LB GopyrightN" /f J ^ COPYRIGHT DEPOSrR PLAN OF WORK FOB THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING BY GEORGINE BURCHILL Teacher, New York City WILLIAM L. ETTINGER Associate City Superintendent, New York City EDGAR DUBS SHIMER District Sdperintendent, New York City SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO LB 1513 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING BOOK ONE BOOK TWO INTRODUCTORY BOOK THREE BOOK THREE INTRODUCTORY BOOK FOUR {In Press) BOOK FOUR PLAN OF WORK 1*3 \4 APR -8 1914 1;er Copyright, 1909, 1910, 1914, by SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY ©CI,A371293 CONTENTS FAGB Introduction iv Teaching Arkangement of Stories, Book One . . 1 CHAPTBB I. How to Teach the Basal Stories. ^ ... 2 II. Phonetic Development 23 III. Suggested Phonetic Drill 30 IV. Written Language — Words . . . . .70 V. Written Language — Sentences .... 84 VL Seat Work 93 INTKODUCTION OUTLINE I. THE CRITERION OF READING TI. THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING METHOD (a) Stimulus : Interest in a story (J) Pure phonics : Ear training (c) Phonetics : Eye training (cZ) Manual expression (e) Recapitulation III. THE PLACING OF THE BOOKS IV INTRODUCTION I. THE CRITERION OF READING The only criterion acceptable to-day for the soundness of any method of teaching reading to a beginner is this : Does the method from the start train in power to grasp not a word but a related set of words, a sentence, an entire situation ? Does the method proceed from wholes to parts and back again to clearer wholes ? Does it advance from a unit of thought, a sentence, to the words as words without loss of the relationship among the words ? Is a flow of association maintained among the words as parts of the original whole from which they have been disentangled, or as parts of a dif- ferent whole created anew out of the same words set in other relations ? It is this relation idea that makes for true read- ing, as opposed to mere word calling with little or no consciousness of a higher unity. Does the method ingrain this sentence habit first, and then proceed, and not till then, to treat a word as a whole, analyze out of it the constituent parts, and synthesize these back again into the original word or new words ? Vi INTRODUCTION II. THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING METHOD (a) Stimulus In the Progressive Road to Reading method vital interest in a story is the stimulus. The surest way to catch a child's attention and to hold it is to arouse his imagination and give it ample room for play. When this has been successfully accomplished, the strongest possible motive for learning to read will have been created. (6) Pure Phonics In the beginning only the ear and the tongue are involved. Sound leads to thought, and thought to speech. "Tell me a story!" is the dominant expression. This creates a golden opportunity for pure phonics, — clear enunciation, clean articula- tion, and full, rich, deep tones of voice. The children will pay the price, if the teacher insists. Correct habits of speech will follow. Clear enun- ciation and articulation must be insisted upon even to the point of dra-mat-ic ex-ag-ger-a-tion. Let the t be plainly heard in went ; the d in and and found; in short, never slight the final consonant. Careful work in phonics during the teaching of the first group of stories must precede any attempt at phonetics. Not until the ear has been taught to discriminate nicely and the tongue to execute accurately should the eye be called upon to ana- INTRODUCTION vii lyze sight words into their phonetic parts. Train the ear before the eye. Always let phonics (ear- and-tongue exercise such as even a blind pupil can follow) precede phonetics (work involving the eye). (c) Phonetics In the second place the visual relations between the thought and the printed, or the written, sen- tence are established, so that the pupil may get the thought as promptly from a sentence seen as from one heard. Now the pupil is ready for the establishment of the visual relations between the separate ideas of a sentence and the separate words printed, or written, to represent the ideas. By a still further analysis the pupil is led to discover the auditory relations between the sepa- rable sounds, or phonic elements, of a spoken word, and the visual relations between the let- ters, or phonetic elements, used to represent these sounds to the eye. Suppose we take the present order in the Plan of Work. Write make. Cover ake and sound m. Then cover m and pronounce ake. Soon the ear will perceive the sound that is attached to the particular part. This is the process in phonetics : Tear sight words to pieces and find smaller parts, with which (1) to rebuild the original word and so get a firmer grasp on it and (2) to build new word wholes. Viii INTRODUCTION (d) Manual Expression Accompanying this phonetic analysis there is a carefully planned method of visualization which develops manual expression, and leads at an early stage to spelling, dictation, written reproduction, and composition. Indeed, the teaching of reading may, as a class- room discipline, become the radiating and illuminat- ing center of the entire circle of sensory-motor activities that should constitute the curriculum for first-year children. No Indian was ever more interested in a "talking leaf" than these little ones just out of the kindergarten are in the writ- ten expression of thought. The tactful teacher will be able to set all other subjects of instruction into wholesome reaction with reading. This may be done whether the class be taught as a unit, or, as is recommended, in groups. In either case independent seat work is not only desirable but necessary for best results. (e) Recapitulation Delight in a story will sustain interest. Care- ful attention to enunciation and articulation, or pure phonics, must attend all oral work. In establishing visual relations begin with a sen- tence, sustaining glowing interest. Go to phrases, then to words and back again to the same sen- tence; then to similar sentences from the same INTRODUCTION ix phrases and words. Proceed until you can get quite different sentences as to meaning and tone out of your word stock. By this time, through clear articulation, insisted upon all the time from the beginning, you will have laid a good phonic basis for analyzing words into phonetic parts. In accomplishing this, repeat the general process. As soon as you have the parts, at once rebuild the words taken apart. Do this until the pupil sees, often all by himself, that a part of one word will join with part of another to make still another word which he knows, but now sees for the first time. What a gurgle of joy attends, this discovery ! May we not say invention ? He has created this word, and like every creator, as he looks upon his work, he thinks his creation good. Proceed from wholes to parts and back again from the parts to the original wholes until later you can go from these parts to new wholes. This taking apart and putting together finally gives swift recognition of the parts in any relation, and automatic power over them. So the child by mas- tery of the phonetic symbol comes into possession of his real inheritance. He has the key to unlock the treasures of literature awaiting appropriation. III. THE PLACING OF THE BOOKS The Progressive Road to Reading series has been constructed for elasticity in application. No X INTRODUCTION rigid quantitative limit has been set. The mini- mum amount to be covered by the pupils of the first year, first half, should, in no case, be less than the first fifty-five pages of Book One, covering the four basal stories and their attendant supplementary stories. If no more can be completed in accordance with the Plan of Work, then of course the pupils must complete the remaining portion of Book One in the first year, second half, before they attack Book Two. In like manner, Introductory Book Three should not be undertaken by the pupils of the second year, first half, if they have not previously completed Book Two. The series is progressive in the sense that the work of each succeeding grade is to begin where the preceding grade left off. This precludes the folly of assigning the successive books of the series to successive grades, so that Book One is given to the pupils of the first year, first half; Book Two to the first year, second half ; Introductory Book Three to the second year, first half, and so on. Abundant oral reproduction in the child's own language is a necessary preliminary to the rendition of the author's exact thought in the exact words of the text. A wise teacher will know how to sustain interest in story content for the ulterior purpose of practice in mastering sight symbols. TEACHING ARRANGEMENT OF STORIES BOOK ONE Take Book One and number the first thirteen stories in sequence from page 5 to page 55. Now mark off the basal stories with their supplementals, as follows : (i) The Hen and the Bag of Flour. (/. Basal) (2) Little Red Hen. (Sup.) (3) The Rat, the Hen, the Pig, and the Duck. (Sup.) (4) The Sun is Shining. (//. Basal) is) The Lark, the Fox, the Cat, and the Snake. (Sup.) (6) The Rat and the King. (Sup.) (7) The Hen and the Lark. (Sup.) (8) The Sky is FalUng. (///. Basal) (9) The Brown Hen. (Sup.) (10) Gray Cat and Black Cat. (Sup.) (11) The Hungry Fox. (IV. Basal) (12) Gray Fox. (Sup.) (13) The House that Jack Built. (Sup.) Here you have the scheme in outline. These thirteen stories constitute the true primer. The rest is the ordinary first reader. 