads, many times, to faulty use of words, wrong pronunciation and peculiar expression, all of which the teacher must gradually and patiently correct. Reading is getting and expressing thought and feeling. The effort of the teacher, therefore, must be to lead the child to get thought and feeling, and then good expression will usually come naturally. The following principles are essential in the teaching of Primary reading, and the Primary teacher should study what here follows until she knows the ideas as well as she knows the multiplication table. 1. The child should learn to read as naturally as he DISCUSSION OF PLAN 9 learns to talk and for exactly the same reason — a desire to find out something, or a desire to tell something. Poor expression is the result of imperfect comprehen- sion of the thought. There must be preparation on the thought before trying to read. The children must be taught to look ahead and catch the thought of the whole combination of words. Until this is possible, the exercise is only one in word-calling — not reading. If the child is free, unrestrained, he can express his ideas and feeling as well as anyone. 2. Assigning to different children parts of stories, dia- logues, or poems is an aid in securing right expression. Occasionally the teacher may read one part of a story or dialogue while children take the other parts. 3. Children may be allowed, or asked, to read to the entire school. The reader stands before the school, while all give attention. He must read with expression in order that he may be understood, because the other children have no books open before them. At first, only the best readers should be allowed to read to the school, but the privilege should gradually be extended to every member of the school. 4. If any child expresses the notion that the reading may be improved, in whole or in part, allow him to read the story or that part of it in question. 5. Dramatization is one of the best means for securing the right expression, even in middle grades. The stories of the "Free and Treadwell Readers" are especially suit- able for dramatization by the children themselves. Dif- ferent pupils may be required to take different parts in playing these stories and these plays, at different times, should include all of the members of the class, the slowest as well as the brightest. 6. Do not tolerate an unnatural tone or an affected 10 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE manner. Insist on the children's "telling" their stories, not to the blackboard, nor to the books, but to the teacher, to some particular pupil, or to the entire group. 7. It is a mistake to keep a class too long on one lesson. It is better to go back to it after a time than to read that in which the pupil has lost interest. 8. Do not permit sing-song reading, drawling, shouting, or mumbling. Tone down high pitched, shrill voices to a natural tone. 9. The voice should receive attention from the first and all proper effort should be made to help the child to control and improve it for expressing thought in his own or the author's words. Drills for enunciation and articu- lation will be needed in every grade. 10. The teacher may read to the school. Sometimes, the story period is fixed immediately to follow the opening of the school sessions and, because of the children 's interest, it becomes a strong, wholesome incentive to punctuality. HELPFUL MATERIALS Certain materials for the use of the teacher and the pupils will be found very helpful when properly used. The publishers of reading books quite often furnish these helps at a nominal price; but the teacher, if she will, can easily make for herself all of these and others that her experience will suggest. A description of these devices follows : Percepticm, Cards, A set may consist of, say, one hun- dred cards, each card containing one of the words taught in the primer. The cards may be used in teaching the new words of a story, in word drills and in testing quick recognition of words already taught. In using the cards for quick recognition, the teacher will stand before the class with the cards in her hands. These she will dis- DISCUSSION OF PLAN 11 play, one at a time, for quick recognition. At first, this work should be done somewhat slowly, so that all children may have a part in the word recognition, but later, the drill should be rapid. In the beginning, but two or three of the cards will be used, but others will be added to the pack as the vocabulary increases. These cards are 4 by 6 inches in size and they may be made by any teacher. This diagram shows the plan. Pupil's Word Cards. These may consist of a set of ten cards, each containing seventy words. These are the words of the primer and every word is repeated several times. The words are printed between lines so that they may be cut out along the lines, in uniform size. Thus every child may have all of the words of the primer repeated several times. They may be kept in envelopes or in small boxes, and are to be used by pupils in their seats in sentence building. In the beginning, this sentence building will consist ■imply of following or copying sentences with the Primer open before the pupil. Later, sentences may be built from dictation. Any teacher who has access to a typewriter can make these cards. hen Pig bread cut cat dog grind seed wheat found plant thresh make eat Phonic Cards. These may be a set of 20 cards, 4x6 inches in size, for the use of the teacher in drilling on the con- sonant elements. They are printed on both sides. On 12 PRIMARY BEADING AND LITERATURE one side is the word containing the consonant, slightly separated from the phonogram. Just below is the con- sonant alone. On the reverse side of the card, the con- sonant is printed in both capital and lower case forms. The appearance of one of these cards is here shown. The child knows the word "red" at sight. The teacher may first write or print the word on the blackboard, with the consonant slightly separated from the rest of the word. If the child does not, at first, readily recognize the word, a line may be made to connect its parts. When it is recognized, the line should be removed and the children led to say the parts of the word as they appear upon the blackboard. After a few such drills from the blackboard, with the first few words, the cards alone will suffice. The subsequent drill from the cards will be on the consonants alone, as they appear on the reverse side. In this drill, if the child does not readily recognize the consonant, the teacher may turn the card over and require him to work out the consonant from the word, as in the beginning. Drill on consonant elements should be daily and contin- uous until children are thoroughly familiar with them. WORKING PLANS The stories used in these readers are worth lingering over and rereading, and the pupils should not be hurried through the books. The repetition, if at all lively and wide awake on the part of the teacher, is attractive to the child. DISCUSSION OF PLAN 13 The stories are suitable as a real basis for many kinds of lessons, and this manual directs attention to the fol- lowing : Language 1. Hearing and telling the stories. 2. Playing or dramatizing the situations when possible. 3. Memorizing stories and poems wholly or in part. Reading 1. Blackboard sentences based on the stories. 2. Blackboard sentences based on dramatization. 3. The use of the book itself. 4. The use of mimeographed or printed words and sen- tences chosen from the vocabulary in the book. 5. The use of phonics all the time. Drawing 1. Illustrative — original drawings representing incidents. 2. Formal — tracing pictures, coloring outlines prepared by the teacher. _ _ J Clay and Sand Work 1. Modeling simple figures mentioned in the stories. 2. Staging the actors on the sand-table. Nature Lessons About animals and plants mentioned. Room Decoration Use of pictures and cuttings relating to the literature. PURPOSES The varied lessons to which this manual directs attention have a twofold purpose : Firsts to add to the child's general culture. Second, to enrich the process of learning to read. Since reading involves more that is new and difficult to a child than anything else in the first year of school, most of this part of the manual is devoted to that subject. GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR BEGINNING I. Telling the Story. Teacher should know the original story and adapt it, keeping the Primer story in mind as a guide when she prepares her story. II. Conversation about the Story. Free expression on the part of pupils and teacher gives an insight into the understanding of the story, a chance to correct mistaken notions, and helps pupils to gain information which they need to make a unified whole of the story. III. Dramatization of the Story. This should be begun early in the development of the new story. It aids the pupils in getting the setting of the story, vitalizes the thought, gives opportunity for self-activity and self- expression. The child lives the thought through its dram- atization, and later, when he reads it his expression will likely be better because of this experience. Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the manner of dramatization. The inexperienced teacher often errs in giving too much direction for it. Bear in mind these facts; tell your story clearly, picture vividly the images you wish the pupils to get, question in such sequence as to secure continuity of thought in the reproduction, and, when you feel that the children have the story well in mind, parts in proper relation, say, "Would you like to make up a game about the Little Red Hen, and see if we can play it?" Assign the various parts and allow pupils freedom in arranging the stage. If the teacher remembers only to direct and allow the pupils to do the acting, her dramati- zation will be a joy and a source of excellent results by way of laying a foundation for individual expression. 14 GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR BEGINNING 15 IV. Reference to Sentence. The teacher should write on the blackboard the sentence as given in the book. She should then read it, sliding the pointer under it as she reads. A number of children should then each read it, again sliding the pointer under the sentence. This will tend to the establishment of smooth reading. V. Locating of Word in the Sentence. Find the word "hen," or find the sentence, The little red ken found a seed. The pupil slides the pointer under the sentence, say- ing it as a whole, not as unrelated words. Then the teacher says, "Which word is hen?" Until his knowledge of phonics can guide him, the pupil may read silently to find the word. VI. Use of Print and Script. Unless she can letter well, the teacher should not use the print forms on the board; it is simply an added difficulty to the pupils. If the teacher uses the script on the board pupils can take perception cards to the blackboard and match with script there. VII. Re-arrangement of Words into unfamiliar Sen tences. These sentences should be written upon the board. They should not be contradictory to the facts of the story in the book. A' I II. Silent Reading. The best materials for this are sentences giving directions to be read silently and acted out by the pupils, as in the Little Red Hen — You may he the hen, Mary. You may he the cat, Fred. John may he the dog. Or in The Boy and the Goats — Play you are the hoy, Jack. You may he the goat, Albert. You may he the squirrel, Grace. 16 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE IX. Oral Reading:. Pupils should not be asked to express themselves orally until they have looked the sen- tence through and are sure of the thought. Then, looking from the book, they should tell the teacher or the class- mates what they have prepared. X. Pupils tell the Story. After the pupils have read the story for themselves, two, three, four, even more, if the interest be sustained, should be allowed to tell it to the class, to a visitor, or to another class in the building. XI. Enunciation, First of all the teacher should set a good example in clear enunciation. Hold pupils respon- sible for making the classmates understand what is said. The teacher should keep at a distance from the one who is reading. Making a list of words which pupils do not enunciate properly and having a drill separate from the reading les- son time but referring to this list when a mistake is made, is invaluable. Working with individuals who seem to be slow to hear differences in sounds, finding out the cause of the difficulty, may be time well spent. XII. Phonics. Phonic drills should always be separate from the reading period, but phonics should be used as soon as pupils have the power to get new words of the read- ing lesson. A drill on the new words should always be given previous to the reading. An exhaustive list of words in a family, or set of words, containing the same phono- gram, is unnecessary. Four or five words are sufficient. Words that are outside the child's vocabulary should not occur in these lists. Meaningless combinations which are neither words nor phonograms should not be used merely for the sake of phonic gymnastics. XIII. Time and Number of Reading Lessons. Children should have two or three short reading lessons daily and two or three drills in phonics of two to five minutes each. GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR BEGINNING JJ These periods should be full of vivacity and enthusiasm. Short lessons are better than long ones, for little children are likely to become fatigued if kept long at one task. The time devoted to reading the lesson as well as to phonic drills may be extended as children grow in power of sustained attention. XIV. Devices. 1. Use the Perception cards furnished with the Readers for the purpose of drilling upon the words. 2. Use as sentence builders, cards containing the words written or printed on them. Let these be put together so as to form the easy sentences of the chart or board lessons. 3. Assign expression work to occupy the pupils at their seats. This must be some profitable employment. Play- ing with sticks, marking with a pencil, or doing anything else with no definite aim in view, should not be permitted. The work should be copying, illustrating by drawing, or painting, card work, paper folding, making objects de- scribed in the reading lessons, etc. 4. If desired, a chart for the reading work can be made from manila paper of postal-card weight. Use black ''Standard Checking" crayon, number thirty-one, making letters that can be seen across the room. Teachers are advised to depend upon the board and methods suggested heretofore rather than upon the chart. 5. Fasten to the top of the blackboard a common window shade with a spring roller. This is to be used to cover lessons written on the board for sight reading. 6. Use colored crayons on the blackboard to emphasize certain words or ideas. 7. Use the sign printer to print the sentences on long strips of manila cardboard. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS The more detailed suggestions regarding method in beginning reading are arranged in four sections: USE OF BOOK FROM THE FIRST Section I aims to give specific directions for those teachers who desire to place the book in the hands of the pupils within the first week. This was the intention of the authors of the Primer. So far as is known the plan has proved satisfactory wherever tried. The delight the little folk feel when they realize they can read a story from the book is beyond description. AN ALTERNATE PLAN Section II is simply an alternate plan for the guidance of those teachers who prefer to postpone having the chil- dren read from the book for about three weeks. There is no serious objection to this plan. For some teachers, with certain types of children, it may be the better plan. It is, however, likely to involve a large amount of unneces- sary work, that is distinctly less interesting than that involved in the plan outlined in Section I. SUPPLEMENTARY READING Section III presents suggestions regarding the selec- tion and use of supplementary reading. THE COURSE IN PHONICS Section IV is designed to give all the help any teacher needs for systematic and thorough teaching of all the essentials of phonics. 18 SECTION I PUPILS USE THE PRIMER FROM THE FIRST THE LITTLE RED HEN The teacher tells the children the story, as a whole. She uses good English, vivid description, simple natural dia- logue, but does not confine herself to the text of the "Primer." She lets the children talk about the story, draw pictures, and dramatize the incidents told. This precedes the reading lesson which comes at a later time during the day. First Reading Lesson The teacher recalls the story by means of a question or two. and writes, as plain as print, The Little Bed Hen, upon the board. She tells the children the whole group of words, not trying to separate it in their minds into words, nor to drill upon it at all — merely to let the children know she has written the name of the story. Later, when she wishes to use these words in her conversation, she takes care to point to the whole group on the blackboard as she speaks it. She opens a primer before the pupils, teaches them how to hold a book and turn the leaves. Then, point- ing to the group of words on the board, she says, "111 show you a picture of the litth red hen," and turns to page 1. She then gives a book to each pupil. Each is to keep his book closed until told otherwise. When all are ready, the teacher points again to the board, and says, "Find a pic- tuiv of flu lit tl< red lun on the outside of the primer." When all have done as directed, she suggests, "Find a pic- ture of this inside your book," writing instead of speaking 19 20 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE the name, The Little Red Hen. ''Find the very first pic- ture of this, ' ' pointing again to the name. ' ' Show me her name on the page." "What does it say?" The name of the story may be written three or four times, in different colors. This may be followed by writing on the board the name of the child the teacher wishes to gather and put away the books. Then she writes the word, Rise, if she wishes the pupils to go to their seats; at first speaking the word each time she refers to the board, later pointing to the word instead of speaking it. Second Lesson The teacher steps to the board and writes, The Little Red Hen. "This is the story I'm thinking about," point- ing to instead of speaking the name. The children will probably read the name of the story. If they do not, the teacher may show the tiniest glimpse of the picture on page 1 in the "Primer." The teacher commends those who know the story she had in mind and then erases the words. "Now I'm thinking about this story," she says, as if she meant another one, and writes the same title on the board. She remembers that often repeated experiences are necessary to impress images of words upon the minds of little children learning to read. Some children can tell at once. But for others, she writes again in another place on the board, The Little Red Hen, and says, "What does this make you think of?" She gives the slower ones a chance to tell. The teacher then holds up a strip of paper on which she has written, The little red hen found a seed. "This tells what she found," she says, and sev- eral children read it. The teacher then writes the same sentence on the board. "Can you read this?" she asks. Some child probably can do so, but not every one in the PUPILS USE PRIMER FROM FIRST 21 class. ''See what this says" — and she writes the same sentence under the first. She writes this same thing per- haps half a dozen times on the board, in such a way that like words come one under another — and until the class see the likenesses. Then, when all are expecting the same sentence to appear once more, she writes a different one, "It was a wheat seed," and looking expectantly toward the class asks, "Who can read this?" Some will at once respond, ' ' The little red hen found a seed ! ' ' The teacher leads them to see the joke she played on them when they were not expecting it. "I wrote something different this time. See how it begins — not at all like The little" — pointing to these words as she speaks them. "I said 'It was a wheat seed.' You see the last part is just the same. That is the word seed. Here it is again where we said 'The little red hen found a seed/ Can you see it anywhere else on the board?" Then she closes the lesson by asking various children to erase certain sentences from the board, pupils at seats clapping if the child at the board touches and erases the correct sentence. Third Lesson Before class time the teacher has written on the board, The little red hen found a seed. The little red hen found a seed. The little red hen found a seed. It was a wheat seed. It was a wheat seed. It was a wheat seed, seed seed seed little little found found found a seed The arrangement of these sentences and of the words for drill should be varied. 