LB 1027 
 J.E43 
 I Copy 1 
 
 PROJECTS 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 
 
 SAMPLE MATERIALS 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 KINDERGARTEN, FIRST, SECOND 
 AND THIRD GRADES 
 
 Edited By 
 CHARLES H. ELLIOTT 
 and CHARLES S. CROW 
 
 Published by 
 
 STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY 
 
 New Brunswick, New Jersey . 
 
PROJECTS 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 
 
 SAMPLE MATERIALS 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 KINDERGARTEN, FIRST, SECOND 
 AND THIRD GRADES 
 
 Edited By 
 CHARLES H. ELLIOTT 
 and CHARLES S. CROW 
 
 Published by 
 
 STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY 
 
 New Brunswick, New Jersey 
 
These projects have been planned, developed 
 and reported by those New Jersey teachers 
 enrolled in the Extension Courses in the 
 Project Method of Instruction. 
 
 Copyright, 1921, by Charles S. Crow 
 and Charles H. Elliott 
 
 , JAN ~1 1922 
 
 ^C!.A653449 
 
 Copies of this bulletin are sold at 25 cents 
 each. They may be ordered from the Direc- 
 tor of Extension Courses. Box 93. New 
 Brunswick. New Jersey. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The sample projects included in this bulletin have been devel- 
 oped in our University Extension Courses in the Project Method of 
 Instruction. These classes have been organized in various centers 
 throughout the State during the past two school years. 
 
 Each teacher pursuing the course has been required to plan a 
 project and with the permission of her supervisors, work it out in 
 her class room. A full report of the undertaking of such scope as to 
 be helpful to other teachers of the subject or grade has been rendered 
 in each case. We are convinced that one method for bringing about 
 intelligent progress in education consists in making available for 
 teachers generally samples of the best work being done in the schools 
 in the form of carefully prepared outlines and bibliographies, sug- 
 gested sources of materials, standards of achievement, sample pro- 
 jects, and the like. We feel that the projects which follow do repre- 
 sent some of the best work now being attempted in the New Jersey 
 schools. 
 
 The projects in this bulletin have been selected from a much 
 larger list. It has been impossible to include all that have been 
 submitted for these grades. Bulletins which include materials of 
 instruction for Grades IV-VI and for the Junior and Senior High 
 School will follow. 
 
 We desire to express our thanks to the county superintendents, 
 city superintendents, principals, and presidents of teachers' organi- 
 zations who have cooperated in the organization of our Extension 
 Courses and who by their untiring efforts have contributed so much 
 to making them a success. 
 
 The Editors. 
 
KINDERGARTEN PROJECTS 
 
 Applegates Farm 
 
 (Columbus Kindergarten) 
 Bessie Pozvner, Trenton, N. J. 
 
 Introduction 
 This project was worked out by the kindergarten children of 
 the Columbus School during the school years — 1918-1919, 1919-1920 
 — and 1920-1921. The same project was used each year but natur- 
 ally different children were interested in different phases of it. The 
 project was such a far reaching one that it continued throughout the 
 entire year, almost all our other smaller projects working out under 
 the general topic "Applegate's Farm." 
 
 Situation 
 
 In order to carry out profitably a large farm project, it was first 
 necessary to know a great deal about a farm ; so our first problem 
 was to see a farm. We planned to live on a farm for an entire day, 
 so due to the kindness of Commissioner Page, Mr. Plant and Mr. 
 DeBlois in putting automobiles at our service for the day, we packed 
 about one hundred four and five year old children into the machines 
 at 9 A. M. and traveled to Mr. J. C. Applegate's farm near Prince- 
 ton, N. J. 
 
 There we saw everything to be found on a large up-to-date 
 farm : The house and the family ; stables and horses ; barns, cows, 
 calves; pig stye and pigs (all ages) ; sheep barn and sheep; chicken 
 coops and chickens ; pigeon houses and pigeons ; duck houses and 
 •ducks ; dog kennel and dog ; rabbit houses and rabbits ; ice house ; 
 machinery house, machinery and tractors; (a few of which we 
 saw at work); carriage house and wagons; corn cribs; garage; 
 milk house ; potato, pumpkin and apple storage bins. 
 
 One of the interesting activities was following the brook, which 
 led us to a few bridges and a quarry with a house near by which 
 had been built with stone from the quarry. We also saw the hay 
 loader at work in the fields and the hay wagon unloaded at the barn 
 with the hay fork. The play on the straw stacks was very pleasant ; 
 and it is hard to tell who enjoyed all these things most, the pupils or 
 the teachers. 
 
 5 
 
After a wonderful sight-seeing pleasure seeking day we returned 
 to the school at five in the afternoon. 
 
 Needless to say we were all full of farm and had plenty of ideas 
 to express and work out during the entire year. I cannot tell in 
 detail all of the projects but will list a few of them with some of the 
 details. 
 
 A F.\RM OF Our Own. 
 
 Activities 
 
 The project we tried first was a miniature farm principally made 
 up of buildings and toy animals. 
 
 Later we had a project called "The Barns."' These barns were 
 built with the large Hill blocks and separated into horse stalls and 
 cow barns — the second floor was divided into hay loft — feed rooms 
 and pigeon house. We also had the calf stalls and the potato cellar. 
 Then toy horses, cows, pigeons, etc., were put into their stalls, feed 
 bags were made and filled with different kinds of grain, some of 
 which the teacher supplied, some the children supplied, and some 
 were bought of the J. E. Stevenson Company. 
 
 We had an interesting time making feed bags. Our bags were 
 sewed by our four year old children with cheese cloth, because it 
 happened to be the only available goods we had. We, the teachers, 
 were j^rfectly satisfied with the result but the children were not. 
 
 6 
 
They insisted on different bags, just like those we saw on the farm, 
 so burlap was bought and new bags were made and piled in the feed 
 rooms. 
 
 Construction Work with the Hill Blocks 
 
 (I may add that the Hill blocks, to which I refer, are large so 
 that the houses may be made big enough for a child to get into. They 
 are adequate for all kinds of building work). 
 
 Later we played carting the grain into town and selling it— just 
 as we had seen it done at the J. E. Stevenson's Company. This sell- 
 ing of our things led on to our "Red Cross Fair" project. 
 
 This was a very interesting little project lasting only a few days. 
 Our class was supposed to raise about live dollars for the Red Cross. 
 At first this seemed a puzzling problem ; but one child, remembering 
 our trip to Stevenson's, thought of selling something. What could 
 we sell? Of course, we had some very wild suggestions, but it was 
 finally decided to sell apples, candied apples, apple-sauce, sand- 
 wiches, lemonade, and peanut brittle. Then we cooked for two or 
 three days, most of the things being supplied by the children, and 
 some of the apples being bought at the farm. Next came the prob- 
 lems of decorating the room, of naming our performance, of appoint- 
 ing clerks to sell, and of advertising. More wild suggestions ! Fin- 
 ally it was decided to write an invitation to different classes in our 
 school to come to our "Red Cross Fair" on different days. Our 
 booths were built and decorated and signs were made such as "Red 
 Cross Fair" ic. Candied Apple, 5c, Lemonade 2c. The signs were 
 printed with the printing press. Needless to say we easily made our 
 five dollars, for we had many children who visited our fair because 
 of their curiosity to see what we could do. Our own children (five 
 year olds by the way) took entire care of the booths, selling and 
 making change. 
 
 "Sammie and Susie Littletail" 
 "Sammie and Susie Littletail" was a most enjoyable rabbit pro- 
 ject. We had been reading the book called "Sammie and Susie Lit- 
 tletail" by Garis, the first of a series of books for children. (I might 
 mention here that this is a very excellent series for the five year old 
 children). We read one or two chapters each day before the chil- 
 dren went home, each chapter being a complete story and yet telling- 
 just enough of the succeeding chapter to encourage interest in the 
 next story. The children learn much of the life history of the ani- 
 mals from these story books, whether it be Sammie and Susie Little- 
 
tail, Johnny and Hilly Bushytail, Curly and Floppy Twistytail, Jackie 
 and Kittie Kat, or any other of the books in this series. 
 
 At the time we were reading the first book in this series, we had 
 two real rabbits in school, so of course they were named Sammie 
 and Susie. A house and yard were made for them and they were 
 fed. A sign was made over the house with letter blocks, RABBITS. 
 The children found the blocks by comparing the letters with the 
 printed word they had asked us to make. A short time later we had 
 two rabbit dolls and they were at once christened Sammie and Susie. 
 The children wanted their names on them, so a belt was suggested 
 for Sammie and a sash for Susie. These were made and the names 
 printed on them. Then Alex, said "I don't know my name" so Marie 
 said "I guess you better have a belt* too." Eventually belts were 
 made for all the children and their names were printed on them. 
 Each morning as the children came to school they would hunt out 
 their own belts, tie them on, and wear them all day. In three days 
 the children, with only two exceptions, could recognize their names 
 from the belt or from the name cards w4iich were made the second 
 day. 
 
 The children were made very happy one day when they were 
 wearing their belts. Our newly appointed Dr. Farley, came to exam- 
 ine teeth and of course didn't know our children and they didn't 
 know him, but O My ! weren't they joyful when he looked at their 
 belts and then at them and said "Well Lucy, how are you today?" 
 
 This project was the beginning of our reading, and every pro- 
 ject afterward had its reading charts as suggested by the children, 
 whether the project was "The House," "The Bridge" or a story such 
 as "The Three Bears" or "Billy Boy." 
 
 Another very pretty and interesting project was "The Brook" 
 project. On the farm w-e saw an ice pond and the apparatus for 
 lifting pieces of ice into the ice house. This was intensely interesting 
 to Clifford especially because "Isn't my Pop an ice man?" We 
 simply had to have a pond. The first problem was to find a suitable 
 place to put it ; and it had to be something that would hold water. 
 After many suggestions, we decided to try the sand table. Wonder- 
 ful ! for about fine minutes, then we had a regular flood for the table 
 leaked. We had almost given up the idea of the pond when Clif- 
 ford had another bright idea : "Get the plumber and let him mend the 
 table." Money was scarce, so w-e decided to use plasticine, 
 which worked beautifully when pushed into the cracks. Then 
 more water was added. Stones were gathered and put along the 
 
sides of the pond. Later it was suggested that we have flowers 
 growing along the edges of the pond and as we had some narcissus 
 bulbs growing in stones and water in baskets, bulbs were suggested , 
 so we took a trip to see Mr. Fink, the florist, and bought some and 
 planted them. These looked very pretty when blooming. 
 
 Later a bridge and wharf were built by the boys from old boxes 
 which they brought from home, also a little house for the bridge 
 tender. These were all painted red. Then boats were built with 
 spools for smoke stacks and the little girls dressed little penny dolls 
 to ride in the boats. I must also mention that we simply had to have 
 fish and after several attempts to get minnows and tadpoles, we 
 were obliged to be satisfied with gold fish. They, however, looked 
 very pretty swimming in the water and hiding under the bridge. 
 One day to my "teacherish" horror I turned to see a little boy with 
 the watering can held high in the air sprinkling all over the pond 
 and of course some on the floor and when I asked him what he was 
 doing that for; he said "O nothing! It's just starting to rain." 
 Well I never saw such excitement for a few minutes for weren't 
 the penny dolls out in the rain with their best clothes on? These 
 were hurriedly snatched out of the rain and bathing suits and umbrel- 
 las were very quickly made and the dolls were allowed to go out rid- 
 ing again even though it was raining. 
 
 During the year we had many other farm projects such as "The 
 Farm House," "The Store," "The Corn Cribs," and "The Family." 
 
 "The Family" 
 I must tell a little about this family project. After having built 
 Applegate's house and furnished it, it was decided that we must 
 make our family. This at first seemed quite a problem, but some one 
 suggested that we could make our dolls like the rabbit dolls. This 
 was a splendid idea so material (turkish toweling) was bought and 
 pieces were cut for the head and body; separate pieces were cut for 
 arms and legs. These were over-casted along the edges, turned inside 
 out and stufifed with small snips of goods snipped by the smaller 
 children. Later, the arms and legs were sewed to the body. Hair 
 was also added to two of the dolls. The rest are totally bald. Later 
 these were dressed in wonderful clothes. You will please notice that 
 the father of this family is lavishly garbed in bright blue velvet. His 
 trousers were made one leg at a time the seams on each side of the 
 leg, and a space was left unsewed on one side for a pocket — a 
 handkerchief is pushed into the pocket. Taken all together this is 
 a most wonderful family. 
 
 9 
 
Our manual training teacher is now working with us on a 
 "Swing" project. The sixth grade boys are building us a garden 
 swing and our little children are making cretonne cushions for it. 
 As soon as this project is finished I will try to get a few photographs 
 of it. The cretonne cushions will match the other cushions that our 
 children made for the window seat. 
 
 We have been trying to work out a dove project but have not 
 been entirely successful with it. Of course we have buih many cages 
 for our birds and our children have learned to care for them. The 
 doves are very pleasant company for us and look very pretty too, fly- 
 ing about the room, and eating frt)m the children's hands. 
 
 In each project we allow the children to suggest the "what to 
 make" and "how to make it," as far ^s possible, only stepping in 
 when necessary, showing pictures and picture books to help solve 
 their problems. 
 
 Results 
 
 This project provided interest throughout the year, gave the 
 children a greater knowledge of how we live, and of the productive 
 values of the farm. They gained many facts concerning the life 
 habits of the farm animals. The manual skill which was gained 
 through the manipulation of building blocks, modelling, cooking, 
 sewing, planting, and working with wood was worth while in quality 
 and amount. 
 
 This project provided for reading which is most valuable. It 
 also developed a good sense of judgment for poor work was not ac- 
 cepted by the children. It was purposeful, whole-hearted activity 
 with quantities of happiness and joy. 
 
 The Wind's Work (Kindergarten) 
 
 Emilie Eickc, School Xo. 5, West Hohokcn, N. J. 
 
 Situation 
 
 One very windy morning in March, the children of the Kinder- 
 garten came with the remark, that the wind was very cold, and blow- 
 ing so hard that they could hardly keep on their hats. This was 
 taken as a starting point, and led to a discussion of what the wind 
 does and how busy it is. The children mentioned what they had seen 
 on the way to school ; clothes blowing on the line, trees swaying, dust 
 
and paper blowing about the streets, hats blowing and rolling around 
 and flags waving. A little boy said, "It helps to make the boats go." 
 
 When asked what they would like to do, the children said, "JVIay 
 we make a picture with paper and crayons?" The results were very 
 crude, some drawing trees, hats, ships and a flag. Two children 
 asked to go to the board and they drew a tree bending in the wind, 
 and clothes blowing on the line. 
 
 We were then ready to see how the wind plays with the chil- 
 dren, helping them to fly kites, sail balloons, and boats, and turn pin- 
 wheels. All were anxious to make one of these toys, so we distrib- 
 uted colored papers and made pinwheels, which we fastened to the 
 window sill. They had nothing to take home with which to play, so 
 we made kites, with tails and strings, and the children had a fine 
 time playing with them in the room. The children listened to Stev- 
 enson's poem, "The Wind." One child remarked, "I wish we could 
 make other things." He was told it was dismissal time, but the fol- 
 lowing day, we would continue our work. Many asked, "May we 
 make sail boats ?" 
 
 The next day all were eager to go to work. The children were 
 given practice paper and scissors, but the majority found the prob- 
 lem a difficult one. Then we decided that the teacher should show 
 them how to make a boat. Each child was given a square of 5"x5' 
 colored paper, which was cut on a diagonal. One half was cut 
 for the bottom of the boat, and the other half was used for the sail. 
 The children were allowed to follow their own plan for cutting the 
 sails and arranging them. These were mounted on bogus paper and 
 crayon was used to color the water. 
 
 This project also offered an opportunity for picture study. A 
 picture entitled "The Busy Wind," was shown and a song illustrat- 
 ing it, sung. The song is found in "Songs of a Little Child's Day." 
 by Poulson and Smith : 
 
 "The wind blows low, . 
 The wind blows high, and sings, 
 A worker strong am I, 
 I sway the tree-tops to and fro, 
 I dry the clothes as I blow, blow, blow." 
 
 A prominent feature of the picture was the clothes on the line. 
 Peg boards, pegs, string and paper were distributed. The children 
 
placed pegs around the board for a fence and erected poles in the 
 yard to which they tied the line. They tore the garments from paper 
 and hung them on the line. 
 
 Our next problem to be solved was the construction of a wind- 
 mill. Each child received two pieces of construction paper, 9"x9" 
 and 3"x9", paper fastener, scissors and paste. The teacher gave 
 directions for the first steps. The large sheet was folded in the cen- 
 ter and the edges to the center. It was folded and pasted to form, a 
 triangular prism. The children were allowed free play. They cut a 
 door and window. The 3"x9" strip was folded lengthwise and cut, 
 placed together in the center and fastened to the main part of the 
 windmill. The children were delighted, for they had a windmill that 
 could stand, with arms that would turn when placed in the wind. The 
 little ones found the fastening a hard problem, and were given assis- 
 tance. 
 
 Our last problem was to illustrate the work of the wind in the 
 sand table. This gave an excellent chance for cooperative work. 
 Boxes of blocks, paper, paste, scissors and fasteners were distributed. 
 The best results were placed on the sand table, so the children were 
 eager to do the work. They arranged a house and garden in one 
 corner, using pussywillow twigs for trees. A clothes line was placed 
 at the rear of the house and clothes cut from paper were fastened on 
 the line. One child made a windmill, a copy of one we had made the 
 day before. Another made a bridge using blocks ; another cut sail- 
 boats and pasted them on oblong blocks so they would stand ; a kite 
 was hung on a tree. Some of the children cut houses of paper and 
 placed them in the sand. 
 
 During the rhythm and game periods, we played with pin 
 wheels and kites, acted as "windmills," and carried imaginary bal- 
 loons. Suitable music was used for each rhythm. 
 
 Results 
 
 This project gave an opportunity for oral reproduction, creative 
 and construction work. The children used blocks, sticks, tablets, 
 and peg boards as a medium for expression. They built houses, 
 bridges, made pictures of kites, boats, trees, clothes, and pictured dif- 
 ferent activities we had talked about. 
 
 The children felt they were conducting the work and that it was 
 all their own. The work was of a very simple nature, but this gave 
 even the very small children, a chance to take part, and enjoy the 
 working out of the ])roject. 
 
FIRST GRADE MATERIALS 
 The Post Office (First Grade) 
 
 Anna R. Reynolds, Jefferson School, Trenton, N. J. 
 