1 CHAPTER I HOW TO TKA.CH THE BASAL STORIES OUTLINE I. ORAL WORK : Development of Content (a) Telling of the story by the teacher. (b) Conversation on the subject-matter of the story. (c) Oral reproduction of the story by the pupil. II. BLACKBOARD WORK: EstabUshing of Relations (a) Presentation and formal reading of the first sen- tence as a whole. (6) Recognition of words by position in the sentence. (c) Recognition of words by comparison. (d) Independent recognition of words. (e) Drill in rearrangement of words. III. BOOK WORK : Reading of the Story as a Whole (a) First basal story. (6) Second basal story. (c) Third basal story. (d) Fourth basal story. (e) Suggested time distribution of stories. IV. REVIEW WORK CHAPTER I HOW TO TEACH THE BASAL STORIES First Step I. ORAL WORK : Development of Content (a) Telling of the Story Before the actual work of reading the first story- is begun, each child must know the story, and must be able to give his own version of it. The teacher must tell the story to the children, and she must tell it so simply, dramatically, and vividly that it will take instant hold on the child imagination. Then she should ask the children to tell her the story. Instead of telling the whole story at once some teacher may wish to give it in parts; so she tells only as much as she intends to use on the black- board, has that orally repeated or paraphrased, and thus keeps up interest as is done with a serial story in a magazine. The teacher says, "Let's see. Where were we in the story when we left off ? John, you tell it as far as we have heard it." Then the teacher adds a new bit. If the children do not speak English at home, this continued, accretive style of giving them the story is better than telling the entire story at once. 3 4 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (6) Conversation During the time of oral work, the conversation, the nature work, and the hterature should include stories of the hen, the duck, the goose, and the turkey, and talks on flour and bread making. These lessons should be made as practical as possible, so that the children will have a vivid interest in the objects about which they are to read. Much can also be done in manual training by making bags, or even by grinding corn, wheat, etc., between stones or in a coffee mill, into meal or flour. Does such work help reading ? It does, indeed ! It lays memory traces of things and actions, ideas for which the reading is to furnish the sight symbols to match the words already known by sound. (c) Oral Reproduction The work in oral reproduction must go hand in hand with the work in reading. It must by no means be neglected, especially in classes composed of children of foreign parentage. In these classes the power to read will very quickly outstrip the power to tell what has been read. Therefore have abun- dant oral work based on stories of your own selection. Do not require the children to repeat a story with many incidents and characters, and with frequent changes of the point of view. Select stories with but one incident and few characters. Rewrite the HOW TO TEACH THE BASAL STORIES 5 story, cutting out all description and all sentences containing difficult idiomatic phrases. It is to be remembered that before a chUd can ex- press what he has heard, he must have command of the necessary words. Some children at the age of six have a vocabulary which enables them to re- produce in their own way any simple story ; others seem to have almost no vocabulary. These children will not be able to reproduce at all ; they will have to acquire a vocabulary, before any reproduction is required. The reading will teach new words, and the daily story-telling will give facility in using them. Let the children dramatize the stories. For in- stance, in connection with the first story, have the children take the parts of the Hen, the Duck, the Goose, and the Turkey, and act out the various in- cidents of the narrative. Second Step II. BLACKBOARD WORK: EstabUshing Relations (a) Reading of the First Sentence The teacher reminds the children of the first event in the story : "The Hen found a bag of flour." She prints it on the blackboard, reading aloud as she does he Hen foaTid a bag of flour,. 6 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING SO. As the children know what has been written, they will be able to read it as a whole. Have several children read it. Then the teacher underlines the phrases^: as, of flour; a hag; and pointing to them, has them read. (6) Recognition by Position Next the teacher points and the pupils identify the words. Then she asks that they point to the words which she calls. Some child will be able to point to Hen, found, hag. Underline these words, and have the children point to them several times. he Hem found a bag o In teaching the slow pupils it will be necessary to have each child go through the process of finding the words and pointing to them. If three words are too many for the children to grasp, take two. 1 Phrase work can be greatly facilitated by the use of printed cards containing phrases from the basal stories, which may be obtained from the publishers. HOW TO TEACH THE BASAL STORIES (c) Recognition by Comparison With the sentence still on the blackboard, print the underlined words directly beneath the same words in the sentence, and let the children name them by comparison with the words in the sentence. Then reprint these words over and over again on different parts of the blackboard until the children he rienToiind a ba^ of t nenTound baL Hem bag foar Dag Hen d ouTid found nem have ceased to refer to the sentence. This step is a very important part of the method ; the teacher must not ask the children to recognize words inde- pendently until she is certain that recognition by direct comparison has been thoroughly accomplished. The slowest children will need more time for this step than for any other in the series. (d) Independent Recognition When the teacher is reasonably sure that the chil- dren know the words without reference to their posi- tion, she should erase the sentence. The words to THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING Dag Toamd bag ' tounc "ouind rien found bag leri bag Hen Hein nen ba^ loanc be taught should now be printed in columns. This time the children should be required to recognize them instantly. Teach the remaining words of the sentence in the same way. (e) Drill in Rearrangement The prime law in teaching separate words is that they shall not be taught as bare words merely. Never lose sight of sentence unity and the relation among words. The latter is far more than the mere words give sign of. It is a contribution from the mind of the child, and evidences not mere memory, but a relating power, the art of thinking. When all the words in a sentence have been learned, they should be rearranged, if possible, and the chil- dren required to read the rearranged sentences. HOW TO TEACH THE BASAL STORIES 9 Then they should be combined in new rearrange- ments with the words from previous sentences. The following drill deals with the first story. The first line in each set is the original sentence. The Hen found a bag of flour. The Hen found a bag. The Hen found flour. She tried to carry it home herself. She herself tried to carry it home. The Hen tried to carry the bag of flour home. Then she went to the Duck. She went to the Duck herself. The Hen herself went to the Duck. Please, Duck, help me to carry my bag of flour. Help me, please. Duck, to carry my bag of flour. Duck, help me, please, to carry my bag of flour. Help me to carry the bag of flour, please. Duck. Please help me, Duck. But the Duck said, " No." " No," said the Duck. The Duck herself said, " No." Said the Duck, " No." The Duck said, " No." So the Hen had to carry it home herself. The Hen herself had to carry it home. So she herself had to carry it. The Hen had to carry the bag of flour home. She had to carry the flour home herself. 