22 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE "Find some words that look alike to you," she directs some child. She shows what she means by a word, by pointing not to the center nor to the beginning of the group of letters, but by moving the pointer under the whole word, or by putting her two hands around the word. After the children have pointed to various groups of sim- ilar words (not naming them, for they are not expected to recognize isolated words yet) the teacher says, "If I should tell you one word, you could know whenever I was writing about that thing. Here is seed. Where else was I thinking seed? Here is all I said that time," point- ing to the sentence written first, and reading aloud, "The little red hen found a seed." "Did you hear that word seed as I spoke ? It was the last one I said — and the last one I wrote. Can you find which part of the sentence says redf little?" Carry this device as far as seems advisable. Do not teach the words the and a as isolated words. Directions like this should be given: Find "a seed," or find "The little red hen." Which word is redf Which is hen? Which is little? It is unnecessary to separate a, the, and an from the names, for these words recur so often they practically teach themselves, if just slipped in by the teacher when neces- sary, as a seed, the little red hen. There is much danger of too great importance and stress being placed upon these words, thereby spoiling the expression in oral reading. This is not meant for a drill, and the teacher must not expect pupils to remember the words. It is merely a voy- age of discovery in which the children who have so far thought in sentences now discover that a sentence can be separated into words. The class is dismissed by allowing the pupils to take turns in reading a sentence as the teacher erases it from the board, thus saving their time and hers. PUPILS USE PRIMER FROM FIRST 23 Fourth Lesson Before class time the teacher has printed on strips of manila paper, by use of a sign printer, or in some other way,* the two sentences used in writing the day before, and also the separate word seed, and the title, "The Little Red II r." This last she holds up and asks the children to find in the book where it says, "The Little Red Hen," pointing to her printed words as she speaks. " Point to the next place where it says, — " and she does not speak the phrase as she holds up the paper. "I see a little seed, (holding up word) in the picture. This is the name. You may touch the picture. Find the word seed under your picture. It looks like this word, only smaller. . . . Find the word seed in another place." During this time the teacher moves about among the children, showing them several words like hers. Holding up her first printed slip she says, "Find in your books a sentence that looks like this. It says, 'The little red hen found a seed.' Find another line just like it. . . . What does that say?" asks the teacher of several children. Then she treats the other lines on the page in a similar way. As a summary of the lesson, she stands behind the class, where she can see as many individuals as pos- sible, and reads a sentence at a time, seeing that they show where their books say what she speaks. Fifth Lesson, Page 3 1 ' Play you are the little red hen, Anne, ' ' says the teacher, pointing, as she speaks them, to the underlined words which she has written on the board. A few grains of wheat have been scattered about on the floor before the class, and * For this and other like purposes the publishers supply ' ' Percep- tion Cards.' ' 24 PKIMAEY BEADING AND LITERATURE Anne hunts about and finds one, saying, "Who will plant the seed V 9 " What did she find, Isabel ? ' ' asks the teacher. " I '11 write it here on the board, ' ' The little red hen found a seed" — she writes. "Read this sentence, Miriam — Russel— Ruth." "What kind of seed was it, Little Red Hen?" she asks, turning to Anne. "It was a wheat seed," the child answers. "I'll write that on the board, ' ' says the teacher, as she begins. "Read this sentence, James — Russel — Helen." "Read both these sentences, Edwin." "What did 'The Little Red Hen' say, Katherine?" asks the teacher, pointing to the sentence as she speaks it. Chil- dren answer, and teacher writes, ' ' The little red hen said, 'Who will plant the seed?' " Different children read and re-read the various sentences on the board, and when the class turns to go to their seats, each child points to some word or sentence or phrase on the board as he goes by — the teacher giving a hint as she gives her directions, by saying, "I don't know what word you'll choose to touch and tell. Perhaps you'll point to seed (doing so herself as she speaks), or perhaps you'll choose plant (pointing to the word), or it may be you'll point to 'The little red hen' — you see I don't know. You are to decide." Then chil- dren in turn march past the board and back to their seats, touching and pronouncing "their words" as they go. Sixth Lesson, Page 3 The teacher has prepared by the use of a sign printer, or with a supply of the large printed words furnished by the publishers of "The Primer," the printed sentences used on page 3. She holds up the first and asks some child to read it. Possibly he cannot, or attempts and guesses PUPILS USE PRIMER FROM FIRST 25 wrong. The teacher reads it correctly, saying, perhaps, 1 'Now, next time you'll know. See this beginning part — The — little — red — hen. And here is this last word seed. Don't forget. What does this say?" Then, laying down the printed slip with the others — and seeming to pick up another she asks, "Read what this says, Alice/' showing the same sentence. This device is often used, until pupils recognize likenesses and can tell every time when the teacher makes this kind of test. After using all the sen- tences on the page in this way, with large printed slips, the teacher asks the pupils to open their books at page 3 and read the same sentences from the book. While one child reads, the others show where it says the same thing in their books. The notion that there is value in having one child tell the others a sentence whose content is already perfectly familiar — while they sit with closed books and assume an interest they do not feel — is an exploded idea. It is only the form on page 3 that is new, and this form must appeal to the eye, not the ear; therefore the children ought to be using their eyes while they are listening to one child read. Seventh Lesson, Preparing for Page 4 The teacher stands at the board before the class and says — writing italicized words neatly but quickly as she speaks them — "To-day we shall plant some wheat seeds as the little hen did — only ours must be in these little boxes ' ' (one for each child). (See suggestions for hand work on page 38.) "Here is the seed. Who will plant the seed? Play you are the cat, Anne. Play you are the pig, Kate. Play you are the dog, Vera. This is what each one said wlun the hen asked, 'Who will plant the seedV . . . 'Not i; 'Not 1/ 'Not I.'" "Play you are The Little Red Hen, Frances. Ask your 26 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE friends 'Who will plant the seed?' if Children answer as teacher points, or point and answer — "Not I." "The little red hen said, 'I will,' " writes the teacher as Frances answers her friends. ''You may plant the seed in your box, Frances. ' ' Frances plants several seeds. Then other children play they are the different animals mentioned and as the lesson proceeds, different ones point to their names or to their conversation on the board as this little incident in the story is acted and re-acted, and various "little red hens" plant the seeds in their boxes. If time is short, the teacher may say the parts for the pig, the cat, and the dog, writing or pointing as she speaks, while all who are left may play they are a whole flock of "little red hens' ' and answer all at once as they plant the wheat. Eighth Lesson, Page 4 Let the memory of the story help the children enjoy this page. It will be partly guessing and partly reading. The teacher must lead the pupils to guess correctly at this stage of reading. You may rest assured that the work in phonics, if well taught, will do away with any need for guessing a little later in the term. Each child opens his book to the page. "Let us tell the story from the picture first. Who talked first 1 . . . What did she say? ... I'll show you where the reading on the page tells that very thing!" Then she turns her book to show the pupils the very thing they have told from the picture. ' Here is the fellow who spoke next, ' ' she says, pointing to the picture of the pig. ' ' What did he say ? ' ' She may need to re-word the child's answer to fit the wording of the next sentence — "Yes, the pig said, 'Not I.' . . . Here is where the book tells about it, ' ' and she points to the sen- PUPILS USE PRIMER FROM FIRST 27 tence. . . . "Who spoke next? Show me her picture. What did she say? Here it tells that very thing. Let's all say it. Show me where it is in your book. Now read what the dog said. . . . I'll read the last line on the page." Then the teacher goes about behind the different mem- bers of the class and asks them to show her where it says "Not I, Not I, Not I," on the page. She directs them to find the same thing on page 5, saying, "That tells the next part of the story when the little red hen asked them to do some other work for her. Ninth Lesson, Review Children use books, "reading" page 1, looking at the first line on page 2, and then telling it. The teacher may stop here and ask pupils to point out the words seed, Utile, and wheat, using perception cards to show the words to all while she does so. By questioning, lead pupils to look through each sen- tence on the page and then read it aloud. Then without questions, let some pupil read the whole page, telling him at once the sentences he does not know. Of course, just here, pupils can sometimes "read the story" quite as well without the book, but that does not matter. The point is, can he show where, on the page, the familiar thought stands? Treat the next two pages in the same way, and see to it that each child has a chance to read aloud in the recitation many times, occasionally in concert — but usually alone. Tenth Lesson, Page 5 Caution. — Do not hurry to drill on separate words. Do not try to teach these lessons as you yourself were taught to read, unless you are sure it was the best way. The teacher begins, ' 4 Look at the picture. This wheat is 28 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE taller than that we planted. What does the hen want the pig to do now? Books are laid aside and attention given to blackboard lesson at this point." "Ill tell you what she said" — (writing) The little red hen — (stops to ask — "Who is this?") said, "Who will cut the wheat?" This is who spoke next. The pig. . . . (Who is this?) The cat. . . . The dog. . . . "Tell me the names of these three animals. Point to The cat. The dog. The pig. . . . Shut your eyes while I write something." . . . The teacher writes these groups of words in different places on the board. Then the chil- dren open their eyes and she directs — ' ' Find another place where I wrote The cat. Where does it say The pig?" pointing to words as she speaks, so that pupils have some thing by which to test their search. Their own mental images of the words may be too confused and indistinct. The teacher will save time if she finds excuses for telling these words over and over again in an interesting way, and seeing that the children strengthen and deepen the cor- rect image of word, phrase, or sentence. If she expects to tell once, and then test memory on the strength of that one impression, she will meet disappointments, and will lose the confidence of her pupils, who feel she has led them into deep water and left them helpless. To Finish the FIrst Story For the following pages of the story let the pictures help tell the new thought — "Who will thresh the wheat?" "Who will grind the wheat?" etc., and let a varied repe- tition in script and print gradually make the child sure of these and the other often repeated sentences from page 1 to page 10. PUPILS USE PRIMER FROM FIRST 29 If a child does not recognize familiar words in new posi- tions on new pages, turn to review pages which he knows thoroughly and show him where it says the very same thing. Tell him only so much as is really necessary. Let him stretch his effort to the utmost, but be sure he succeeds in the end. When the children can read a story well, they may be allowed to take their books home to read to Mother and Father or to other children. This will give much practice in oral reading with a genuine motive. The same order of work, as outlined with the first story may be followed, in a general way, with each of the Primer stories. After pupils have a sufficient sight vocabulary, the teacher should not tell the story. Let the children have the pleasure of getting its thought by their own effort. The general order, however, should be as follows: 1. Teacher tells the story. 2. Reproduction by the children. 3. Dramatization. 4. Reading sentences from the board and finally, the story. 5. Drill with perception cards on Primer stories, as they are taught: This drill should be thorough, that it will not be required after the Primer is completed. Mean- time, the child's growing knowledge of phonics should enable him to master most new words as they appear in the lessons. 6. Drill with* phonic cards. This work should begin with the second story and these cards should be used for drill until pupils are thoroughly familiar with all con- sonant elements. Preparation, Page 15 Let the first presentation here be from the blackboard. Italicized words are written on board — others spoken. 30 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE "I'll tell you more about The Gingerbread Boy. The gingerbread boy met a cat. He told the cat who he was. He said — 'I am a gingerbread boy. I am. I am. I am.' Play you are the gingerbread boy. Tell us who you are" (pointing to sentence while child repeats). "What did you do?" Writes as child says — "1 ran away. I ran away from the little old woman. I ran away from the little old man. I ran away. I ran away. I ran away." "This is what he told the cat" — (teacher reads as she writes---) "I can run away from you. I can, I can, I can. "Find where it says, I can. I can run away from you." Teacher reads and writes — "And he ran, and he ran, and he ran." She then goes back over the lesson on the board, hinting at how easy it will seem, now that they know what is there. She questions just enough to keep the children reading intelligently — not holding them for a knowledge of many separate words, but knowing that frequent repetition, if interesting, will do the work, and children will be reading before they know it. Further Preparation, Pages 15 and 16 The teacher prints the sentences with a sign printer on strips of paper five inches wide and a yard or more long, uses the "Perception Cards" or the blackboard. She ques- tions carefully, and shows a sentence suggested by the question for all the class to see. After it is read by several PUPILS USE PRIMER FROM FIRST 31 it is put aside, to be picked up in a moment, and again shown to the class, while the image is fresh in their minds. Again and again the same sentence is shown — until the children know it promptly at sight. Then the book is opened and the children have the fun of finding themselves able to "read the story." Similar preparation should be given for pages 17-24. No page in the book should be attempted until there has been : 1. Careful introduction to the thought, usually with blackboard, because here class and teacher come nearer to each other. 2. Enough word-drill so that the recognition of sentences in the book is a pleasureable experience. 3. Enough imagination stimulated through the pictures, the dramatization, the dialogue, to keep the story alive. While the children are reading the second story, teach consonant elements as follows: r in r ed h in h en p in p ig The child knows these words at sight. When red is placed on the board as r ed, he may not recognize it ; but if a line be made to connect the parts, he will, in most cases, readily say the word. This connecting line will not be needed after a very few words are studied in 1 his way. THE OLD WOMAN AND THE PIG This story should be told to the children and re-told by them, at the story hour or language period, before the lending begins, because there are several words and phrases not in the speaking vocabulary of the ordinary child. Drawing pictures and playing parts of the story add inter- 32 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE est on the part of the children, and give the teacher greater opportunity to correct wrong images the child may have formed through hearing the spoken words. When this has been done, the preparation needed on the form side is much lessened. The preliminary black- board work may now be shortened to merely a word-drill — as in the lessons previously outlined. A list of words already learned should be kept on the board and children should be drilled on this list as well as with the perception cards. Devices for conducting this word-drill: The teacher tells the children to find the first word. She has some child find the word in another place. Tell the children to find the second word. Then ask another child to tell all the words he knows from the board. The drill may be thus extended, or the teacher may give occasional concert drills as follows : 1. She touches a word with the pointer, and waits until all see. Children keep silent but alert. As soon as she removes the pointer, all speak with great promptness. Con- cert drills thus conducted give slower members of the class a fair chance, and promote self-control in the quicker members who want to tell everything. 2. She points to a word with her eraser. All look and keep silent. When the eraser moves over the word, all speak. When the children are ready to read page 26, the teacher has at hand the list of words printed in large type two inches high, and just before the children read each sen- tence she shows for a second one or two of the key words of that sentence — thus giving a hint of what it is to tell them. At the end of the lesson the teacher should give short, quick drills on these words, and perhaps lend them to PUPILS USE PRIMER FROM FIRST 33 some child to take home and tell his mother. "Be sure to tell her it is not a spelling lesson!" she warns him — for most well-meaning mothers are strong on teaching spelling, before it is wanted or needed. After a page has been worked out sentence by sentence, it should not be dropped and forgotten. It should be re-read as a whole by several children, and gone back to in subsequent lessons to be read "just for fun," and "to make it sound like a story." But in every lesson there should be some new work; either words and thoughts not given before, or so differ- ently arranged that they seem new to the children. It is only by pushing forward that the teaching of reading is accomplished. As indicated, drill in the phonic series should begin with the third story and should develop as indicated in various suggestions that follow. The phonic drills beginning with the third story will be on n in not, d in dog, y in you and c in cat. Give fre- quent drills, also on the first four phonic series while the pupils are reading this story. Cautions 1. Do not re-arrange sentences so that they are contra- dictory to the facts in the story, merely for the sake of word drill. For example, such sentences as these should not be given : The little red hen did not find a seed, or The little red hen said, "Not I." 2. Above all, do not measure your success by the num- ber of words your pupils know, nor judge the work of the first year by the number of books read, but by the ease with which the pupils attack new material. 34 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE THE BOY AND THE GOAT Some teachers prefer not to tell this story before reading it. The pictures, the words already fairly familiar, and the rapidly growing desire and ability on the part of pupils to find out new words and sentences for themselves by means of phonics, will more and more do away with the need for blackboard preparation for each page, and for oral introductions. The teacher must come less and less be- tween the child and the book, if reading is taught effectively. The phonic work to be carried on concurrently with the •reading of this story is on m in m an, s in s o, h in ~b ut, and th in tin en. At the same time take the next four of the phonic series. Remember that in extending the work with these series, there should be constant review of series already taught. This story of the boy and the goat is an excellent one to play. The dialogue is natural and the action rather funny. Written suggestions, taking words or sentences from the story, may be used to start the play, but if used through- out the lesson are too likely to hamper freedom of action and original expression. THE PANCAKE By this time the children should have considerable power to recognize words. It should not be necessary to tell this story as a whole before reading begins, for then the incentive for discovering thought for themselves is taken away from the pupils. Through use of the pictures, hint just enough to lead the children into each page. They will partly guess at the reading there, but they must be made to be sure when they are right by verifying or disproving their guesses by sounding the words. PUPILS USE PRIxMER FROM FIRST 35 Example: At beginning of the lesson the teacher may- say: "This tells about an old woman and all her children. How many do you suppose she had?" Children probably count and answer "seven." Read the first sentence and sec what the book says. Children then read, first silently, then orally. "What word makes you sure how many there were?" Children point to the word seven, "What has she on the board?" asks the teacher, refer- ring again to the picture. Guesses are made and then the children are told to find out what the second sentence really tells. The word is the name of the story. Then after two sentences have been studied through, another child is called upon to read both. Then a third is approached, and so the story grows. After the first three pages have been thus developed sentence by sentence, tin' rest of the story will need less questioning, for con- tinued repetition will add to the number of words known at sight, and the cumulative thought will make it much easier to infer what is coming next. So questions may tell less, and only direct — for example: "See what hap- pened next," or "what did he say after that?" This is a well arranged story, as are many of those in the book, for getting good grouping of words. For exam- ple "/or the boy, into the woods, over the brook," etc., should be glanced at as a single word and not spoken one at a time. With careless teaching, one rather bad habit may be formed. - That is, children may learn to drop their voices after the word said when it introduces someone's conversation. This, however may easily be guarded against if the pupils are trained to read thoughts as wholes. This grouping of words or "phrasing" is one of the very best aids in securing expression and it should have constant attention. 36 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE In fact nothing less than this is reading. The teacher who accepts less is not teaching reading. The phonic drills with this story are / in fox, t in to, g in get and k in kill. Add to this, drills in phonic series nine to twelve, inclusive, with reviews of series already taught. CHICKEN LITTLE This story needs little development beyond the second page, except a naming by the teacher of the characters as they appear in the pictures. The names given in nursery rhymes vary, and a class of children may have quite a variety to suggest if left to guess. Teachers must remem- ber that one "right-telling" is not enough to make up for three or four "wrong-tellings" on the part of classmates. In using the review stories, for example, page 76, after a study lesson with the teacher, in which questions, word drills, and phonics help the children to find out what the page says, the teacher may profitably plan a seat lesson in silent reading something as follows: Each child is supplied with a piece of drawing paper and a soft pencil. The teacher goes about from seat to seat, encouraging and teaching the individuals, whose different conceptions of the story will be amazing and interesting. Each child is directed to read a little, until something reminds him of a good picture to draw. Then he is to stop and make the picture — read again, draw another and so on. The pictures will tell whether pupils have really read, and how they interpreted their reading. This may be varied by having pupils cut the pictures from paper, free hand, instead of drawing them. This is desirable in such a story as ' ' The Three Billy Goats Gruff, ' ' where the bridge, the hill, the troll, and the goats are easily PUPILS USE PRIMER FROM FIRST 37 distinguishable forms. A child likes to have his cuttings recognized. The phonic drill with the sixth story, " Chicken Little," will be cr in cry, wh in why, and qu in quench. Add phonic series thirteen to sixteen, inclusive, and review all series already taught. The phonic drills with the seventh story, "The Billy Goats Gruff," will be with ch in chicken, sn in snout, and sk in sky. Add to these a thorough review drill in all the phonic series already taught. LITTLE TUPPENS AND LITTLE SPIDER'S FIRST WEB By this time pupils should be accustomed to attempting new words without much help from the teacher. However, it is advisable to teach the new words which appear in these stories before attempting the reading, for when the stum- bling blocks are removed the appreciation of the story is greater, the pupils enjoy the story, and hence they read better. In teaching the new words, a pupil should never be told the word if he can possibly get it for himself. Though it takes more time, it pays to let the child use his own powers in this work. "While reading the eighth and ninth stories, the con- sonant drill will be with gr in gruff, th in thank, and tr in trip. Also complete phonic series seventeen to twenty, inclusive. Review all phonic series including series one to twenty. SILENT READING Silent reading can only be of value when pupils know the words of a story at sight, or can find them out with- out audible effort. Silent reading is a thing to be taught with care, and with much persistence. It should begin the first days of school and continue throughout the grades. 