 Purposing 
 
 The following project presents one unit in which the social 
 experience of first grade children expressed itself through oral and 
 written language, reading, spelling, number, drawing, representative 
 play and constructive activity. The problem arose primarily out of 
 informal talks with the children on the "The Father's Occupation" 
 as a subtopic to the general subject "The Home." As we have been 
 in the habit of taking an excursion before beginning to work on a 
 project, the children immediately suggested that we visit the Post 
 Office. On our return they decided to convert the Red Cross booth 
 into a post office. 
 
 Activities 
 
 The shelves inside the Red Cross booth were divided into six 
 parts by using strawboard, paper fasteners and thumb tacks. We 
 called these our letter boxes. Each box had a number and a little 
 door. We used automobile glass for the doors. Then there was the 
 Parcel Post, Thrift and War Savings Stamps, Registered Letter, 
 Money Order and Postage Stamp Departments. 
 
 How it Motivated the Subjects of the Curriculum 
 
 1. Reading. 
 
 Short stories were composed by the children illustrating exper- 
 iences on our walk to the post office, the story of "Our Post Office" 
 and the story of a letter. These stories were put on charts, then into 
 booklets by the children. Each child had one. After being illus- 
 trated and put into booklet form the best ones were added to our 
 library. Bulletin board notices in connection with the work were 
 posted for silent reading purposes. Directions were printed on the 
 board from time to time. 
 
 2. Language. > 
 
 Discussions in connection with the preparation were ; 
 
 1. How shall we make our letter boxes? 
 
 2. What shall we have on sale in our post office ? 
 
 3. How shall we make the stamps and envelopes? 
 
 4. Whom shall we need to work in our post office ? 
 
 13 
 
5- How shall they be chosen? (Considered candidates). 
 Elected a person for no other reason than his fitness 
 for the position. 
 
 6. How shall we address a customer in reply to a question 
 asked? (Emphasized courtesy). 
 
 7. What will the postman need ? 
 
 8. How shall we make them ? 
 
 9. Where in our room shall we place the mail box? 
 
 10. How shall we construct it? 
 
 11. How shall people know what this is? 
 
 (Walked to see a mail box and observed the word "let- 
 ters" and U. S. M.) 
 
 12. How shall letters and p»stal cards be stamped and 
 addressed in order to reach their destination? 
 
 13. What is the proper way to begin and end a letter? 
 (Brought out the form of heading, salutation, body of 
 letter, complimentary close, signature, etc. 
 
 14. Criticisms, both favorable and unfavorable were given 
 by children and teacher for the performance of duties 
 and responsibilities assigned and executed. 
 
 15. Summing up each day what has been accomplished and 
 what needs to be done on the next day. How can it 
 best be done? 
 
 3. Printing, writing and spelling. 
 
 When the question "How do people know what this is?" (Post 
 Office Structure) was asked, the making of signs was started by 
 some of the workers. Copies of the words, "Parcel Post," etc., were 
 printed on the board. Numbers were printed on small pieces of pa- 
 per to be pasted on the doors of the letter boxes (used printing press). 
 Addressed parcel post packages were sent. Simple invitations to 
 social functions and little notes to sick friends were composed by the 
 children and sent. Each child wrote what he wished, but all followed 
 the regular form for letter writing. An entry was made for the 
 diary each day. (Simply one or two short sentences summing up the 
 day's work). These were used for reading as well. 
 
 4. Art. 
 
 Blackboard drawing was a direct outgrowth of the subject. The 
 post office, the postman wearing his hat and carrying his bag, parcel 
 post windows and postal scales were drawn on the board. Sugges- 
 tive pictures of the story were drawn on the reading booklets. Eas- 
 ter and birthday cards were made. The children drew stamps and 
 colored them red, green and purple. 
 
 14 
 
The children were shown that invitations and letters should pre- 
 sent a neat and orderly arrangement. 
 
 5. Number. 
 
 Progress was made in number by keeping account of possible 
 expenses incurred, and the making of toy money. The playing of 
 post office, selling stamps, envelopes, weighing parcel post packages, 
 and making change, all engaged their interest. Securing information 
 about first and second class mail and the difference in price proved 
 a profitable topic. 
 
 The nomination and election of a Post Master, a Parcel Post 
 Clerk, a Thrift and War Savings Clerk, etc., was carried out by the 
 children themselves. 
 
 6. Constructive activity. 
 
 The construction of letter boxes, postman's hats, bags, 
 envelopes and mail boxes were undertaken. Clothes were made for 
 "Ruth Jefferson" (class doll) sweaters, hats and scarfs were knitted. 
 These were sent by parcel post. Birthday gifts were made and sent 
 by parcel post. 
 
 Habits Acquired Through the Activities Connected with the Work 
 
 I feel that this project has been worth while in that it has devel- 
 oped certain habits, such as, cleanliness and orderHness. Materials 
 were put away in a neat and orderly way. Each child did his part 
 to clean up when through working. Habits of clear and purposeful 
 thinking were developed. The children initiated their own projects 
 and selected the means for carrying them forward with suggestions 
 from the teacher, the child being free to accept or reject. Habits 
 of thrift were developed. As children faced problems of their own 
 making, concentration and stability of purpose developed ; and, as 
 interest and pleasure grew keener, they could remain for much 
 longer periods at their chosen occupations. The work was a delight, 
 and the joy of successful effort became an incentive to further activ- 
 ity. Habits of honesty and truthfulness were developed; also self 
 control and initiative. The Postmaster seemed to direct the activi- 
 ties of the group toward useful ends, without bossing. Habits of 
 courtesy and consideration were practiced. The children learned to 
 close the door quietly. They worked with materials without making 
 unnecessary noise. People were greeted kindly. They waited 
 quietly in turn at the parcel post window. They laughed and talked 
 quietly. They asked to be excused when passing in front of others 
 
 15 
 
and picked up things dropped by another, etc. The children partic- 
 ipated with keen interest, in group activities and seemed to enjoy 
 working and playing with others. 
 
 Early Life in America (First Grade) 
 
 Alt a M. Prey, Garfield School, Kearny, N. J. 
 
 Aims 
 The teacher's aims were: 
 To give the children a lively interest in coming to school. 
 To lead to a spirit of gratitude in keeping with Thanksgiving. 
 To lead the child to observe and appreciate nature. 
 To lead to an appreciation of beautiful J^hought expressed in poetry 
 
 and music. 
 To give ethical lessons in kindness to birds, animals and to each 
 
 other. 
 To give the children an appreciation of home conditions of the pres- 
 ent time compared to those of primitive man and of early set- 
 tlers in America. 
 The children's aims were : 
 The making of an Indian head dress. 
 The planning for, and arranging of an Indian Village in the sand 
 
 table. 
 The representation of the coming of the Pilgrims, in the sand table. 
 The preparation for, and celebration of, the Thanksgiving party. 
 Situation 
 In October the story of Columbus was told, and that was the 
 related experience from which the project started. By means of 
 a few questions the story was recalled. Also the fact that Indians 
 were found living here. ^ Pictures of Indians were shown and talks 
 relating to their life and customs, methods of obtaining food and 
 clothing, and means of transportation and communication were 
 given. In this way we learned that the Indians have dark skin 
 and black hair, that they paint their faces, decorate themselves with 
 feathers, live in wigwams, use canoes, hunt with the bow and arrow 
 and many other things. 
 
 Activities 
 A picture of a wigwam was drawn on the board and the chil- 
 dren wanted to make pictures of wigwams. They were given the 
 choice of one color to use with brown. Later, in m.aking a picture 
 of an Indian, a free choice of color was given. The observation of 
 
 i6 
 
pictures led the children to a desire to make Indiafi head dresses 
 and this was our first real project. 
 
 The question of materials was talked over and it was decided 
 to use a long strip of paper for the band and colored papers for 
 feathers. The teacher made a head dress before the class using the 
 colored snips cut from the feathers to decorate the band. Materials 
 were then given to the children and they made their head dresses. 
 These were worn during game periods and on special occasions till 
 they were taken home by the children after the Thanksgiving party. 
 The question of how the Indians obtained feathers was discussed. 
 Feathers were shown and their beauty noted. The "real" feather 
 idea appealed to the children's imagination and some of them came 
 with feathers, asking for bands to put them in. The children who 
 had feathers shared with those who had none till each child in the 
 class had a head dress. 
 
 At this "stage of the game" Mr. Allison, of the Physical Train- 
 ing Department, was invited to give us some suggestions for an 
 Indian dance. He took charge of the class and went through an 
 Indian dance with the children much to their delight. We also 
 learned Indian songs and games. 
 
 John's older brother had made him a bow and arrow and showed 
 us how to shoot with it. Selections from the story of Hiawatha's 
 childhood were given and pictures were shown. Dorothy's papoose 
 doll illustrated the Indian baby's cradle and we learned the lullaby 
 Nokomis sang to the little Hiawatha. 
 
 "Ewa-yea ! My little owlet ! 
 Who is this that lights the wigwam? 
 With his great eyes lights the wigwam? 
 
 Ewa-yea ! My little owlet !" 
 
 The story of Hiawatha led to the suggestion that we build an 
 Indian village in the sand table. Some of the problems to be solved 
 were : How to represent the "Big sea water" : How to build the 
 wigwams : How to represent the forest : How to make canoes, and 
 Indians. The water was represented by pushing the sand to one end 
 of the sand table. Materials that the Indians used in making their 
 wigwams were discussed. What can we use? What would be bet- 
 ter than paper ? Cloth was suggested and volunteers were called for 
 to bring some. Two boys responded, Billy with a piece of brown 
 cloth and James with a small piece of oil cloth. What did the Indians 
 use to hold up their wigwams ? How shall we get trees ? How shall 
 
we get poles ?^ What grew behind the wigwam? An out of door 
 walk was planned to find trees and poles. On our return from the 
 walk each child put his tree in the sand table and Billy and James, 
 with some assistance, set up their wigwams. 
 
 What else do we need in our Indian village was the question 
 the next morning, which brought the vigorous answer "Indians!" 
 How shall we make them? Different materials were suggested and 
 Plasticine decided on as being the best. "Only strong Indians that 
 can stand up" was suggestion enough to bring a result that was sat- 
 isfactory. The strong Indians were placed in the sand table. At 
 another time canoes were made of the same material and a few were 
 placed in the sand table for a short time. 
 
 "The Coming of the Pilgrims" was introduced by a few ques- 
 tions : When Columbus returned to his own country and told the 
 people there of this beautiful country, some of them wanted to come. 
 Among those who came, were the Pilgrims. A simple story of their 
 coming was given, describing their voyage on the Mayflower ; the 
 landing at Plymouth ; the building of the first large house ; then 
 smaller ones for each family ; the hard winter, the friendly Indians, 
 the favorable summer and harvest leading up to the first Thanksgiv- 
 ing and its celebration. 
 
 To show this in the sand table necessitated moving the Indians 
 back into the forest. This accomplished, the next step was to make 
 the Pilgrim settlement. After discussion as to what was needed, the 
 "Mayflower" and houses were made of clay. A card board house 
 was used to represent the first large house. Some boys brough' 
 stones for the "rocky shore" and "Plymouth rock." The Pilgrims 
 were represented by figures cut from post cards. A little china doi; 
 was contributed by James. 
 
 A discussion of what would be needed for the Thanksgiving 
 table brought the suggestion of plates and napkins. Suitable decor- 
 ation for these articles had to be decided upon. Dishes with dainty 
 borders and paper napkins decorated with flowers were looked ar. 
 Green and yellow colors were chosen and the plates and napkins 
 were decorated. (Paper towels were used for the napkins). The 
 table was then arranged for the party to be held in the afternoon. 
 At the party some of the children were dressed to represent Pil- 
 grims ; the others wore their Indian head dresses and beads and rep- 
 resented Indians. We visited the Kindergarten and first grade 
 classes where "give and take" concerts were given. The party in our 
 own room followed, the children sitting at the table which they had 
 arranged in the morning. Pop corn and apples were served. 
 
 i8 
 
Though the historical significance of the day was emphasized, 
 the social and spiritual meanings were not neglected. The idea of 
 Thanksgiving was associated with various things for which a child 
 should be thankful leading back to God, the giver of all good things. 
 The Thanksgiving poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson was given in this 
 connection and the poem, "Over the River and Through the Woods" 
 emphasized the social side of Thanksgiving. 
 
 Results and Values 
 The problems that arose gave opportunity for art expression, 
 constructive activity, development of ideas of number, oral expres- 
 sion and dramatic expression through games. The child gained a 
 training in association of ideas, a growth in imagination and dra- 
 matic representation, enlarged sympathies and a feeling of responsi- 
 bility in his social relations. The art work gave opportunity for 
 free use of color and arrangement and through working with mater- 
 ials, the child gained better control of them, leading to better expres- 
 sion. The manual work gave the child opportunity to handle mater- 
 ials and become familiar with them. The ability to work with others 
 toward a common end was developed. The games furnished oppor- 
 tunity for training in social cooperation and developed a better 
 control of the body. An appreciation for good literature was devel- 
 oped through the use of it. Music made the work more interest- 
 ing and the child's sense of rhythm was developed. 
 
 References 
 A Primary History of the United States Barnes. 
 
 Longfellow's Hiawatha Hiawatha's Childhood. 
 
 " Chickens. 
 
 " Brothers. 
 
 Hunting. 
 History for the First Three Years — Teachers' Monographs. 
 
 (Oct. — Nov. 1914.) 
 
 Beasts of Burden (First Grade) 
 
 Bertha A. Vcarick, West Hohoken, N. J. 
 
 Situation 
 
 In February we talked and studied about the Eskimo, and the 
 Eskimo's dogs, how they worked for him, how the Eskimo cares for 
 his dogs and similar topics. One child made the remark that the dog 
 
 19 
 
works for the Eskimo as the horse works for us. This opened the 
 way for our project. I asked the children if they could think of any 
 other animals that work as the dog does for the Eskimo and the 
 horse for us. One little boy said "the camel works where the sand 
 is" and another followed with "the cow worked in olden times." We 
 explained that the cow that took the place of a horse was called an 
 ox. We talked about the camel, how he worked, and where. This 
 gave us as a beginning four beasts of burden, namely; horse, dog, 
 camel and ox. I asked the children if they would like to learn 
 more about these animals. We decided that we would like to learn 
 all we could about these animals and find out if any other animals 
 worked for us. 
 
 Aims * 
 
 My purpose in developing this project was three fold : — 
 
 (a) To increase the child's knowledge 
 
 (b) To broaden his outlook 
 
 (c) To create an atmosphere which would tend to make 
 the child responsive. 
 
 The pupils' purpose was to learn all they could about animals 
 that work for man. 
 
 Planning 
 
 After we had decided that we wanted to learn all about these 
 animals, I asked the children if they could think of some things we 
 could do that would help us learn about these animals. Some 
 responses were : "we could look at them," "you could tell us about 
 them," "we could look at pictures," "we could bring pictures," "we 
 could bring story-books," "we could play animals," "we could sing 
 about them," etc. We planned to bring play dogs, horses and other 
 animals, pictures, story-books or anything we could find that would 
 help us to learn about these animals. 
 
 Activities 
 
 Toy horses began to arrive and in two days we had four and 
 soon the number grew to seven. We decided our horses must have 
 names so we named them. The names were printed and every day 
 the card with the name was put with the horse. We were learning 
 a song called "Dapple Gray." We had such names as Black Beauty, 
 Jack, Joe and June. A dog arrived, and he was named Fido. Other 
 
toys were : a camel, two elephants, horse whips, two horse shoes, 
 a half dozen or so of story-books with stories or pictures of animals, 
 an A, B, C, animal book, an A, B, C, book using words and pictures 
 pertaining to a horse, a cow, boy's hat and suit, and some pictures. 
 
 Pictures were slow in coming in, so I collected a dozen maga- 
 zines and for busy work we looked through them, selected and cut 
 out pictures. By this time our beasts of burden had grown in num- 
 ber. We now had the donkey, the mule, the pony, the elephant, the 
 goat and the reindeer, (we could not forget the reindeer for Santa 
 uses them) added to the four formerly mentioned. We now had a 
 large collection of pictures and the question arose what to do witli 
 them. One child suggested putting them in books, another pasting 
 them on paper and a third suggested pasting them on card board. 
 We decided upon the last, and gray mounting board was used. Now 
 another cjuestion arose, how should we paste them? One child said 
 paste them in rows — dogs in one row, etc. After some discussion 
 we decided to have a board for each animal. The children did the 
 pasting. I printed horse, dog, elephant, etc., and every day some 
 child had to place the boards and names. We decided to put on our 
 boards only pictures of horses and dogs working, so we had a sur- 
 plus of dogs and horses. These we pasted on other cards and the 
 children named them. We decided to ask a fifth year class to print 
 these names for us and we pasted them underneath. We also num- 
 bered the pictures and used these cards to teach first, last, second, 
 fourth, etc. We had some very interesting pictures such as ; dogs 
 helping the miners in Alaska, the Man of War with Billy Sunday, 
 and a dog hauling his lame master', who was a newspaper boy. He 
 had been hauled for years by his dog and his business grew to such 
 a degree that he was able to open a store. 
 
 We reproduced and dramatized the stories "A Wise Horse" and 
 "The Gray Pony." I printed the names of the characters on cards 
 and put cords to them so the children could hang them around their 
 necks. These were hung in the corner and when we dramatized the 
 story each child found the card representing his character. Thus 
 they learned, Old Sol, man, blacksmith, master, miller, gray pony, 
 farmer, miners, store keeper and old woman. 
 
 We decided to make a booklet on the story "A Wise Horse." 
 We printed "A Wise Horse" on the cover. That is, we cut the let- 
 ters from squares of black paper. On the second page we put "Old 
 Sol." For busy work we traced and cut a horse. We made letters, 
 as we did for the cover, and put the name "Old Sol" under the horse. 
 
On the third page we pasted, either Herring's "The Blacksmith" or 
 Landseer's "Shoeing the Horse." As a child reproduced the story. I 
 wrote it down and we asked the fifth grade to make copies for us. 
 I did this after the class decided who could tell the story the hesr. 
 This copy was then put in our booklet. For the next page we illus- 
 trated the story with pencil. For the last pages we drew the hor^e 
 shoe and the blacksmith's tub or pail. 
 