10 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING The Hen tried to make the bread herself. She tried to make the bread. She herself tried to make it. The Hen tried to make bread. But the Hen said, " I will not give you any." " I will not give you any," said the Hen. " I will not give you bread," said the Hen. Said the Hen, " I will not give it to you." " I will not give you any bread," said the Hen. Said she, " I will not give you any." I will eat it myself. I myself will eat it. This drill should hy no means be omitted or slighted, as it is the principal means of guarding against rote work, which, if allowed to creep in, will destroy real progress. In giving the rearranged sentences remember that rereading the same sentence from the blackboard to get greater facility and perfection is not nearly so effective as rewriting the sentence for rereading, just as if what once had been attempted from the board had disappeared and could no longer be seen. This prevents all possible local association with the top, the bottom, or the side of the board. This is true also of words. Keep on filling the board, even if it be with the repeated writing of only half a dozen words. Never try to run the mill with water that has gone by. HOW TO TEACH THE BASAL STORIES 11 Do not attempt the drill in rearrangement of words until the individual words are firmly fixed in the child's mind. If the little steps are hurried over, and the words but half known, the reading of the sentences will be halting. Sometimes a child does not get the thought in the sentence. This will be shown by his inability to repeat the sentence without looking at the board, or by a slow and uncertain repetition of the sentence, showing that he remembers merely a collection of words, and not the thought contained in them. The best guard against this meaningless reading is a firm drill in independent recognition of individual words. Drill at least two days on the words of a new sen- tence, before attempting to rearrange the words. An experienced teacher may allow herself a little liberty in this direction, but not the beginner. (i) Class Grouping After several sentences have been read by the pupils the class may be grouped. First Group : those who, when the sentence is printed on the blackboard, recognize the words without effort. Second Group : those who need to be taught, whose minds follow the steps easily but never skip over any. 12 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING Third Group : those who must be taught the same thing two or three times before grasping it. This group will include those who find difficulty in recognizing words without reference to their position in the sentence. Foreign children will take a long time to get the thought, and there may be some children who will not recognize the words in their new relations. These children should be helped, and a drill should be given, then and there, with the entire group on all the words that have been forgotten. The grouping done at this stage of the work must necessarily be tentative, and for some weeks children will shift from group to group ; but the work of the first year progresses so much more rapidly if done in groups that it is well to begin grouping as soon as possible. The rating should be low. If the rating is high, the teacher is constantly pulling some one up to the level. Good grouping does away with this trouble. At this stage, it is far better to place the nervous and the slow children in the third group, where they will have time to accustom themselves to strange surroundings, and where they will develop naturally, than to place them in the second group, and drag them up to the level of the others. Each group must be allowed to advance as far and as fast as it can. Promotion from lower to higher HOW TO TEACH THE BASAL STORIES 13 groups during the term must be allowed. Often the lowest group disappears altogether, especially when they have a maximum of silent work just a little beyond their ordinary power. Here lies the secret of the gradation in Progressive Road to Reading. (2) Silent Drill for Third Group For the third group the teacher should test the results of the drill in the rearrangement of words by the following method : The teacher prints on the blackboard the following sentence, "She tried to carry the bag/' and then asks the class to read silently. As each child finishes he leaves his place and whispers the sentence to the teacher. He then passes to the other side of the room. This silent drill insures individual work and enables the teacher to detect weak spots. The necessity of requiring all the work from each indi- vidual in the group cannot be too strongly impressed upon the teacher. The blackboard work must be tidy; that is, the words must be printed neatly, and the printing must be carefully done. An untidy blackboard results in visual confusion; and visual confusion in a child of six means mental confusion. In a very short time the teacher will acquire facility in printing rapidly and neatly. Print the words or sentences one by one. Have each child read the word or sentence silently and 14 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING raise his hand when he has finished. Do not begin at the end of the group and have the children recite in turn. One thing to be remembered in this kind of work is, not to let the children tire ; have two short periods, rather than one long one. Third Step III. BOOK WORK: Reading of the Story as a Whole (a) First Basal Story When the children have gone over the entire story, sentence by sentence, in the manner indicated in the two foregoing steps, the book should be placed in their hands so that they may read the story as a whole. Have them read a certain portion silently, and when they have finished, let them stand. Ob- serve proper grouping, and help the slow ones. In oral reading when the book is first used, let each child read only a single sentence. When some degree of power is attained he may be trusted to read a paragraph; later, several paragraphs; and finally, a page. For the supplementary stories (see Teaching Ar- rangement of Stories, page 1) no blackboard prepara- tion should be given to the first and second groups other than a drill on the new sight words. A full blackboard drill may be necessary for the third group. These supplementary stories serve the double purpose of furnishing the more advanced pupils HOW TO TEACH THE BASAL STORIES 15 with abundant material for independent study, and of giving to the less advanced ones a necessary re- view without repetition. They are not intended so much for oral reading as for silent work. In fact, they are primarily intended for groups not engaged in blackboard work on the basal story. This silent work prevents the interpolation of any obstructive association between the sight word and the thought. This is the direct road to power. The child learns to determine the meaning of new words from the con- text, although they have not been presented on the blackboard. (6) Second Basal Story The second basal story, ^'The Sun is Shining," p. 20, should be treated like the first. There should be the preliminary oral work, and the steps indicated in the development of the first basal story should be carefully followed. (c) Third Basal Story The children need not take up, sentence by sen- tence, the third basal story, "The Sky is Falling," p. 32, because the sight words and the phonetics already in their possession give a key to unlock the story with very little blackboard or oral development. This story is first presented on the blackboard. The teacher may take the first group over the steps a little more rapidly than in the first and second 16 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING basal stories; but she must not in any case omit the preHminary blackboard work. Diacritical marks are used in this story for the first time.