38 PEIMAEY BEADING AND LITERATURE Whispering, or using lips is not silent reading. After sen- tences, paragraphs, or pages have been worked through for thought, with the teacher's help, there should be thorough drill in glancing through the material. Drills of various sorts should increase the speed with which this can be done. Single sentences on cards or strips of paper are of value here, since they can be held quiet for a second, then removed from view. Finding the place on a page is another good kind of drill. SEAT WORK SUGGESTED FOR THE CHILDREN I. Work Based on Handwork 1. Draw pictures that will tell parts of the story. The pupils should do this, not by copying someone else's ideas, but by each one showing how he thinks it might have been. Encourage originality here. Mediums — Charcoal, crayola, soft pencils, or chalk. 2. Cut or tear from drawing paper or ordinary wrap- ping paper figures showing parts of stories. Mount on suitable background. 3. Color outline pictures the teacher has copied on hec- tograph or mimeograph. 4. After a lesson with the teacher on the needed folds and pastings, let children make small paper boxes for hold- ing a little earth in which wheat seeds may be planted. These germinate very quickly, and after they are a few days old, may be carried home in triumph by the "little red hens" who planted them. 5. Children may make of clay various things suggested by the different stories. For example, in connection with "The Gingerbread Boy" they may make: The gingerbread boy. The bowl in which the old woman made him. PUPILS USE PEIMER FROM FIRST 39 Her rolling pin. The little old woman. 6. The sand-table is a very helpful medium for fixing the scenes of the stories and promoting freedom and origi- nality of expression. LITTLE RED HEN STORY The sand-table is converted into a barnyard. a. Cardboard barn made by the pupils is placed in the barnyard. b. A fence can be made by folding an oblong paper several times and cutting so as to show posts and hori- zontal boa ids. c. The figures in the story can be modeled in clay or cut out of paper. If made from paper, they should be cut free-hand and suitably colored. Make two of each figure, paste together with a wooden paste-splint or strip of stiff cardboard between, protruding an inch so as to make a stem to be stuck into the sand and hold the figures in an upright position. GINGERBREAD BOY Figures cut from paper, either by pattern or free-hand, of the gingerbread boy, old woman, old man, cat, dog, fox, etc., can be treated like those of the preceding story. The sooner the pupils get to the free-hand cutting, the sooner will their powers of free expression grow. This work may be very crude in the beginning but it is astonishing how their ability to express grows and the sand-table, giving the practical use for these cuttings, encourages the pupils greatly. THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG A stile is not within the experience of many of the chil- dren. Here is a splendid chance to build either a card- 40 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE board stile or a wooden one on the sand-table. The scene where "the old woman got home that night" works out well on the sand-table. Her old house, the stile and the old woman leading the pig down the road make a good scene. THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF Make a cardboard bridge and cuttings of the three goats. Water can be represented by placing a glass over blue paper. Sand will make a very good irregular coast-line to the river. The hill may be of sand piled up and covered with sawdust dyed green. The goats might be modeled of clay. The bridge then should be modeled of clay to rep- resent a stone bridge. These suggestions are sufficient to show the possibilities of the sand-table, with which every primary room should be supplied. II. Work Based on Word-Forms 1. The teacher may duplicate the sentences on a certain page of the "Primer," using each sentence several times. If she has a mimeograph at hand this is not hard. These pages are given to the children, at first as a reading lesson in class. Then they take them to their seats and cut the sentences so they stand on separate strips. Each child then places all that are alike in one group, like words one under another. Not only does this care in grouping the sentences and words aid the pupils in distinguishing like words but the teacher can easily inspect the work after it is done. 2. These same strips may be placed in envelopes and a few days later, when the child has had more drill on those sentences, he is asked as seat work to look them over, put all he knows in one pile and all he does not know in another. 3. He may be directed to lay them in order, to make a story like the one on the board. PUPILS USK PBIMEB FROM PIBST 41 4. He may lay them in order, so as to build a small story of his own — or from memory. 5. Pupils may be tested on the ready recognition of the words of a story studied by referring to the list at the back of the book. Exercises 1 and 3 may be done when the child does not know a single word at sight, if he can recognize words that are alike ; 2 and 4 imply a knowledge of at least part of the words and so are to be later treatments of the same material. These following devices may be used later with lists of words, either the well-printed ones provided by the publisher* of the "Primer" on convenient sheets of paper, or lists based on the lesson of the week, mimeographed by the teacher so they can be cut apart. 1. Finding words alike. 2. Separating known words from unknown. 3. Building sentences when model is given. 4. Building original sentences. Caution If this work is worth doing at all, it is worth inspection on the part of the teacher after it is done. The teacher should pass up and down the aisles, commenting upon the neatness and exactness of the work, also testing the pupils as to the thought they have put upon it, by questioning in this manner. What do these sentences say? What are these words ? III. Work Based on Silent Reading This should be deferred until the latter part of the first year. Use a review story. Let children read until they * All the words of the Primer, each repeated several times, are printed on 13 cards, to be cut up by the pupils as needed. 42 PRIMARY BEADING AND LITERATURE find a sentence which suggests a good picture, then stop to make a picture, read a little more, make another pic- ture, etc. Do not ask children to do much writing for seat work. Suggestions of General Interest Let the children plant wheat seeds as suggested above. Ask them to bring ripened stalks of wheat to school. Show what happens when wheat is threshed. Grind some grain of wheat between two stones. Sift bran and flour. Show several good pictures of the animals mentioned in the stories as you talk about them, especially if you are teaching where children have little opportunity to know animals well. Use cuttings of these animals, the best views you can get, for a border along the top of your blackboard, adding to the procession as fast as each new friend comes into the stories. This is well suggested by the grouping of animals on the outside of the "Primer," and the blackboard parade can be made a real help in holding the interest of the chil- dren in the slow growing ability to read about those friends. TION II AN ALTERNATE PLAN GENERAL OUTLINE Teach the vocabulary of ''The Little Red Hen" and "The Gingerbread Boy" to page 24. Children should have at least two reading lessons daily from the blackboard and one each for word development and drill. These read- ing lessons from the board should consist of sentences In which all words taught are used as given in the book, but they may be in different arrangement from the sentences in book. Sentences printed with a sign printer, upon long strips of manila cardboard, the perception cards and word cards should be used also. About three w^eeks should be spent on the board work. When all the words of ' ' The Little Red Hen ' ' story have been taught and read in sentences in this way, the children may read the story in the book. Continue in this way through the Primer. "The Gingerbread Boy" will usually take about two and one-half weeks. The Primer should ordinarily be finished before January. Then as many good supplementary readers should be read as possible, allowing time for the "Reading-Literature First Reader" to be read by the end of the first year. In the Language period the teacher should take up the subject of w T heat, find out what the pupils know, then add- ing to their knowledge by having illustrative materials such as sheaves of wheat, a flail, pictures of a mill, etc. The Gleaners is a good masterpiece to show in connection with 43 44 PKIMARY READING AND LITERATURE this literature. The teacher should describe the processes through which wheat goes and what it is made into. The First Reading Lesson The teacher tells the story of ''The Little Red Hen" to the children. She should keep the sentence form in the book but should enlarge and amplify the story between the sentences. This Primer version of the story has purposely been made very brief and simple. Allow the pupils to talk about the story and then say : ' ' This all happened because the little red hen found a seed." Then have several chil- dren repeat, "The little red red hen found a seed." The teacher may then say: "My chalk will say it," and she writes, "The Little Red Hen found a seed." The teacher reads it from the blackboard, sliding the pointer under the writing. Then ask other children to say it, always sliding the pointer underneath. Also, the teacher says, ' ' I shall read it again and I want you to find where it says seed." She reads, pausing slightly before seed. One child finds the word, places his hands around it, and tells what he found. Then several children do the same. The teacher says, "Would you know it if I wrote it here?" She writes seed in various places on the board, children saying it each time. In passing to their seats, each pupil touches some part of the reading lesson and tells what it is. Second Reading Lesson The teacher says, "I am glad (then writes while saying) — The little red hen found a seed; for if she hadn't (point ing to the words) found a seed, we shouldn't have had this delightful story, and another thing, because (writing sen- tence again) The little red hen found a seed we have learned so much about wheat and bread." AN ALTERNATE PLAN 45 Now will you tell me what this sentence is? And what is this (pointing to the other just like first) ? Do you see anything in this sentence that looks like part of that sentence? Let's read to ourselves and see what it is. If this word is seed, show me another seed. If this is found, where is the other found? Where is The little red Kent Where else is The little red hen? The teacher says, "This hen must have had very sharp eyes to find the seed, for (teacher writes and says) 'It was a little seed/ and though (writes again) 'It was a little seed,' she knew it was good for something.' ' The teacher asks, "Who knows where it tells what kind of seed it was V ' A pupil takes the pointer, slides it under the sentence and reads, It was a little seed. "Where else does it say that ? ' ' Another pupil slides the pointer under the other sentence, reading, It was a little seed. "Do you see any word in one sentence that looks like a word in the other? Let us find out what it is. Read silently until you come to the word and then tell it." If the word is seed, ask pupils to find seed in the sentence, The little red hen found a seed. If no pupil responds to the teacher's request, she might say, " I see seed here. Do you see seed in that sentence ? ' ' In closing this lesson a game called "Clean House" is great fun and affords another opportunity of re-reading the sentences. A pupil takes an eraser, goes to the board, tells a sentence he chooses to clean off, and then erases it. Another follows in the same way. This is done until the sentences are all cleaned off. Any device that secures interested attention upon words and sentences and activity on the part of pupils is good. 46 PEIMAEY BEADING AND LITERATURE The Third Lesson Commence with a short word-drill on seed, hen, found, little, and wheat. Then write such sentences as these upon the board : The hen found a seed. The little hen found a seed. The hen found a little seed. The hen found the seed. The red hen found the wheat seed. The hen found the little wheat seed. The little hen found the seed. After children have read the sentences, the teacher says, "Find every place it says seed." A child takes pointer, runs to the board and every time he points to seed he must say "the word so his classmates hear him. Another pupil finds the word hen as often as he can, and so on. Fourth Lesson This is planned to give word drill on it and was, review- ing other words of previous lesson by means of a game. Write one word at a time upon the board, asking pupils to give it, until the eight words are written. One child is then told to stand in a corner with his back to the class, covering both eyes with his hands. Another pupil is given a pointer and told to point to one of these words. When this has been done, the teacher says, "All right, John," and John, who is in the corner, comes back, takes the pointer and says, pointing to a word, "Is it hen?" Class responds, "It is not hen." Then he says, "Is it little?" If it is, the others reply, "Yes, it is little," and they clap. If John doesn't find the word in three guesses, the others say, "It is red." Then John points to red and pro- nounces it. AN ALTERNATE PLAN 47 If he can't find red, another pupil might show him where it is. Then the pupils are ready to read from the board such sentences as these, re-arranged from the story, but not contradictory to the story. The hen found the seed. It was the little seed. It was the little wheat seed. The hen found the little wheat seed. Was it the little red hen? It was the little red hen. Fifth Lesson The teacher says, ' ' I wonder how much you can read of this story." She writes, The little red hen found a seed. It was a little seed. Then she produces the two sentences printed upon manila cardboard and says, "Can you take the printed sentence which says, It was a little seed, and hold it under the same sentence at the board? "Who can match this one?" holding up the other card, The little red hen found a seed. "Tell what it says. Show me seed here. Show me seed on the board. Show me which part says, The little red hen. Where is it on the board? "Show me found on this paper; now at the board." Eacli time a child finds a word or phrase or sentence he should be required to tell it to the class. Then take the perception cards, hen, little, red, etc. Have pupils match each to the printed word in the sentence. Match each to the written word on the board. This time in the game "Clean House" each child might erase but a word or phrase. 48 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE Sixth Lesson The teacher says, ' ' What did the little red hen say when she found the seed?" A pupil — "The little red hen said, Who will plant the seed?" The teacher writes the sentence and then says, "Find The little red hen. Find seed. Which part says, Who will plant the seed? Read to yourselves until you find plant. Where is plant, John?" John takes the pointer and points to plant. 1 ' Read to yourselves until you find who. Show it to me, Mary. ' ' Mary points to who. The teacher says, "Who said (then writes) Not I"? A child— "The pig." Then teacher makes it read, The pig said, "Not I." Then a pupil reads the whole sentence. "Who else said, 'NotV"? A pupil says, "The cat." The teacher writes The cat said before Not I. Then the teacher says, "Who else wouldn't work?" Pupil— "The dog." Teacher— "What did he say?" Pupil— "Not I." The teacher then writes, "The dog said, 'Not I.' " The teacher says, "Which sentence says, 'The cat said, Not V? Which part says, 'Not VI Show me some more Not Vs." This should be easily recognized by pupils if the teacher has been very careful to write all these similar groups one below another. Teacher — "Which word is cat? Where is said? Show me another said, and another. ' ' AN ALTEKNATE PLAN 49 The other sentences should be dealt with in a similar way. In concluding the lesson use the "Clean-House" game. Seventh Lesson- As part of the phonic lesson a short drill on the words already studied should be given each day, but sometimes it is well to sharpen the children's wits with a short drill just before the reading lesson. For example, What did the (teacher writes and speaks) cat say? Child— "Not I." The teacher writes that under cat. Pointing to the words, the teacher says, ' ' Who else said, ' Not I ' ? " Child— "The dog." The teacher writes dog under not I. Teacher — "Who else refused to work?" Child— "The pig." Teacher writes pig under dog. Then she reviews the whole sentence, Who will plant the seed? by saying, "What did the hen say when the pig said, 'Not I'f" Now rearrange the sentences like this and write them upon the board : "Who will plant the seed?" said the little red hen. "Not I," said the cat. "Not I," said the pig. "Not I," said the dog. Have the children find all the places it says Not I, said, I. Find pig, cat, dog, plant, etc. Eighth Lesson The teacher writes, The little red hen said, "Who will plant the wheat?" 50 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE A child reads the sentence. Then she writes, The pig said, "Not I." Another child reads this, and so on until she has written what is on page four. The last sentence is new, but it almost teaches itself. Then the children play " Match, " that is, matching the printed sentences which the teacher has prepared with the written sentences upon the board. Then find the separate words and match the printed words to the written words upon the blackboard and to the sep- arate words in the printed sentences. By this time the pupils should be familiar with the seven different sentences. A new game can now be played. It is called "Draw." The teacher holds the printed sentences face down in her hand. Each child draws from her hand a sentence and studies it. The teacher says, "Sentences over!" which means that the pupils turn the cards face down in their laps and fold their hands. She chooses one pupil at a time to stand before the class, hold his long strip so the pupils can read it, too,- and he tells them what his sentence says. If there are not enough sentences to go around, the rest of the class "draw" after this first group have read. This game affords another opportunity for review, but unless there be spice and the spirit of play in the work, review so early does not appeal to the pupils. From now on the number of sentences grows quite rapidly and each pupil will soon have a different sentence. This same game can be played with the separate words. These games and devices are good all through the story of "The Gingerbread Boy." With the Gingerbread story the phonic drills should begin and they should be followed as outlined in previous pages. AN ALTERNATE PLAN 51 Caution Do not permit pupils to "read until they make a mis- take." Emphasis should not be placed upon words alone, but upon the thought of the sentence. Class criticism which runs to mere fault-finding should not be permitted. An atmosphere of helpfulness and sympathy is what is needed. It is generally better for the teacher to make the criticisms. If the pupil reads too poorly to go on, require him to study the work, and get ready for the oral reading. Say to him, "You haven't the thought, better look again." If he gives the thought correctly but not in the words of the book, say to him, "You have the thought, but exactly how does the book give it?" SECTION III SUPPLEMENTARY READING All reading material should stand three tests. 1. Will it increase the child's desire to read? 2. Does it make an appropriate demand for good reading habits and good taste ? 3. Does it have an intrinsic value in the subject matter which it presents, or in the emotions which it is capable of arousing in children ? Silent Eeading Silent reading should have the first place in the supple- mentary reading. Some one has said, ' ' Silent reading is the agency which enables the child to look through the words to the thought in the same way that one looks through a clean window glass to the objects beyond." Silent reading is the only way to teach, rapid reading, because a ' child is not hindered by the agencies he uses when reading aloud. When the child acquires facility in word-recognition he is likely to read aloud too rapidly. It also is an aid in discipline ; it helps the teacher to save her voice for a time when it is more necessary to talk; it makes an excellent medium of communication. It is now generally conceded that the more a teacher talks the more she must talk and the less is her power in the schoolroom. The following examples show how silent reading may be used at a very early stage : I. This lesson can be given for a class who are to leave the seats and go to the front of the room for a lesson. The teacher writes : 52 SUPPLEMENTARY READING 53 1. Stand. 2. Drum, George. (George runs to the front of the room and gets tlie drum.) 3. March! (When teacher puts in the punctuation, George takes the mark as a signal to beat the drum and the pupils begin to move.) When the pupils have reached their destination George puts the drum away. The teacher writes, Thank you, George. George says, ''You're welcome, Miss ." II. For morning work. The teacher writes, Good morning, children. (Pupils rise and say, "Good morning, Miss .") The teacher writes, Please close the door, May. When May returns teacher has written, Thank you, May. May replies, "You're welcome, Miss ." III. Just before the books are used in a reading lesson. The teacher writes, Please pass the books, James. Or if a guest comes in, You may give your book to our guest, Edith. IV. Just before dismissing in the afternoon the teacher writes: Please pass the basket, May. Thank you, May. Good night, children. Pupils rise and say, "Good night, Miss ." V. When distributing materials, the teacher writes : 1. Helpers, stand! (Pupils who are appointed as helpers stand and take materials to be distributed.) 2. Pass. VI. In singing time. 1. Let's have a concert. You may sing, James. 2. Clap. (Pupils clap when James has finished.) 54 PEIMAKY BEADING AND LITERATURE 3. You may sing, Elizabeth. When Elizabeth finishes the teacher points to word clap. Action Lessons Make the class work lively by originality in the introduc- tion of new devices, in word drill, and in lessons generally, that the exercises may not become monotonous. Require the sentences of the lessons to be acted whenever possible in beginning work. Sample Lessons in Silent Reading I. Let us play "The Little Red Hen." You may be the hen, Mary. You may be the pig, Jack. You may be the cat, Alice. You may be the dog, Ben. II. "We are going to play ' ' The Boy and the Goat. ' ' You may be the boy, Frank. John, you may be the goat. You may be the rabbit, Bert. Grace may be the squirrel. William may be the fox. Alice, you may be the bee. There are so many practical uses for silent sentence read- ing that it is unnecessary to have the children do absurd things just for the sake of having them read and act. For instance, rather than ask a child merely to "Run to the door," write, "Please close the door," or "Please open the door." Books for Supplementary Reading Books for supplementary reading should be selected with great care. The teacher should look them through delib- erately, asking: SUPPLEMENTAEY EEADING 55 1. Will they be interesting to the children? 