 We looked at and talked about some of the great artists' pic- 
 tures pertaining to our subject. The Perry pictures were used for 
 this purpose. Among those used were : 
 
 "Oxen Going to Work" Troyon 
 
 "Horse Fair" Rosa Bonheur 
 
 "At the W^atering Trough" *. . .Dagnan Bouvert 
 
 "Meditation" Rosa Bonheur 
 
 "On the Alert" Rosa Bonheur 
 
 "Saved" Landseer 
 
 We have stereoscopes and slides in our school so we looked at 
 all those pertaining to our project. We found some very interest- 
 ing ones and learned a great deal from them. Among them were : 
 
 Horses plowing 
 
 Belgian dog with milk cart 
 
 Camels as beasts of burden in India 
 
 Oxen threshing beans in Egypt 
 
 Donkeys plowing in China 
 
 Goats in Switzerland 
 
 Elephants hauling logs in Burma 
 
 We went to visit a blacksmith shop and talked with the black- 
 smith. We decided to iavite the fifth grade to see our work since 
 they had helped us. One child was selected to go upstairs and gi'> e 
 the class a verbal invitation. The fifth year class accepted our invi- 
 tation and came down. 
 
 Course of Study 
 
 We used the names of horses and animals in black-board read- 
 ing. We made a chart of what the horses eat and used the words 
 in black-board reading. The project provided for a great deal of 
 silent reading and action in our board work. For instance the chil- 
 dren represented animals. — one Black Beauty, another a camel, one 
 Fido and so on. A sample lesson follows. The children read silently 
 and played the story as they read. 
 
 22 
 
Black Beauty, run to Fido. 
 Come to me, Dapple Gray. 
 Tell Jack to run away. 
 The camel is on the ground. 
 Bring an elephant to me. 
 I want a horse. Bring it to me. 
 Is it Joe? No, it is Jim. 
 Go away donkey. Come again. 
 
 I introduced as many sounds as possible with the stories and 
 pictures of animals. 
 
 Number work consisted of counting horses, pictures, etc., learn- 
 ing first, last, taller, tallest, shorter, shortest, smaller, smallest, sec- 
 ond, third, fourth, etc. 
 
 In language work, there were reproduction and dramatization 
 of stories ; reading of stories, conversation. 
 
 The pupils learned to love and to be kind to animals. The 
 project as a whole was nature work, so there is no need of going 
 into detail. 
 
 By studying the camel the children learned to know what a des- 
 ert is. From the study of the dog they learned that gold is mined in 
 Alaska. Instances of this kind came up in the study of the different 
 animals. 
 
 Rote Songs learned were : 
 
 "Jolly Little Eskimo" 
 
 "The Blacksmith" 
 
 "Dapple Gray" 
 
 "My Pony" 
 
 "My Dog His Name is Guess." 
 
 Scale Songs : 
 
 "Shoe the Old Horse" 
 
 "I have a Little Dog at Home" 
 
 The drawing work provided was : cutting letters for booklet ; 
 illustrating story ; drawing horse shoe and blacksmith tub ; construct- 
 ing a wagon ; free hand cutting of cart. 
 
 We had the following busy work : Tracing and cutting the vari- 
 ous animals ; looking through magazines ; selecting and cutting out 
 pictures ; pasting pictures on card boards ; making names of animals 
 with letter boxes. 
 
 23 
 
Physical Training 
 Physical training exercises were : Galloping horses ; high step- 
 ping horses, blacksmith hariimering horse shoe ; loading and unload- 
 ing wagons ; horses leaping the hurdle ; marching elephants. 
 
 Rhythmic games were : "The Farmer in the Dell ;" "Oats, peas, 
 beans, and barley grow;" Ride a Cock Horse;" "This is the Way 
 the Ladies Ride." 
 
 References 
 
 In the Child's World Emilie Poulsson 
 
 Story Steps Progressive Road to Reading 
 
 First Jungle Book Kipling 
 
 Song Books 
 
 Nature Lyrics 
 
 Hollis Dann Music Course. 
 
 Neidlinger 
 
 Song.s. Games and Rhymes 
 
 Rhythmic Action Dance and Play. 
 
 Comment 
 This project proved to be especially effective because : 
 
 (i) All subjects could be correlated so well. 
 
 (2) It gave room for plenty of action. 
 
 (3) The subject was expansive enough to keep up a 
 lively interest. 
 
 (4) It taught the children to appreciate and to be kind to 
 animals. 
 
 SECOND GRADE MATERIALS 
 Good Health (Second Grade) 
 
 Helen Clayton. McKinley School, Trenton. N. J. 
 
 Aims 
 
 My aim in having this project carried out was to establish habits 
 of cleanliness and to promote good health in the lives of the children. 
 
 Their goal was to become cleaner, neater and therefore more val- 
 uable to society, to have good health and to be noted as the cleanest, 
 neatest group in the school building. 
 
 24 
 
Situation 
 
 My second grade class was a very untidy, careless looking class 
 with unkept hair, dirty hands and very untidy clothing. I decided 
 they must be clean if they were to remain in my charge, so every day 
 I devoted the first period in the morning to inspection for neatness 
 and cleanliness. 
 
 First I had all the boys stand in a row in the front of the room, 
 and I began by complimenting some for good posture, some for clean- 
 liness and so on until I had noted some outstanding feature of 
 appearance in them all. The next day the girls in their seats were 
 asked if they noted any improvement.' Jessie said, "John has his 
 shoes cleaner today." Elizabeth noted that all the boys had their 
 shoe strings neatly tucked in at the top of their shoes. The boys 
 passed to their seats and the girls took their places in the front of the 
 room. The boys chose the different girls who showed some improve- 
 ment in neatness, cleanliness or posture. 
 Purposing 
 
 After several mornings of this exercise I asked the boys to stand 
 up in front and I had a girl choose the boy whom she thought would 
 make the neatest, cleanest and most careful doctor. The boy chosen 
 had his name placed on a blackboard as Frank Williams — Doctor. 
 This same boy was asked to choose a girl whom he thought would 
 make the neatest, cleanest and most careful nurse. The girl's name 
 was placed beside the boy's name as : Jessie Pizzulo^Nurse. Thi.i 
 exercise was a great success and the contest was sometimes quite 
 lively as many otherwise minor de'tails were considered by the chil- 
 dren ; even the angle of a hair ribbon or a decided part in a boy's 
 hair would be the final winning feature. 
 
 One day I wrote this sentence on the board for a writing copy — 
 "Keep neat and clean." I asked the children why it was necessary to 
 be neat and clean? Clarence said, "So our work and our books won't 
 be careless looking." James said, "When we grow up we can't get a 
 job if we are not neat and clean." Elizabeth said, "So we can help 
 our mothers with the dishes and dusting." 
 
 A record of the number of times teeth were cleaned was kept 
 on a chart in a conspicuous place in the class room, and a child, in 
 each of the six rows, having the best record in this was awarded a 
 large tube of paste. 
 
 We practiced correct brushing of teeth, and had a demonstra- 
 tion on sterilizing the tooth brush. From this lesson we got the rule 
 "Brush your teeth after each meal." 
 
Every day after that the children made a new rule about clean- 
 liness or good health. The rules were discussed and formed during 
 language period and during writing period were copied in the note 
 book. This developed great rivalry among the boys and girls as to 
 whose rule would be chosen for copy. If we had more than one 
 rule, both were written on the board and a vote taken for the one to 
 be written first. 
 
 I had cut and mounted some pictures relating to cleanliness, 
 health and proper food and one day during a picture study lesson 
 Harry said he had a picture at home like one of mine. He brought it 
 to school, cut and mounted it, and hung it where the children could 
 see it. 
 
 My next step was to ask the children to look in their paper- 
 and magazines and see how many such pictures could be found. 
 Those who said they had magazines were appointed on a committee 
 to bring some to class. A great many pictures were obtained and 
 during art period they were cut and mounted on craft paper. These 
 lessons awakened a new interest in the value of pictures as a medium 
 of expression. 
 
 After we had a great many good pictures collected and mounted 
 I asked the class if they thought any of our health rules would be a 
 good title for any of our pictures. It was suggested that we could 
 make up a new rule to fit any certain picture. James and Hazel said 
 we could print the rule with our printing outfit. During this discus- 
 sion Israel said the paper was too small for so many words — the pic- 
 ture in question being one of a child washing her hands with soap. 
 Then I asked the class what we could say instead of "wash your 
 hands every day?" Israel said "Have clean hands." "Keep happy ' 
 was substituted for, "nothing gives your mind and body so much 
 relaxation as happiness." 
 
 As a result of our effort we had twenty health rules and almost 
 a hundred pictures. The best pictures were chosen for a large book 
 and the class asked to have the "clean teeth" record and all the rules 
 put into the same book. 
 
 Albert and Harry asked if they might punch the holes in the 
 book and tie the pages together. When this was done Catherine 
 said the book looked funny without a name. The children were 
 asked to think of a good name and the following suggestions came 
 as a result : — 
 
 The Clean Book 
 
 The Good Health Rule Book 
 
 26 
 
Good Health Book 
 
 Clean Club Book 
 
 A Book of Good Health 
 
 We voted for our choice which was Clean Club Book. 
 
 We discussed the necessity of being clean in our homes, our 
 school room, our places of work and our streets. The children 
 already possessed the knowledge of germs and their deadly work. 
 
 After the discussion, the sentence "Keep neat and clean," was 
 copied for the writing lesson. I then gave to each child a printed 
 card, especially prepared by our school physician, on the subject of 
 good health and cleanliness. I read this to the class and told them 
 to take it home and hang it where they could read it every day. I 
 told them I would ask the next morning what rule they had learned. 
 I found that most of the children remembered a number of them and 
 took great delight in being able to repeat them. 
 
 As most of the rules were in a negative form we spent our 
 language period trying to change them into the positive (which I 
 think is far better for small children.) For example one rule read, 
 "Don't drink tea or cofifee."' I asked the class what children should 
 drink? James said, "Drink milk, water and cocoa." Another rule 
 read, "Don't think an umbrella will keep your feet dry." I asked the 
 class what would keep their feet dry? "Rubbers," shouted the class. 
 When should we wear our rubbers? "Wear rubbers on rainy days," 
 was the reply from Thomas. 
 
 We now had two rules originated by the class. I asked if the 
 children would like to try to see how many more useful rules they 
 could make. Albert asked if we could make one every day and keep 
 them in a book. That suggestion was exactly what I was hoping 
 for, so I referred it to the class and they decided that they would 
 like to keep the rules in a note book. I told them the neatest books 
 could be exhibited to the third grade and the best readers could 
 read theirs to our Principal when the book was finished. 
 
 Activities 
 That afternoon we made note books during the industrial arts 
 period. The next morning I began to examine hands and finger nails 
 when Frieda said, "Oh, I know a new rule. Have your hands and 
 finger nails clean." During writing period that rule was put on the 
 board and copied in the new note book. Informal conversation les- 
 sons preceded the making of all the health rules and the fol- 
 lowing questions and subjects were discussed : — 
 
 ■27 
 
Why must we keep our bodies clean? 
 
 Why must food taken into the mouth be clean? 
 
 What is the value of sunshine and fresh air? 
 
 Ventilation of sleeping room and school room. 
 
 Selection of proper foods for children. 
 
 Value of milk. 
 
 The care of the teeth. 
 
 Through the kindness of Colgate & Co. each child received a 
 trial tube of tooth paste and a reminder card. I took a "tooth brush 
 census" and found all but six children out of a class of 35 owned 
 tooth brushes. By the end of the week these six had brushes of their 
 own. Then I read the story sent by Colgate Co. called "The Magic 
 Pearls" and after giving them the reminder card sent them home 
 with a promise to brush their teeth after each meal. 
 
 By this time the class had greatly improved in personal appear- 
 ance. Several children said they no longer drank coffee, some 
 reported they had the window opened when they went to sleep. Sev- 
 eral children's parents had purchased rubbers for them and two chil- 
 dren reported a gain in weight due to drinking milk. 
 
 The children do not have to be reminded now to keep clean, 
 brush their teeth or comb their hair ; for they know that the cleanest 
 children are chosen to perform the little class room services thai 
 children like so much to perform. 
 
 On each child's desk hangs a card with the name and the words, 
 "Clean Hands" written on it. In the morning and in the afternoon, 
 each child with clean hands has a hole punched in the card. This 
 is done by a child. At the end of this month there will be some 
 reward given to the children who have had on their card a perfect 
 score. 
 
 The children have asked to make a Safety First booklet and we 
 have already begun it as an outgrowth of the Good Health project. 
 They decided that safety was next in importance to good health. 
 
 Course of Study 
 The course of study was provided for in the following way : 
 
 Handzvork — Clay moulding of kitchen sink, wash bowl and soap, 
 bath tub, toilet and sanitary bathroom fixtures. Hats were 
 made from paper and decorated. The words "Good Health" 
 were printed on the front of the booklets. There was printing 
 on craft paper, folding paper drinking cups and lunch boxes 
 for sandwiches, and the cutting out and mounting of picture 
 collections. 
 
spelling— List of words used in forming- the rules. Printing of 
 same. 
 
 Writing— Copying of rules in booklet. 
 
 Language— IniortUcLl conversation and discussions of health rule^\ 
 Changing- from negative to positive and correction of any mis- 
 take in English. Use of capital letter and period. Stories 
 read from library books relating to good health. 
 
 Number—Score kept for clean teeth and finals added for awards. 
 Counting pictures and craft paper needed to mount same 
 Counting number of hats needed for class, number sheets of 
 paper used in making all booklets. Original problem given by 
 children that related to the project. 
 
 Music— Iie3i\th song from Primary Plans, November, 1920. 
 
 References 
 
 Primary Plans. November, 1920 
 
 How to tell stories to children 
 by S. C. Bryant 
 Pub. by Houghton & Mififlin. 
 Child Life Second Reader p. 48 
 
 by E. & M. Blaisdell 
 Pub. by MacMillan Co. 
 Teachers Monograph 
 
 Pub. by Teachers Monograph Co. 
 Jamaica, N. Y. 
 March, 1916— p. 85-86. 
 April, 1916— p. 45 to 56. 
 March, 19 17 — p. 48. 
 
 The Cotton Industry (Grade 2A) 
 
 Hasel M. McClintock, School No. 4, West Hohokcn, N. J. 
 
 Aims 
 Teacher's Aim : 
 
 To give the class a knowledge of how the cotton from the fields 
 becomes cotton clothes. 
 Pupils' Aim : 
 
 To collect pictures and samples for making a chart. 
 
 To study cotton, from its source in the cotton fields until it 
 reaches us as blouses, or dresses to be worn to school. 
 
 29 
 
Preparation for the Project 
 
 I wrote for material from manufacturing houses ; studied the 
 cotton industries from geographies, and pamphlets, collected pic- 
 tures and samples ; wrote for exhibits and information from manu- 
 facturing companies and experiment stations. 
 
 First Lesson 
 
 One day during a little geography lesson on shelter, food, and 
 clothing, I asked the following questions : "Do we wear these clothes 
 in winter? Why? What kind of cloth is this?" The answer to the 
 last question was "Gingham." I then asked what gingham was made 
 from. One child answered, "From a sheep." 
 
 So here the opportunity was offered for presenting the first les- 
 son on cotton. I showed pictures of the^ cotton field, and told in 
 story form, of the planting of the cotton seed. (I had a quantity of 
 cotton seeds to show the class.) I used descriptions and pictures of 
 the cotton blossom up to the time when cotton is picked by the col- 
 ored people. I also had some real cotton bolls for class inspection. 
 
 The children wished to plant some cotton seeds. So we planted 
 them and wrote the date of planting, and a few facts about cotton 
 for a language lesson. The best paper was pasted on the window 
 box for reference. A child was appointed to attend to the watering 
 of the seeds. In eleven days the seeds sprouted and we saw what 
 the cotton plant looks like at first. The date upon which the plants 
 came up was recorded as a language lesson. 
 
 Further Activities 
 
 For a drawing lesson we tried to illustrate a cotton field with 
 negroes putting the cotton in baskets, or hoeing the cotton. Each 
 child illustrated the phase of the story which interested him most. 
 
 For the next lesson we again examined the cotton boll and feel- 
 ing of it, noticed the seeds. W'e talked of the use of the cotton fibre 
 to the seeds, like the dandelion balloon and the milkweed airships. 
 We also talked of the cotton fibre and twisted some to make long 
 threads. We found that the threads made of twisted cotton fibre 
 were very strong. 
 
 One member of the class had an uncle living in Atlanta, Georgia, 
 and when he heard of the project, he sent us a big box of cotton bolls 
 on long stems which he had picked himself in the cotton fields. When 
 this box arrived we had a drawing lesson. The class drew the stems, 
 leaves and calyx, then pasted on bits of cotton batting to represent 
 the cotton bolls. 
 
 30 
 
We tried to get some of the seeds out of the cotton bolls and 
 talked about the length of time it would take to get the seeds out 
 of even a small basket of cotton. After the class discussion of the 
 difficulty of removing the seeds some child said "Why don't they 
 make a machine," and then I asked a very good reader to read the 
 story of Eli Whitney from "The Four Wonders." I had a number 
 of pictures of the cotton gin to supplement the illustration in the 
 book. The story of Eli Whitney was used as reproduction work 
 and some of the children tried to draw pictures of a cotton gin. 
 
 We had a lesson in weaving as given in "Industrial and Applied 
 Art Book IF' to show the meaning of the terms "warp" and "woof." 
 We examined clothes of members of the class and of cotton samples 
 and handkerchiefs, under the magnifying glass to see the two direc- 
 tions in which the threads run. Cheese cloth shows it best. To study 
 the mills and somewhat more of the processes involved in making 
 cotton cloth, we spent a period in talking about the pictures collected 
 and in looking at Visual Education stereopticon slides, numbers 
 T4, 15, 16, 17, 117, 119, 124, 125, 286, 420, 563. The value of 
 machinery was talked of in the making of cotton cloth. The manu- 
 facturing houses also furnished us with valuable illustrations of the 
 mills and machinery. 
 
 We had several written lessons, just little spontaneous stories, 
 as the work progressed. All the time the collection was growing, 
 we collected pictures, samples, cotton, string, cotton bolls, spindles, 
 miniature cotton bales, cotton batting and cheese cloth. 
 
 One day I asked the children how they supposed cotton was 
 carried from the gin, way down' South to the mills in the North. 
 We spoke of boats, trucks and trains (these three topics offered 
 opportunities for several lessons). I asked them how they supposed 
 it was packed, whether loose or in boxes. At first they thought of 
 bags and then I showed a miniature bale and we talked about the 
 advantage of having the bales in the shape most commonly used. 
 And as luck would have it one day at recess time a truck loaded with 
 bales of cotton went right past the school. We listed reasons for 
 using the bale. 
 