^ The only reason for their appearance in the book is that the child may have a phonetic prop while silently preparing his lesson. As the child progresses, their use is gradually discontinued. (d) Fourth Basal Story Reading from the Blackboard Dropped When the fourth basal story, "The Hungry Fox," p. 43, has been reached, the teacher will place on the blackboard, for drill purposes, all the phonograms as well as the single and double consonant sounds used in the story. This work is aside from the regu- lar phonetic drill of the day. All new words, whether phonetic or unphonetic, should be read from the blackboard, the teacher striving for as much individ- ual work as possible. This is a critical stage of the work, and silent drill (see p. 13) is suggested. From this time on, this is the only preparatory blackboard drill needed for any reading. When the teacher is reasonably sure that all the new words have been mastered, the story may be read from the book. 1 The book without diacritical marks will be furnished by the publishers if so desired. HOW TO TEACH THE BASAL STORIES 17 (e) Suggested Time Distribution of Stories First week Oral work. Second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth weeks First set of stories, pp. 5-19. Seventh, eighth, and ninth weeks . . . . Secondsetof stories, pp. 20-31. Tenth, eleventh, and twelfth weeks . . . Third set of stories, pp. 32-42. Thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth weeks . Fourth set of stories, pp. 43-55. The four basal stories with the nine supplementary stories, covering fifty-one pages, require fully fifteen weeks for completion. During this time strict atten- tion must he given to sound work. The ^phonetic de- velopment is more important than the mere ability to cultivate a stock of sight words. The power attained during the fifteen weeks en- ables the ordinary child to read the nine remaining stories, covering seventy-three pages, in the last five weeks of the term. Children of the first group will demand additional reading matter. IV. REVIEW WORK Before the phonetic key is begun, all words must be learned as sight words ; and that the child may recognize them instantly they must be frequently and thoroughly reviewed. But from the beginning 18 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING it is well to keep separate the unphonetic words, and to review them daily. The teacher will find that she can facilitate this review work by using "perception cards." Printed perception cards may be purchased from the pub- lishers, or the teacher can easily make a set with stiff cardboard and good black ink. They impress the words readily on the child's mind and save the teacher's time. The following list of sight words, some of which, though phonetic, seem to present difficulties to chil- dren, is suggestive and may be extended at the dis- cretion of the teacher. This list should be made up as the words occur in the reading lessons, and be used on the perception cards : tried give would her now ever to you where come done every then any only want through their went who his saw could should but here once have put eye had some there very this been was do one were your thought The teacher should not drill on sight words that in a few weeks will be included in the phonetic key. The words in italics in the following vocabulary, being more or less unphonetic and irregular, require special drill. HOW TO TEACH THE BASAL STORIES 19 Vocabulary of the Basal and Supplementary Stories (i) THE HEN AND THE BAG OF FLOUR (/. Basal) The home But made Hen herself said eat found Then No Oh a she Turkey yes bag went Goose I of the So will flour Duck had not She Please make give tried help bread you to me When any carry- my was myself it (2) Little Red Hen (Supplementary) Little Who Not bake Red asked And baked (3) The Rat, the Hen, the Pig, and the Duck (Supplemen tary) Here plant do mill Will are them grew carried You some Pig up came would grains these tall from so wheat Rat cut Yes 20 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (4) THE SUN IS SHINING (77. Basal) sun till stay King's is met only house shining Brown In Into Lark Fox woods room fly Where Gray sang away going Pussy his King am apple sweet and Stay road thanked sing with Black gave him show Snake feathers song pretty rings for he fur over nest flew no fields (5) The Lark, the Fox, the Cat, and the Snake {Supplementary) Once in One apples upon field Good talk time about morning By there sunshine to-day by He all Don't at lived day go window (6) The Rat and the King {Supplementary) fat black kitchen something steal anything run called Cat There Go ran afraid HOW TO TEACH THE BASAL STORIES 21 (7) The Hen and the Lark (Supplementary) play always Cluck Only garden too Quack can shines Sing Do Thank It cannot (8) THE SKY IS FALLING (///. Basal) A her Come saw playing head along when sky they each bean falling We one fell tell want gold on walked us (9) The Brown Hen (Supplementary) wee peas How indeed brown liked know shook near beans that Nothing Beans eating Some (^ :o) Gray Cat and Black Cat (Supplementary) have nothing supper store buy meat may basket Very well On way stole sat chair floor cried 22 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (ii) THE HUNGRY FOX {IV. Basal) very take hungry Pigeon walk Mouse find gone breakfast long old Fox's For see back were again shut May door (12) Gray himself side wood be woke used out hens if don't could more other Now through here keyhole What ask done Man scratch gun ate killed sit little roof but never brought work kill started This across then hid Ha grass ha mice laughed put waved tail (13) The House that Jack Built (Supplementary) Jack huilt cheese lay rat cat dog teased cow crooked horn tossed CHAPTER n PHONETIC DEVELOPMENT OUTLINE I. TEACHING THE BLEND (a) Presentation of the word as a whole ; as make. (b) Analysis of the word into its phonic (sound) and phonetic (sight) elements ; as m and ake. (c) Blending the elements to form the word. (d) Building new words by changing the initial con- sonant. II. TEACHING VOWEL SOUNDS (a) Discovering vowel sounds. (6) Use of diacritical marks, (c) Crossing off letters. III. DEVELOPMENT OF PHONETIC RAPIDITY (a) Meaning and practice. (6) Perception card drill. (c) Drill on miscellaneous words. 23 CHAPTER II PHONETIC DEVELOPMENT I. TEACHING THE BLEND The vocabulary of the first few basal stories serves as a foundation for sound-work. The phonetic de- velopment begins after the completion of the first basal story. Make is a good word with which to commence, because it forms part of the child's vo- cabulary, and because it is readily visualized and easily pronounced. In teaching the blend there are four steps : (a) Presentation of the Word Print the word on the blackboard. Do not under- line or distinguish the phonogram or the initial con- sonant in any way. (6) Analysis Pronounce the word slowly. While sounding m, cover the phonogram ake; while pronouncing the phonogram ake, cover the consonant w. (In teach- ing a sound or a phonogram, take it from a known sight word, always having the children discover for themselves the sound of the letter or the phonogram.) 24 PHONETIC DEVELOPMENT 25 (c) Blending the Elements Be sure that the children not only perceive that the word is made up of two parts, m and ake, but that they understand how these parts are blended. (d) Building New Words Take initial consonants from sight words which occur in the first basal story, for example, b from bag, c from carry, s from so, etc. Then give the words bake, cake, sake, etc. Let this stage of the work take as much time as the children require. A comprehension of the blend is the principal thing. From the beginning insist that the child pronounce the entire word at once. Never allow him in attack- ing a word to voice separate phonetic sjrmbols, but always have him sound them in the full and perfect blend of the word. Do not add a sound or a phonogram to the list for daily perception-card drill until the children have thoroughly associated it with the word of which it is a part. Be particularly careful in the case of phono- grams that are not words in themselves, as ing, ight. II. TEACHING VOWEL SOUNDS (a) Discovering Vowel Sounds When vowel sounds are taught as such, diacritical marks are used for the first time. The teacher wants to teach the long sound of o. She prints the 26 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING word so on the blackboard. The children pronounce it. Then she covers the s and pronounces the o. When the children have discovered that o says o, mark the letter and drill on new words. When the phonetic study has somewhat advanced, the reading will go very quickly, because only those words containing the modified sounds of the vowels will be outside the key. (6) Use of Diacritical Marks Discontinue the markings a, e, i, o, u when the chil- dren know the effect of final e. This long mark is not again used except in case of words like how, etc., in which the vowel may have one of two sounds. After one month of work on any vowel drill, mark only the first word in a set, as hag, heg, hig, hog, hug. Discontinue the use of this mark as soon as possible. The marks are used in the blackboard work long after they have been discontinued in the text of the book, because preliminary blackboard drill smooths out most diflSculties. (c) Crossing Off Letters As soon as the work in phonetics is begun, cross off: 1. The e before d, as in the word us^d. 2. All other silent letters, as in sho-y^ straj!jf]4t co^t neflr waft PHONETIC DEVELOPMENT 27 Note. — Ea (near), ai (wait), oa (coat), are taught as phonograms in connection with Book Ttvo, so the marking in these words is discontinued at that time. Do not cross off : 1. One of double letters, as in little. 