2. Will they create in the child a desire to read? 3. Do they lead to consecutive thinking or are they dis- connected in thought? 4. Will they enrich the lives of these children? 5. Would the material be considered acceptable reading for children outside of school? Teaching the Child to Copy or Write the Words 1. Write a known word on the blackboard. 2. Have the class watch you trace the word with a pointer. 3. Have the child hold up his pencil and think of it as long enough to reach the board. Let him trace with the teacher. 4. Pupils trace the form with the pencil in the air without help. 5. Cover up the word. Pupils trace in the air. 6. Ask them if they can think the word. (It is covered.) 7. If they cannot form a mental picture of the word, repeat these steps until they can. 8. When they can see the word mentally, erase the word and let them write from this mental image. 9. Teach other new words in the same way. Always requiring the pupil to write from the image. 10. Repeat until the pupil uses the process mechanically for all new and old words. Drill Upon the Words 1. Reserve a place upon the board to list words as fast as learned. 2. Review the list by skipping about as part of each day's lesson. 3. Place words in all possible combinations and drill until the recognition of words is instantaneous. SECTION IV Phonics Definitions of Terms Used ' ' A phonogram is a letter or character used to represent a particular sound. ' ' Phonograms are spoken of as simple phonograms and as blended or compound phonograms. A phonogram represents a single sound. It includes the consonants; the consonant digraphs as ch, sh, wh, th, gh, ph, ng, ck, etc. ; the vowels ; the diphthongs ow, ou, oy, oi ; the vowel digraphs ai, ay, ey, ea, ei, ee, ei, etc.; and the vowel equivalents igh, eigh, etc. A sight word is a word that has been taught as a whole. The word is recognized as a unit from the mental picture which has been formed of it. Work in phonics is an aid only to provide tools by which the child may gain independence in reading. The more skillful the pupil is in the use of these tools, the more easily will he get the thought and feeling of the author. The written and printed words a child first meets in learning to read are strange symbols to him. They mean nothing until they are interpreted. This interpretation is, at first, made by the teacher through : 1. Direct association of the object with its written or printed name. For example, she writes the word seed on the board and holds the object beside the name. Later she writes the word, and, without speaking the word, asks the pupils to show her what it names. They say nothing, but point to the object or the picture of it. 56 PHONICS 57 2. Direct association of action with the phrases or words, written or printed, that suggest it. For example, the teacher writes the word clap on the board, and interprets its meaning by clapping her hands instead of by speaking the word. 3. Association of written or printed symbol with the idea represented through the spoken word, a symbol which we suppose the child to understand, since he has heard words spoken for six years. This is the plan especially recom- mended in this book. So long as a child depends on his teacher to tell him the words his eye does not at once recognize, just so long he has not learned to read — to get words — and through words, the thought and feeling of the printed page. For five years at least the child who enters the primary school has acquired words through hearing them spoken. Now he sees these words printed; and since our language is in part spelled phonetically, the knowledge of the sound values of the letters helps a child to find out from the written word the spoken word with which he is already familiar, and for which the written word, in a measure, stands. To be sure, this finding out for himself each new word is a slower way of getting the thought from a sentence than being told by the teacher or classmate, but, while speed in reading is without doubt an end to be desired and worked for, it is not the first one to be accomplished. It is only by attaining independent power in word-recognition that learners acquire freedom. How shall we teach the children to use the sound values of the letters as a means of making them independent in reading? The following outline is suggested as one of the many possible ways of getting at the essentials with a small amount of "red tape" and no "padding." 58 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE Ear-Drill What Shall We Aim at? By the end of the first six months in school we want pupils who meet new words on the pages of their first readers to attack them at once by thinking in order the phonic elements and then blending the'se elements into the word. But that they may do this, preparation and drill like the following are needed, at first not at all in connection with the reading lesson proper. Training* pupils to be attentive to sound. Tap the bell or a glass with a pencil. Pupils to note the sound. Tap another object. Pupils note the sound. Tap them again. Have pupils note the difference in the sounds. Pupils close their eyes. Teacher taps one or the other of the objects already tapped. Pupils called upon to tell what was sounded. Test with three sounds, with four sounds, with sounds quite similar. Vary exercise by having a pupil do the tapping, other pupils to name the sound. Slow pronunciation. After the first story is completed, several times each day, the teacher should accustom the ears of the children to hearing words analyzed into their com- ponent parts as suggested in the outlined phonic drills. Now that sounds dry, dead and uninteresting, but the actual doing of it should be lively, quick, and often even merry. Time and energy are both saved when lively inter- est reduces the necessity for drill to a minimum. 1. Testing and varying. She writes red upon the board, a word they know well. The children pronounce it. She erases r. "What has gone?" she asks. "What is left?" Then she writes b in the place where r stood. "Who can find out the word? Let's sound it and see what it says." Children sound b-ed and pronounce bed. This drill may begin with the first series taught and may be rapidly extended as the various series are brought into use. PHONICS 59 2. Dictation. The teacher at another time may dic- tate to the children, to write for themselves, simple words made up from the elements with which they are very famil- iar and have them written in the air and on the board many times. These words should not be those they know at sight, or the joy of creating will be lost in the effort to recall a hazy image from memory. Such words as me, no, so, are enough to test the powers of the children at first, and the teacher must speak them slowly and plainly. Each child should do this work- correctly, and, after writing from dictation, should go back over his list of words and pronounce it, before the lesson ends, either alone, or in concert with others. After the first story has been read, these kinds of drill for fixing phonic values in the memory are going on daily,- at a time removed from the regular reading lesson, which concerns itself so far with words, sentences and stories. But when the children can read a number of pages from the "Primer" readily, the teacher begins to connect the work in phonics with the reading. A new word is to be taught, in connection with picture, story, or nature lesson, for example the word rabbit. "I know," she says, "that you haven't seen me write this word before, but perhaps you can find it out and whisper it to me." And from this point she pushes and leads and guides and encourages the children to find out things for themselves. It needs patience and persistence, but it is well worth the while. Two rules are needed here for the teacher. a. Very rarely do for the children the thing they can do for themselves. b. Still more rarely ask them to do a thing they have no preparation for doing. 3. A Guessing game. Here the teacher may introduce a game. "I am thinking of a word I want you to guess. 60 PRIMARY BEADING AND LITERATUKE 1 11 give you a hint. It begins liks this, ' ' and she gives the sound of the letter m. If the children are slow to get the hint and guess at random, she suggests, "It might be mine, men or me, but it is none of those — yet it begins as they do. Listen! — m — " and the children try again. General Suggestions Have drills, bright and quick and short, but frequent. Encourage each child to use all the knowledge and power he has in finding out a sentence for himself, but be respon- sible for furnishing him the needed power and knowledge beforehand. Do not let children lose what has once been learned, but remember that a thing has not been learned with one or two presentations — often not with many presentations. Do not hesitate to repeat, at first for accuracy, to be sure the symbol is associated with the right sound, and then for speed in making that association. Make the children delight in independence, in finding out for themselves, and so find an early joy in reading. By the time the children have finished the "Primer," they not only have a considerable list of words recognized at sight, but are not afraid to meet those they have never seen before, for they know they can find them out by the help of phonics and the context of the thought. Reading should by this time have become a pleasure. The fun of finding out what a page says, and then linger- ing over and "tasting" the thoughts expressed appeals to all normally constituted children, unless the thought is unworthy, or the habit of independent reading poorly taught from the beginning. Worthless material destroys the motive and kills the joy of learning to read. PHONICS 61 Kinds of Lessons 1. Study lessons with the teachers in class time. 2. Seat work based upon the story previously read with the teacher. 3. Silent reading based upon vocabulary and thought used in the "Primer," but changing order of words and sentence. 4. Oral lessons in reading for fluency, natural expres- sion, etc. 5. Lessons for quickening the pace, without mentioning speed to the pupil, in reading familiar material. This idea of speed in early reading may be misunder- stood. The aim is to avoid hesitation and drawling. There is an equal danger that, as pupils gain in freedom, they will fail in grouping, so essential to interpretation and ex- pression. In all of these, use is made of phonics and word drills, though most emphasis is placed upon the thought content and its expression in sentences. When children are ready to begin the First Reader they should have the ability to get many new words phonetically. By the end of the First Grade pupils should have had drills in 80 phonic series and should have power to use the phonic knowledge gained. EXPLANATION OF PHONIC DRILLS In the foregoing pages, from time to time, suggestions have been made as to the time, place, and manner of the phonic drills. It is believed, however, that the summary which follows will be of distinct service to teachers. There need be no phonic work with the first story, but, after its completion, the drill with consonant elements should begin and the phonic lessons should occur daily thereafter, through at least the first two grades. 62 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE While reading the second story, the consonant work should be on r in red, h in hen, p in pig, and I in little. While the children are reading the third story, the con- sonant drill is on n in not, d in dog, y in you, and c in cat. Here drill in the phonic series should begin, and four of these should be done while reading this story. With the fourth story, the consonant lessons are with m in man, s in so, b in but, and th in then. At the same time there should be drill in the phonic series from 5 to 8, inclusive. The consonant work while reading the fifth story is with / in fox, t in to, g in get, and k in kill. Phonic series from 9 to 12, inclusive, should receive regular drill. During the reading of the sixth story, the phonic drill will be with cr in cry, wh in why, and qu in quench. Add phonic series from 13 to 16, inclusive, with reviews of former series. The consonant drills with the seventh story will be with ch in chicken, sn in snout, and sk in sky. Add to these a thorough review in all phonic series already taught. While reading the eighth and ninth stories, the consonant work will be with gr in gruff, th in thank, and tr in trip. Complete the series from 17 to 20 inclusive, and give a thorough review of all previous phonic drills, including the phonic series to 20. When this is done, the consonant elements will have been mastered. It will be noticed that the consonant elements are taught from words that have been taught in a former story. When the Primer is com- pleted, there should have been thorough drill, also on twenty of the phonic series. Let it be remembered that these phonic drills should be short but frequent. In some schools these drills are given for from two to five minutes at a time, two or three times a day, conditions varying with the size of the class and the PHONICS 63 time at the disposal of the teacher. The phonic work, whether the teacher uses the book in the beginning or later, should be given as indicated. The phonic lessons to be given with the work of the first reader should cover sixty additional phonic series, making 80 in all to the end of the first year. The remaining 120 series involve more difficulty and may require more careful drill. If they are not completed by the end of the second year, they may go over into third year work. But most teachers will experience little diffi- culty in including all of them in the second year's work. Arrangement of the Series In the series from 1 to 33, inclusive, the short sounds of the vowels are taught. No consonant is at any time re- quired which has not been already taught from sight words. Next come the series teaching the long sounds of the vowels. These include series 34 to 62. In the reviews of these series it will be noticed, that the first word of each series is used. All the words of the reviews are given as wholes and, in the review drills, no word should be separated into its elements, unless pupils fail to recognize it as a w T hole. In the first 33 series it should be observed that when a vowel is followed by a single consonant, the vowel has the short sound. This may be shown to children but, in no case should this or any other rule be taught formally in the first two years. It may be suggested here that, because our language is not phonetic, few rules can be made to which there may not be exceptions. But the rules herein suggested are sufficiently general in their application to afford great aid in word mastery. The exceptions to the rules, in most cases, may well await the greater maturity of children. 64 PRIMAKY READING AND LITERATURE In teaching the long vowels, it may be shown that, if two vowels have a single consonant between them the first vowel is long and the final vowel is silent. In all of the series to 81 the soft sonnd of s is used, but in this series is introduced the hard or z sound of this element. From series 62 to 94, two consonants follow the same vowel. If these have the same values, but one of them is sounded. In series 68 and 69, show that when a consonant is doubled, but one is sounded. In series 82, blended consonants are introduced. A few of these have been used in previous drills, but they have heretofore occurred in sight words — words already known to the children. These blends are used first, as initial phonograms and then as final phonograms. In series 87 may be shown that t is silent before ch. From series 95 to 120, other consonant combinations are used, both as initial and final phonograms. In all of these exercises, the pupils should be practiced in blending so that the consonants blended may form a single sound. Series 121 to 123 introduces the three sounds of y. In series 124 to 128, inclusive, ai and ay are shown to equal long a; and from this time forward, other equiva- lents are used in the series. Not all equivalents are here used, but it is believed that those omitted, for the most part will offer little difficulty after a thorough drill with those here given. In some of the equivalents not here given as well as in some of the peculiar and difficult sounds of certain vowels, a discrimination is required that is beyond the ability of children in first and second grades. From series 129 to 138, ea equals long e. From 139 to 145 ee equals long e. In 146, ie equals long i. From 147 to 150, oa equals long o, and 152 shows ue equal to long u. PHONICS 65 In 153 and 154, i is long when followed by Id, nd or gh. Series 156 shows o long in some other combinations. Series 157 to 159 giw drills with OW, and from 160 to 16.">, au is shown to equal OW, and in 167 ou is equal to long o. In series 168, final er is shown. This list may be used, also, to show plurals by adding s. Series 169 and 170 use the ing termination. In 171, gn equals n; in 172, kn equals n; in 173, wr equals r; in 174, gu equals g; in 175, bu equals b; in 176, bt equals t, and 177 shows mb equal to m. Series 178 and 179 show that when one consonant is used between two vowels, the first vowel is long, and that when two consonants are so used, the first vowel is short. From series 181 to 200 are taught the following equiva- lents: ea equals short e, ea equals long a, ed equals t, ei equals long a, ie equals long e, eigh equals long a, cy equals long a. Also oo is taught in both values. Series 191 shows that when r is used before u the vowel is long. Also, u is equal to oo short, oi equals oy, g equals j before e, i and y, c is equal to soft s when used before i, e and y, dj equals j, ph equals / and gh equals /. 1 r ed b ed i ; ed 1 ed N ed 2 h en d en p en m en B en 3 c at f at h at r at m at s at 4 c an D an f an r an p an 5 n ot d ot g ot c ot p ot j ot h ot 15 r i d i s i n i PHONIC SERIES 6 10 14 s ob f ill n et b ob r ill p et r ob c ob f ob j ob m ob 7 P ig b ig r ig d ig 3 ig w ig 8 ox b ox f ox 9 it w it s it b it p it f it h id f m it A P k 10 w ill t ill b ill s ill 66 10 f ill r ill k ill h ill m ill p ill 11 d og b og h og c og f og j og 12 c ut n ut r ut b ut h ut 13 d id 1 id b id k id h id 14 m et s et g et b et 1 et j et 17 67 33 p od h od s od n od 34 b e m e h e th e sh e w e 35 m ake b ake sh ake c ake t ake f ake r ake m ake s ake 1 ake 36 b ee f ee s ee 1 ee tr ee 37 t old c old b old h old g old f old a old m old r ap c ap g ap 1 ap n ap t ap m ap s ap 20 p ad b ad 1 ad s ad m ad h ad f ad g ad 21 1 eg P eg b eg k eg 22 lip t ip d ip r ip h ip s ip n ip 23 m ud b ad 24 b ug r ug d ug PHONICS 24 32 P ug f ix m ug s ix h ug m ix t ug Rev i' ti- 25 t ub h ub red hen cat r ub man not 26 sob am Pig S am ox h am it j am will 27 c ob s ob m ob r ob dog cut did met run tin 28 pup r ag w ag b ag t ag s ag rap pad leg lip bug mud 29 tub ax am t ax cob w ax rag ax 30 cab c ab him t ab fix 31 rod h fan 33 d im r od r im G od 68 PEIMAEY READING AND LITERATURE 38 44 51 59 g ° c ape g ale b ase s t ape p ale c ase n o s ale v ase 45 t ale 39 b ite k ite s ite m ade 60 w ade 52 c ave f ade p ole m ole w ave g ave 46 h ole s ave m ite h ide w ide s ole p ave 40 b ide 53 61 g oat t ide t une m ile m oat r ide J une p ile c oat fl oat s ide 54 t ile f ile b oat 47 p lire 62 d ime c ure f ire w ire 41 t ime 55 c ane 1 ime m ule h ire p ane m ane 48 m ute t ire f ine 56 63 42 p ine c ore c ore ate d ine t ore s ore d ate n ine s ore w ore r ate w ine m ore m ore f ate m ine w ore m ate 1 ine 57 Review g ate 1 ate 49 1 ope be make h ate r ode c ode c ope d ope bee told 43 m ode r ope go s ame t ame 50 m ope h ope bite goat c ame n ote 58 cane n ame c ote r age ate f ame d ote P age same 1 ame m ote c age cape g ame r ote s age made 1\( )'!< w hide dime fine rode note gale pole tune pure mule core lope rage base cave mile fire core 63 b ack 1 ack p ack t ack s ack 64 n eck d eck 65 s ick ick ick ick ick 66 r ock 1 ock PHONICS 67 73 d uck m int 1 uck 1 int b uck 74 68 r est s ell v est N ell t est t ell w est b ell b est w ell n est f eU 75 69 f ist p uff r uff m ist 1 ist c uff 76 b uff r ust m uff m ust j ust 70 and h and d ust 77 s and c amp 1 and 1 amp b and d amp 71 end 78 b ump m end p ump b end j ump s end d ump 1 ump 72 79 b ent f elt s ent b elt r ent w elt w ent m elt t ent 80 73 gift t int s ift h int 1 ift 69 Review back neck sick rock duck sell and end bent tint rest fist rust camp bump felt gift 81 is h is as h as p ins r ugs r ose r ise n ose w ise 82 wh en \vh at wh ile wh o wh ite wh ole wh ine wh ich wh ere wh ip 70 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE 83 cr y cr ape er ew cr ime cr ate cr ow cr umb 84 gr and gr ave gr ip gr ill gr it gr in gr ow gr ew gr een gr ound 85 ch ick ch oke ch op ch at ch in ch ase ch ill ch ap ch afe 86 p nn ch b en ch b un ch 1 un ch 87 D utch b otch n otch 87 p itch w itch d itch h itch c atch m atch p atch 1 atch h atch 88 m uch s uch r ich 89 sh ape sh am sh ell sh elf sh ed sh ip sh ine sh un sh ut sh ot sh one sh ore sh ave sh all sh ade sh ake 90 ash s ash d ash 1 ash c ash m ash f ish 90 d ish w ish r ush 91 th ick th in th ump 92 w id th t en th 93 th e th en th em th an th at th us th ese th ose th is th ine 94 b athe w ith Review is when cry grand chick punch Dutch shape much ash thick tenth throb Review thr ob thr ift thr ill thr one thr ash thr ush thr ive thr ust 95 bl ed bl ade bl ack bl ess bl ame bl ot bl ock bl aze bl unt bl ush 96 cl od cl ose cl ove cl ock cl am cl ap cl ick cl uck cl ip cl ub 97 fl at fl ag fl ake fl ame fl ash fl ock fl op 97 fl it fl ax 98 gl ad gl ide gl aze gl obe 99 pi an pi ant pi ate pi ush pi ume pi am pi ot 100 sp an sp ade sp in sp end sp ill sp ell sp ine sp ot sp oke sp un sp ite sp ike sp ire 101 br ag br an br ake br ave br im br ick br ide PHONICS 101 106 br ine r isk br oke br isk br ush t usk d usk 102 h usk cr ab m usk cr ib cr ock 107 cr ack dr op cr ate dr ag cr ane dr ug cr amp dr ip cr imp dr ill cr op dr ift cr ust dr ive cr ush dr ove cr ept dr one 103 dr ape s cr ap scr ub dr ess dr um scr ape scr atch 108 fr et 104 fr esh sc ore Fr ench sc um fr ill sc at fr isk sc amp fr og sc ale fr om Sc otch fr oze fr ame 105 fr ock sk in sk im 109 sk ip pr int sk iff pr ide sk ill pr ize sk ull pr op sk ate pr ose sk etch pr ess 71 110 tr ap tr act tr ack tr ash tr amp tr ade tr ip tr im tr ill tr ick tr ot tr od tr uck 111 s tr ap str ip str ipe str ive str ict str ike str ide str oke str etch 112 st ab st ep st em st ack st and st ate st ump st ale st ake st iff st ilt st ill st ick st one st ove 72 PEIMAEY READING AND LITERATURE 112 117 Review 124 st op sn iff drop aid st itch sn ipe fret p aid st ub sn are print braid st uck trap maid st Tiff 118 strap st ore sw am stab 125 st ole sw im taste ail st ump sw um smell p ail sw ept snap hail 113 sw ift swam fail t aste sw ine twist nail p aste quench rail b aste 119 sail w aste tw ist 121 bail 114 tw ins tw ine y es yet yell 126 1 est cr est tw ig tw itch aim maim ch est bl est 115 120 qu ench qu ick 122 H en ny m er ry claim 127 tr ust cr ust r ust qu ack qu it qu ite c and y k it ty p en ny r ain train brain 116 qu ill qu ilt s un ny f un ny grain strain sm ell c ar ry pain sm elt sm ile Review bled j ol ly plain chain sm ith sm ash clod flat 123 cr y 128 sm ack glad my h ay sm oke plan dry pay span sly say 117 brag spy way