 From "Visual Education;" from the illustrations in geography 
 and the "Four Wonders ;" from the educational exhibits ; from 
 "How the World is Clothed ;" and from "The Story of Cotton," we 
 tried to get an idea of spinning. One child brought a miniature 
 spinning wheel. These can be purchased at any novelty store. We 
 talked of how all the spinning was done in the homes of the Pilgrims 
 
 31 
 
and contrasted those times with the present. As this is a manufac- 
 turing town, most of the class understood the process from having 
 relatives who work in some of the mills. One lesson was spent in 
 talking of the cotton seeds which were not used in the past. We re- 
 ceived a pamphlet from the "Southern Cotton Oil Co.," of Atlanta, 
 which tells in detail the process of manufacturing Wesson Oil from 
 the cotton seed. 
 
 We found that the seed is valuable as a fertilizer and that some 
 kinds of wrapping paper are made from cotton seed. We wrote to 
 Crane's paper factory at Florence, Massachusetts, and obtained a 
 paper describing a visit to a paper mill and discovered that the fin- 
 est quality of paper is made from cotton rags. The children brought 
 samples, pictures and books, which they could not read, but which 
 "tells about cotton." ♦ 
 
 The study of Negro life was the topic of two lessons. When we 
 took up tne life in the cabin, the home of the planter, and slavery, 
 we learned that George Washington lived on a plantation and later 
 how Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. A final lesson was devoted 
 to organizing the cotton chart which represented the tangible results 
 of their first project. 
 
 Extent to Which the Project was Used as a Type 
 The children are now collecting materials to make a wool chart 
 and are eagerly planning to find out all about wool and silk cloth. 
 Sometimes I have a piece of silk goods brought to me with the re- 
 mark "That isn't cotton, it's silk." We play a sense training game. 
 The children determine by their sense of touch whether they have 
 a piece of cotton, wool or silk. They have become quite expert in 
 classifying the pieces. If we take up the study of silk and make silk 
 charts the possibilities for studying Chinese, French and Italian life, 
 are unlimited. All through the project the children have studied 
 at home, books too hard for sight reading and read or told to the 
 class, facts about cotton. A visit to a mill would be very profita- 
 ble for the class but owing to the size and age of the children we 
 could not get permission to go. 
 
 Educational Possibilities of the Project 
 A. Problem Solving. 
 
 1. How the cotton is planted: rows, distance apart, length of 
 growing season ; cultivation, climate necessary. 
 
 2. How the seeds are removed from the boll ; The Cotton Gin ; 
 uses of the seeds as ; fertilizer, oil, paper. 
 
 32 
 
3- How cotton is transported ; bales ; steamships ; trains ; trucks. 
 
 4. How cotton is spun ; the spinning wheel ; the distaff. 
 
 5. How cloth is made. 
 
 6. Number of yards in a bolt of cloth. 
 
 7. List of kinds of cotton cloth. 
 
 8. List prices of cotton cloth. 
 
 9. Sizes of cotton thread, twine. 
 
 10. List of articles made of cotton. Sheets, clothes, handker- 
 chiefs, dresses, towels, stockings, curtains, underwear, thread, 
 twine, tape, paper, oil. 
 
 11. Copies of good designs found in cotton cloth. Also attempt 
 to originate designs for gingham, cambric, muslin. 
 
 12. Dye. How cotton cloth is colored. We experimented to 
 see if goods were fast color; tried to dye some cloth our- 
 selves. 
 
 B. Social Adjustments ; Committees were appointed. 
 
 I. To care for the cotton plants. 2. To select the best papers. 
 3. To carry on the dye experiments. 
 
 C. For covering the course of study. Reading from 
 
 "The Four Wonders" 
 "How the World is Clothed" 
 "The Story of Cotton" 
 "How we are Clothed" 
 "Industrial Studies of U. S." 
 Spelling. 
 
 L^nlimited words from the conversations. 
 
 Children listed words they- felt they needed to learn. 
 Language. 
 
 Poems, picture study, dramatization, oral and written 
 reproduction. Stories of Eli Whitney. 
 
 Stories from Uncle Tom's Cabin. 
 
 Increasing vocabulary, by learning new words and their 
 meanings, as plantation, bale, gin, warp, woof, roving, 
 spindle. 
 The Story of Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation. 
 Music. Southern Folk Songs, as ; 
 
 Dixie 
 
 Old Folks at Home 
 
 Kentucky Home 
 
 Old Black Joe 
 Number. 
 
 33 
 
Problems about number of seeds in a boll of cotton. 
 Hours it will take a man to pick a bale of cotton. 
 Baskets of cotton one negro picks in a day. 
 Foot and yard, in measuring cotton cloth. 
 If a foot cost I2C, how much will a yard cost? etc. 
 Handwork and Drawing. 
 
 The sand table showing the plantation. 
 The cotton boll (drawing). 
 People picking cotton (drawing). 
 The doll house towels (weaving). 
 Making a spinning wheel of cardboard. 
 List of most valuable references used : 
 The Four Wonders. Rand McNalley, Chicago 
 
 How the World is Clothed, F. G. Carpenter, Amer. Book Co. 
 
 The Story of Cotton, Rand McNalley, Chicago 
 
 How We Are Clothed, MacMillan, New York 
 
 Indust. Stories of W.S., N. B. Allen, Boston 
 
 Textiles, D. Appleton Co., New York 
 
 Southern Cotton Oil Trading Co., Amoskeag Manufacturing Co., 
 Equitable Bldg., Manchester, N. H. 
 
 1 20 Broadway, 
 New York City. 
 Cheney Silk Co., Corticelli Silk Co., 
 
 South Manchester, Conn. Florence, Mass. 
 
 The Second School Year, Shepard, Norwell, 
 
 V. S. Latta, Cedar Falls, Iowa. Boston, Mass. 
 Department of Agriculture, Board of Trade, 
 
 Washington, D. C. Any City in the cotton region. 
 
 The Good Ckizenship Club (Second Grade) 
 
 Lillian E. Walls, ScJiool No. 2. Linden, Nezv Jersey. 
 
 Situation 
 
 Near the end of October it is my habit to "take account of 
 stock," so to speak, — by thinking over, just what discoveries I have 
 made, in the first two months of the term. By that I mean, first, 
 what are the big problems that must be faced ; and second, how can 
 I best meet the most urgent needs of the pupils? 
 
 Shall I tell you about the situation in my class, at the beginning 
 of November? I had 46 children on the roll, and the majority of 
 
 34 
 
that number were sluggish, indififerent toward their work, careless 
 in their habits, and very slovenly in matters of personal neatness 
 or cleanliness. 
 
 During the month of November, I tried in many ways to arouse 
 their interest, and to develop a class spirit based on the ideals of 
 truth, fair play, patriotism, etc., but it was uphill work ; and I quick- 
 ly came to the conclusion that the whole trouble lay in the fact, that 
 while the "need" was not only "felt" by me, but seemed to be a very 
 self evident fact indeed, — still the children themselves were entirely 
 unimpressed, and had no desire to "wake up" and be different. 
 Something had to be done, and quickly. 
 
 Purpose of the Project 
 
 The purpose of the project was of course, to meet the needs of 
 the class ; to provide a motive, or to create a desire, in the pupils' 
 minds, to be better citizens, through the formation of right habits. ■ 
 
 Teacher's Preparation 
 
 My preparation consisted, mainly, of making plans for a definite 
 course in citizenship suitable for the children of that grade. In 
 this I was helped greatly by a careful reading over of "A Course in 
 Citizenship and Patriotism." (Houghten Mifflin Co., Publishers.) 
 
 Activities Involved 
 
 A 
 
 . Fifteen minutes each day were given to definite, but inform 
 
 al discussions on the following topics : 
 
 I. 
 
 Kindness to persons and animals. 
 
 2. 
 
 Helpfulness. 
 
 3- 
 
 Politeness. 
 
 4- 
 
 Neatness. 
 
 
 (a) Personal cleanHness. 
 
 
 (b) Care of books, desks, and materials used. 
 
 
 (c) Pride in the care of the class-room, and school build- 
 
 
 ing, etc. 
 
 5. 
 
 Gratitude. 
 
 6. 
 
 Generosity. 
 
 y. 
 
 Fair Play. 
 
 8. 
 
 Patriotism. 
 
 9- 
 
 Truthfulness. 
 
 10. 
 
 Honesty and its rewards. 
 
 II. 
 
 Obedience. 
 
 B. 
 
 The Cleanliness Contest. 
 
 35 
 
Knowing that the instinct of rivalry often accomplishes wonders, 
 when properly guided, my next step was to inaugurate a "cleanliness 
 contest." The contest vvas to run for one month. Each day the 
 children who cared to enter the contest received a certain number of 
 stars, according to the degree of cleanliness to which they measured 
 up. 
 
 They received : 
 
 1. One star for neatly brushed hair. 
 
 2. Another if hands, face, and teeth were clean. 
 
 3. Another for polishing shoes, and wearing clean clothing. 
 At the end of the month each child's record was totaled, and the 
 
 one having the highest number of stars, won a prize. 
 C. The Club Formed. 
 
 1. By way of introduction we discussed the meaning of "citi- 
 zens" and "citizenship." I suggested forming a club and the class 
 eagerly approved. 
 
 2. It was decided that if we were to have a club we must have 
 laws to govern its membership. The children made their own laws 
 after we had discussed: "What characteristics should a good citi- 
 zen have?" 
 
 A Good Citizen 
 
 Must love his country and its flag. 
 
 Must be honest, and prompt. 
 
 Must be clean and neat. 
 
 Must obey orders, and be polite. 
 
 Must be kind, and helpful. 
 
 Must do his best, in all his work. 
 These laws were put on the board so that the class would not 
 forget the standards by which they were to be judged before they 
 could enter the club. 
 
 3. Election of members. 
 
 Before any pupil could become a member of the club, his name 
 had to be brought up for the class to vote upon. If the class voted 
 him "A Good Citizen" — he became a member ; if some doubt was 
 expressed, the further voting was postponed for another week, 
 during which time, he was under the observation of his classmates. 
 
 4. A regular meeting of the club was held every Friday morning 
 for twenty minutes. The teacher called a special meeting at any 
 time if it seemed advisable. 
 
 5. The Club Badge. 
 
 The members of the club decided to adopt badges of red, white, 
 36 
 
and blue ribbon as the insignia of membership. The badges were 
 given out at the first meeting in each month. 
 
 6. The members elected a president, who held his office for one 
 month ; it was his duty to see that the members lived up to the laws 
 of the club. If one failed in this, he brought his name before the 
 club at the next meeting and the members decided whether or not he 
 must have his name taken from the list of Good Citizens. 
 
 7. If the class voted to remove his name from the list, he was ex- 
 pelled from the club for the period of one month. If during that 
 time the offense was not repeated, he might be brought back again 
 provided the class was unanimous in its voting. 
 
 D. Definite socialized activities for club members. 
 I. All monitors chosen from list of club members. 
 
 1. Pencil monitor 
 
 2. Paper monitor 
 
 3. Cloak-room monitor 
 
 4. Lunch room monitors 
 
 5. Line monitors 
 
 6. Black-board monitors 
 
 7. Window monitor 
 
 8. Door monitors (in case of fire drills) 
 
 The Problem of Tardiness 
 
 The club members decided that if anyone who had been ad- 
 mitted to the club, should be guilty of tardiness, his first offense 
 should be punished by the loss of his club badge. In case of repeated 
 tardiness, the pupil should be voted. out of the club. 
 
 The motto : "Everybody on time, everyday." was adopted as 
 the club motto for the month of February. 
 
 The Problem of Attendance 
 
 If any child was absent for more than two consecutive days, one 
 of the "good citizens" was appointed to stop at the home and inquire 
 for the absent friend. If the child was sick, the matter was reported 
 to the teacher, and a message of friendship and good wishes was sent 
 back from the other club members. 
 
 Results 
 
 So far, the noticeable results have been many ; too many to write 
 down all of them. The important ones are : 
 
 I. A great improvement in the personal appearance of the class 
 as a whole ; due, of course to the effort to be neat and clean. 
 
 Z7 
 
2. A very remarkable improvement in the manners of certain in- 
 dividuals. 
 
 3. A noticeable pride in the care of the class-room. 
 
 4. A decided decrease in the tendency to take the personal prop- 
 erty of others. 
 
 5. A much better attitude toward the class-room work in gen- 
 eral. 
 
 6. A very decided drop in the number of tardy cases. 
 
 7. Less trouble with attendance. 
 
 A Chicken Farm (Second Grade) 
 
 Marian T. Paifcu, Lincoln School, Roscllc Park, N. J. 
 
 Aims 
 
 Since I was to make some attempt at project teaching, my chief 
 aim was to have a project of beauty. And. being very fond of ani- 
 mals, I could think of nothing that would be prettier or more attrac- 
 tive than little, yellow chickens running around in the green grass. 
 
 The pupils' aim was to build a chicken farm on the sand table. 
 
 Planning 
 
 The pupils decided that we would need a house, a barn, six or 
 eight chicken-coops, about sixty or seventy little chickens, six or 
 eight mother hens, and six or eight roosters. They thought that 
 it would also be well to have at least, one horse, a cow, a dog and 
 his kennel, a cat, one or two pigs and their pen, and a pig-house. 
 They felt that it would be well to make the dog's kennel and the 
 chicken-coops out of oak-tag paper; and all of the other buildings, 
 out of wood. They wanted to make the atiimals out of clay, so that 
 they could be painted different colors, as they could not be if made 
 out of plasticine. 
 
 Activities 
 
 The trees were made from oak-tag paper. One boy volunteered 
 to make the house ; another, the barn. Whatever was to be 
 made out of wood, had to be made at home, as we have no manual 
 training work in the lower grades. The boys' fathers helped them, 
 more or less, in making the wooden buildings. The house and pig- 
 house were made out of cigar-boxes. Over the entrance of the 
 barn, was a small door, where the farmer pitched in hay. 
 
 38 
 
Another boy brought a hen-house to school one day; but the 
 class decided that it was twice too high. So it had to be changed. It 
 was a long, low house, about 12^2 by 2^ by 2^/2 inches, with a flat 
 roof, and had a piece of glass across the front. It had a door on one 
 end. 
 
 One boy made the pig-house, and we put together the sides of 
 a cigar box for a pig^pen. 
 
 One day in school, every pupil started a small chicken-coop. 
 Then the best ones were selected and finished. 
 
 The thing that took the most time, was the modelling of the little 
 chicks, the mother hens, and the roosters, in addition to the cat, dog, 
 horse, cow, and pigs. The children were so interested in the little 
 chickens that they were anxious to stay after school and help make 
 them. At a hard-ware store, I bought six spools of bronze wire and 
 got our janitor to make the chickens feet. With a pair of pliers, he 
 cut off two pieces of wire, about three inches long, put the ends 
 together (bending the wire in the middle), twisted them together to 
 make the legs, and then separated them again to make the toes. For 
 the mother hens, the legs had to be made a little larger, by twisting 
 in an extra piece of wire, which was not long enough to show as 
 toes. For the roosters, an extra piece of wire was twisted in, which 
 formed the spur for fighting. For a model in making the 
 baby chicks, we had two baby chicks, which one of the boys 
 bought, made of white cotton, poorly constructed. We had the 
 idea of proportion in mind all of the time ; but to make everything 
 just the size that it ought to be, was next to impossible. For the 
 comb and the wattles of the mother hens and the roosters, red paper 
 was used. For the roosters' tail-feathers, we stuck in some short, 
 white, fluffy, hen's feathers. The hens and roosters were left white, 
 but the baby chicks painted light yellow. 
 
 For the cats' whiskers, we could think of nothing better than 
 some hair from a horse's tail. So I asked a man, who lives very 
 near school, if he would give me a little hair from his horse's tail, 
 and explained what I wanted it for. He very kindly gave me enough 
 for fifty cats. 
 
 Several things were brought by dift'erent pupils, but we decided 
 that they were too large and we had better not use them. One was a 
 wagon, and another was the image of a woman. 
 
 The children brought pennies, with which to buy things for the 
 sand table. We bought a celluloid horse, cow, and a bull-dog; also, 
 a tiny one horse, two-wheeled wagon, with a man driving it. 
 
 39 
 
Later, we made a little book, into which we put a simple story, 
 which had been composed in the class, and twenty of the hardest 
 words in the story, which we had learned to spell. The pupils are 
 very fond of drawing, and wanted to draw a couple of pictures for 
 their booklet. I had given them some problems in connection with 
 the sand table, and those were put into the booklet. 
 
 We also learned a new song, which they liked very much. 
 
 Course of Study 
 
 The course of study was provided for as follows — 
 
 Language — A story about the farmer. 
 
 Arithmetic — Problems about chickens. 
 
 Spelling — Words taken from the story. 
 
 Reading — Pupils read the story. ♦ 
 
 Writing^The language, arithmetic, and spelling words were 
 written in the book. 
 
 Music — Song, entitled "Feeding the Flock." 
 
 Drawing — The cover of the booklet, and a drawing or two, in- 
 side. 
 
 Physical training — Called and fed the chickens, using appro- 
 priate gestures. 
 
 References 
 Progressive Musi: Series, Book I, (Silver, Burdett & Co.), p. 
 
 Progressive Road to Reading, Book II, (Silver, Burdett & Co.), 
 P-77- 
 
 The Hat Shop (Second Grade) 
 
 Julia A. Mulhcroii, Grant School. Trenton, N. J . 
 
 Purposing 
 
 As spring approached, store windows followed Mother Na- 
 tures' lead in colors. Dressed in attractive ways they invited atten- 
 tion to goods displayed. Particularly delightful were the hats. Their 
 variety of form and coloring seemed to rival Mother Nature and 
 their artistic qualities excited admiration. 
 
 What more natural than that the activity of buying a spring hat 
 should be repeated in a school project. 
 
 Mother would buy a new hat for daughter. Daughter would 
 provide one for dolly. But, where was dolly's hat shop to be found ? 
 
 40 
 
*"Why not build one," a boy suggested. Could they do it? Cer- 
 tainly! Youth in the second grade can do anything. Thus, "The 
 Hat Shop" started. 
 