2. The y following a, as in lay. 3. Silent e at the end of a word, as in lame. 4. The second e in double e, as in seen. III. DEVELOPMENT OF PHONETIC RAPIDITY (a) Meaning and Practice By phonetic rapidity is meant the power to see and at the same time to say. This power will be acquired by degrees. The children may know all the consonant and the vowel sounds perfectly, but the power to pronounce a word as quickly as the eye takes it in will come only by practice. The first and the second groups of pupils will have acquired this rapidity at the end of six months. The third group will take perhaps twelve months. But rapidity in blackboard work does not mean facility in reading from the book. Up to this point, phonetic drills may have taken first place ; but when rapidity in blackboard work has been gained, more time may be given to reading from the book to in- sure fluency in phrasing. The blackboard drills, however, must not be neg- 28 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING lected for a day. As the children acquire power, the drills may be made shorter, but they must not be dropped altogether. Since the phonetic key is the most important feature of the method, it is es- sential that the work be done with the utmost thor- oughness. Children who do not appear to acquire rapidity naturally must be taught to do so. For this pur- pose a small group is a necessity. Take the children by fives for a short, sharp exercise every day. Do not allow them to dawdle over the phonetic work. Train them to say at once, without hesitation, what- ever you put on the blackboard. Until some degree of phonetic rapidity is acquired, a child will not read for pleasure. Therefore, give him this power as quickly as possible, for then he will do more than half the work himself. There is a time when the child seems to be able to pronounce a new word only after slowly, and often audibly, putting the different parts of it together. From the beginning teach him to do this silently, and quickly. Drill until a mere glance brings the word as a whole to the lips without hesitation. (6) Perception Card Drill Every phonogram, consonant and vowel sound should be reviewed daily by means of perception cards. The teacher may obtain these cards from the publishers or she may make them herself, printing PHONETIC DEVELOPMENT 29 each sound as it is taught, on cardboard in letters large enough to be read at the back of the room. Take third-group work with the whole class. Take second-group work with the second and first groups. Take first-group work with the first group only. When a group stops reciting with the others, let it begin seat work specified for that group at the com- mencement of the lesson. (c) Drill on Miscellaneous Words A drill on miscellaneous words is a pleasant way of reviewing what the children know. It uses the same knowledge in ever-varying form, and is the principal means of increasing phonetic rapidity. The idea is not to teach a certain number of words, but to give the children facihty in dealing with new reading matter. The blending of words in series only will not give the necessary phonetic strength to attack new material. Pupils must have daily experience in blending words from varying lists. The words used in these drills must contain phonetic elements with which the children are familiar. As each point in the phonetic work is taken up, words representing that point should appear in the miscellaneous drill. CHAPTER III SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL OUTLINE I. DRILL IN CONNECTION WITH BOOK ONE (a) First and Second Sets of Stories, pp. 5-31. (6) Third Set of Stories, pp. 32-42. (c) Fourth Set of Stories, pp. 43-55. (d) The Remaining Stories, pp. 56-128. II. DRILL IN CONNECTION WITH BOOK TWO (a) Stories, pp. 5-41. (6) Stories, pp. 42-79. (c) Stories, pp. 80-122. (d) Stories, pp. 123-160. III. DRILL IN CONNECTION WITH INTRODUCTORY BOOK THREE (a) Stories, pp. 7-38. (6) Stories, pp. 39-84. (c) Stories, pp. 85-122. (d) Stories, pp. 123-176. IV. REVIEW IN CONNECTION WITH HIGHER BOOKS 30 CHAPTER III SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL I. DRILL IN CONNECTION WITH BOOK ONE (a) First and Second Sets of Stories, pp. 5-31 Begin phonetics when pupils know perfectly the vocabulary of the first basal story, not before. This is an important point because all of the phonetic elements introduced here are taken from words in the first set of stories. (i) Basal Phonograms ake taken from make it taken from it eat taken from eat ill taken from will at taken from rat all taken from tall (2) Initial Consonants taken with Basal Phonograms The initial consonant's are best taught by taking them from sight words which are already known to the children, and using them with basal phonograms. Take: 31 32 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING m from make b from bag c from carry t from tall r from rat I from little w from will s from so p from p^'gr c? from do f from found g from ^^ve ^ from ^ome n from no 5^ from she wh from wj^en Now the return may be made from the parts to the original wholes and also to new combinations. Note. — In the following illustrative list and in all those given in connection with Book One, words which occur in the reader are printed in black-faced type. This enables the teacher to distinguish at a glance the words which will soon be of particular use as parts of the child's reading vocabulary. ake make bake cake take rake lake wake it sake fake shake bit lit wit sit pit fit eat hit whit meat beat seat peat feat heat neat wheat mill rill pill bill will dill till sill fill at mat cat sat bat rat pat all mall call wall ball tall pall SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 33 iU gill hill fat hat fall gall hall (3) Long Sounds of Vowels taken from so e taken from she y taken from my a taken from made 1 taken from tried After these long vowels have been thoroughly- taught, proceed to new combinations, using first the double blend, then the triple blend. The terms "double blend" and "triple blend" are used for con- venience in connection with the drills to fix conso- nant and vowel values ; e.g. Double blend: so = s — 0; am = a — m; day = d — ay. Triple blend: home = h — — me; hen = h — e — n; bag = b — a — g. 34 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING The vowel lists are not intended to be exhaustive. They have been built around type words taken from Book One, and they should be extended and varied in blackboard drill. While the silent letters have not been marked in the phonetic lists, they may be crossed off in black- board drill as directed on pages 26 and 27. (A) Long Vowels in Double Blend hoe no show whoa mow low doe bow woe foe tow so go row e me lee see be we pea tea wee fee E my buy lye by rye dye a may lay pay bay way day ray say fay i tie sigh die he pie fie he she shy why gay hay nay high nigh SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 35 (B) Long Vowels in Triple Blend dole boll comb core hole poll dome fore mole roll home lore pole toll Rome more sole old bore wore deed need e feel deep feed reed heel peep heed seed peel weep meed weed reel sheep fade dame a tame gate made fame shame hate wade game (ate) late shade lame bate mate safe name date pate came same fate rate bide dime i mine dire hide lime nine fire ride time pine hire side dine wine mire tide fine shine tire wide line whine wire 36 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (6) Third Set of Stories, pp. 32-42 (i) Initial Consonants In addition to the initial consonants already taken, the teacher may now introduce new sounds analyzed from sight words. Take : k from king ch from each th from then k kit kill key kite ch chit chill cheat chat ih thee though thy that This is also the time to teach the children to com- bine the single consonants already learned to get the double initials ; e. g., /— r = Jr; J— I = fl. De- velop all useful combinations: hi, hr, cl, cr, dr, dw, fl, fr, gl, gr, pi, pr, sc, sk, si, sm, sn, sp, st, sw, tr, tw. Use these consonant combinations with {A) phono- grams and (s) vowels previously learned. A brake drake slake spake crake flake snake stake SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 37 flit skit spit sprit grit slit split twit drill grill spill trill frill skill still twill bleat cleat pleat treat flat plat scat slat small stall B blow slow broke score crow snow choke snore flow stow smoke store glow strow spoke door grow woke stoke floor flee keen keep fleet free green creep greet glee preen sleep sleet tree screen steep sweet spree spleen sweep street cry fry sky sty dry ply sly try fly pry spy spry bray pray stray crate clay stay chase plate dray sway haste skate gray tray taste slate play spray waste state 38 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING cried spike crime smite tried strike grime spite fried chime prime trite Uke climb slime white (2) Basal Phonograms ing taken from sing ar taken from are These new phonograms should be combined with the initial consonants thus far learned. mg kmg wing fling sting ring