sn ap crab sky may sn ag scrap shy play sn ug score fly stay sn ake skin why stray sn uff brisk thy pray PHONICS 73 129 135 142 148 t ea tear s een oak s ea near keen soak p ea hear green cloak 130 clear queen 149 ea ch 136 143 k eep oat p each reach ea st beast goat coat teach 131 feast 137 steep deep peep float throat w eak eat sheep 150 leak meat sleep oar roar peak beat creep speak neat sweep soar streak seat hoarse sneak squeak heat 138 144 f eet coarse board 132 h eal pi ea se tease meet beet toast roast seal steal ea sy sweet greet coast boast meal squeal 139 s ee d feed street 145 151 t oe 133 need fr eeze foe dr earn deed sneeze woe team weed breeze hoe stream steam bl eed squeeze 152 134 140 w eek 146 d ie tie hie d ue cue b ean ch eek hue mean lean creek sue clean 141 lie 153 f eel w ild 135 heel 147 child ear peel t oad bind fear reel load blind dear steel road grind 74 PEIMAKY READING AND LITERATURE 153 mind kind find 154 s igh s igh t r ight bright flight fight might tight night 155 old h old gold cold scold mold sold 156 roll toll troll stroll post most bolt jolt colt pork porch both forth 157 c ow now 157 bow how row plow mow 158 ow 1 h owl growl fowl 159 t ow n down gown drown brown crown 160 ouch p ouch couch crouch slouch 161 1 oud proud cloud 162 f ound pound round ground mound bound sound wound 163 167 our f our s our court flour course pour 164 m ouse house 168 flow er blouse winter sister 165 rubber out better p out timber spout pitcher sprout deeper trout hammer stout older shout colder south dinner mouth rocker painter 166 summer 1 ow 169 flow glow bow blow s ing king ring string row sling grow wing crow swing mow thing snow show bring throw 170 bowl jump ing own resting sown running mown rubbing blown helping flown adding grown wishing 170 swinging trying playing reading lu view yes Henny cry aid ail aim rain hay each weak heal dream bean ear east please freeze die toad oak oat oar toe due wild sigh right owl town pouch loud found sour mouse PHONICS 5 Review 176 pout de bt low doubt four flower 177 jumping li mb 171 comb gn at gnash sign numb thumb plumb lamb 172 kn it 178 knife holy knight holly knot later knob latter knee filing kneel know knack knock filling pining pinning mating 173 matting wr en summer wrench carry wreck wrap 179 write silver wring velvet wrist window sister 174 gu ide picnic guest 180 guess hero rogue plague story baker 175 music bu y duty build zero 75 180 paper gravy Review gnat knit wren guide buy debt limb holy silver 181 h ead read tread deaf bread meant sweat wealth 182 tint ed jolted seated wicked graded coasted mended 183 gr ea t steak break 184 bak ed ticked 76 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE 184 190 195 198 choked t 00 oi 1 bridge liked tool boil dodge packed roof soil lodge milked proof toil judge puffed stool coin 185 food loose join noise 199 v ei n goose phonics i veil shoot 196 orphan 1 T~ ,_ rein choose ice sulphur skein nice cipher 191 price elepham 186 rule lace alphabei gr ie f truth face thief prune race 200 yield true fence rough shield rude since laugh chief piece cough brief 192 niece trough gr ew voice tough 187 flew city Review eigh t threw spicy head weight crew juicy tinted weigh drew great reign 197 baked sleigh 193 age vein freight g oo d rage hood sage Review 188 stood page grief th ey hook cage eight prey wool range they whey look strange roared danger rule 189 194 manger grew roar ed put oil prayed pull 198 ice snowed puss edge age cleaned push hedge edge soured full pledge phonics crowed bush ridge rough FOLK TALES Origin and Transmission The Primer offers nine folk tales; the First Reader, thirteen; and the Second Reader, eight or ten more. It might be well to inquire immediately, therefore, what folk tales are, and why they appeal to all children and to grown persons likewise. As the prefaces to the Readers assert, these folk tales here given are the literary products of many minds, and have survived the centuries. It is a mistake, however, to believe that the making and transmis- sion of folk tales is a process only of the past. Wherever mothers or nurses or teachers tell and retell stories to children, folk tales are growing up, expanding, changing. Of universal interest. There is to-day a science of folk-lore. Great scholars study the simple stories •of the people as they study other evidences of past belief and present custom; for what has amused mankind continuously for long periods, they argue, must have in it the essence of man's thinking. The growth and dissemination of folk stories is a phe- This section of the book was written by Dr. Harriott Ely Fansler, Columbia University, New York. 77 .78 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE nomenon of importance. The popularity of the narratives is no more a fact of the past than eating is. The form of what we eat and the way we eat it may have changed from time to time, but the elemental food-stuffs remain the same. Man's nature craves them, and when it gets them they prove satisfying. We need not be surprised that the natural man, the child, and the jaded epicure alike find folk stories pleasing. They are elemental food. But not to carry the figure too far, and simply bearing in mind the fact brought out by it, let us go back to inquire what a folk tale really is, and along with general impressions gather a few specific dis- tinctions. Since a science of folk-lore exists, for a student who wishes to understand these stories, there is a nomenclature to be learned, a set of defini- tions to be borne in mind, a history to be glanced at, some great names to be remembered. What are folk tales? A folk tale is a story that grows up among a people, or folk, around an idea either originated or adopted by the folk. The earli- est form is always of an oral nature if not actually oral, and its usual transmission — a far more impor- tant fact than source — is oral. To-day, despite our many books and newspapers, folk tales circulate orally. Our favorite narratives we seldom if ever saw in print when we were children, although they were in print no doubt before we were born. Our mothers, or nurses, or big sisters, or teachers, told FOLK TALES 79 us the stories first, even if we read them later. The delight of the reading was no less but greater be- cause of the familiarity. The phrases on the pages seemed to be of the very structure of our thinking. Hence the delight. How they grow. It is said that a folk story 1 'grows up" because no one seems to know who first starts such a narrative on its way, or be- cause the later versions because of oral repetitions vary among themselves and are each different from the earlier, and because the story represents com- mon folk thinking. Eight here it might be well to preclude confusion. Everyone recognizes a possi- ble double meaning in the word ' i folk tale ' ' ; namely, that of "tale composed by the folk" or simply that of "tale told among the folk," even though it may have been originally a translation or importation. The distinction may have a meaning and it may not. If the first definition is understood to imply that a whole folk instantly and collectively composes a piece of literature without the intervention of individuals, the definition becomes nonsense. Or if it is understood to imply that a piece composed by one man or one woman or one child might not become loved by the folk as a whole, taken to their hearts, told and retold among them, become a part of their household thinking — in other words, might not become to them and through them a real folk tale — then, too, the distinction is nonsense. In 80 PKIMAEY READING AND LITERATURE fact, all that is needed is time. It is because the world has forgotten the authors of our best folk tales that we cannot mention them. Because we can mention Perrault, however, our common version of Cinderella is no less a folk tale. That the process of story-making was any different in the days of Rameses II from what it is now, except for the facility of reproduction and transmission, a think- ing man cannot believe. Human nature has not so changed in three thousand years. We have but to look about us to know the folk story process. We have but to read history to verify our understanding of it. Length of life. But when we look about us we must remember that the process we are investigat- ing is essentially an oral process, that the stories we are investigating are living things that change so long as they live. When they have ceased to change, they have ceased to live as folk stories. Some may linger on, perhaps, as grim ghosts of departed literature or be found on shelves as mum- mies of antiquity. But actually a good folk tale is both as eternal and as changeable as the folk that tells it; indeed, an excellent story always over- passes locality and country — even more than a virile folk overpasses. For this reason, if for no other, children have a right to hear and to read folk tales; most of them are a rich heritage and an everlasting possession. The rude common sense as well as the FOLK TALES 81 nonsense of the ancients and the moderns is stored in them. How originated. Any set of events, actual or imaginary, occurring anywhere, may become a folk story after undergoing the folk story process. The immediate handing down is very simple. It is easily explained by a household fact. A new mother naturally tells the favorite narrative her mother told her when she was a child. The stories pass on down the generations, and become in time traditional, current among a large family, a village, perhaps a whole folk finally. When the narrator has a larger audience than immediate kin, the diffu- sion is much faster. If the new mother came from a neighboring or a foreign people, how the stream of family tradition is enriched! The word "tradi- tion" is a simple word and does not necessarily belong to scholars. Any particular story, belief, or usage handed down becomes a tradition. Link ages and people. A number of folk stories, like the Cinderella and the Sleeping Beauty narra- tives, have lived longer than the races that now cherish them. "It is certain," says Andrew Lang, "that the best-known popular tales were current in Egypt under Rameses II, and that many of them were known to Homer, and are introduced or alluded to in the Odyssey." 1 This is a lovely thought, i Perrault 's Popular Tales, edited with an Introduction by Andrew Lang, Oxford, 1888, page cxiv. 82 PRIMARY BEADING AND LITERATURE because it makes the solidarity of the human race a more vivid fact. The small child in the class- room in America to-day, with perfect .confidence, puts his hand into the brown palm of the great king of Egypt, and enjoys with him the old, old stories — stories no doubt old to his people then, a thousand years or more before the Christian era. It is essential to folk tale that the appeal be uni- versal, although national peculiarities are apparent in the versions. Sainte-Beuve has reminded us that had we inherited no such tales, and had we started to tell stories in the nursery in full civilization, the incidents of Puss in Boots would not have been invented. Sainte-Beuve is right, but he has re- minded us only of the fact that folk stories are made out of known elements or similar elements. So is everything else. Place of origin uncertain. The idea of the per- sistence of the same story has proved extremely fascinating to scholars. It has called out a long line of inquirers, who have kept themselves busy for a century at least. There is nothing very mysterious about the matter, however, but just something materially difficult — the discovery of reli- able records and evidence. Indications there are a-plenty, but proofs that this locality instead of that gave rise to a particular story are hard to find. And that one locality and only one was the cradle of all marchen, or popular tales, is a still harder thesis, as FOLK TALES 83 its advocates have learned by reason of their many doughty opponents. When we know where the first acorn or the first oak tree came from, perhaps we can answer the question as to where the first folk tale, or the first version of a given folk tale, origin- ated. Until the scholars have brought that time about, we must content ourselves with the knowl- edge that individualized versions spring up and flourish for a century or two and then die, or lose their identity, but that the form and general content of folk tales go on forever. Variation. A common condition connected with the oral transmission of even our best-established stories is variation. Minute particulars are seldom transmitted orally. They are left out or created spontaneously under local inspiration. Only the large central events that make one tale recognizable as itself and not another, remain the same. And sometimes even the events change and shift and nothing but the motif, or central idea, stays fixed. The simplicity of the versions of the folk tales in primers and first readers is consequent upon this fact of the adaptability to audiences. On the other hand, — and here is a psychological truth that all good narrators take advantage of, — striking and charming peculiarities of style or utterance often persist even though they may be connected with only minor details. Mothers and teachers know how the big voice or the little voice at the expected 84 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE place in an oral narrative is demanded by the ex- perienced listener, and how the occurrence of the emphasis favorite with other children seldom fails to delight the novice. Crude rhythm, rhymes, and repetition of situation are all aids to oral delivery, and in our ancient stories are evidence of it. They are aids both to the narrator and to the listener. They make memory easy on the part of the one and attention easy on the part of the other. Kepe- tition of situation permits extension also, which is a delight to both the narrator and the listener when a good folk tale is going. Hence often the end of one story is added to that of another. Before we look at the stories themselves and assort them to their types, we should note at some length how they were got together and who it was that did the work. Charles Perrault (1628-1703) Charles Perrault, a Frenchman, was one of the first of the moderns to create an art interest in folk tales; and he created it by the very simple process of retelling the stories. He presented to the public (1694-1697), in charming and simple prose form, eight household narratives taken down from oral recitation. He sent them first as contributions to a small magazine published at The Hague, called Moetjen's Recueil (Miscellany), then later put them FOLK TALES 85 out as a book bearing his son's name, Perrault Dermancour. In the hall of fame. At the time that he began to publish the stories of the people, Charles Perrault was a member of the royal academy under Louis XIV, and was the noted hero of the great Battle of the Books, which the critics had been waging for ten years over a remark of Perrault 's in a poem read by him before the Academy in 1684. As a result of the poem and the controversy, Perrault had be- come recognized as the champion of the moderns; and Boileau, properly enough, the champion of the ancients. Perrault in his poem entitled The Age of Louis XIY had found fault with the Odyssey for containing "old wive's fables/ ' and had said that Homer would have written better had he had the good fortune to be born under Louis XIV. Boileau had angrily declared Perrault 's poem an insult to the great men of past times, and had begun taking revenge in their name by writing epigrams on Per- rault. Thus the war continued and spread to other countries. Some members of the Academy took Boileau 's side in the controversy, some Perrault's. Racine, mild man that he was, pretended not to think Perrault in earnest ; but Perrault continued to uphold his arguments, and to make fun of persons who think it a fine thing "to publish old books with a great many notes.' ' In the crisis of the contro- versy Perrault wrote what he imagined would be 86 PEIMAEY BEADING AND LITEEATUEE his monument of immortality, The Comparison of the Ancients and the Moderns (1688-1694) and Eulogies of Illustrious Men of the Age of Louis XIV (1703). But these have not proved to be his monument. Men do not to-day read lengthy, argumentative poems on the foolish subject of which is better, the moderns or the ancients; but all the world reads Perrault's versions of tra- ditional popular stories, his "Mother Goose's Tales.' ' Old tales made new. These stories are usually called "fairy tales," though Perrault did not call them fairy tales, but "Stories, or Tales of Past Time." And that is what they are, as we shall see — folk nursery sagas. Perrault felt the common folk tone of the pieces, and acknowledged it and defended it, although he did not realize the great antiquity of what he was retelling or the ultimate significance of the preservation. He told the stories as current, oral literature coming down from the past. It is interesting to note that the Recueil advertised itself as a repository, or miscellany, of "pieces curious and new." The oral tales of the peasants would be curious and new to the affected literary world of Louis XI Vs day. Twenty years before Perrault began to write down the oral narratives of the people, fairy stories and naive literature in general had become popular at the court, although only in oral form ; but the popu- FOLK TALES 87 larity was rather a fad than a revival of real sim- plicity, and it was in no sense a pledge of scientific interest in the life of the populace. Perrault's part in the world. But Perrault 's stories ring true, as the real product of the peasantry of France and of past ages of peas- antry in other lands. The elements are older than France, older than French civilization as we ill ink of it. Though these stories manifestly have other civilizations besides the French reflected in them, they are, however, in Perrault's versions truly French as well as truly human. How did the result come about? Simply enough. Perrault took the narratives, not out of his own imagina- tion, but directly out of the mouth of the people through the mouth of a child. Perrault's little son repeated them as the peasant nurse had told them; and Perrault the father wrote them down, or his son wrote them down in a more or less crude, natural form, and Perrault edited them. This conclusion seems to be the best judgment of the critics as to what part Perrault and as to what part his son had in the composition; for the eight prose tales edited in book form, as we have said, were attributed to the son, Perrault Darmancour — although Perrault, the father, the noted academician, when they were attacked, defended them and acknowledged a share in the writing. Contemporaneous criticism seems to establish the probability that the stories were 88 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE written down or recited by the boy as exercises in composition. Perranlt was well known to be inter- ested intelligently in the education of his children, and to give a good deal of his time to directing it personally. He fostered ingenuity and originality. He called the process of putting into acceptable literary form the stories of the nursery and of the French peasant households "original composition" on the part of his children. It was original in the truest and most valuable sense. When the little boy and his father began, few or none such tales had been written out in French, at least not in that age. The father rightly thought the work more contributive than the frivolous re-doing of the Greek and Roman classics which occupied the school chil- dren of the day. The Perrault family believed in things "curious and new." It is beautiful to think, though, that this jolly, companionable, modern father, the famous hero of the Battle of the Books, finally, in spite of himself, and in plain contradiction to his supposed position, was meeting Homer on his own ground as a teller of ' ' old wives ' fables. ' ' It is also satisfying to know that what created such a storm in Perrault 's day is accepted as an obvious fact now — namely, that the great epics of Homer, in their elements, first be- longed to the people. The motive. Perrault 7 s stories will live forever as well as Homer's. The delightful blending of FOLK TALES 89 age and youth in them makes them more valuable than they were before. Perrault was himself, de- spite his luck and elevation, essentially a man of the people. His impatience with scholarship, his breezy and unblushing amateurism in everything, prove the fact, as well as does his innate sympathy with the folk of his country. Perrault is to be remembered for his love of little children and of the common people shown in a practical way, also, when he was retiring from his service as minister to the king. It was proposed that the Tuilleries gardens should be closed to the public and reserved for roy- alty only. Perrault protested in the name of little French children and of common mothers and fathers and nurses, saying, "I am persuaded that the gardens of the kings are made so great and spacious that all their children may walk in them. ,, It was decreed that the gardens should be kept open in the interest of children forever. The list. Perrault published three verse tales as well as the eight prose tales. The prose versions, as we have said, will always live. They have passed over the boundaries of city and country and become native in England and America as well as in France. One has but to give a list to prove the contention instantly, with a single exception. Here is the list: La Belle au Bois Dormant (The Sleeping Beauty), Le Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding-Hood), La Barbe Bleiie (Blue Beard), Le Maistre Chat, ou 90 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE Le Chat Botte (Puss in Boots), Les Fees (Toads and Diamonds), Cendrillon, ou la petite pantoufle de verre (Cinderella), Biqnet a la Houppe (Kiquet of the Tuft — not popular in English), and Le Petit Poucet (Hop o' My Thumb). These tales received in England the title of "Mother Goose's Tales" because on all the English chap-books, with various slight alterations, the frontispiece of the 1697 French edition persisted. It represents an old woman spin- ning, and telling tales to a man, a girl, a little boy, and a cat with a broad grin on its face; and an- nounces on a placard CONTES DEMA Mere Loye that is, "Mother Goose's Tales." The Brothers Grimm Jacob Ludwig Carl (1785-1863) Wilhelm Carl (1786-1859) The founders of the science of folk lore were the brothers Jacob and William Grimm, who published, in 1812-1815, their Children and Household Tales, a collection of popular tales taken for the most part directly from the mouths of the common people of Germany. The mutual friendship of these brothers was in itself fundamental and folk-like. Its simplicity and FOLK TALES 91 devotion have passed into a proverb. While their name stands for what is highest and best in German scholarship, it stands also for what is loveliest in human nature — kindliness, industry, enthusiasm, patience, and brotherly love, in both the restricted and universal sense. Live and work together. Jacob and William Grimm were born one year apart, 1785, 1786. They attended school together, worked together, lived together for seventy-two years, with the exception of one year when William, the younger, was ill, and his brother Jacob went up to the University of Marburg a few months in advance in 1802. William followed, however, in 1803. As boys they had gone through the public school of Cassel to- gether. When AVilliam w T as married, Jacob con- tinued to live with him; and it is said