 Planning 
 
 Questions were asked and needs discussed. What was needed? 
 A store properly furnished, hats made and trimmed, advertisements 
 to attract customers, customers to buy, clerks to sell, boxes and bags 
 to protect the purchases and money for purchases. 
 
 Provision for Course of Study 
 
 Would the carrying out of an activity of this kind provide for 
 the course of study was the next question the teacher wished to 
 answer. 
 
 Making the store and the articles necessary to equip it, supplied 
 the industrial and fine arts. 
 
 Advertisements in the form of posters sent to each room in the 
 building, gave words for spelling. Arranging the words in expres- 
 sive groupings, gave point to the language lesson. 
 
 A letter copied from the board was also sent to each room. It 
 asked that the poster be hung. Thought and words were supplied by 
 the children. The teacher placed them in letter form on the board. 
 As the words were all within the ability of second grade children, 
 reading received its quota. This also took care of writing. 
 
 Arithmetic was used in buying and selling. The relative values 
 of United States money were learned as the money was made and 
 used. 
 
 Needless to say the term geography was not used, but, geograph- 
 ical concepts were gained when the shops were visited and located 
 and their direction from school given. Streets crossed to and fro, 
 whether walking or on a trolley also came in for consideration. Pub- 
 lic buildings passed were noted. 
 
 Activities 
 
 From a store in the neighborhood we Obtained a corrugated 
 paper case such as cereals are packed in. It was i8"xi8"x24". This 
 was the shop. 
 
 The lining was a deep cream and suited us for our walls. A 
 dark brown band about one-half inch wide was pasted on the side 
 walls about three inches from the ceiling. This was the molding. 
 
 As the shop was supposed to stand on a lot with a small grass 
 
 41 
 
plot around it, two windows were cut in each long side. Plain net 
 curtains hemmed top and bottom, gathered on a string were fastened 
 with thumb tacks over" the windows. Paper cut in scallops was 
 pasted above to represent the silk scalloped curtains seen in store 
 windows. 
 
 In a fine arts lesson, rugs were made from brown and gray 
 paper with borders made with colored crayon. Each child made one. 
 Two square ones were selected as most suitable for the shop. Pleas- 
 ing contrasts and harmonies in colors were discussed in this connec- 
 tion. 
 
 Mirrors are a feature in a real shop. We therefore provided 
 a framed one 6"x9" for the rear wall, vanity mirrors between the 
 windows and placed hand mirrors belonging to doll sets on the 
 counters. This seemed enough to satisfy even the vainest dolly. 
 
 Standards were made of clay to hold the hats. When dry they 
 were put on counters which had been made from boxes covered with 
 brown paper. Some stood before the windows. An Easter Lily in 
 a flower pot was placed in front of the large mirror as a decoration. 
 "The Hat Shop" was then declared ready for the hats. 
 
 A visit to shop window^s showed designs for spring hats based 
 on reversed flower pots and gave ideas for trimming. The flower 
 pot turned upside down was therefore taken as a model for the first 
 venture in millinery. 
 
 First we traced a circle on heavy paper. Inside this circle we 
 traced a smaller circle. We made short cuts from the circumfer- 
 ence of the outer circle toward the inner. These at right angles to 
 the circle were pasted to a straight piece of paper, slightly larger than 
 the circumference of the inner circle. We pasted the edges of the 
 straight pieces together, where they overlapped. 
 
 The second hat problem was the making of turbans. These 
 were made of oval crowns and not so high as the flower pot design. 
 
 Making a hat with a brim was the next step. Having success- 
 fully placed circles and ovals as crowns, the brim offered but little 
 extra difficulty and the children soon saw how to adjust it. 
 
 They first made an oval for the crown, then traced a larger oval 
 of the same shape for the brim. The center was cut from the larger 
 oval, taking care not to cut too close to the hole left for the crown. 
 Clips were fastened to the crown outline. These were bent up at 
 right angles and pasted to the band. 
 
 All hats were made of gray, white or brown paper of a stiff 
 quality. The trimmings were made of colored tissue when soft ef- 
 
 42 
 
fects were desired and heavy glazed or dull finished paper for tail- 
 ored or band effects. 
 
 Short marks made by colored crayons were used to imitate 
 stitching and' for coloring flowers on the hats. One aim was to at- 
 tain pleasing combinations of color. 
 
 Simplicity was the keynote in all trimming. A few experiments 
 will show how great a variety can be obtained from the simplest ele- 
 ments. 
 
 Hat boxes, both round and square, were made to protect the 
 hats. Most of these were decorated with bands or pleasing groups 
 of lines drawn with colored crayons. Floral boxes were made for 
 our flower trimmed hats. 
 
 The advertising posters were next finished and distributed. Hats 
 cut from paper dolls Were used by some children. Others used the 
 plain white paper and mounted it on brown. The letters were cut 
 from white paper. The trimming was of colored paper. 
 
 Conversation lessons in which were considered the qualities 
 needed for a good salesman emphasized neatness, correct dress, well 
 expressed sentences, politeness and pleasing manner and a knowl- 
 edge of goods, as essentials. 
 
 All were given chances to see who came nearest to the stand- 
 ard. Votes decided which children were the best at selling. Three 
 were elected to dispose of the hat stock. 
 
 We made the money used. Tracings of coins were made on 
 tag-board and values written on them. For example, on one side 
 of the piece representing a dime was written loc and on the other, 
 one dime. 
 
 Bills of $1, $2. $5 ^and $io denominations were made from 
 2"x4" paper. On one side the value was written in script ; on the 
 other it was written as a numeral. 
 
 Change was made by the Austrian method. 
 
 On the day of the sale, each child who had signified his inten- 
 tion of buying a hat was given $8 in bills and $2" in change or $IG 
 in bills. All sales were final. No exchanges were allowed. 
 
 April the sixth was a very interesting day. Formality of school 
 seemed to have been forgotten as we played store and sold the pretty 
 hats. Groups of children from other rooms added to the pleasure. 
 Buyers seemed well satisfied with their purchases. 
 Comment 
 
 Reviewing the project from many angles, the teacher is inclined 
 to feel that "The Hat Shop" has been a success. 
 
 43 
 
It has been a purposeful activity determined upon by the chil- 
 dren and carried by them to a successful conclusion. 
 
 The project has been so real that although the hats were made 
 to sell, some children could not bear to part with them. A few were 
 inclined to be disagreeable but a little story about being unselfish 
 cleared the air and brought smiles back. 
 
 Throughout the project, the boys were just as keenly interested 
 as the girls and showed both originality and genius in making and 
 trimming hats and boxes. Great freedom was allowed and the pro- 
 ject gave opportunities for the use of initiative in working out the 
 various problems and profiting by mistakes. 
 
 The project drew upon their resources to produce results in a 
 tangible form. 
 
 The children solved the various pfoblems as they arose in a sat- 
 isfactory manner. The definite information gained and the social 
 training obtained were most satisfactory outcomes. 
 
 Valentine Store (Second Grade) 
 
 * 
 
 Elisabeth McKcag, McKinlcy ScJwol, Trenton, N. J. 
 
 Situation 
 
 The children in my class seemed to be slow in arithmetic and 
 in fact did not have much interest in the subject. Therefore, in 
 choosing a project for the month. I felt that one dealing with num- 
 ber would be most valuable and hence planned a "Valentine Store." 
 
 Purposing 
 
 Having had several projects this year I asked the children what 
 they would like to have for this month. After having several sug- 
 gestions one child suggested we make something concerning Val- 
 entine Day, in which all the children were interested. I said I thought 
 that a good idea and told them to go home and think about what they 
 could make. 
 
 The following morning the children suggested making valen- 
 tines and having a postman deliver them to different rooms in the 
 school as greetings from the second grade. Not seeing the store 
 suggestion forthcoming, I asked where we could get all the valen- 
 tines we wished to send. Right then a child said we could make 
 valentines and have a store and sell them to the other children. A 
 little girl then suggested that after we had pretended to buy our val- 
 
 44 
 
entines we could invite the first grade children over to purchase. 
 This was exactly what I wanted because here I saw opportunity for 
 doubling the amount of number work. 
 
 Activities 
 
 We decided that if we wanted people to buy our valentines, we 
 should have to make them as attractive as possible. In order to do this 
 we thought we would look in the store windows for valentine ideas. 
 Several children brought some from home to copy ; others went to 
 the library for books and picttires concerning valentines. After 
 much discussion we decided to call our store "McKinley Store." 
 
 I asked how stores in town let people know when they had 
 sales. Some child said they put it in the papers. Not having any 
 paper we decided that we could put notices of our sale in the doors 
 of our room and 'thereby advertise. We also decided to send to the 
 first grade an advertisement of our big valentine sale. 
 
 In order to get some good ideas on advertisements, several chil- 
 dren brought newspapers and magazines. We looked through these 
 and found how many dififerent ways there were to advertise. Then 
 I asked ditTerent children to make up advertisements for our store. 
 They did so and three of the best were chosen and put on the board. 
 They were read and then a committee of four children was chosen 
 to print these advertisements on big paper and made postors of 
 them. Two of these posters were hung in the doors and one sent 
 lo the first grade. 
 
 In order to have our valentines taken to the other rooms, we 
 decided that we would need a mail man. At this r.oint we took up 
 the study of the mail man's duties.' I asked the children to find out 
 how he becomes a mailman, whom he works for, who pays him, 
 etc. The children either looked in books for this information or 
 else asked their parents or older brothers and sisters. We also found 
 out how much it costs to send mail all over the United States, to 
 Italy, England, France, and other foreign countries. The children 
 volunteered this information because many of their parents came 
 from these countries and send and receive mail from them. 
 
 In selecting the mail man from the children in our room we 
 kept in mind the fact that he would have to be able to read the 
 addresses on the envelopes and to know where the different room? 
 were. When several children who could do this were found, two 
 were selected by vote. Caps and bags, as well as a mail box, were 
 made for these children. They then delivered the valentines to the 
 rooms. 
 
 45 
 
Many valentines of all descriptions were made. The children 
 made up verses and jingles which were put on the blackboard and 
 later copied in the inside of the valentines by the children. Then we 
 placed the prices on these valentines. The best ones were marked 
 anywhere from ten to fifteen cents while others not so good were 
 marked from five to ten cents. Of course the poorer ones were not 
 used at all. I wanted them marked as above, to test their number 
 facts through fifteen. 
 
 We made a counter from the umbrella stand, covered with 
 burlap, having valentines pinned to the latter as well as spread on 
 the top of the counter so as to display all of our stock at one time. 
 We next had to choose our storekeeper. I asked what kind of a child 
 we would need. The children said one who knew his examples well 
 enough to make change. Of course, atl wanted to be storekeeper 
 but finally the children agreed on a hoy who really was good in his 
 number. 
 
 Each child was given some paper money which we had made. 
 Some were given ten and some fifteen cents. They were given dif- 
 ferent amounts because some child said that real people don't all 
 have the same amount to spend. Another reason was that I wished a 
 test of the number facts through fifteen. 
 
 Then the children, three or four at a time went up to buy. They 
 were all sure to get their correct change as the storekeeper counted 
 it out to each individual. A hew storekeeper was chosen ( simply to 
 give another child a turn) and then the first grade children came to 
 buy. They, too, made sure of their change. 
 
 Course of Study 
 
 This project covered practically all of the subjects in the curric- 
 ulum as follows : Number ; The children determined approximately 
 the number of valentines to be made, and marked the prices on them. 
 They measured the mail man's cap and bag, also the post box. They 
 had to know how much money to give the storekeeper and how much 
 change to receive. 
 
 Spelling : the words used on the posters were learned, also 
 those used in the verses and rhymes written in the valentines as well 
 as words used in addresses on the envelopes, other words like, mail, 
 cap, bag and post, were learned. 
 
 Language : the conversation about our store and its needs, also 
 about the mail man and his duties were lessons in language. The 
 making up of rhymes and jingles to put in the valentines furnished 
 
 46 
 
more of this work. Stories about our work, why we celebrate 
 Valentine Day, "Philip's Valentine," etc., were also told. 
 
 Reading; the posters made, the rhymes and jingles, the story 
 made during language work, valentine stories from books the chil- 
 dren brought from the library, and the names on the envelopes ail 
 furnished reading lessons. 
 
 Writing ; verses and rhymes in the valentines and the names on 
 the envelopes were used as writing lessons. 
 
 Music; We learned the song "Mr. Postman." 
 
 Industrial Arts; We made the postman's hat, bag, mail box, 
 valentines both colored and painted, envelopes and a painted pose 
 of the postman taking a valentine from the box. 
 Comment 
 
 At the close of this project, I could see a marked improvement 
 in the number work as well as in other subjects. Pupils were more 
 rapid and accurate. They were delighted with the buying and sell- 
 ing idea and asked for a Grocery Store for next month. 
 
 Gardening (Second Grade) 
 
 Minnie Mueller, Sherman School, Cranford, N. J. 
 
 Situation 
 One day, we happened to discuss in our second grade class the 
 high cost of living. I had this project in mind, so I knew this was 
 my chance to work toward it. The children were very much inter- 
 ested in discussing this subject, possibly since they, like all the rest 
 of us, had heard so much about it. Then I said, "How could we help, 
 since the cost of living is so high?" Some said, "We could eat less," 
 or, "We could run errands." One boy said, 'T could plant a garden 
 so my mother wouldn't have to buy vegetables." This was just what 
 I wanted. I told the children why they must eat enough, and also, 
 that running errands probably would help, but not so very much. 
 Then I said, "How about this suggestion to make gardens?" This 
 undertaking was highly favored by nearly all the children. Their 
 faces beamed. Then I asked how many could have a garden. There 
 were only a few who could not for various reasons. One boy's yard 
 was full of ashes, and one girl said her father intended using all 
 the yard. I finally saw a way so all the pupils could have gardens. 
 
 Planning 
 Then I told them to ask their fathers and mothers just how 
 much ground they would be allowed. They measured the ground. 
 
 47 
 
and reported the results the next day. Then we began to talk about 
 seeds for the gardens. They had various suggestions as to where to 
 obtain them, but all were delighted when I told them they could get 
 seeds, if they would write to their Congressman. I was able to 
 bring in a little geography here by telling them of Washington. 
 
 Activities 
 
 They were all very much interested in writing for the seeds. 
 We planned and wrote our letters. A little Italian girl's was sent 
 and the seeds came in reply to it. While we were waiting for the 
 seeds, we studied the different kinds of soils, clay, sand, and loam. 
 The children brought various samples into the classroom. Then they 
 found out what kind of soil was in their gardens, and reported 
 the same. We now studied just what would help to enrich a poor 
 soil, and what was meant by a poor soil. At this point I taught 
 them that plants eat, and just how they assimilate their food, also, 
 that plants must have all their food dissolved in water. We also 
 compared a plant to a human being in regard to food, and found 
 out why both must have it, and why plant food is much the same as 
 ours. I also told the class how and why a fertilizer is used. 
 
 In our English work, we reproduced a story, in five parts, called 
 "The Hidden Gold." I got this story from a Manual on Vegetables, 
 supplied by the Department of the Interior. This story gives the 
 information that a garden should be spaded three times. We made 
 a booklet for this story, and cut out the picture of a basket of vege- 
 tables for the cover. Then a committee was appointed to find out 
 how to prepare the soil for planting, and just when to plant. 
 
 We found out the purpose of seed tests, and tested radish seeds 
 by planting them in a flower pot, and standing them near the window 
 where they would get tlie warmth and air. In our English class, we 
 told stories about this work, then wrote about it. The children 
 watched the plants grow, and we finally discovered that plants muse 
 have warmth, air, sunlight, good soil (food), and water, to grow. 
 One child took care of these plants. We now knew that our gardens 
 could not be planted until the weather was warm, and the soil would 
 crumble when hit with a spade. 
 
 I told the children to find out how the rows and paths in a 
 garden were laid out. The next day, we worked this out on the 
 sand table, since the flower bed on the school lawn was not ready. 
 Two boys made stakes, and wound some heavy cord aroimd them. 
 In this lesson, I brought out the directions, north, east. west, and 
 
 48 
 
south ; and which was the better way to make the rows, north and 
 south, or east and west, also, just why. 
 
 We also had a lesson on the various garden implements, study- 
 ing the use of each. ' Some of the boys brought these tools to school. 
 A paper cutting lesson followed. 
 
 Then the seeds arrived, and the children were delighted. They 
 were all anxious to get home and plant them. I told them that 1 
 would visit all the gardens, but would come to that one first, in which 
 the seeds came up first. 
 
 The directions for planting the seeds were given on the pack- 
 ages, and the children, guided by me, were able to grasp this infor- 
 mation. When the soil in the school garden was ready, several boys 
 and girls prepared it. Then the class went out and sat around the 
 garden, while the seeds were planted under my supervision. An 
 opportunity will be given later for the children to write invitations 
 to different people to visit the school garden. 
 
 We are now going to study the things that will help and harm 
 the plants and garden. Garden cultivation will also be taken up 
 and demonstrated in the school garden. 
 
 After the seeds had been planted in the home gardens, we told, 
 and wrote stories about My Garden, from an outline. 
 
 An exhibit of the vegetables, with invitations and posters to 
 announce it, along with the study of a farmer's life, will end the 
 project. 
 
 We learned that among the best friends of our gardens were 
 the birds. In studying birds, we talked about their color, eggs, nests, 
 songs and usefulness in gardens. 
 
 We wrote several compositions about birds. I also read and 
 told many bird stories, and the pupils read some, too. We learned 
 many songs, and made drawings and cut-outs of birds. In connec- 
 tion with this work, we took a walk early in the morning, and 
 saw some of the birds we had studied. The children were very much 
 interested in the birds, and we studied them, as the children describ- 
 ed, from day to day, the birds they saw. We kept a bird chart, also. 
 Course of Study 
 
 We correlated this work in our music, English, drawing, and 
 geography. 
 
 We are also going to take up the study of insects — the honeybee, 
 bumblebee, house fly, etc. 
 
 We studied two poems, "The Flower and the Bee" — by Tenny- 
 son, and — "How Birds Learn to Sing" — by Dodge. 
 
 49 
 
In hygiene, we studied disease destroyers and spreaders. The 
 children were able to get information from their mothers on this 
 subject. 
 
 In spelling, we studied the words as they were needed for our 
 English work. 
 
 In history, I read the "Early Cave ]\Ien.'' We compared their 
 means of getting food with ours, also, the implements used by them, 
 and utensils used in carrying food. 
 
 In physical training, we mowed the lawn, planted seeds, flew, 
 as birds fly, pushed wheelbarrows, and so on. 
 