bring sling string sing cling spring swing The phonogram ing should also be used as a termi- nation, adding it first to words which have already occurred in the stories read ; for example : eat help fly go eatmg helping flying going sing show play fall singing showing playing falling ring wing bring fling ringing winging bringing flinging SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 39 ar bar hard snarl dart car lard arm mart far ark farm part mar bark harm tart par dark charm chart tar hark barn smart char lark darn start scar mark carp arch spar park harp march star shark sharp starch bard spark art harsh card stark cart marsh (c) Fourth Set of Stories, pp. 43-55 (i) Short Sounds of Vowels a taken from am e taken from hen i taken from it taken from on u taken from up p taken from carry bad fad had lad mad pad sad glad shad bag fag hag lag nag rag sag tag wag brag crag drag flag snag stag 40 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING ham stamp and rap rack lamb tramp band sap sack ram can hand tap tack clam fan land chap black cram man sand clap stack sham pan brand flap track slam ran grand slap catch swam tan stand snap hatch camp bran plant scrap latch damp plan scant trap match lamp scan lap back patch cramp span map lack snatch scamp than nap pack scratch bed tell pen lent lest fed well ten rent nest led smell glen sent rest red spell then tent west wed swell when went chest bled self end spent bet fled shelf bend rep get shed help lend step let sled kelp mend less met beg felt send mess net keg pelt tend bless pet leg stem wend chess set peg them blend dress wet bell den spend press fret fell hen bent stress kept sell men dent best swept SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 41 bid pig in rip which did wig din sip lick hid twig fin tip pick lid dim pin tiptoe sick slid him sin chip tick if limb tin clip wick sniff rim win drip brick stiff grim grin grip chick gift prim skin ship stick lift skim spin skip trick sift slim twin slip milk drift swim wmd snip silk swift whim window trip dish big trim dip strip fish dig imp hip this wish fig limp Up rich with cob from top hot dock mob on chop lot lock rob con crop not mock robin don drop pot sock sob bond flop rot block snob fond shop blot clock doll pond slop plot flock loll hop stop slot frock follow lop cot spot shock hollow mop dot trot stock bomb pop got cock pocket 42 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING u buff dun cup smut pluck cuff fun pup much shuck huff gun sup such stuck muff nun scup buck truck puff pun us duck struck ruff run fuss luck bust bluff sun but muck dust gruff tun cut Puck gust scuff shun hut ruck must snuff spun nut suck rust stuff stun rut tuck crust bun up shut cluck trust Short y is more easily taught if presented first as a termination, giving the noun and then the adjec- tive formed from it ; as : hill need weed greed hilly needy weedy greedy show hand sand stick showy handy sandy sticky Then drill on the miscellaneous list : silly speedy candy ferry pity tidy tarry chimney lady glory cherry fimny shady story merry sunny SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL (2) Terminations ^d, f,d (t), ed, er jkd kill killed call called show showed play played fill filled name named tire tired open opened climb climbed roll rolled M(f. snarl snarled ) follow followed chase chased peep peeped like liked choke choked stamp stamped help helped Uck licked puff puffed scratch scratched talk talked ed pick picked jump jumped taste tasted waste wasted start started want wanted plant planted end ended rest rested shout shouted plant planter mill miller er play player farm farmer 43 44 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING taU taller small smaller old older slow slower (d) The Remaining Stories, pp. 56-128 (i) Consonants j from Jack g from change e V from very c from city s from is th from thank Jack jar i jet job jug jade Jelly jig jog jump jam jest JiU g as in change joke just gem stage wedge nudge plunge gin range dredge drudge magic gill change pledge fudge fidget gist grange sledge grudge midget age strange midge smudge danger cage badge ridge hinge manger page edge bridge singe oblige rage hedge dodge tinge ginger sage ledge lodge fringe stingy wage sedge budge lunge porridge SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 45 vale cave brave van even vane gave grave vat over vase pave shave have ever vile rave slave very never vine save grove give every vote wave stove c as in city live river ace grace nice twice fence face place rice cell hence lace space vice cent whence mace trace price center since pace ice slice cider wince race dice spice cinder prince brace mice trice s as in is icing force king wing key tie bag kings wings keys ties bags ring way weed bowl robin rings ways weeds bowls robins balls plays hides stands runs cars waves shines hens cherries arms sees shows his dinners snarls cheese rolls dolls dishes kills these stores ponds sisters 46 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING th as in thank thing thin throw throne tenth thigh thumb thrall teeth fifth thatch thump thrill both thimble thick three thrash (2) Phonograms ow from cow ou from out or from for ninth 1 thunder ought from brought other from other ight from night ow bow prow prowl clown tower cow scow scowl crown flower how owl crowd drown glower now cowl down frown shower row fowl gown bower powder brow howl town cower chowder plow growl brown power drowsy loud doubt ou stout ounce round cloud gout trout flounce sound proud pout sprout bound wound house scout couch found ground mouse shout crouch hound flounder blouse snout mouth mound count out spout south pound fount SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 47 or for fork born scorn torch nor stork com thorn scorch cord form horn sort north lord storm morn short border cork stormy morning ought snort corner ought bought fought sought thought other mother brother another smother smothered ight fight night tight flight slight hght right blight fright delight might sight bright plight lightning (3) Vowel Drills {A) Long Sound of u u taken from used cue dude dune fuse due nude tune muse hue huge cure cute cube mule lure lute tube fume pure mute duel fuel puny duty music 48 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (B) Review of Long and Short Vowels day dee die fay fee fie hay he high lay lee lie say see sigh male mile pale peel pile tale teel tile stale steel stile dame deem dime tame teem time Dane dene dine mate mete mite a e ^ bag beg big Dan den din rack reck rick bad bed bid pan pen pin sap sip bat bet bit hat hit pat pet pit sack sick clack click fallow fellow batter better bitte doe foe hoe lo so mole pole stole dome tome mote bog don rock sop hot pot sock clock follow u due hue sue mule pule dune mute u bug dun ruck bud pun sup but hut suck cluck butter SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 49 (C) Drill on Vowels to Show the Effect on Final e glad glade rat rate bit bite mad made slat slate whit white rag rage met mete hop hope stag stage rid ride not note can cane fin fine cub cube cap cape shin shine tub tube tap tape spin spine hug huge at ate tin tine us use hat hate win wine cut cute SUMMAKY OF PHONETIC ELEMENTS taught in connection with BOOK ONE Phonograms : ake, it, ill, eat, at, all ing, ar ow, ou, or, ought, other, ight Consonants : m, b, c, t, r, 1, w, s, p, d, f, g, h, n, sh, wh k, ch, th (as in then) ; consonant combinations j, g (as in change), c (as in city), s (as in is), th (as in thank) Vowels : Long: 6, e, y, a, i, u Short: a, e, i, 6, ii, y Terminations : ^d, ^d (= t), ed, er 50 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING II. DRILL IN CONNECTION WITH BOOK TWO Before beginning the phonetic work in connec- tion with Book Two, the teacher should see that the child is absolute master of the elements presented during the period of Book One (see page 49) and that he is able to blend silently and rapidly words involving these elements. If a great degree of proficiency on the part of the pupil is hoped for during the period of Book Two, the teacher must use Book One phonetic perception cards daily to review all the sounds previously taught. In other words, the class should not be allowed to forget these sound elements. As new sounds for the Book Two period are taught they should be added to the list for daily reviews. Do not forget that clear enunciation and clean articulation are quite as important in the work for the Book Two period as they were in the period of Book One. In drilling upon the combinations pre- sented in the following word lists, see to it that the pupils make a swift, smooth and perfect blend. Make sure always that the final consonant is sounded. (a) Stories, pp. 5-41 (i) Vowel Values ai as in tail ea as in tease ea as in bread oa as in road SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 51 ai aid jail snail brain faint laid mail trail chain paint maid nail aim drain painter paid pail maim grain saint raid rail claim plain taint braid railing fain slain plaint staid sail gain Spain waist waif tail main stain bait ail wail pain swain gait bail flail rain train wait fail frail vain twain trait hail grail wain ea as in teast strain strait each peak steal clean shear beach teak beam glean smear peach weak ream heap spear reach creak seam leap ease teach freak team reap peas breach sneak cream cheap tease preach speak dream ear please bead streak gleam dear heave lead deal steam fear leave read heal stream gear weave plead meal bean hear cleave leaf peal dean near breathe sheaf seal lean rear eager beak veal mean tear eagle leak weal wean clear dreary 52 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING ea as in bread dead tread breath stealth weather head thread realm cleanse heaven lead stead health meadow leaven read sweat healthy- steady heavy bread threat wealth feather bedstead dread death wealthy leather instead oa oaf road roam hoary coach loaf toad loan oat poach oak coal moan boat oath soak goal groan coat boast croak shoal soap goat coast goad foam oar moat roast load loam boar throat (2) Consonants X as in fox y as in yes z as in dizzy qu as in quack toast ax flax X fix sixty coax axle sex mix ox hoax lax vex six oxen index tax next sixth box vixen wax text sixteen foxes betwixt SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 53 ye yeast y. yell yet yard yoke yak yellow yon yarn year yam yes yonder yesterday daze graze 2 size buzz puzzle gaze baize prize fuzz lazy haze maize doze dazzle zero maze breeze froze sizzle capsize blaze freeze fez drizzle dizzy craze sneeze fizz grizzly zig-zag glaze wheeze bronze qu muzzle lozenge quake squeal quench quit acquaint quail squeeze quest quiz acquire quaint quite quick squint inquire queen quire quill squall require queer quack quilt quiet request squeak quell quince quiver acquit (3) Terminations : ly, Jul, est k safe late queen sad lone safely lately queenly sadly lonely slowly nearly gayly quickly evenly willingly proudly tightly gladly suddenly 54 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING play spite hope doubt will playful spiteful hopeful doubtful willful playfully spitefully hopefully doubtfully willfully delight scorn tear faith dread delightful scornful tearful faithful dreadful delightfully scornfully tearfully faithfully dreadfully tall tallest small smallest coo too woo food brood hoof proof cool fool loud loudest proud est light lightest bright kind sweet sweetest sly slyest cold proudest brightest kindest coldest (&) Stories, pp. 42-79 (i) Vowel Values 00 as in moon u as in rule ew as in grew pool tool spool stool boom doom loom room bloom 00 as m Tnoon broom gloom groom boon loon moon noon soon spoon coop sloop stoop troop boor poor goose loose boot hoot root soot toot shoot boost roost tooth smooth SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL u as in rule 55 rue crude brute ruby ruin true prude chute cruel bruin rude prunes truth gruel ruler ew as in grew Jew chew drew screw shrewd blew clew flew strew jewel brew crew slew threw jewelry- (2) Consonant Values n as in sang bang twang slung mangle bungle fang sprang stung tangle jungle gang gong strung spangle finger hang bung length strangle linger rang hung strength jingle angry sang sung bangle mingle hungry clang clung dangle single ding-dong slang flung jangle shingle ping-pong bank flank mink slink uncle hank frank pink think Yankee lank plank rink shrink blanket rank prank sink honk tinkle sank shank wink bunk crinkle tank spank blink sunk twinkle blank ink brink drunk sprinkle crank kink chink trunk trinket drank link drink shrunk donkey 56 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (3) Phonograms er as in her ear as in heard ir as in girl or as in word ur as in burn ar as in cellar er as in her were germ nerve mercy service verb term serve ermine deserve jerk fern swerve kernel dessert clerk stern perch ear as in serpent heard Germany earl earn yearn search dearth pearl learn hearse ir as in earth girl early fir third whirl skirt firth sir dirk firm squirt girth shirr shirk chirp birch mirth stir smirk dirt first thirteen bird quirk dirty thirst thirty gird swirl flirt thirsty birthday girdle twirl shirt or as in birth ivord firkin word work worm wormy worse worst worth worthy world worship SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 57 iir as in hum bur lurk curse burst turnip cur curl nurse urchin furnish fur furl purse gurgle purple pur urn curt murky further spur turn hurt turkey turtle curb churn lurch murmur disturb curds spurn church furnace suburb ar as in cellar liar friar beggar cellar pillar collar pedlar poplar (c) Stories, pp. 80-122 (i) Vowel Values a as in saw ew as in new oi as in voice oy as in hoy 00 as in wood u as in 'put a as m saw awe caw daw jaw law paw raw saw claw draw flaw slaw thaw straw hawk awl bawl brawl crawl drawl shawl scrawl dawn fawn lawn pawn brawn drawn orchard coward tawdry awful gawky lawful lawyer awning tawny 58 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING daub cause caught August saucy haul pause naught autumn daughter maul fault taught author haughty sauce aught auger saucer naughty balk talk walk chalk stalk bald halt alder halter always scald malt alter almost already false salt falter also Almighty war warn dwarf quart swarthy ward warp wharf quarter warble warm wart swarm warden wardrobe ew as in new ewe few mew skew stew dew hew pew skewer pewter oi as in wice choice roil join point toilet void soil loin foist noisy oil toil groin hoist cloister boil broil noise joist rejoice coil spoil poise moist sirloin foil coin joint oy as in doily hoy tinfoil coy toy annoy employ loyal joy cloy destroy oyster royal SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 00 as in wood 59 good hood stood foot book cook hook look nook u as in rook took brook put crook shook wool bull full pull puss push cuckoo bullet pullet bully pulley pulpit bushel butcher bullfrog bulrush (2) Consonant Values kn as in 1 know gn as in < wr as in 1 jnome write kn knave knee kneel knead knife knives knight knoll known knack knap knell gn_ knit knob knock knot kneecap knuckle knapsack knickknack gnarl gnash gnat wr gnaw gnu wreak wreath Wright writhe wrote wry wrap wreck wren wrench wrest wretch wring wrist writ wrong wrung wrangle wrinkle written 60 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (3) Terminations : less, ness shame dream life cloud shameless dreamless lifeless cloudless harm pain thorn bottom harmless painless thornless ness bottomless good bright strange faint goodness brightness strangeness faintness dark fresh harsh wicked darkness freshness harshness wickedness (d) Stories, pp. 123-160 (i) Vowel Values a as m swan a as in half a as in ask as in come a as in swan wad wasp squab waffle wigwam wand watch squash walnut quarrel wash swamp squat wander a as in half swallow calf calm aunt flaunt mamma calves palm haunt launch papa salve qualm taunt laundry- hurrah SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 61 a as in ask chaff Taft trance gasp bath staff waft ant hasp path bass craft pant rasp branch lass draft chant clasp stanch mass graft grant grasp after pass shaft slant cast rafter brass dance bask fast answer class France cask last basket grass lance mask mast caster aft chance task past master haft glance flask vast plaster raft prance asp as in come blast rather some done none son ton won tongue sponge front month dove love glove shove shovel blood flood color comfort compass honey money Monday monkey wonder nothing oven cover covet worry (2) Phonograms air as in chair are as in care ear as in bear air fair hair lair air pair stair fairy impair repair despair 62 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING are bare mare flare snare scarce dare pare glare spare barefoot fare rare scare stare beware hare ware share ear as In square hear prepare pear tear wear swear bugbear Summary of Phonetic Elements taught in connection with BOOK TWO Phonograms : er, ear (as in heard), ir, or (as in word), ur, ar (as in cellar) air, are (as in care), ear (as in hear) Consonant Values : X, y, z, qu { = kw) n (= ng) . kn, gn, wr Vowel Values : ai (as in tail), ea (as in tease), ea (as in bread), oa (as in road) 00, u (= oo), ew (= oo) a (as in saw), ew (as in new) ; oi, oy ; oo (as in wood) ; u (as in put) a (as in swan), a (as in half), a (as in ask), o (as in come) Terminations : ly, ful, est less, ness SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 63 III. DRILL IN CONNECTION WITH INTRODUCTORY BOOK THREE (a) Stories, pp. 7-38 (i) Vowel Values ei as in ' weigh ey as in they ei neigh veil skein eight freight weigh rein feign