that the chil- dren of the family loved their uncle almost as much as they loved their father, and recognized little difference between the two. As men in the world, Jacob and William were brother librarians, brother professors, brother sufferers in the cause of consti- tutional liberty. When Jacob was professor and librarian at Gottengen and William was under- librarian, they signed, with five other members of the faculty of the university, a protest against the King of Hanover's abrogation of the Constitution he had given to his people a few T years before. In punishment the brothers Grimm were dismissed, and 92 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE went back to Cassel, where they remained without an appointment for three years. In 1840, however, at the invitation of the King of Prussia, they both accepted professorships in the University of Berlin and membership in the Acad- emy of Science. Jacob lived five years longer than William, but always in the halo of their past com- panionship. The greatest sorrow that ever came to Jacob's heart was the loss of his brother. He paid a noble and touching tribute to William in a review of his life in an address before the Academy — a pathetic address in which the speaker broke down and cried. Nature of their work. The brothers Grimm did more than Perrault in that they not only told the stories of the past simply and well, but created a love in the minds of other persons for the simple folk products of all nations and created a reverence for race literature just as it is found. They went at the work of preservation in the spirit of science. For instance, they would collect variants of a story and then, comparing the variants with the best straightforward version they had, they would de- cide, through their knowledge of the dialects and of anthropology in general, what was probably the ancient and most natural form or the best evolved form. This they would put into the body of their book and would offer the remainder in the notes and the discussion. Some stories, they took from FOLK TALES 93 manuscript and other collections, and commented on the source. Asbjornsen and Moe Like the Grimm Brothers, Peter Christen Asbjorn- sen (1812-1885) and Jorgen Engsbretsen Moe (1813- 1882) have come down in literary fame together. They met when one was fourteen and the other was thirteen years old, and remained fast friends the rest of their lives. Each one, inspired by the work of the German collectors, determined to write down for preservation whatever Norse folk tales he should come across from day to day. After working a year or more alone, the young men decided, in 1834, to do the final revision and the editing and publishing together. It happened, or came as a result of their association, that they had practically the same way of thinking and the same vigorous and charming narrative style. The partnership was extremely fortunate. It resulted in one of the best books of Norwegian literature, and altogether one of the best folk story collections in the world. These narra- tives, even when retold in the simplest form for young readers, retain the crispness of northern thought and expression. How they gathered stories. Asbjornsen, who be- came zoologist and spent much of his time investi- gating for the university in the way of his profession along the coasts of Norway, collected many of his 94 PRIMARY EEADING AND LITERATURE stories meanwhile, especially from the west coast and the Hardanger fjord; and Moe, who became a clergyman, searched in the southern mountains and the remote districts as his duties and holidays permitted. The first volume came out in 1842-1843 under the title Norse Folk Tales, and the second volume in 1844. These two volumes were received with acclaim, and have been deservedly popular ever since. Dr. George Webbe Dasent began translat- ing them into English almost immediately, and after fifteen years published a first edition in Edinburg called M Popular Tales from the Norse." This vol- ume lacked thirteen of the Norse stories, but con- tained a long preface by Dasent on the Origin and Diffusion of Popular Literature. Later, in a second edition, the preface was revised and extended, and the remaining Norse stories added. The English translation of Asbjornsen and Moe is, in itself, an excellent and noted book. In 1871 an augmented edition of Norse Folk Tales was published under the names of the lifelong friends and collectors. Norway is a small country with only about two and a half million inhabitants, but she has always given a good account of herself in literature. To Asbjornsen and Moe's popular stories Jacob Grimm gave the palm for freshness and sincerity. NOTES ON THE FOLK TALES Introduction In its widest sense, as a generic term for commu- nity composition, folk tale includes stories of at least five types: myth, legend, fairy tale, nursery saga, and fable whenever the story is traditional and very old. Most fables are sophisticated and plainly be- speak individual authorship, as likewise do some myths and some fairy tales. In a more limited sense, when used as a specific term, as it is used in the indexes to these Readers, folk tale includes only the more domesticated myths and stories with myth elements, like The Little Sister of the Sun and Why the Sea Is Salt; and the simpler and more homely legends in the form of nursery sagas like Boots and His Brothers; and the traditional fairy tales, like The Elves and the Shoemaker. This is the sense in which the term "household tale" or "nursery tale," is usually understood. 1 The Queen Bee is a nursery saga. For literary reasons the following distinction i Since these books are to be read in the public schools, the com- pilers wished to avoid the nursery connotation, it is to be presumed. The avoidance is good pedagogy. The small child coming to the school building or the grade above the kindergarten for the first time, feels himself quite grown up, and should not be abashed unnecessarily. The generic term is as good for him as the specific, and is sanctioned by use. 95 96 PEIMAEY READING AND LITERATURE is sometimes made between fairy tale and nursery saga, which may both be household tales; in the fairy tale, the fairy or supernatural creature like a fairy is the chief actor; whereas in the nursery saga, the human being is the chief actor, is the hero. For this distinction the word "saga" is borrowed from the Norse language, where it signifies "hero- legend." The addition of the adjective "nursery" makes the phrase mean that the story is told of a child's hero or heroine. Often the hero is the youngest of three brothers and is supposed to be a ne'er-do-well: often the heroine is a neglected step-daughter or orphan. Here are the formal definitions of these two types, set over against each other: (1) A Fairy Tale is a narrative of imaginative events wherein the chief actors are beings other than man and the gods — beings who have the power to help man or to tease and molest him, but not the power utterly to de- stroy him. It is to be noted that the interest centers about the supernatural creature. (2) A Nursery Saga is a narrative of imaginative events wherein is celebrated a human hero of more or less humble origin, a child's hero or heroine, who by native wit and energy (or supposed lack of wit and en- ergy) together with the possession of a charm or secret helper is enabled to do stupendous deeds, which bring material happiness. It is to be noted that the interest centers about the human hero, the boy or girl, not the fairy who may help or the charm that may win. FOLK TALES 97 Drolls. Comical folk tales are called drolls. Now, a nursery saga, we have just said, has a human hero; but a droll may have only a human- ized hero. That is, the chief actor in a droll may be a cat or a mouse, a donkey or a pig, a ginger- bread boy or a pancake; but as an actor it must seem human. In that fact resides the fun. A droll does not need to be satiric, though it generally is, but it must be jolly. The student will note the difference between a droll and a fable, though a fable also is satiric and has humanized animals and talking inanimate objects for actors. The forms are different. The fable is usually short and the nursery droll longer — the droll having the air of a saga. Besides, the fable is always in earnest; it is didactic and utilitarian, while the droll may be noth- ing but a laugh in narrative form. The idea of seri- ousness is the dividing line, too, between the nursery saga proper and the nursery saga droll. Some one has pleasantly .conjectured that the usual nursery sagas must have been related originally by the women of the tribe, and the drolls by the men. The speaker had in mind, no doubt, such drolls as Hans in Luck and Thumbling. It is to be noticed that these stories retain the human hero, but are mani- festly satiric, though they do not cease to be genial, especially Hans does not. The conjecture itself is droll and rather pat. It could hardly be proved, however. 98 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE The Folk Tales of the Primer There are possibly two stories in the Primer not drolls, the first and the last. Since drolls are manufactured out of anything, however, tradition or not, we might call The Little Bed Hen, a pedagogical droll. In it, surely a lesson of cheerful industry is taught along with accurate ideas or planting and harvesting, grinding and baking. Or to be very modern, we might call it a domestic sci- ence droll, since the ideas of food sources and bread- making are prominent. The recollection that most of us have of the Little Red Hen, I dare say, is the poetized version : " 'Oh, I will then,' Said the little red hen," and so forth. The Gingerbread Boy is a delightful hero, as is also the Pancake fellow. The children will not miss the expres- sions of countenance of these two as shown in the pictures and they should not miss the expressions of the other actors. The touches on the Gingerbread Boy are the most subtle, and should in themselves afford some pleasant oral composition on the part of the children. Since both these stories are tragedies that are not tragedies, the idea of what a droll is from a literary point of view might pos- sibly be grasped by the more advanced pupils if not by all. They might be asked to make up drolls of their own. When we remember that Macaulay was reading the news- paper when he was four years old, that John Stuart Mill was studying Latin and Greek and had read all the high school classics in those subjects as well as in mathematics when he was eight, and that Robert Louis Stevenson had dictated a history of Moses before he could write, we TALES OF THE PRIMER 99 need not hesitate to talk a bit rationally to our young subjects in the classroom. Some of thorn may be aching with genius and be ready to grow wonderfully if they only have the chance. Humor is a good pedagogue as well as a good civilizer. We cannot have too much of the right sort in school. The Old Woman and the Pig might be considered the standard of the repetition droll. It is a typical folk tale also, in so much as it reflects the simple attitude of early people tow r ard the rest of creation. There was not for primitive man, as there is not for children to-day, any conscious barrier between the inanimate and the animate or the mere animal and the human. To the naive mind the accident of never having heard a dog converse or a stick reply, would not preclude the belief that upon oc- casions either could do so. Water and fire, oxen and ropes — why should they not talk as well as the butcher? and have their own affairs and their own prejudices?' As for the sixpence, it is English, of whatever nationality the pig may be ! The cumulative repetition idea must be very old, but this particular sequence could not go farther back in date than the first year of stiles, of rope manu- facture, and of the differentiation of butchers. The six- pence is merely representative, one would suppose. If not, wise critics in dim future ages will be able to say definitely, considering that one point alone in connection w T ith contemporaneous evidence, that the story did not originate in the years 1912, 1913, 1914, among any of the civilized tribes. Unless, perhaps, the whole compo- sition were launched in 1914 as a droll on the coercive measures at that time in vogue. The Boy and the Goat is a cry-baby droll, on the same pattern. The illustrations are charmingly conceived. One is not quite sure, however, whether the disproportionate 100 PRIMARY READING AND LITERATURE size of the bee is art or satire. The position of hero should justify the emphasis. Chicken Little — or Chuck Luck, as he is sometimes called — is a brave youngster of much wisdom. He has his prototype in the world to-day, and has had it ever since man was man. The testimony of an eye witness goes very far with most persons; few stop to consider whether or not snap judgment has accompanied the see- ing and the hearing. However, Foxy Loxy is met sooner or later, and all is over for a while, until another com- pany with a Chicken Little for leader comes along. This story has many versions. The Norse, in Dasent's transla- tion, is called The Cock mid the Hen that went to Dovre- fell. Here the hen finally outwits the fox, but only after- he has devoured her followers. The Billy Goats Gruff is the other side of the shield. In this story the humanized heroes come off victorious without mistake. This is indisputably one of the best drolls in the world. It has virility with charm, the fairy tale quality with naturalness, and the essentially oral style with naive humor. The mimetic element alone would make the story immortal. No one who knows it can hear a goat go over a bridge and not think of the line. The beat of the little hoofs is unmistakable. The repetition of it is fascinating and the jollity and sprightliness are irresistible. The fact that the sprightliness is enforced makes the humor the better, as does also the fine brotherly love of the Gruffs. They are united against a foe — they are united as many a set of brothers is in the strength of the greatest. Daring and cunning may avail if one only have substantial reference. The two smaller Gruffs felt that they had it. The troll belongs of right in a Norse tale. He is made to tease Norse heroes and to be outwitted by them. He TALES OF THE I'KlMEl; lOl is usually a fiercer creature than is here represented, how- ever. In the original story he has eyes as big as saucers and a nose as long as a poker. The nose is characteristic of trolls. No wonder that the goat flew at him, poked his eyes out, crushed him to bits, body and bone, and tossed him into the water! Little Tuppens, the next hero, might be Chicken Lit- tle's less educated cousin. He has the family traits. The story as here given is more interesting as a mere story and more logical than either the German version, called in Grimm's collection The Death of the Little Bed Hen, or the Norse version called The Cock and the Hen a-Nut- tiit\ Family. Tin; 10 9 Giant and the Pir.s, The 26 16 Giant and the Pigs, The (dramatization) . . 31 17 High and Low 171 51 How Fire Came to the Indians 97 37 How Tommy Raised the Wind 43 21 Husband Who Was to Mind the House, The .150 48 In Trust 72 29 June Comes 229 61 Lamplighter, The 24 15 Little Being Pigeon 190 55 Little Boy Blue 140 45 Little Pilgrim People 87 34 Man in the Moon 84 33 Mk. and Mrs. Spikky Sparrow 105 39 My Lady Wind 96 37 Night Wind, The 45 21 XoYF.MHER 148 47 Obedience 179 52 Old Abe, the War Eagle 143 46 O Sailor, ComE Ashore 120 43 Pig and the Hen, The 77 32 Pig and the Hen. The (dramatization) ... 82 32 Poor Old Elephant 24 15 Real Princess, The 68 28 Robin Redbreast 172 51 Shepherd Boy and the Wolf, The .... 39 20 6 THE CONTENTS Page Page in In Note- Header book Sir ClEges and the Cherries 203 58 Snowbird, The 95 36 Somewhere Town 142 46 Sower, The 202 58 Spring 103 38 Swiss Family Robinson Dogs, The .... 110 40 Table and the Chair, The .:.... 156 49 They Didn't Think 34 18 Three Monkeys oi- Japan 181 53 Tommy Tinker's Charm String 73 30 Tongue-Cut Sparrow, The 182 54 Tree, The 180 52 Two Brass Kettles 174 51 Two Faces . . 30 17 Wild Geese 121 43 Wise Old Elephant, The 21 13 TEACHERS' NOTEBOOK FOR THE HOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER INTRODUCTORY The natural curiosity and imaginative power of childhood, combined with the inherent spirit of investigation, form a broad and far-reaching foundation for third-grade reading. Wisely util- ized, they open the door to development along many lines, and by their aid it is possible to incite pupils to accomplish a large amount of reading with little conscious effort. Children of this grade readily become interested in myths, stories of primitive life, adventure, and characteristic habits and experiences of animals; in fact, they can easily be guided into the fertile field of literature through the inspirational touch of a teacher who knows how to improve the opportunities always available. It is a simple matter to lead girls and boys of seven, eight, or nine years of age to imagine themselves living in the long ago; to see and feel the conditions which existed in primitive homes in the early days of our country, and to so clearly picture the approach of the Indians that they understand why little children were afraid and were hidden under brass kettles. With eyes sparkling with the joy of discovery, they enter into the experiences of the Swiss Family Robinson; and their sympathy goes out quite as readily to foolish Chanticleer when he responds to the flattery of the fox as to the poor, hungry, and sick dog of Flanders. They love dear little Nello and the gentle old grandfather as tenderly as if they really knew them. They rejoice with Blackie in his release from the trap, and laugh merrily at the foolish quarrel of the pig and the hen. All such material, when properly presented, is keenly appreciated by third-grade children, and excellent results are certain to follow the interpretive, awakening touch of a skillful teacher. » TEACHERS' NOTEBOOK GENERAL PLAN FOR A READING LESSON In order that the work may be logical and definite, all lessons should follow a general plan, but that plan should be adapted to meet the needs of the particular lesson. Twenty or twenty-five minutes is suggested for a lesson, and the phonic work may be done at the beginning or at the end of the period, as the teacher prefers. 1. Phonic or vocal exercises, enunciation drills, imaginative work, and expression exercises. 2. "Word preparation, including drill upon new words, phrases, and expressions. 3. Directing the thought, to prepare for the reading of the lesson. 4. Reading the lesson. 5. Dramatization or oral reproduction of the story. 6. Seat work. Make the work as far as possible correspond with the thought of the lesson. CONCRETE SUGGESTIONS FOR THE LESSONS Page 9. Daisies. Create the right atmosphere for an understanding of the poem by leading the class to imagine the following pictures and to describe them: 1. A meadow dotted with white daisies, with children picking the daisies and telling their fortunes by pulling out the petals and saying, "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief." 2. The starry sky on a clear night. The resemblance between the meadow dotted with daisies and the sky spangled with stars. 3. Lady Moon picking the daisies in the sky, and dropping them down to earth. Questions for expression. (First stanza.) What do you see in the sky when you go to bed? What are they? What do they do to the sky meadow? Read the stanza. (Second stanza.) When you are dreaming, what will go across the sky? Who is it? What kind of a lady? What does she do? Read the two stanzas. (Third stanza.) How many stars are left in the morning? What has the lady done? Where has she dropped them? Read the entire poem. HOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 9 Phonic lesson, a means the short sound of a. i. Review the short vowel sounds by placing the letters upon the blackboard and drilling upon the sounds in a variety of ways. Call them daisies, and have them picked; call them stars, and have them twinkle by giving the sounds. 2. Review phonograms containing short a by drawing a football and placing them upon the ball, as: Have the ball kicked, thrown, and caught by giving the phono- grams. 3. On the board write lists of words containing the phonograms reviewed, and have the words sounded, as: had fan catch ham can thank mat bag Teach the children to say, "The a in had is short a," "The a in bag is short a," and so on through the list. Then tell them that whenever it is necessary to indicate the short sound of a it is done in this way, a. 4. Have the a marked in each word on the blackboard. 5. Call attention to the lesson on page 9, and have the words sounded and pronounced. Page 10. The Fox Family. Show the picture of a fox, or write the word on the board, and lead the children to describe the characteristic habits of foxes and also to tell about their food. Let them tell why farmers set traps for them, and why smaller animals are afraid of them. Call atten- tion to the illustration, and have the different members of the family located and named. io TEACHERS 1 NOTEBOOK Have the story read, one paragraph at a time, emphasizing the following important points: The kind of foxes they were. What Father Fox knew. How he looked when he walked over to the barn, and what he thought. What happened the next day. Who went after their dinner then. Mother Fox brings home the farmer's big fat turkey. The Fox family eat the Thanksgiving turkey. What is left to tell the story. The little foxes wait for Mother Fox to come home. Three poor hungry little baby foxes cry for their mother. The farmer's children find them. What they say. Pictures to be imagined: 1. The fox family. 2. Father Fox walking over to the barn. 3. Father Fox catching the white rooster. 4. Father Fox in the trap. 5. Mother Fox carrying the big, fat turkey. 6. Eating the Thanksgiving turkey. 7. The baby foxes, hungry and crying. 8. The farmer's children finding the little foxes. Action and expression sentences: One day Father Fox walked slowly over to the barn, looking first this way and then that. The old white rooster struts around so proud and so smart, and calls all the hens whenever he sees me coming. One day she brought a big fat turkey. They ate and ate and ate until there was nothing left but the bones to tell the story of the Thanksgiving turkey. By and by they were so hungry they began to cry. Poor little foxes, you do not know we caught your father and mother in our trap. Phonic lesson, e means the short sound of e. 1. Review phonograms containing short e. Draw circles on the board and place a phonogram in the center of each. Call them pies, and have them eaten by giving the phonograms ; call them nuts, and have them cracked by giving the phonograms; call them apples, and have them eaten by giving the sound of short e. ed em en eg eb ep ell eck ent end ept ed et est 2. Teach the children to say "E in et is short e," and so on with each phonogram. IIOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER n 3. Give each child a slip of paper on which a word containing short e has been written. Have the words sounded and pronounced, and the statements made that the e in hen is short e; the e in Nell is short e, and so on. Then tell the children that the short sound of e is indicated by putting the sign of the short sound over the e, as e. Have each child mark the e in his word. 4. Call attention to the lesson on page 12, and have the words sounded and pronounced and the mark for e in each word indicated by a movement of the finger. Page 13. The Fox and the Rooster. Write the new words on the board and have them pronounced and used in oral sentences. Review the characteristics of foxes, and enlarge upon their slyness. Describe a barnyard in which there are fowls of many kinds. Divide the class into sections, and let the ducks quack, the hens cackle, and the big yellow rooster crow. Tell the story briefly, letting the class repeat after you such expressions as, " Don't run away, Chanticleer"; "Don't be afraid of me"; "You are as hand- some as he was"; "No rooster can crow as beautifully as you, Chanticleer"; and "'Fox! fox! fox!' cried the black hens." Points to be emphasized in the reading: The noise in the barnyard. Who heard the noise, and what he thought. What trick he decided to try to play. How Chanticleer felt when he saw the fox hiding in the grass. What the fox said to Chanticleer about his father, and his resemblance to him. What Chanticleer thought about the fox. How he was going to crow. (Class stand as Chanticleer did, and crow in their sweetest tones.) What happened as soon as Chanticleer's eyes were shut. (Do what the farmer did. Do what the hens, ducks, and dog did.) How Chanticleer felt, and what he thought. (All read what he said to the fox.) How the fox felt to hear Chanticleer say this. (Say what the fox called back.) What the old yellow rooster did, and what Mr. Sly Fox had to do all day. Have the entire story read by one half of the class while the other half act out the situations as they are described in the reading. 