 In arithmetic, we were studying addition, subtraction, and multi- 
 plication and we worked out problems with gardens and plants. 
 
 In drawing, we cut and drew birds, plants, and vegetables. W'i 
 also cut out an overall boy, and are now makmg a kitchen. 
 
 In music, we sang the following songs-: 
 
 The First Flower HoUis Dann, Book II 
 
 The Robin Hollis Dann, Book II 
 
 Spring Grasses Hollis Dann, Book II 
 
 The Little Seeds Progressive Teacher's Manual 
 
 The Naughty Tulip Progressive Teacher's Manual 
 
 The Woodpecker .The New Normal Course 
 
 The Wise Bird Hollis Dann. II 
 
 The Bluebird Ncav Education Music Book 
 
 My Garden Primary Melodies 
 
 The Oriole's N^st Progressive Teacher's Manual 
 
 Welcome May New Education Music Book 
 
 The Caterpillar and the Bee Progressive Teacher's Manual 
 
 In English we wrote the story "The Hidden Gold," "Corn," and 
 wrote descriptions of the Oriole, Robin, and Flicker. We also had 
 oral work along this line. 
 
 In reading we read stories that I mimeographed, also, stories 
 that were sent from Washington. The children brought in stories, 
 too, which they read to the class. 
 
 We would not accept any carelessly done paper or drawing. 
 The children felt that they were responsible for bringing in infor- 
 mation on gardens, and for having a good looking garden. The\ 
 were very honest in telling just what they had done. They realized 
 that this work would help others, and themselves. They learned 
 that it would help them physically. They were much more interested 
 in school work than they had been previously. 
 
 50 
 
The children were all anxious to work in their gardens. Their 
 work improved greatly as the project progressed. 
 
 References 
 Supplied by the U. S. S. Garden army — Dept. of the Interior. 
 
 1. Courses, in School Supervised Gardening for N. E. States. 
 
 2. Manual on Flowers. 
 
 3. Manual on Vegetables. 
 
 Month by Month — Spring — Willis. 
 
 Vegetable Plant Lice — supplied by N. J. Agricultural Experiment 
 Station. 
 
 Seed and Soil Treatment for Vegetable Diseases. 
 
 The Home Vegetable Garden — Dept. of Agriculture, New Bruns- 
 wick, N. J. 
 
 Plant Food and Soil Improvement — New Jersey Agricultural Exper- 
 iment Station. 
 
 Henderson's 1920 Spring Catalogue. 
 
 Henderson's Garden Guide. 
 
 Monograph on Vegetable Gardening. 
 
 Flowers, Insects, and Birds, Common to N. J. — Obtained from 
 Library. 
 
 Bird Chart. 
 
 Story of Corn — Month by Month. 
 
 Stories of Plant Life — Boss. 
 
 Bird World — Stickney — Hoffman. 
 
 Stories of Insect Life — Wild. 
 
 Stories of Birdland — Chase. 
 
 From Flower to Seed — Newell. 
 
 How to Know the Wild Flowers — Mrs. Dana. 
 
 Fairyland of Flowers — Mara Pratt. 
 
 New Educational Reader. 
 
 Trees (Second Grade) 
 
 Hazel M. McClintock. School No. 4, West Hoboken, N. J. 
 
 Situation 
 At Arbor Day time I planned a short program to observe 
 the day. In introducing the subject to the class, I first asked for 
 some names of trees which the children knew. 
 
 51 
 
After listing such trees as Maple, Cedar, Pine, Ash, Oak, 
 and Elm, (Names of trees which had occurred in literature and read- 
 ing lessons. ) I asked for reasons why people have trees in lawns, 
 and on streets and the children thought of shade, beauty and 
 homes for the birds. One child said, "Houses are made of trees." 
 Then others named desks, tables, chairs, and fuel. I wrote 
 "furniture," in our list of "Uses of Trees." I asked "Where do 
 apples grow?" and then the children gave a list of fruit trees. 
 But this was the extent of the class knowledge of trees and their 
 uses. Through our conversation about the trees which were familiar 
 to the class, we concluded that trees were very necessary to people 
 right in this country and that we ought to conserve them. 
 
 This led to listing the reasons for Arbor Day observance, 
 and the children were very much interested tn it and all those who 
 had a tree at home decided to look it oyer and see if it had any 
 "moth cocoons" on it, or any caterpillar tents or any dead branches, 
 and we all decided to learn to know at least one tree by sight and 
 name, and its principal uses. 
 
 The next day, a little girl brought a box of luiroasted cotfee 
 beans, and .said, "Miss M — , Don't these come from trees?" These 
 were shown to the class and so we found that trees gave us other 
 things besides houses, warmth, fruits, and shade. 
 
 Teacher's Preparation 
 
 When I saw that so much interest had been aroused, I decided 
 to have a number of drawing lessons, and so collected all the pic- 
 tures of trees that I could find, and without comment, placed thein 
 about the room. The following day, children began bringing pic- 
 tures of trees and a little girl brought a picture of people taking 
 rubber from trees, and asked, "What are the men doing with the 
 tree?" I decided to make a project from this display of interest. 
 
 I wrote to companies who manufactured articles made of trees, 
 such as cork and rubber, and collected pictures, samples and objects 
 made of different products. 
 
 Purposing 
 
 The children were eager to find out more abotit trees and 
 brought books, magazines, and pictures which illustrated or told 
 stories of trees or showed things that were being taken from trees. 
 So we decided to make a collection of "Trees and Their Uses." 
 
 We decided to allow a time each day for study or talk about 
 
"Trees." Some days a child would read a story about a tree, as, 
 "Cedar Trees Reward," or the story of the "Littlest Fir Tree," 
 or "The Little Evergreen Tree That Wished for Golden Leaves." 
 We decided to find out how the different "things," or products 
 are obtained from the trees and children volunteered to find: 
 
 1. How trees come to be made into houses. 
 
 2. A list of the things that are made of wood. 
 
 3. How ships are built. 
 
 4. How maple sugar comes from sa]). 
 
 5. How coffee grows. 
 
 6. How rubber comes from the rubl^er tree and all the 
 things that are made of rubber. 
 
 7. How cork comes from the oak. Uses of cork. 
 
 8. What part of the tree forms the Palm fan. 
 
 9. How we get spruce gum. 
 
 10. _ All the "tree fruits" that grow in New Jersey. 
 
 11. Other tree fruits and how they come to us. 
 
 12. Make a collection of "nuts" and a "Nut Chart." 
 
 13. Wood as a fuel. Kindling, wood, and matches. 
 
 Planning 
 
 W^e planned to collect pictures and information about trees. 
 We also planned to give each child a chance to tell something 
 about what he had found. Many children who did not at first vol- 
 unteer were found to be ready on certain days to contribute some- 
 thing. 
 
 Activities 
 
 As materials and objects were collected, we placed them in a 
 low flat box where we could look at them and talk about them. 
 Then on each morning, I allowed a few minutes for "Tree Talk" 
 and anyone who was ready took his or her specimen and holding it 
 before the class, told them all he had found out or all he knew 
 about it. Then it was passed around the room during a working 
 period and each child looked at it, and examined it as long as ne 
 wished, now with better understanding than when the object rested 
 in the box, before it had been "explained." 
 
 Other brothers and sisters became interested and helped the 
 little ones in gathering information. I gave several drawing les- 
 sons showing the trees of different types and also trees in action, 
 as, being blown by the wind. We also spoke of trees in groups. 
 
 53 
 
'"How to make the effect of a forest in a 'drawing'— was one prob- 
 lem." 
 
 Also many of the stories which were read offered subjects 
 for dramatization and the one who found the story, selected the 
 actors and planned the action of the play. "I always have the 
 children plan and work out their own dramatizations." 
 
 The children reported seeing a boy bending a small tree and told 
 how they had induced him to desist. This involved conversations 
 on tact and diplomacy, but we used the words "politeness" and "good 
 manners." Often the children made drawings illustrating a story or 
 some phase of the project, and some tried to copy the illustrations. 
 
 1. There were many children who wished to tell about houses 
 and so we took up the lumbering industry first — including : 
 
 I. — the camp. 
 
 2. — the steam mill. 
 
 3. — x\nimals in camp — horses, dogs, oxen. 
 
 4, — The men — Boss, sawyer, choppers, loggers, blacksmith. 
 
 5.^Tools used — axe, saw, wedge. 
 
 6 — How the camp site looked before and after the mill came. 
 
 1. The big saw dust pile. 
 
 2. Its uses. 
 
 3. Reforestation. 
 
 We used the stereopticon slides from Visual Edtication. One 
 group of children collected pictures illustrating methods of carrying 
 lumber to market, as sleds, river, ferry-boats, ships, trucks, trains, 
 oxen, horses, mules, and elephants. 
 
 One child showed a picture of Abraham Lincoln's log cabin 
 and compared it with our wooden houses and explained how we 
 get boards from logs. He had been to a saw mill so he tried to 
 explain it, and made a little saw of cardboard. 
 
 Another group of children told of the carpenter and the tools 
 he uses in building the house. A man was building a porch on his 
 house near the school and we had a chance to observe his methods 
 and his economy in lumber. Shipbuilding was also touched upon. 
 
 2. One child brought a picture of the Indians, showing the 
 white man how to make maple syrup, and another of how the, 
 Indians discovered maple syrup. I secured, samples of maple 
 sugar for tasting. 
 
 3. In connection with coff'ee I gave a health talk for boys 
 
 54 
 
and girls and all the children decided to give up coffee and ask loi 
 milk instead. 
 
 4. One little girl brought a book that tells the "Story of Rub- 
 ber" from beginning to end. The words were too hard for her to 
 read, but she had been told of the process, and could "tell about" 
 the pictures. During this lesson, we examined the exhibit sent out 
 by the Hood Rubber company and also their booklet and slides. 
 
 We made a list of things made of rubber and this list included : 
 rubber overshoes, rubber hats, gloves, Indian rubber balls, boots, 
 rubber bands, automobile tires, mats, elastics, erasers, etc. This 
 list was copied for the booklet as each child had decided then to 
 make an individual picture collection in the form of a booklet. 
 
 5. A little girl brought a square brick of cork and told the 
 children how her aunt picked it up on a beach, and explained that 
 it was a piece of a life-preserver from a ship. 
 
 Another girl presented a picture of men taking the cork from 
 the trees and told of the uses of cork, naming — ^stoppers, life preserv- 
 ers, and bobbers on fish lines. 
 
 6. A little girl brought a palm leaf fan and showed pictures 
 of the palm trees with the large fan-like leaves, and told the chil- 
 dren of a movie in which she had seen the palm trees growing. 
 
 7. A little boy brought a stick of spruce gum as it comes 
 from the store and as a surprise I had a piece of the gum as it 
 comes from the tree ready to show them. I told^;hem how I used to 
 go hunting for spruce gum at picnics when I was a little girl. 
 
 8. There was a large collection of pictures of fruits and we 
 talked of peach, plum, pear, and apple orchards. We solved these 
 problems : 
 
 1. How the farmer can protect his fruit from — 
 
 (a) frosts, by smydge fires. 
 
 (b) birds, by nets. 
 
 (c) insects, by spraying, pruning.- 
 
 (d) We decided that the farmer could spare a little 
 fruit to pay the birds for the insects they kill. 
 
 2. How the fruit is picked. 
 
 3. How fruit is taken to market. 
 
 9. Children brought pictures of bananas, oranges, lemons, 
 olives, and we talked of the health value of eating plenty of fruit. 
 
 10. We had a fine collection of nuts and learned some articles 
 of food that are made of nuts. We learned to name nuts at sight 
 
 55 
 
or by sense of touch, judging by their smoothness, size, shape, etc. 
 and learned the meaning of those terms size, shape, rough, smooth, 
 and how to spell them. 
 
 ir. In connection with the report on wood as a fuel, we 
 had a le?son on fire protection and the causes of many fires, and dis- 
 cussed such causes as playing with matches, building bonfires and 
 the like. 
 
 12. The children had already studied a little about the deser*^ 
 life in contrast to the "farm project" and made a sand table show- 
 ing an oasis in a desert. 
 
 We considered what would become of a country if all the trees 
 were cut oflf and I told them of ex-President Roosevelt's conserva- 
 tion policy and each child told how they Would help. 
 
 13. The following stories were contributed: 
 
 1. "Apple Seed John." * 
 
 2. "Story of the Littlest Fir Tree." 
 
 3. "Cedar Tree's Reward." 
 
 4. "How the Pussy-Willows Came." 
 
 5. "The Little Tree that Wished to be Big." 
 
 6. "George Washington and the Cherry Tree." 
 
 7. "George Washington and the Apple." 
 
 Alt these were dramatized. In an old "Primary Education," I 
 found a dramatization entitled "The Boy Who Hated Trees," and 
 this became our favorite dramatization for weeks. 
 
 Course of Study 
 
 1. We correlated this with number work, by illustrating the combin- 
 ations with pictures of trees and logs, and solved little prob- 
 lems such as this — "If one tree makes twenty boards, how many 
 boards can I get from two trees," etc.,' the opportunities here were 
 unlimited and some days I let the class give problems. 
 
 2. Supplementary reading was done before the class. We rend 
 the book "Rago and Goni," "The Tree Dweller," and also the 
 book entitled "The Tree Dwellers." as well as silent reading; 
 in looking over the collections. 
 
 3. The pupils learned to use correctly and to spell such words as 
 shelter, bark, bough, twig. The children made their own list.s 
 of words which they felt they needed to learn, and I chose 
 words from their lists for the class lesson. 
 
 4. They learned to reproduce stories, and such poems as "Oh, 
 
 56 
 
Maple Tree," "The Wind and the Leaves," also to use correctly 
 
 such words as protection shelter, products, etc. 
 
 Our lessons in drawing on tree forms and trees in motion, and 
 
 two blackboard illustrations of a landscape with trees and a 
 
 landscape with n'o trees, helped to give the artist's, attitude 
 
 towards trees. 
 
 The frontispiece in "The Porter Tree Book" is full of autumn 
 
 colors, showing eight diiferent kinds of trees in their autumn 
 
 dress and this was copied, by some children as individual trees 
 
 and by others as an entire picture. 
 
 Comment 
 
 Of course the work was taken up in a very elementary way 
 suited to the age of the pupils, but I think that this project has 
 justified the time spent upon it by its results in the interest 
 shown, in the collections and in the remarks made nearly every 
 day by the children who had had some experience bearing upon 
 the subject. 
 
 The efifort put forth is shown by the trouble to which some 
 children went in order to secure materials to "tell about." 
 A new attitude is shown by the way the children seem to feel 
 the value of trees to mankind and the efforts made to preserve 
 "one tree this year." Some of them named their trees for men 
 about whom we had studied and admired, as George Washing- 
 ton, Theodore Roosevelt ; and one day at recess I saw tlie 
 children digging at the bark of one of the trees in the school- 
 yard, and found they were hunting for eggs of moths or cater- 
 pillars and found some. 
 
 Investigation was the keynote of our Project correlated with 
 reading and dramatization. All of these have been effective 
 means of education for the children. 
 
 References 
 
 Armstrong Cork Company, Pittsburgh. Pa. 
 
 Hood Rubber Company. Watertown, Mass. 
 
 Goodrich > Rubber Tire Company, New York, N. Y. 
 
 Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Rubber a Wonder Story — By John Martin. 
 
 Published by U. S. Rubber Co., 1790 Broadway. New York. 
 
 Porter Books on Trees. 
 
 Published by Edinburg Society. Boston, Mass. 
 
 57 
 
California Walnut Growers' Association, Los Angeles, Cal. 
 Log Cabin Products Co., St. Paul, Minnesota. 
 Milton Bradley Pencil Co., Springfield, Mass. 
 Educational Publishing Co., New York City. 
 Mishawaka Mfg. Co., Mishawaka, Ind. 
 
 And we used these slides from Visual Education : 
 
 Orchards, No. 44, 85, 175. 234, 237, 437, 412. 
 
 Oak. No. 146, 369. 
 
 Nuts, No. 118, 234, 551. 
 
 Pine. No. 98. 107, 162, 191, 224, 228, 265, 388, 407, 418. 449. 
 
 Peach. No. 85. 
 
 Maple Sugar, No. 130. 
 
 Logs, No. I, 162, 215, 216, 509. • 
 
 Deserts, No. 190, 200, 201, 209, 495, 561 to 566, 569. 
 
 THIRD GRADE MATERIALS 
 
 The Pottery Industry (Third Grade) 
 
 Mary T. Convery, Principal Columbus School, Trenton, N. J. 
 
 Situation 
 
 In filling out record cards for the ofiice file, it was necessary 
 for each pupil to state the occupation of his parents. Out of an 
 enrollment of thirty-three it was found that twenty-four of the 
 parents held some position in connection with potteries. This proved 
 an interesting subject of discussion. "Why were so many of our 
 brothers and fathers potters" was a gateway question to the study 
 of this industry. The opening discussion may be summed up as 
 follows : 
 
 The trade of a potter is a fine trade. We live in a pottery dis- 
 trict. Most of our fathers were born in England and learned the 
 trade there. Our brothers are learning their trade here now in 
 the same potteries where our fathers w^ork. We live in this ward 
 because most of the potteries of Trenton are located here. It is 
 necessary to use pottery in order to live in the right way. Our 
 fathers in being potters not only serve themselves but others. We 
 would like to visit some of these potteries where our fathers and 
 brothers work. 
 
 Activities 
 
 The latter suggestion brought out the fact that if we visited 
 potteries we would not know what to look for in otir visit, and 
 
 58 
 
dus t n r 1 ^"'^ '° ''"'^ '^ ""^^ ^^ ^- ^'°"^^ ^bout the in- 
 dustry in the class room. This Jed up to the specific ain. of the 
 teacher and at the same time it became a class project 
 
 Spcnfic Ann. To have the children discover why the pottery 
 mdustry is nnportant in Trenton. ^ ^ 
 
 Preparation of Teacher. 
 
 A study of different kinds of clay. 
 The Pottery Industry in America. 
 The Pottery industry in other countries 
 
 ^""'taugh^t' '^""'" ^'' ^'''°'' "''"'' '^'' p""^^">' '''^^''^'^y '-^ 
 
 Our Wori 
 
 AND Display Room. 
 
 Visit to the State .Aluseum to see accomplishments of the iDottery 
 
 mdustry m other countries. 
 Talks with pottery manufacturers in this distrir-t 
 Msit to the librarian requesting her to get ready and send a 
 
 set of reference books for the children's use. also anv 
 
 ture material she might find. 
 
 59 
 
 pic- 
 
Suggestions made by children as to how they would study : 
 
 a. Learn to recognize the different kinds of clay. 
 
 b. Find out different types of potteries in our neighborhood. 
 
 c. Kinds of ware made in each pottery. 
 
 d. Importance of each kind of ware. 
 
 e. Kind of pottery most important for us to visit. 
 
 f. How shall we arrange a visit to these potteries. 
 
 As a result of the above outline, practically arranged by children, 
 the following subject matter was developed : 
 
 Need for using clay. Using clay called manufacturing. 
 
 Kinds of clay — ball and china — found in U. S. 
 
 Sanitary — (the largest percentage of which comes from 
 
 England. ) * 
 
 (Samples of these clays and also the subdivisions of the 
 classes of clay were brought in by children.) 
 
 The following questions were asked by the teacher : 
 "Why has New Jersey s,o many potteries?" 
 "Why has Trenton so many potteries?" 
 "Why has the 8th ward Trenton (our location) so many 
 potteries?" 
 
 Improvement in the old and new methods of pottery manufac- 
 ture, were discussed or in other words, hand methods versus machine 
 methods. This required reading. The librarian was instructed* to 
 be prepared with special books and pictures for this visit. A most 
 worth while period was spent here. 
 
 The next step in procedure was the study of different types of 
 occupation necessary in a pottery. 
 
 The following were given : moulders, turners, dressers, kiln 
 drawer, sagger maker, glazers, decorators, and packers. 
 
 The home was again asked to assist. Children were requested 
 to have parents write or tell of their particular work in pottery. 
 Many written replies were sent and many specimens. This was 
 what first prompted the children to suggest an exhibit. The teacher 
 had had this in mind for some time. Some of the most important 
 work of the topic was the result of information in answer to the 
 request for information from the parents. 
 
 The mention of the packers led to a study of the distribution 
 of the finished project. Maps were borrowed from, the various 
 class rooms and used in connection with this phase -of work. 
 
 The following \vere some of the questions : 
 60 
 
What becomes of the pottery manufactured? 
 
 How shipped from Trenton? 
 
 Where does the canal by the Anchor and EHte potteries 
 lead to? 
 
 Is it cheaper to ship by water or rail? 
 
 Does Trenton become well known in other parts of our 
 own country and in other countries through its pot- 
 tery industry? 
 
 At this stage of the work pupils felt they were ready to visit 
 potteries. Communications were sent to three manufacturers. 
 Only two were willing that we should visit them and that with 
 restrictions. The replies to our letters furnished some splendid 
 material for talks on "Safety First," also the care necessary in fol- 
 lowing instructions promptly while on the visits. 
 
 Visits to Pottery — Committees were selected. The two potter- 
 ies granting permission were general ware potteries. The children 
 were shown the process from the selecting and mixing of the clay 
 to the packing of the finished ware in the packing room. In one 
 case it was the proud father of a pupil who had arranged to be the 
 guide. There were only ten pupils in each group so it was necessary 
 for them to spend some time and use great care in making the 
 report. The remaining part of the class was divided into two fur- 
 ther committees, the first section visiting the art school where they 
 saw how the trade was taught in a trade school. The second section 
 visited the state museums where they saw specimens of pottery 
 from many parts of the world. ' At the time of the latter visit there 
 was a splendid lot of wedgewood pottery on display that meant 
 much to these English children. 
 
 The exhibition was the end of the project. We were over- 
 whelmed with material from the flint to the finished product in all 
 stages of completion. The other section of the third grade was 
 studying rubber — a second neighborhood industry — so we also had 
 an exhibition of rubber at the same time. 
 
 Course of Study 
 
 Language : Booklets were made containing important facts about 
 the pottery industry, also accounts of their visits to a pottery 
 or museum, were made. Letters of request, also of apprecia- 
 tion to parents, manufacturers and others who assisted were 
 part of the language work during this period. 
 
 6i 
 
spelling : The words of their own talking vocabulary at this time 
 were assigned for study. There are some examples : pottery, 
 clay, mould, presser, kiln, cup, saucer, havale, turner, bath- 
 room, etc. 
 
 Hygiene: The discussion as to the relative value of sanitary ware 
 versus china ware formed a most important opening for the 
 study of hygiene. They were shown the fine equipment of 
 the school in this line and developed therefrom a greater 
 respect and care for the provisions made for safeguarding 
 their health. 
 
 Art : A. They have been allowed to show their individual taste in 
 developing their book covers. Some painted a simple design, 
 others brought appropriate pictures and pasted them on the 
 cover. 
 
 B. Designing. Thanks to the pottery owners we were well 
 supplied with potters clay. Various articles were made, 
 candle sticks, flower pots, cups, saucers, etc. 
 
 Reading : Reading from the library books, from magazines and 
 articles sent in by parents and also from their own booklet 
 material. 
 
 Geography : Transportation of the pottery products meant a study 
 of geography. As mentioned before maps were used when 
 the need arose. The children felt pretty "big" using sixth 
 grade material. 
 
 Habits of Study 
 
 We have made provision in the aforegoing material for good 
 study habits. There is a specific purpose in tnind with well 
 thought out questions providing for supplemental material. The 
 organization of ideas was necessary in order to be prepared for our 
 visit. We had to know what steps or processes of manufacture were 
 involved in the manufacture of pottery. We had much discussion 
 of values when we were deciding whether to visit sanitary or gen- 
 eral ware potteries or both. There was memorizing from the begin- 
 ning of the project, and also originality in their oral and written 
 reproductions of letters of application modeling and designing. Best 
 of all, pupils were being trained in good moral habits. They were 
 being taught, the dignity and importance of labor and also, through 
 their cooperation in their work, the spirit of getting along with peo- 
 ple in the right way. 
 
 62 
 
References Used 
 The Potters' Craft — Draw Nostrand Co., N. Y. 
 How to Make Pottery— Doubleday Page & Co., N. Y. 
 History of Clay Making Industry in U. S.— Ries & Leighton. 
 Dedication Book of Thos. Maddock & Sons, containing extracts 
 
 presented by Dr. G. B. Gorden. 
 Child Labor Law. 
 Employers' Liability Law. 
 
 The Growth of Trenton From the Beginning to the 
 Present Time (Third Grade) 
 
 Louise D. Titus, Hamilton School, Trenton, A'. J. 
 Situation 
 This project arose in Geography from the study of Trenton. 
 It deals with the growth of Trenton from the time the first settlers 
 bought the land from the Indians through the time when George 
 Washington passed through Trenton on his way to New York, to 
 become President of the United States, up to the present time. 
 
 Activities 
 
 At first some children asked if they might make wigwams. 
 The study of Indians life led to the representation of Indian homes 
 on a table. The life of the tribes especially the Lenni Lenape tribe 
 as they settle in groups was shown. The children had this tribe 
 sell land to the English. (They took the Indian scene out and put 
 the new settlers in, the sceneS being changed). The girls made 
 trees and houses and dressed dolls (cotton covered wire) to repre- 
 sent the settlers. The boys brought wood from home and made a log 
 cabin. They worked at recess, noon or after school. They had dis- 
 cussions among themselves about the floor and how to close the 
 cracks between the logs to make the house warm. Several books 
 were brought with the desired information. Houses and mills were 
 made of paper and Trenton begun. 
 
 We had in our possession a newspaper printed in 1889 and 
 entitled, "Trenton a Century Ago." This gave us a picture of 
 Trenton, a sketch of each building and the person who occupied it. 
 With this fund of material the children thought they would enjoy 
 making the picture on the table. They brought sand from the 
 Kindergarten and blocks to put around the edge. They built the 
 Barracks, the New Stacy Grist Mills, a hand in hand fire engine, 
 
 63 
 
stage coach, Triumphal Arch with Washington riding under it, 
 a bridge over the Assunpink Creek. Each day for many weeks 
 they took great pleasure in. planning and constructing new things 
 and judging what had been made. 
 
 The children gave the class what their fathers told them of 
 Trenton industries of today. The boys made Roebling's steel and 
 wire mill, a rubber mill and pottery. They built a railroad with 
 two tracks, wired signals, trains, freight station, trucks, etc. They 
 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
 iH m 
 
 Battle Monument. Trenton, Constructed 
 
 IN THE S A notable. 
 
 had a scene along the railroad which was quite complete. The 
 children were able to get quite a number of exhibits such as clay, 
 many kinds of wire, crude rubber, and pieces of all kinds of rub- 
 ber goods. 
 
 Values 
 
 This project furnised live material for about five months in 
 the following subjects : language, reading, writing, arithmetic, speli- 
 
 64 
 
ing and industrial arts. The children talked freely to one another 
 not only in school but at home and to their friends thus develop- 
 ing the social habit. Books, papers, magazines were brought to the 
 class room from which stories bearing on the subject were read 
 and told by the children. A variety of problems in arithmetic 
 arose while studying and working with the project. 
 
 In connection with buying the land, measuring, cost of buying 
 raw materials, transportation, selling rubber goods and pottery, 
 the children wrote sentences, paragraphs, and letters. Each child 
 kept his own diary. 
 
 There were some very poor readers in the class and some of 
 these could plan and keep some others busy making a mill or train, 
 etc. So they were excused from the class many times after they 
 read if they did not fail in a word. Their reading was much improved. 
 One boy after reading very well one day said "I never liked read- 
 ing before." 
 
 The habits gained through the activities of the project led to the 
 development of social habits, cooperation and personal achievements, 
 self-control, self reliance and thinking and doing. 
 
 A Play— Thrift (Third Grade) 
 
 Katherine C. McGarrity, Moses School, Trenton, N. J. 
 Aims 
 
 Teacher's Aims. — To give the children a knowledge of the 
 real meaning and importance of. Thrift. 
 
 To present this knowledge in a way that will appeal to the 
 children, and by pleasant associations, and activity cause a per- 
 manent interest to be awakened. 
 
 Children's Aims. — To increase the number of bank depositors in 
 our class. 
 
 Situation 
 
 The project arose during Thrift Week. As a preparation for 
 our discussions on Thrift, the assignment for spelling for the first 
 day of the week was the sentence: "What can / do to make Thrift 
 Week mean something to me?" This was also the subject for our 
 language period. Each child told what he or she expected to do. 
 
 We discussed the various phases of Thrift, Saving and care 
 of money, time, clothing, food, books, etc. Benjamin Franklin and 
 his relation to thrifty living. 
 
 65 
 
• Activities 
 
 Bank Day in our schoql came during Thrift Week and many 
 of the children were eager, . on that morning, to tell that they 
 expected to deposit money in the afternoon. But there was still 
 the same large number of children who had not yet opened bank 
 accounts. When questioned, they said their parents would not per- 
 mit them to open school accounts. I asked several of them just 
 what they had said to their parents about it, and they replied that 
 they had asked them if they could bank in the school bank. That 
 Was all they had said. I then told them I was going to be Mother 
 and I wanted them to come and give me good reasons why they 
 should open a school account. The whole class assisted them, when 
 assistance was needed. ^ 
 
 The playlet is a repetition of this language lesson so the dif- 
 ferent reasons are presented there. 
 
 The children enjoyed the lesson so much that when they were 
 asked what our class could contribute to the school exercises of 
 Thrift Week, they immediately suggested that we play the same le^:- 
 son for the other classes. They selected the children to take the 
 parts, picking out, as far as possible, the children who had that 
 week persuaded their parents to let them open a bank account. 
 
 Results 
 
 As .a result of this play nine children in the class opened bank 
 accounts, the number of depositors increased from twelve to twen- 
 ty-six, and the amount of money deposited increased from $6.32 
 
 to $14- 54- 
 
 The play motivated the work in language, spelling, arithmetic 
 and geography as shown in outline. 
 
 A Thrift Play 
 
 "How Harley Persuaded his Mother to Let Him Open 
 
 A Bank Account." 
 
 First Scene. At Home. 
 
 Mother. — "Harley, isn't it time you were going to school?" 
 
 Harley.— "Oh, Mother. I almost forgot. This is bank day. 
 May I open a bank account?'' 
 
 Mother. — "No, Harley, not today." 
 
 Harley.— "Ah, why not?" 
 
 Mother. — "I wish you wouldn't bother me. Can't you see 
 I'm busy." 
 
 66 
 
Harley. — "Well. I want to start one."' 
 
 Mother. — "Will you go to school today?" 
 
 Harley — "(Whining). I want to bank today. Won't you 
 let me? It only takes a nickel." 
 
 Mother.— "I said— A^o." 
 
 Harley (goes out grumbling) "I don't see why I can't start a 
 bank account." 
 
 Second Scene. At School on Bank Day. 
 
 Teacher. — "This is bank day and this is Thrift Week. I won-' 
 der if we have talked enough about thrift to have everyone know 
 how important it is for us to learn to save. How many children 
 expect to bank to-day?" 
 
 (All the class stand except Harley. J 
 
 Teacher. — "That is fine. I am glad to see Alice standing." 
 
 Alice. — "I just told my mother the one thing I wanted to do to 
 make Thrift Week mean something to me was to start a bank 
 account. She said I might take the twenty cents I have saved 
 So I start this afternoon." 
 
 Teacher. — "Splendid, Alice. All the class but Harley. W'hat 
 is the trouble Harley? Have you asked your mother?" 
 
 Harley. — "Yes, I asked her, but she said 'No.' " 
 
 Teacher. — "Are you sure you asked her in the right way?" 
 
 Harley. — "I kept on asking her, and she kept on saying 'No.' " 
 
 Edward. — "So did my mother say no. Miss Cook, until I told 
 her how many children in our school have bank accounts, that Miss 
 Carter's class is loo^c : that Mrs. Miller's class has 36 children 
 that bank; Miss Furlongs 34; Miss Binder's 41; our class 26; 
 Miss Pursells 16; the Kindergarten 34; and that, in the whole 
 school, there are 223 children that have bank accounts. My mother 
 said she certainly wanted me to be 'one of that number." 
 
 Teacher. — "That was a fine thing to tell her, Edward. Marion, 
 did you have much trouble to start an account?" 
 
 Marion. — "I had a hard time to start a school account, because^ 
 I already had an account up town, but my mother usually saved that 
 money for me. I told her I wanted to do the saving and banking 
 myself, so she consented. Now, I feel like a real grown up. saving 
 my money, and taking it to the bank." 
 
 Teacher. — "A fine idea, Marion. Did you wish to say some- 
 thing Mildred ?" 
 
 Mildred. — "Perhaps if Harley had saved his money as Joe did, 
 
 67 
 
his mother would let him bank it. Joe's grandmother gives him a 
 penny every time he gets E on his paper. He had eight of these 
 pennies last bank day, and "has several saved for this bank day. 
 Have you saved any, Harley?" 
 
 Harley. — "Yes, I have fifteen cents." 
 
 Teacher. — "Albert, can you help Harley?" 
 
 Albert. — "Tell your mother that if you put your money in the 
 bank you will get 3% interest on it. If you put it in the bank at 
 home, you will just have what you put in. Don't you remember 
 that sentence we learned from the Peter Rabbit Story. The best 
 kind of Thrift is saving a thing and then putting it where it will 
 increase. That is an investment. When you put your money in the 
 bank it keeps on growing. Try that on your Mother, Harley." 
 
 Teacher. — "Suppose you tell your mother some of these things 
 at noon, Harley, and let us hear about it this afternoon — class dis- 
 missed." 
 
 Third Scene. — x\t Home. — Bank Day of Thrift Week. 
 
 Mother. — "It is time for Harley to be home." 
 
 Enter Harley. 
 
 Harley. — "Hello. Mother, how are you?" 
 
 Mother. — "Hello, Harley, did you do well in school this morn- 
 ing?" 
 
 Harley. — "Yes. Are you very busy. Mother?" 
 
 Mother. — "I am always busy, Harley." 
 
 Harley. — "Will you please sit down here for a moment. Mother, 
 I want to talk to you. You know this is Thrift Week. I want to 
 give you a few good reasons for wanting to open a bank account. 
 
 First. — There are 223 children in our school that have bank 
 accounts. Isn't that fine, Mother?" 
 
 Mother. — "Yes, indeed, it is." 
 
 Harley. — "Second — Several of the children save their own 
 money to bank. I have saved fifteen cents and I want to bank it. 
 Don't you see Mother, it will help me to save." 
 
 Mother. — "I have always wanted you to save, Harley." 
 
 Harley. — "Third — If I put my money in the bank I will get 
 three per cent, interest on it. — ^You remember that sentence I learned, 
 the best kind of Thrift is saving a thing and then putting it where 
 it will increase. That is what I want to do. Aren't they some good 
 reasons ?" 
 
 Mother. — "Yes, they are good reasons, Harley. You take that 
 fifteen cents and open a bank account, and I will help you whenever 
 
 68 
 
I can. I hope you will try to remember the spelling lesson you 
 had today. It is not what you make, it is not what you spend, it is 
 what you saz'e that counts in the end." 
 
 Harley. — "Oh, I will remember that. I had every word cor- 
 rect." ( Repeats it.) 
 
 Exit Harley. smiling. — "Won't the children be glad when they 
 hear I am going to start a bank account." 
 
 The Red Creek Ranch (Third Grade) 
 
 ^nna M. Tyrrell, Girard School, Trenton, N. J. 
 
 Situation 
 
 In an endeavor to improve the health of the class much time 
 has been spent in choosing foods which will develop the children 
 into healthy individuals. The pupils discussed various articles of 
 food which were valuable to the body and various members of the 
 class expressed a desire to aid in some way to help raise health 
 producing foods. This question was presented to the class : "If you 
 had some money and wished to help supply the world with food, 
 which food would you select?" 
 
 The children chose various foods, potatoes, corn, meat, etc. 
 We decided we could use only one at a time so the class decided 
 on the meat raising industry. Why is meat valuable as food? Th^ 
 pupils learned that it builds muscle and tissue and produces blood. 
 They also said that meat was very expensive and that if more people 
 raised cattle perhaps the high' cost of living might be somewhat 
 reduced. 
 
 Activities 
 
 For an assignment, I asked the pupils to find out what was 
 necessary in order to raise cattle. They learned that every farmer 
 raises a few heads of cattle but if they wished to raise vast herds 
 of cattle, they must have a ranch. There was open discussion on 
 what was necessary in order for us to have a ranch. I asked therii 
 what we should call the ranch. After many suggested names, they 
 chose "Red Creek Ranch." 
 