12 TEACHERS' NOTEBOOK Phonic lesson. 6 means the short sound of o. I. Review the short sounds of the vowels, and phonograms con- taining short a, e, and o, by drawing a fence around a square or irregular space and placing the letters and phonograms inside. Call this the barnyard, and let one child play he is the fox and all the others that they are chickens. Let the chickens give the sounds of the short vowels when the fox comes, making as much noise as they like, and each one giving the sound he prefers. Let the children take turns being a fox who catches as many chickens as he can by pronouncing the phonograms, touching each one with a pointer as he pronounces it. at ^^ad^kaf \ em e y 6m WK'edet om 5b . i iw . £f oa ock . u s 6p and r f 6x 2. Write the following lists of words upon the board and have them sounded and pronounced. Then ask the children to tell what sound a has in had, and how to mark it; what sound e has in hen, and how to mark it; what sound o has in fox, and how they think short o should be marked. Without hesitation they should be able to tell the correct mark to use. had hen fox Jack red not quack them stop 3. Mark the words in the lists. 4. Call attention to the lesson on page 18, and have the children notice how is marked. Have the words sounded and pronounced, and the mark to be used traced in the air with the finger. Page 18. The Child and the Bird. This poem leads us to imagine a little maiden talking in a familiar, loving way to a dear little bird. This shows that the relationship HOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 13 between them must have been one of friendship and love, because the bird was not afraid to talk to the little girl and tell all about his dream. Such a conversation should be reproduced in a gentle, musical voice, expressing great tenderness. In the reading, call attention to how the season is indicated, the dream, where the birds were going, why they were going, and when they would return. Pictures to be imagined : 1. The little girl and the bird talking together. 2. The trees covered with pretty red leaves, with the bright sunshine upon them. 3. The birds asleep in the tree. 4. The land where oranges bloom. 5. The return of the birds to the orchard. After the lesson has been read as a whole, let each child select the stanza he prefers and read it, bringing out the special points. Phonic lesson: 1. The phonograms ought, ight, and aught should be thoroughly reviewed and made familiar through a variety of drills. Divide the class into three sections and give each section one of these phonograms. Then question the sections rapidly. When a question is asked the answer is to be the phonogram only, as, "Where do you live?" Section 1 says ought, section 2 says ight, and section 3 says aught. 2. Call attention to the lesson on page 19, and have the words sounded and pronounced and the phonograms underlined. Teach the children to use the words in sentences, as: "I caught my naughty daughter and taught her what she ought to do." "One night I saw a bright light right near my window." "I thought I brought a bright light to my naughty daughter." Page 21. The Wise Old Elephant. Describe a circus parade and let the children run to the windows and pretend to watch it pass. Then let them tell what they saw, how many elephants there were, what they like to feed them, and so on. Give a short description of the jungle in which elephants live when wild, how they are captured, and some of their characteristics. Call attention to the picture, and let the children imagine and tell what the man is saying. Be sure to have the children talk as he would, and read the lesson naturally. Little, if any, questioning for expression will be necessary, H TEACHERS* NOTEBOOK because the mind picture is vivid and the lesson conversational in style. After reading the lesson, dramatize it. Call a corner of the room the place for the elephant. Put a coat or shawl over two boys, and let them pretend to be the elephant. Assign the part of keeper to a boy with a good voice, one who reads well and can appreciate the conditions. Let the remainder of the class attend the circus and feed the elephant candy and peanuts. The keeper should remember parts of the lesson, and repeat them as the children pass by. To help in the work, it is sometimes wise to write two or three sentences from the lesson upon the board where they can be seen easily. Phonic lesson, t means the short sound of i. i . Review phonograms containing short a, e, o, and i by placing them in cages and calling them animals. Let the class pass by the cages and name the animals as they pass. Have the phonograms given rapidly. Let each child choose a cage, and see how fast he can name the animals. ack an ent em ot om ink in ap ank eck eb ock on ick it aught id ill a e 1 ack ick ight ib in 6 u eck ock 2. Sound and pronounce the words in the following list and let the children tell how they think i should be marked to indicate the short sound. Mark the words. ink think lm him ill bill it hit 3. Use the lesson on page 22 for written seat work, and have the words copied and marked. HOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 1$ Page 24. Poor Old Elephant. This is an expression lesson and no thought preparation is neces- sary. Questions for expression. What kind of an elephant are we to read about? Where did he go? Where did he live his life? Of what was he dreaming? The word poor should be made emphatic by lengthening oo, cool by lengthening oo, juicy and rippling by word painting. See "Suggestions to Teachers," page 222 of the Third Reader. Mind pictures to suggest: 1. The wild elephant eating the juicy leaves in a jungle beside a rippling pool. 2. The elephant in a tent, eating peanuts and performing tricks. Have the selection memorized and given with expression. Phonic lesson, ph and gh have the same sound as /. 1. Review the sounds of the letters by leading the children to imagine themselves in the jungle with the elephant. Have them see the pretty leaves and name the fish in the pool as you point to the sounds. Write a, /, m, d, k, b, g, f, e, c, d, n, I, x, r, and all the other letters on the blackboard, or draw leaves and put a letter on each leaf. Have each child play he is the wind and try to blow away all the leaves by giving the sounds. 2. Write the word elephant and have it sounded, pointing to each letter as the sound is given. Lead the children to see that ph says/, and have them state this. Let them discover in a similar way that gh says / in enough. 3. Write on the board the words in the lesson on page 23, and add to them many others containing the same sound. Drill upon them, being sure that each child gives clearly the special sounds, gh and ph. 4. Have words containing the new sound used in sentences. Page 24. The Lamplighter. This lesson has been used in the general plan as applied to lessons. See "Suggestions to Teachers," page 220 of the Third Reader. Phonic lesson, u means the short sound of u. I. Review the short vowel sounds by sending telegrams; sound from left to right and from top to bottom. Change the groups on the poles to others, so that the drill may be varied and thorough. Let the children repeat their messages, as, "My message said 6, od t nod." Call each list in the lesson on page 24 of the Reader i6 TEACHERS 1 NOTEBOOK a telegram, and have the message read several times. Sound and pronounce words from the story, as: ladder, night, rich, time, left, way. Page 26. The Giant and the Pigs. The fable should be made familiar to the children before the reading is attempted. This may be done by having the lesson read silently as seat work, or by telling the story before the recitation. Select expression phrases and sentences from the story and write them on the board. Drill upon them oefore the children read the story, in order to avoid questioning during the reading, as: "'You better look out, black little, fat little pigs!' 'A big, hungry giant lives in those woods.' 'Ha! ha!' said the giant, 'now I shall have roast pig for my supper.' " Mind pictures to be created through description: 1. Deep, dark woods in which a big, hungry giant lives. 2. A pen, and three little black pigs living in it. 3. Three little pigs starting toward the woods, and the hens and old yellow rooster calling after them. 4. The pigs running around eating nuts. 5. The giant catching the pigs, and how frightened they looked. 6. Three little pigs running to their pen as fast as they can. IIOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 17 Page 30. Two Faces. Talk to the class about sometimes feeling happy and sometimes feeling cross. Have them show in their faces how they feel. Questions for expression. What does it mean to make a face at any one? If you make a face at Billy, what will he be almost sure to do? How many ugly faces does that make? And what else does it make? Read the stanza and bring out those facts. If you smile at Billy, what will he do? All smile at me, and see what I will do. What would you say if you could see Billy? What is it pleasanter for any boy or girl to do? How many does it take to make a quarrel? Have the lesson read several times, making sure that it is appre- ciated by all and read with correct expression. Phonic lesson, a means the long sound of a. 1. Review phonograms containing a made long by final e, and lead the children to say, "Sometimes final e makes a long." 2. Show that the final e produces the difference in the sound of a. at ak ad al am short sounds ate ake ade ale ame long sounds late make made sale same J 3. Present phonograms in which long a is not followed by final e, and lead the children to see this, as: ail, ay, aim, air. 4. Give words containing long a, and have them sounded and pronounced. Tell the children that long a is shown thus, a. 5. Give words and have the a marked: play stay wait late make take chain tail 6. Have the lists of words given in the lesson on page 30 sounded from top to bottom, as: ake; t ake, take; c ake, cake. Page 31. The Giant and the Pigs. (Dramatization.) 1. Have the lesson read silently. 2. Assign the parts as indicated, and have each child take his right place. 3. Let each child read his part from the book. 4. Assign the parts, and let one child read while the others act. 5. After the reading nave the story acted from memory. Phonic lesson. means the long sound of 0. 1. Write phonograms and words containing long o upon pieces of paper. Hide these in different places about the room. Tell the 2 1 8 TEACHERS' NOTEBOOK children you have hidden these papers and they may each find one. When all are found have each child recite. "I found c old, cold, under Harry's desk." "I found y oke, yoke, in a book." "I found ole, ome, oat in James's pocket." This makes an interesting game, a valuable language lesson, and a thorough phonic drill. 2. Write the phonograms upon the board as they are given, and lead the children to say that when o says its name it is long o. 3. Mark the in the phonograms and words, and let the class tell how it is marked to indicate the long sound. 4. Let phonograms containing long represent pigs, and let one pupil be a big giant catching them. Each pupil who correctly pronounces his name is released by the giant. 5. The lesson on page 32 should be used as a drill upon long o. Have the children find and give other words which contain long o. Page 34. They Did n't Think. Have the lesson read silently. Then ask the following questions, and have the children answer them by reading parts of the lesson: Of what was a little turkey fond? What would n't she do? What did she say? Who saw her pass? What happened to her feathers? For what did she make a supper? Why did it happen? Read the entire lesson. Tell the story in your own language. Give a quota- tion from the poem from memory. What lesson in your Second Reader was something like this? It was written by the same lady, and is really a part of the same poem. Read the lesson from the Second Reader. Which do you prefer? Why do you prefer it? Phonic lesson, n means the long sound of u. Follow the outline used in teaching long a. Let the words in the phonic lesson be turkeys, represented by the pupils, who will escape from the sly young mink by gobbling (pronouncing the words). Page 35. Belling the Cat. Have each paragraph studied silently and the condition imagined and talked about before the oral reading of the story. 1. A pet cat lived in a fine house in which she had great free- dom. All the mice were afraid of her. 2. Mice met in a dark pantry to discuss the cat. What had led to this meeting? 3. All the mice looked very serious and thoughtful. Little Short Tail stood up, proposing that some one hang a bell around the cat's neck. HOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 19 4. All the mice approved the plan and looked happy. 5 and 6. Jimmy Gray Back, with his head on one side, looked out of the corner of his eye and asked who would bell the cat. All the mice looked very wise and kept very still. Have the meaning of these words and phrases shown by perform- ing the actions: almost caught me hang a bell scamper walked so softly met squeaked thought very hard afraid winked head on one side stood listen looking out of the corner of his eye eat run Phonic lesson, i means the long sound of i. I. Make paper mice by tracing around a pattern and cutting upon the line. On one side write the name of the mouse, as Jimmy Gray Back, and on the other side write several phonograms, being careful to include some which contain long i, as "ail, oil, ite, etc. Give each child a mouse and have him say, "Jimmy Gray Back says ail, oil, ite." "Father Sharp Eyes says ade, ought, ice." Let the children sit upon the floor and pretend to be mice, while each one says what his paper mouse did. Place upon the board lists of words like those below, and have them sounded. might neck sure joke mice light bell tune snow fine Call attention to the lesson on page 36. Have the phonograms sounded, and lead the children to say, "/in ice, ide, He, and ine is long i, and it is marked in this way (tracing the mark in the air with the finger)." Have the words sounded and pronounced, and used in sentences. Page 37. Belling the Cat. (Dramatization.) Follow the directions for acting given in italics in the lesson. Before the dramatizing is done the lesson should be read both silently and aloud, in order that the children may become familiar with the forms of expressions. The lesson should be read by the children who are acting. Some- times it is desirable to have the parts memorized ; this gives greater freedom in acting out the situation. 20 TEACHERS 1 NOTEBOOK Page 39. The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf. See "Suggestions to Teachers," page 221. Page 42. The Four Winds. Talk with the class about the wind, the names of the different winds, and the sections of the earth from which they come. Have the children close their eyes and imagine the great north wind, its destructive characteristics, and the land from which it comes, with its mountains, its icebergs, its seasons, its people. Lead them to think of the southern portion of their own country and compare its climate, fruit, and flowers with those of the northern section. Let them reason, and decide what the north wind would naturally bring them. Talk about the work of the wind at different times of the year. As the points are given by the class note them upon the black- board and have them read as, " In spring the wind helps to melt the snow, to dry up the mud, to clean the streets, and to waken the buds and flowers." Questions for expression. (First stanza.) When you hear the wind in winter what do you know the clouds will do? What does the wind do to the sky? to the snow? (Second stanza.) When you feel the spring wind, what do you know? What does the wind tell the crocus buds to do? Do they do it? What color is a crocus? Describe a crocus. (Third stanza.) What three things does the summer wind do to the rose? (Fourth stanza.) Make the noise the autumn wind makes. Show how it feels. What does the wind do to the acorn? How can the wind plant an oak? Have the poem read several times and the story told by the children in their own language. Phonic lesson, e means the long sound of e. 1. Review sounds and phonograms by having words relating to the seasons sounded, as: "In spring there are buds (sound)." Teacher writes the word. " In spring there are b ugs." " In spring there are leaves." "In spring we play tag." "In spring we fly kites." "In spring we pick flowers." "In spring we p lay b all." "I like spring." Make use of similar work for the other seasons. 2. Have the different winds blow, and say the following from left to right and from top to bottom: ate ade ame ale ake ape at &d am al ak ap Ite ide Ime lie Ike ipe HOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 21 it H - In - H ik Kp Ote Ode Ome Ole Oke Ope Qte Ode Qme ale Qke Qpe 3. Ask the class to show you how long a, i, 0, and u are marked. Let them guess how long e would be marked, and have words marked, as here, tear, eat, each. 4. Take up the lesson on page 41 in the regular way. Page 43. How Tommy Raised the Wind. See "Suggestions to Teachers," page 224 of the Third Reader. Page 45. The Night Wind. Place this drill on the board, and make the expression very familiar. Have you heard the wind go " Y 00-0-0-0"? Somebody had been bad. Who's been bad to-day? The wind will moan " Y 00-0-0-0 V Whom do you want, O lonely night? a pitiful sound chill you through and through. far and wide hoarsely blew broods outside meaningful way ghostly way moan in the ruefulest tone snug in bed Pictures to be imagined by the children: 1 . A dark, dark night, and the wind blowing very hard. 2. Mother telling a little child why the wind makes such a noise, and what has happened. 3. Child tucked in bed with the blankets pulled up around his head, listening to the wind. 4. Children who have been bad grown into models. Questions for expression. What kind of a noise did the wind make, and what did it do? What did the voice of the night say? Where was it brooding? What did you say to it? What would the night reply? What do you mean by a ghostly w ay ? When you were small, what did your mother tell you about the night? Did you believe it? What happened when you were in bed? What would you ask? In what kind of a way would the wind answer? 22 TEACHERS' NOTEBOOK Say what it said. Was what the wind answered true? What did the child grow into? What do you mean by a model? If you doubt, what test are you to make? What will you hear? Considerable time should be spent upon the work in expression in connection with this lesson, because the opportunities for good work are numerous and several kinds of expression are clearly illustrated, (i) Word painting (making the word express the idea for which it stands) : pitiful, chill, wailing, snug, hoarsely, meaningful, ruefulest; (2) lengthening the vowel: broods, through and through, many, far, wide, lonely, long, yoo-0-0-0. Page 47. Exercise for Expression by Lengthening the Vowel. Review the kinds of expression and have oral illustrations given, then call attention to the work on page 46. Tell the class to say everywhere so that it will mean the whole world. This can be done by lengthening the first e and by thinking of everywhere. The thought must be broad in order to make the word express the full meaning. It often helps for the teacher to use the word in a sentence and the class to repeat what she says, as: "Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas to-night." "Everywhere, everywhere, the sun is shining." A way means distance, and the children must think of an ever-widening distance before they can say "Away, away, away," making the second away express greater distance than the first, and the third away express the greatest distance. The following stanza is an unusual one because the verbs should be emphasized: "Call the pigeons, baby dear, Beckon them to you; Hear them answer lovingly, Coo-00 ! Coo-00 ! Coo ! ' ' Call, beckon, and hear should be made to express their meaning through word painting. The exercises should be given in a loving, gentle voice, and always in a low pitch. In all expression exercises the idea to be expressed must first be made clear and vivid in the minds of the children, and the natural expression will follow. These exercises should be reviewed often in order to fix this form of expression in the minds of the children. Page 48. Finding a Dark Place. This simple little story is designed for a silent reading lesson. HOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 23 Have the children read the story several times at their seats, and when the oral reading period comes let them tell it, using as many exact quotations as possible. After this work have the story read aloud and the questions answered. It would be interesting to let the children dramatize this lesson in their own way, and have the teacher play she is the audience. Phonic lesson. 