 As an assignment, I asked the pupils where they would locate 
 their ranch and why they would make such a selection. They came 
 in the following day saying that Texas was a good place to raise 
 cattle and also that there was a section of the United States devoted 
 to cattle raising. Why is this section devoted to cattle raising? 
 
 69 
 
The pupils learned that this section was a grassy plain also called 
 prairies. They said that since there was an abundance of grass it 
 would furnish splendid opportunity for the grazing of cattle. 
 
 The problem arose : Why could not wheat or some other food 
 crop be raised in the prairie region instead of simply raising grass? 
 The pupils discovered that the rainfall in this section of the country 
 is scanty, and therefore not enough to raise crops of food. In this 
 way, the pupils were becoming acquainted with the geographical 
 features and climate in sections of our country. 
 
 Without having dealt with maps heretofore, the pupils, when 
 presented with problems, brought maps of the United States and 
 chose their sections, showing the location of the same. These pupils 
 immediately aroused the interest of others ^who asked for school 
 text books. I allowed the pupils to have geography books and it 
 was interesting to see how quickly they learned map reading and how 
 readily they located our cattle raising sections. They solved the 
 problem of rainfall by saying that the scanty rainfall was probably 
 due to the fact that the prairie region was quite removed from large 
 bodies of water. 
 
 After deciding on this section for our industry, we wrote 
 to the Omaha Chamber of Commerce for information. We received 
 a pamphlet on the raising of cattle also some valuable books and 
 pictures from the Public Library. 
 
 We set to work. The pupils forme'd themselves into an asso- 
 ciation. They elected four owners. These owners offered positions 
 to cowboys and maids on the ranch. The pupils wrote applications 
 to the owners applying for the situations. The owners interviewed 
 the applicants and questioned them regarding their duties. This 
 required owners and applicants alike to familiarize themselves with 
 the work of cowboys and 'maids. They became familiar with the 
 meaning of "Round Up," "Branding- of Cattle," etc.. as all were 
 anxious to be accepted as workmen. It was interesting to watch 
 the pupils seeking their information from books, magazines, and 
 pictures. Posters were made of pictures taken from magazines 
 brought in by pupils. 
 
 At the suggestion of the owners, the helpers were now set to 
 work. Some were assigned to making homes for the help and for 
 the owners. Some made stables for the cattle, others made fat- 
 tening pens, etc. The project gave splendid opportunity for indus- 
 trial work. The owners supervised the work judging the sizes of 
 the homes compared with stables, etc. Their ranch was set iti luinia- 
 
 70 
 
ture on the work table. The maids also assisted -in the construction 
 work. 
 
 The workers on the ranch wrote stories to their friends in 
 the East discussing various phases of the work as ''My Cattle 
 Ranch," "How I Brand the Cattle," "My Duties As a Cowboy," 
 "My Duties As a Maid," "My Trip to Chicago," "The Roimd Up." 
 
 The cattle were now raised. What would they do with them? 
 The owners discussed the matter with the help. They decided to 
 sell the cattle. Where could they sell them? This was an assign- 
 ment. 
 
 They reported that Chicago was the greatest meat market in the 
 world, so why could they not send them there? How can we send 
 them to Chicago? This developed the topic of transportation. 
 They decided to ship the cattle by auto truck to the railroad sta- 
 tion and from there to Chicago by rail. 
 
 During construction period, the pupils made auto trucks and 
 box cars in which to ship the cattle. Would it be advisable to send 
 the cattle oft" alone? Why not? 
 
 The pupils learned that some might die for want of care. They 
 learned of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They 
 learned that a carload of cattle must have a man to accompany it in 
 order to feed and water the cattle, also to help the cattle to their 
 feet in case they should fall. They learned that every eight hours 
 the cattle car must be sidetracked to allow the cattle to have a 
 •chance for exercise. 
 
 The cattle have now arrived at the Union Stock Yards in 
 Chicago. The pupils learned that this place is a world in itself. The 
 pupils traced the routes to follow and decided upon the shortest one. 
 They figured the cost of shipment from the ranch to Chicago. One 
 boy said, "No wonder it costs so much to buy meat. The owner 
 has to pay helpers and also transport cattle and guards." 
 
 What shall we do with the meat in Chicago? The pupils read 
 from their books that the cattle are sold at auction to the highest 
 bidder. Some pupils became buyers, and the class held a real auc- 
 tion. The arithmetic was motivated in the buying and selling of 
 the cattle. Pupils who seemingly had no interest in "borrowing" 
 in subtraction were now taking a keen interest in making change. 
 The use of United States money in all processes became real to 
 pupils. The long division process was developed for there was a 
 vital need for it. The problems were real, e. g. If cows are sold 
 at $70 a head, how much will 536 cows cost? 
 
 71 
 
If cows are $95 a head, how many can you buy for $937? 
 If sheep cost $86.35 ^"<? ^^e buyer gives you a check for $100, 
 how much change will you give him? 
 
 Course of Study 
 
 All the subjects of the curriculum were motivated by this 
 project. I have already spoken of the geography, language and 
 arithmetic. The spelling necessarily entered into it, since the pupils 
 could not write stories unless they learned to spell the new words. 
 
 A fresh impetus was given to the writing as only those papers 
 which were neat and eligible were acceptable. 
 
 Industrial arts held a prominent place in the project and pain- 
 staking efiforts were displayed on the table in building their ranch. 
 
 References 
 
 Carpenter's Geographical Reader Resources and Industries of U. S. 
 
 How the World is Fed Land in Which We Live 
 
 How We Are Fed Country Gentleman 
 
 Foods and Their Uses Library Pictures 
 
 Library of Work and Play Omaha Pamphlet on Cattle Raising 
 
 Indian Life in Colonial Days (Third Grade) 
 
 Jsabellc Mulford, Lincoln School Kearny, N. J. 
 
 Aims 
 
 The teacher's aim was : To lead the children to obtain a clear 
 mental picture of Indian life in colonial days, and to compare their 
 mode of living with our own. and with the Indian life of today. The 
 pupils' aim was : To learn about Indian life, and to be able to give 
 expression to this knowledge in speaking, in writing and by illustra- 
 tions with art materials. 
 
 Preparation for teaching this Project 
 
 1. Thoroughly mastering our own course of study. 
 
 2. Collecting books and pictures on the subject. 
 
 3. Getting myself enthused by reading. 
 
 4. Outlining the work that I might be ready to bring a logical 
 order out of the children's plans and suggestions. 
 
 5. Collecting art models and materials. 
 
 6. Conferring with the art supervisors. 
 
How the Project Started 
 
 The art course of study is arranged around centers of interest 
 found in the language, geography, and history outlines. Indian Life 
 is a third grade center. As the time approached for the beginning 
 of that work, I selected stories in our readers to arouse interest in 
 Indian life. The natural efifect was that the children wanted toknow 
 more about Indiaiis. Some of the questions asked by both teacher 
 and children in getting the project started and in relating it to all 
 branches of school work were somewhat as follows : 
 
 "May we read more about Indians?" "Where can we find 
 things to read?" (Class library, public library, home, ctirrent maga- 
 
 IndiAn Village on the Sand Table. 
 
 zines and newspapers. ) "What else can we find to help us see how 
 Indians lived?" (Pictures.) "Where can we find them?" (Home, 
 class-room books, public library, magazines and newspapers. ) "Who 
 will collect this ^material?" "What do we want to know about 
 Indians?" 
 
 The pupils made sttggestions that formed the bases of the taitline 
 used. , 
 
 As the reading and discussion proceeded, the children's ques- 
 7Z 
 
tions led into other lines of work. "May we make wigwams, canoes, 
 bowls. Indians in costume, rugs, pictures of Indian life?" "How 
 shall we make them?" 
 
 "What materials will be best suited to each?" 
 
 So the art work was suggested and planned by the teacher and 
 
 class. It not only conformed with the requirements of the outline 
 
 in art but added a number of special problems. 
 
 Various Lines of Advance Toward the Goal 
 
 a. Reading : 
 
 Complete sets of books (one for each pupil) were used for 
 reading and all the stories about Indian life were read silently, and 
 discussed by the pupils, who questioned each other. Then the selec- 
 tion was read orally. 
 
 Books used were : 
 
 "Myths of the Red Children," by Gilbert L. Wilson. Selections 
 from : New Barnes Reader, Book Three ; Riverside Reader. Book 
 Three ; Story Hour. Book Three ; "Around the World with Chil- 
 dren." by Frank G. Carpenter. 
 
 b. History, Geography, Oral Language. 
 
 The children were allowed to use the class library for seat work. 
 It is safe to say that ninety per cent, of the pupils read all the books. 
 
 For outside reading, the class was divided into groups. A cer- 
 tain group read about a given topic until they were ready to tell about 
 it and discuss it, another group pursued another topic, etc. If a pu- 
 pil brought a book from home, he was allowed to read some part of it 
 to the class as a basis for discussion in oral language. The follow- 
 ing outline was covered. 
 
 Appearance 
 
 Material Compared with 
 
 Clothing How constructed our mode of 
 
 How sewed living. 
 
 Materials Compared with 
 
 Homes How constructed Indian home of 
 
 Decorations today 
 
 Tools and Weapons 
 
 Games 
 
 Picture Writing 
 
 General information 
 
 74 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
Class library 
 
 Indians and Pioneers — B. E. Hazard 
 
 American Indians — Frederick Starr 
 
 Indian Primer — F. C. Cox 
 
 History Primer — Oscar Gerson 
 
 Dorcas — G. S.Snedden 
 
 Mewanee — Belle Wiley 
 
 Children of the Wigwam — Annie Chase 
 
 Around the World — Stella W. Carroll 
 
 First Lessons in American History — S. E. Forman 
 
 Child Life III— Blaisdell 
 
 Hiawatha Industrial Reader — Mary Proudfoot 
 
 Indian Legends — M. F. Washburn 
 
 Stories of the United States for Young Readers — Anna Davis 
 
 Books Brought by the Children 
 
 Indian of Today — C. A. Eastman 
 
 Indian Boyhood — C. A. Eastman 
 
 Thrilling Adventures Among the Indians — E. S. Ellis 
 
 Life Among the Iroquois Indians — Casewell 
 
 Historical Reader — Burton 
 
 Stories of American History — Florence Orville 
 
 True Stories About the Indians — E. S. Ellis 
 
 The Indian Book — W. J. Hopkins 
 
 Five Little Strangers — Julia A. Schwartz 
 
 Indian Stories — Major C. Newell 
 
 c. Written language : 
 
 The children told in writing some of the things they had learned 
 under the topics outlined. Every child wrote something on each 
 topic. The class was then organized to illustrate two booklets, one 
 to be used with the written project, the other for the art supervisor. 
 In this way several children worked on each illustration. The pupils 
 also chose the compositions for the booklets. 
 
 d. Spelling :> 
 
 Each pupil brought a list of words from which the spelling les- 
 sons were selected. 
 
 e. Music : 
 
 Songs — Wah-wah-tay-see and Uncheeva's Sleep Song. 
 75 
 
f . Physical Training : 
 
 Indian Dance, State Monograph, Grade Five. 
 
 g. Art: 
 
 Problems worked out : 
 
 Design — Illustrated by bowls, wigwams, Indian costume, rugs, 
 beads. Applied to — ^pottery, rugs, beads, head-bands, dresses. 
 
 Lettering — Book covers, posters. 
 
 Costumes — Illustrated in cut paper, costumes for dance. 
 
 Industries — Pottery, weaving, bead work. 
 
 Illustrations — Indian Sports, weapons, utensils, fishing, hunt- 
 ing and dress. Shown by — Poster, drawings on paper, crayon, and 
 sand table work. 
 
 Materials and models used in art problems : 
 Pictures from text books (readers) 
 Pictures brought by the children 
 Pictures from magazines and newspapers 
 Pictures from the public library 
 Models from the public library 
 Models made at home by the children and brought to 
 
 school ; canoe, bow and arrow, spear, peace-pipe, doll 
 
 dressed as an Indian. 
 
 Much of the work in cutting was undirected seat work, and 
 was all free hand. After a few lessons in weaving, the children 
 could weave independently. The Indian bowls, wigwams, Indians 
 in costume, and the clay bowls are the results of directed class work. 
 Most of the designs are original. 
 
 This project was used as a type to enable pupils to understand 
 and appreciate similar undertakings : 
 
 By helping pupils to arrange their ideas in a logical order. 
 Leading them to use this outline in the choice of subjects 
 
 for outside reading and written composition. 
 Teaching them to find material in books on given topics. 
 Constant comparison with former studies, as. Early Cave 
 Men. 
 
 The educational possibilities of the project : 
 I. Constant opportunities for pupils to plan and select 
 materials. 
 
Free scope for original work in art. 
 
 The beginning of research work in books. 
 
 Opportunity to show that just at hand, at school, at 
 
 home, in the library, pupils can find the things 
 
 needed. 
 Working and planning in groups. 
 Selecting best from class work gave opportunity to 
 
 judge and form standards. 
 
 2. Course of study was used in art, language, geography, 
 history and reading, spelling, music, and physical train- 
 ing outlines were supplemented by the use of Indian 
 material. 
 
 Our Bird Club (Third Grade) 
 
 Elsie E. Carlson, Primary Supervisor, Roselle Park, N. J. 
 Situation 
 
 This project was originated just before Bird Day. The chil- 
 dren had been asked to contribute some recitations appropriate to 
 Bird Day and a very interesting program was given at the chapel. 
 At that time it was announced that children bringing ten cents could 
 join the New Jersey Junior xA.udubon Society and receive the bird 
 pictures and pamphlets. The children were extremely enthusiastic 
 about joining and a club of thirty-two members was formed. 
 Activities 
 
 The giving out of the membership buttons was a very impres- 
 sive sight. Each child went to the front of the room and as the 
 teacher pinned on the button, he made a solemn promise that he 
 would do all he could to protect and help the birds. 
 
 The suggestion of making booklets was approved by the teacher. 
 The children folded large green drawing paper for the books and 
 bound them with cord. The covers were very attractive. The chil- 
 dren did their very best work for they knew they were making 
 something they could keep. Some drew and colored bird houses, 
 with birds flying about and some, trees with birds in them. 
 
 The next problem was to decide what the books should contain. 
 Some suggested drawing hfe-sized birds and coloring them. This 
 worked out very well indeed. Every child drew at least two birds. 
 
 A poem was brought in entitled, "Welcome. Little Robin." The 
 children were very careful in copying the verses. 
 
 77 
 
One morning a little boy annovinced that he had seen a robin. 
 At once the children became interested and began to talk about the 
 habits, food, color, and nests of birds. A language lesson on the 
 robin followed until the children were able to write original para- 
 graphs on some bird. These were added to the booklets. 
 
 Other birds were reported almost daily and if the children were 
 not familiar with their names, they were permitted to look them 
 up in the Bird Guide. In this way they learned the names of a num- 
 ber of birds. 
 
 Several interesting lessons on problems involving birds were 
 given and these were also included in the books. Some of the chil- 
 dren discovered songs about birds in their music books and the tunes 
 and syllables were learned far more quickly because the children 
 were especially interested. ». 
 
 The Burgess Bird Book was purchased by the teacher and llie 
 children asked if a chapter might be read every morning. I do not 
 believe a more attractive bird book for children has ever been writ- 
 ten. As the teacher read, the children would look at the pictures of 
 the birds which were hung around the room to find the birds she 
 was reading about. Stories were also read from the Bird Lore Mag- 
 azine published by the Audubon Society. 
 
 On Friday afternoons the children were allowed to read to the 
 class from books and it was very interesting to note that the majority 
 selected library books. 
 
 A letter was written and sent to the Dwight Company, asking 
 for a bird chart and a very beautiful one was received. The chil- 
 dren were very much interested in pointing out birds with which they 
 were familiar. 
 
 The children then decided to make a poster of their own. A 
 tree was drawn on a large piece of cardboard and the children were 
 permitted to paste their birds on it where they wished to have them. 
 Some added nests. Of course, all the birds were not used and those 
 remaining were pinned up as a border over the blackboard. Some 
 birds from Dennison's were also added. 
 
 The teacher suggested a language game which was played as 
 follows : A child was chosen to go to the woods or fields and describe 
 a bird which he saw. If the children could not guess at once they 
 were allowed to refer to the bird chart. The pupil who guessed 
 the name of the bird was the next one to take the trip. We were 
 greatly pleased with the accurate descriptions and the good language 
 that was used. 
 
The children were very enthusiastic about taking a walk to study 
 birds. I was invited to accompany them and we stopped near the 
 edge of a wood not far from the school building. Here we watched 
 for a while and enjoyed seeing the different kinds of birds, some 
 flying from tree to tree and some. building their nests. This was a 
 very profitable trip as the children had a great deal of kuQwledge 
 about birds before they started, and recognized several birds. When 
 they returned they started to keep records of birds they had seen and 
 these were later put into the booklets. 
 
 Then an attractive spring scene was worked out on the sand 
 table. The children brought in twigs and pieces of evergreen. On 
 the twigs were pasted small, round pieces of pink and white tissue 
 paper to represent blossoms. A house, flower gardens, bird and ani- 
 mals which the children made were added. On the blackboard, 
 forming a back-ground for the sandtable, the teacher drew a daisy 
 field and some trees upon which the children pasted cut-out birds 
 and nests. 
 
 Course of Study 
 Practically the whole course of study for the Third Grade was 
 used in this project : Oral and written English, conversational les- 
 sons, development of the paragraph, copying poems and original com- 
 positions. Reading by teacher and the pupils. Drawing of birds, 
 etc. Industrial Arts. Spelling in connection with the Language 
 work. Arithmetic : problems and drill. Music. Nature study. 
 Coijiment 
 The democratic spirit of cooperation among the children was 
 very apparent. They were so interested in their work that it was a 
 pleasure to teach them. Everything that was accomplished seemed 
 worth while and so the children put forth extra et¥ort in their les- 
 sons. They have assumed the responsibility of protecting the bird? 
 and helping them when it is necessary. 
 
 Perhaps the greatest value to the children was the deep interest 
 they have taken in nature and much of the knowledge I am sure will 
 be retained all the rest of their lives. 
 
 References 
 Bird Book for Children — Thorton Burgess. 
 Bird Chart — D wight and Co., New York City. 
 Bird Guide. Birds of New Jersey — Page & Cp., Garden City, New 
 
 York. 
 Bird Life — Frank Chapman. 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 021 349 543 4 
 
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