1. Review familiar sounds and phonograms by drawing a checker board and placing on it phonograms for men. Select two pupils to play the game by giving the sounds. The one who makes no mistakes has won the game. 2. Write arm, ark, are, far, and car upon the board, and have them sounded. Call attention to the sound of a in these words, and let the children give other words containing the same sound. Let them give such sentences as: "Hark! I hear a lark and a bark." "The tart is in the cart." " M ark, spark, and lark contain the same sound of a as arm." 3. Use the lesson on page 48 in a similar way. Page 50. The Carpenter. Suggest the word carpenter to the children by talking about building a house and the persons employed to do the work. Show the necessity of exactness and skill in the work of a carpenter, and have his tools named. Write these words upon the board, and drill upon them: tools screws foot rule shelves plane square chest joints hammer nails clever couple Questions for thought. What did the boy think he could do? What did he do? (Read the first stanza.) What did the carpenter do? What did the little boy find as he sat and watched him? (Read the second stanza.) What does the third stanza tell us the carpenter did? How did he measure? He labored to do what? (Read the stanza, and be sure to tell how he measured and labored.) What is it very well to do? How should carpenter work be done? (Read the fourth stanza.) Act the meaning of these words, and tell what you did: plane, hammer, bore, measure, saw, as: "I planed the board; I hammered the nail; I bored a hole." Phonic lesson. The hard sound of c is already familiar. The only new point to be taught is the mark, and this is easily done by calling attention to the sound and telling the class to look at the 24 TEACHERS' NOTEBOOK lesson on page 49 and see how hard c is marked. Send the class to the board, and let each write words containing hard c and mark the sound. Page 52. Blackie in the Trap. (Part I.) Arouse an interest in the story by telling the class that a lady who teaches little children has written a book of stories about animals, called Merry Animal Tales, and the lesson to be read is one of them. This story is about some rats that lived in the house of a rich man, and a little rat that went there to visit the others. The house was so beautiful it was called a mansion. The rich man had a little girl named Dorothy, and Mammy Jule, the cook, called her Miss Dorothy, or the mistress of Madison Square. (Write the new words as they are used in the story.) Briefly describe Miss Dorothy and Mammy Jule, and name the rats that lived in the garret. Tell where the cook put her pies and cakes, and what the rats did. Describe the little wire house the cook bought and put there to catch the rats. Do not tell what happened to Blackie, but leave that to be discovered by the class when reading the lesson. The following words and sentences may be used for a blackboard drill: Miss Dorothy Brownie chimney Mammy Jule Ringtail elders Madison Square Snowwhite piano imagination Father Graybeard mistress We 'd better not touch that. Pshaw! I don't believe it! You little rats had better be careful. Hush, I hear somebody coming. Oh, Miss Dorothy! Run here quickly! Blackie was too scared to say a word. Oh, Mammy Jule, please don't! Please don't give me to the cat! Now was n't she a queer mother? These special points are to be emphasized in Part I: I. Father Graybeard telling the little rats all about traps. (Let the children describe the traps they have seen. Let them study the picture and pretend to listen as the little rats did, then all scamper away to the pantry, saying, "I'll never get caught in a trap, no, no, no.") IIOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 25 2. The pantry with pies and cake on the shelves. 3. The queer little wire house that stood on the pantry floor, and all the little rats looking at it. 4. Blackie in the little wire house, and the other rats looking at him. 5. The cook opening the pantry door. 6. All the other little rats running away. The following questions are to be answered by reading the sentence or paragraph which contains the answer: How much longer had Blackie to stay at Madison Square? Where had they been sitting and what were they doing in the window seat? What did Father Gray beard tell them? What did they say and do? What was there in the pantry? What did Snow white say? What did Blackie say and do? Read what Ringtail, Snowwhite, and Brownie said. Look as they looked. Do what they did when the cook appeared. Look as Blackie looked. How did he feel? Read Part I several times, and emphasize the special points by describing them orally. Page 55. Blackie in the Trap. (Part II.) Review Part I by asking a few questions and having certain expressions repeated. Have the first two paragraphs of Part II read silently, and lead the children to imagine how the cook looked when she stooped down to look in the trap, and how Blackie felt and looked. Have the two paragraphs read several times. Paragraph three introduces the little mistress of Madison Square. Lead the children to imagine how she looked when Blackie saw her playing the piano, and how she looked when she saw Blackie in the trap. Let one child read the description of Miss Dorothy, and another read what she said to Mammy Jule. Have the entire class answer Miss Dorothy by reading the fifth paragraph. Let the children answer the following questions by reading from their books: What did Miss Dorothy say about giving Blackie to the cat? Read what the big fat cook said and did. Imagine how the other little rats felt and acted when they saw Blackie. Class read what little rats have to do before they believe their elders. Show by actions what happened after this. Read the remainder of the story. Read the paragraph you like best. After the lesson has been read, have certain parts of the story told by the children, as: what the little rats found in the pantry and 26 TEACHERS' NOTEBOOK what Snow white told Blackie not to do; what the cook said and did when she found Blackie; what Miss Dorothy did; what Blackie told his mother. Phonic lesson, i. Draw some traps and put words in them to be sounded and pronounced. *>*2S^< 2. Lead the children to sound oo in look, book, cook, nook, and shook (giving the short sound). 3. Ask the class to tell how the short sounds of vowels are marked. Let them think how the short sound of 00 might be marked. Mark the sound in several words. 4. Call attention to the lesson on page 56 and have the words sounded, marked, and used in sentences. Page 59. The City Mouse and the Garden Mouse. Have the poem read silently and the following points given from memory: In what does the city mouse live? In what does the garden mouse live? What is a bower? With what is the garden mouse friendly? What does he see? Read the stanza. What does the city mouse eat? What does the garden mouse eat? Does he ever go hungry? What is he called? Why is he called poor? Which mouse would you rather be? Read the entire lesson. Let a child be the teacher and question the class about the two Page 61. Appleseed John. Read the entire poem to the class and have the quotations used in the story repeated several times. Call attention to the patience HOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 27 and unselfishness of the old man. Show how his work was for all mankind, not for himself. Arouse respect for such work, and admiration for one who does it. Pictures to be imagined from the description: 1. A poor old man sitting thinking of what he could do to help others. 2. The old man when he thought of the way and decided to take apples in payment for work. 3. The old man cutting out the apple cores and putting them into a bag. 4. The old man whistling and singing as he walks along, now and then stopping to dig a hole and plant a seed. 5. The people watching for him, and their joy when he comes. 6. The trees bending low with fruit in after years. Have the parts of the story that describe the pictures read. Page 65. Do You? This little exercise has a threefold purpose; to give variety, to cultivate observation, and to drill upon enunciation. Let the children enjoy it thoroughly and dramatize it in their own way. The illustration will assist in this. The enunciation work can be enlarged and emphasized by allowing each child to ask a question which begins with Do you, as, " Do you like apples ? " "Do you see the elephant ? " "Do you know me?" To avoid monotony, have them asked very rapidly. Page 66. April. These few lines contain a beautiful picture of spring expressed in words. Talk about the month, how the trees look, what the flowers are doing, and so on. Then ask the class to tell in what kind of a voice they think a spring poem should be read, and why. Let them study the first line, and say "Good morning" as sweetly as possible. Why call April winsome and shy? What makes her smile? What is the tear in her eye? What flowers are mentioned? The expression work in this dainty little word picture is all word painting and should be done with great nicety of enunciation and feeling. Shy, sweet, winsome, smile, pretty, bonny blue, and clustering should be made emphatic through word painting, softness of voice, and appreciation of the beauties of spring. Have the little poem committed to memory, and often repeated as the introduction to a lesson or the opening of a school session. 28 TEACHERS 1 NOTEBOOK Page 66. An Apple Orchard in the Spring. This is a continuation of the same thought found in "April" and should be handled in a similar way. Pictures to be imagined before the lesson is read: 1. An orchard in winter. 2. An orchard in the spring when all the trees are loaded with blossoms and the birds are singing their sweetest songs. Show pictures of apple blossoms if you cannot get the real blossoms. The lesson should be carefully studied and the difficult points explained before the oral reading is begun. Questions for expression. (First stanza.) What time of year is the author of our poem talking about? What two questions does the poem ask? Why do you suppose the author talked about an apple orchard in the spring instead of in the winter? What does he say about the trees? What bird does he mention? Why does he "pipe his story"? Read the first stanza. (Second stanza.) Show what plucked, bursting, crumpled, petals, and delight mean. Name another "subtle odor." What does the author ask if you have done? (Answer by reading.) Read the description of the blos- soms. What is it just to touch them? Read the entire stanza. Read the whole lesson. This poem contains more stanzas, which are not given here. Sometime you will enjoy them all. Phonic lesson. I. Review all the sounds of a that are familiar, and have words containing them given by the children. Let them play tag, and instead of saying "tag," give a sound of a. 2. Give rapidly from left to right: at am ag ad ab an ak al ate ame age ade abe ane ake ale arm ard ark arb arp arg am arf 3. Have the words containing a as in care sounded and pro- nounced, as in the lesson on page 64. Page 68. The Real Princess. Give a little information concerning countries in which there are kings and queens, and have a few such countries named. Talk about royal families, and tell the children that in England the son of a king and queen is called a prince and the daughter a princess. Arouse interest in royal families and their children, then have the lesson studied and read in sections or paragraphs. IIOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 29 Special points of the story: 1. A prince wanted to marry a real princess, and searched every- where for one. 2. Why did n't he marry one of those he found? 3. How the prince felt when he returned home. 4. The home of the prince, and who lived in the castle with him. 5. The terrible storm, and what happened in the middle of it. 6. The princess, and how she looked. 7. Why the old queen thought she was not a real princess. 8. What the queen did to find out whether or not the girl was a real princess. 9. What the princess said about how she had slept, and what that proved. 10. The marriage of the prince and the real princess. Where the pea was placed. After the story has been read, have it told in parts and as a whole. Phonic lesson. I. Review hard c and its mark, and have sen- tences given containing the sound, as: "A cat can catch a mouse." "Castles, canes, cakes, candies, cookies, collars, and corn begin with hard c" 2. Write on the board several words containing soft c and have them sounded. Tell the class that soft c is marked Q. Let them make lists of words and mark the c in each word. 3. Have the lesson on page 68 recited by each member of the class. Page 72. In Trust. "In Trust" should be read in a happy, expectant tone, and special attention given to expression. Have the lesson read silently and the thought gained. Read the part which tells what is coming. Read what you are to do in the New Year. Read the last three lines, and tell what God does. Read and memorize the entire lesson. In reading, the words almost, grand, glad, bad, live, gain, give, trying, sighing, striving, hold, sendeth, and lendeth should be made emphatic by a combina- tion of word painting and lengthening the vowel. Few selections have as many illustrations of this point or contain as many verbs to be emphasized. Phonic lesson. 1 . Let the children give New Year's gifts to their classmates by sounding the words, as: "John, I give you a beautiful 30 TEACHERS 1 NOTEBOOK book." "Thank you, Mary." Mary tells what she did. "I gave John a beautiful book." "Helen, I give you a dainty card." "Thank you, Jane." "I gave Helen a dainty card." "Henry, I give you this pocket knife." "Thank you, Charles." This is an excellent language lesson as well as a phonic review. 2. Review the hard sound of g by having the words in the lesson on page 69 sounded. Call attention to how hard g is marked, and let the children mark the g in each word by tracing with the eraser end of their pencils. Page 73. Tommy Tinker's Charm String. When "Tommy Tinker's Charm String" is to be read, ask the children to bring buttons to school. Tell them the use to be made of the buttons is a secret, but ask them to bring the prettiest ones they can find. The teacher should either bring a charm string, or ask a child who has one to do so. In the morning, tell them about the charm strings you had when you were a little girl, and how proud and happy you were when you could add a pretty button to your collections. Make a charm string from the buttons brought, and tell the children they are to read about the charm strings made by some of their friends. Let them open their books and discover the names of the friends they are to read about, and the name of the story. Have the first page studied, read silently, then read aloud as indicated: Read who was getting up a charm string. Read the description of a charm string. Read about Daffy-down-dilly's button. What happened one day? Who found the button? Read what Tommy Tinker said when he found it. Study the remainder of the story. Read the paragraph which tells how the button looked on Tommy's string. Read about how Tommy felt. Read what Tommy Tinker's buttons said and who knew what was the matter with Tommy Tinker. Read what the clock said to him and what he did. Read the remainder of the lesson. Tell the story in your own words. Phonic lesson, do means the long sound of 00. HOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 3i 1. Draw a charm string and use sounds and phonograms for buttons. Have the buttons named up and down the string. Have the largest button named, the smallest. 2. Let the teacher sound words containing long 00 and the children write the words in a column, as: m oon, r oom, s oon, gl oom, br oom, p ool, sch ool, t ool. Ask what combination of letters appears in each word. Have the sound given many times. Ask how short 00 was marked. Let the children tell how they think long 00 should be marked, and then consult their books to confirm their work. 3. Have the words in the lesson on page 73 sounded and used in sentences. Page 77. Buttons. This interesting little Mother Goose rime should be used as a game, as an expression exercise, and as a reading lesson. Children are always interested in selling things, and enjoy the acting connected with it. Let them study the rime and discover what is to be sold, the price of the buttons, their attractive qualities, and for whom they are suitable. After these points are definitely fixed, lead them to think how they would manage to attract the attention of people to their 32 TEACHERS' NOTEBOOK buttons and get them to buy. Lead them to see that they would have to call in a loud tone, and to describe their buttons in an attractive way. Let one child read and the others play they are people on the street and pass hurriedly along. If the reader calls "Buttons, a farthing a pair!" in the right way, the passers-by should stop and listen to the description, and some of them buy. If the reading is poorly done, no one should stop. In reading, the u in button, o in come, and ou in round, the sound should be lengthened to give the desired effect. Work with the rime until it can be repeated and acted from memory. Page 77. The Pig and the Hen. This poem describes a quarrel between a pig and a hen, and certain parts of it should be read in a quarrelsome, defiant tone, and the remainder in a conciliatory way. Call attention to the fact that the pig was much larger and stronger than the hen, and as soon as she realized that, she began to flatter the pig and he responded at once to the soft answer and was willing to share his pen and his trough with her. Have illustrations given, from the experience of the chil- dren, of how easy it is to stir up quarrels by a disagreeable tone or ac- tion, and how easy it is to avoid them by being reasonable and kind. Ask the children to give words that mean almost the same as the following: push snout ill-natured cribs boss rough brute amazed strife anger grateful allow Have each stanza read silently and then ask one or two questions to call attention to the principal points. Let one child read what the hen says and another what the pig says, and the entire class read the descriptive part. After the first reading, assign the para- graphs and have them read by different individuals. Phonic lesson. The sound of ph and gh like / was taught on page 23. Therefore the lesson on page 78 is simply a review les- son, and should be given without devices. Have the words sounded and used in sentences. Page 82. The Pig and the Hen. (Dramatization.) The story told in the poem is dramatized here in a simple way. Have the lesson read silently, and then aloud, before the acting is attempted; then assign the parts and follow the lesson as outlined. This lesson gives an excellent opportunity for voice training and it should be improved. HOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 33 I 8 I e do oo 6 i Phonic lesson, a means the sound of a in far. 1. Review sounds and marks by placing them upon slips of paper and giving each child a slip as: a 6 € oo a 5 do u a € I a g O a Have the sounds given rapidly from the slips. 2. Sound and pronounce: arm far harm sharp Call attention to the sound a has in these words, and show how it should be marked. 3. Sound and pronounce the words given on page 80. Drill upon the mark which indicates the sound of a in arm. Page 84. The Man in the Moon. After the lesson has been read silently have the story told several times by different children. Ask the class if they think this is a true story? If not, why is it put in the book? What lesson does it teach? Let the children question one another about the points of the story, as, "What did the squirrels do when they saw the man working on Sunday?" Have the oral reading after a thorough test has been made of the ability to get thought through silent reading. Phonic lesson, g means the soft sound of g. 1. Make a bundle of fagots and place sounds upon them. Have them carried by giving the sound. 34 TEACHERS' NOTEBOOK 2. Review the sound of soft g by calling attention to words containing it, as "A gentleman saw a gun." "The gentle German gentleman has a pigeon." 3. Call attention to the work in phonics on page 82 and let the children discover how soft g is marked. Let them copy the words on slips of paper and mark the g in each word. Page 86. Expression through Force and Word Painting. Expression by force is very simply and easily taught because so often used. Have many oral commands given before the drill in the book is read. This prepares the thought and brings better results in connection with the work in the book. Lead the children to imagine themselves captains commanding companies and to say, "Halt!" "Fire!" and give other commands as captains would. Make the conditions real before the drill is attempted. Use action work, when necessary, to do this. Remem- ber, in every case feeling goes before expression. Expression through word painting can be gained only by bringing the picture to be painted clearly before the minds of the children. When a child is to make the word fun express the idea for which it stands, he must think fun, and then he can put it into the work; otherwise it is impossible. When he is to make snuggle express the idea of a little bird peacefully resting under the breast of the mother bird, he must think how he enjoys having his little kitten snuggle close to him. In every case, the idea must be brought clearly to mind before correct expression is possible. Have the sentences read by individuals, then given as a class exercise. Page 87. Little Pilgrim People. (Part I.) Recall facts about the life experience of the Pilgrims in England and Holland, the crossing of the ocean, the landing in America, and the conditions they found in New England. Tell stories of the primitive homes, and bring out the special characteristics of those fearless, courageous, strong-hearted fathers and mothers of long ago. Show pictures of the Pilgrims, and arouse a genuine interest in them and their children. Have some Pilgrim children named, and facts about them given. Questions for expression. In what kind of a ship did the Pilgrim people cross the ocean? Why is it called "white winged" ? What kind of a journey was it? What do you mean by a "weary journey" ? Would it be a weary journey now to cross the Atlantic IIOLTON-CURRY THIRD READER 35 Ocean? Why not? Why should we bless the wind that blew the Pilgrims here? Have the stanza read and memorized. It should be remembered by all the class and repeated often, because of its beautiful thought and expression of appreciation. Special features of the lesson to be made clear by questioning and imagination : 1. The grown-up Pilgrim people, and what they did. 2. How the little Pilgrim people looked. What they were taught to do. What the Pilgrim mother said about going to bed. 3. The little Pilgrim people at meal time. 4. What the little girls were taught to do. What the boys did. 5. What kind of children they were, and what they had time to do. Have the lesson read and thoroughly understood, because the facts are important and should be remembered. Page 91. Little Pilgrim People. (Part II.) Review the information gained from Part I, and arouse interest in the schools of the little Pilgrim people by allowing the class to imagine what kind of schools they had in the days of long ago. Then have the story read to discover the facts. 1. What you may be wishing and thinking. What the Pilgrim children did as soon as they could walk and talk. 2. Why the Pilgrim children had to go to school. What kind of fathers they must be. 3. Where the school was held. Who the teacher was, and what she sometimes did while the children studied and recited. 4. Comparison of those schools with ours of to-day. What the girls were taught. The books used. 5. Description of the Sabbath, and what the children did not dare do. Who went to church. How they were seated in church. 6. The tithingman and his long pole. What he did to the chil- dren. What kind of people these children became when they grew up. After the oral reading have the story told by different children, letting one describe the journey, another the landing, another what the children did, and another their schools. Phonic lesson. This review lesson is an application of marks 36 TEACHERS' NOTEBOOK already taught. Use the work as arranged in the Reader, page 90, calling attention to the marks and sounds. The enunciation exer- cises should afford amusement as well as give drill upon clearness of expression and distinct utterance. Have the sentences read by individuals, then given in concert. Children enjoy these exercises because the repetition of initial sounds is unusual. Page 95. The Snowbird. Give the children a mental picture of a section of country covered with snow. Lead them to tell how many birds they would expect z^- /• \L *^ V ■fr* rtrtltr m YB 3661 moram OF THE iUWERSITY Eli*. 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