eighth reindeer sleigh vein reign ey weight neighbor bey grey whey disobey survey dey prey obey convey greyhound (2) Consonant Values ex as in excuse ex as in exact ex excel exhale expense export extra except exile expert expose extract exchange exit explain express extreme excite expect explode extend exercise exclaim expel explore ex(= I extol 3gs) experience exact exempt exist examine exotic exalt exert exult example exaggerate 64 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (3) Terminal Phonograms : we, cms ure failure fracture measure fissure adventure feature capture pleasure culture indenture creature rapture treasure rupture procedure future pressure figure pasture embrasure stature venture picture ous torture enclosure famous pompous barbarous prosperous various jealous ravenous boisterous clamorous curious nervous ruinous generous riotous furious (b) Stories, pp. 39-84 Consonant Values gh ph = f = sh si{= zh) gh laugh laughter draug cough tit trough rough ph sough tough slough enough phase phlox phrase sphere phantom pheasant phial phonic physic phonetic phonogram phonograph photograph telegraph telephone camphor cipher hyphen nephew- orphan SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 65 ti nation fraction auction direction promotion ration traction caution protection relation station mention addition attention vacation motion question condition invention vexation notion fiction position convention congregation action friction affection prevention conversation fractious captious ambitious fictitious vexatious martial partial initial palatial influential ci gracious vicious capacious delicious suspicious spacious conscious loquacious judicious ferocious precious luscious vivacious malicious glacier facial racial glacial social special magician musician optician physician politician ancient efficient deficient proficient sufficient St mansion session extension succession submission pension mission accession admission intermission passion expansion procession permission transient si ( = zh) vision revision persuasion conclusion excursion division fusion explosion decision artesian provision occasion confusion conversion Persian 66 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING trio police (c) Stories, pp. 85-122 (i) Vowel Values valise fatigue marine machine benzine gasoline magazine Philippine (2) Consonant Values ch qu I-' i {= consonant y) ch(=k) chord Christ school monarch architect choral chromo scholar monarchy- character chorus chronic anchor schedule cholera chemist ache echo schooner mechanic chloride scheme epoch qu{ = anarchy orchestra queue pique antique opaque conquer claque clique obhque coquette liquor placque unique physique croquette lacquer i (= consonant y) filial poniard Spaniard spaniel pannier billion bullion bunion onion stallion trillion union senior warrior familiar peculiar companion dominion opinion pavilion clothier million savior battalion vermilion SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 67 (3) Terminal Phonograms ten {= n) tle{= I) hasten often chasten soften nestle pestle trestle wrestle ten (= n) fasten glisten moisten fastening glistening moistened tlei=l) thistle bustle jostle whistle hustle apostle (d) Stories, pp. 123-176 At this period practically all the sounds of the letters have been taught. The teacher must now see that the children make daily application of their phonetic power in pronouncing the more diffi- cult words occurring in the Progressive Road to Reading text as well as that of the supplementary readers. Words may also be given in lists to drill on some specific termination, prefix or suffix ; e.g. ance entrance, distance, assistance, attendance. ence absence, presence, patience, excellence, impudence. fy satisfy, testify, fortify, mortify, terrify. ive native, motive, positive, passive, explosive. ile agile, fragile, docile, fertile, mobile. ine engine, heroine, genuine, masculine, feminine. able readable, lovable, reasonable, seasonable, miserable. un unfair, unknown, untrue, unable, unpleasant. im impair, implore, improve, impress, impoverish. 68 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING de delight, declare, decide, deter, deserve. re rely, remain, release, reward, respect. dis disturb, disgust, discover, discourage, disappear. con consent, consult, contain, control, convert. It is also advisable to pay particular attention to any consonant or vowel value which may be some- what difficult. For example : gu guard, guess, guide, disguise, rogue, dialogue. Summary of Phonetic Elements taught in connection with INTRODUCTORY BOOK THREE Consonant Values : a-' ex, ex ti ci (= egs) ■ = sh si (= zh) :i-' SI. Vowel i( = Values : ■ consonant y) ei (as in weigh), ey (as in they) i (= e) Terminal Phonograms : ure, ous ten (= n), tie (= I) Drill on all common terminations, prefixes, and suffixes. SUGGESTED PHONETIC DRILL 69 IV. REVIEW IN CONNECTION WITH HIGHER BOOKS The work in connection with Book Three and the higher books of the series is chiefly review. The new work consists in taking up exceptions to the phonetic key which occur in words commonly used. (a) Daily review drill on lists of miscellaneous words containing phonograms or phonetic elements which have been taught in former grades. (b) Daily review drill on contrasting lists showing the effect of ed on the final consonant ; as fitted, dropped, created, received, etc. (c) Occasional review on lists showing change of final y on addition of suffixes ed, er, est, ly, ness; as carry, carried, carrier; happy, happier, happiest, happily, happiness. (d) Whenever exceptional phonetic difficulties appear, give a blackboard drill, showing the ordinary value of the phonetic element involved, and at the same time noting the exception; as, gam . . . have hive . . . give creak . . . . break treat . . . . great road . . . . broad maid . . . . said (e) Drill on derivatives obtained by the addition of the suffixes taken in former grades, and new suffixes and prefixes; as, ment, sub, ab, ap, in, en, ac, ob, com. CHAPTER IV WRITTEN LANGUAGE Part I: Words — Spelling OUTLINE I. FIRST YEAR, FIRST HALF (a) Visualizing and writing words. (h) Writing words built from phonetic elements. II. FIRST YEAR, SECOND HALF (a) Writing words built from basal phonograms. (&) Writing sets of phonetic words from dictation. III. SECOND YEAR, FIRST HALF (a) Visualizing and writing unphonetic words. (6) Writing words built from basal phonograms. (c ) Writing sets of phonetic words from dictation. (d) Formal spelling begun. IV. SECOND YEAR, SECOND HALF (a) Writing unphonetic words. (6) Writing in groups words built from phonograms. (c ) Writing sets of phonetic words from dictation. (d) Formal spelling. 70 CHAPTER IV WRITTEN LANGUAGE Part I : Words — Spelling I. FIRST YEAR, FIRST HALF (a) Visualizing and Writing Words The recognition of script forms and the writing of a word constitute the first step in the mastering of written language. The object of this work is to train the eye, and to teach the mechanical side of writing. The words to be visualized are those that have become a part of the child's oral vocabulary through the story-telling. A good material for the children to use in these first writing exercises is unruled manila paper, 12x 15 inches, folded the long way into something less than inch spaces. Later, lines may be used as a guide to the proper height of the letters. Before this the lines tend to confuse the child. (i) The Word Presented The teacher writes on the blackboard the word it. She then pronounces the word, and having given the children an opportunity to look at it, erases it, and again pronounces the word slowly. 71 72 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (2) Writing from Memory She then allows the class to write. Not all the children will write the word correctly. The teacher again writes the word on the blackboard, the children writing after she has erased the word. She repeats the process, having the children practice in this way a few minutes each day, until they can write it correctly. List for First Five Weeks First week — it Fourth week — eat Second week — me, so Fifth week — will Third week — make (b) Writing Words built from Phonetic Elements The object of this work is not only to teach the children to write from dictation words which have been previously visualized, but to teach them to recognize by ear single and double consonants and phonograms in dictation. This greatly strengthens the work in phonetics. Up to this point the child has been taught to say and to write what he sees ; now he is to be taught to write what he hears. The recognition of con- sonants and vowels has heretofore been chiefly visual, and the expression of that recognition largely oral. In the writing of words from dictation the recog- nition is auditory and the expression manual. WRITTEN LANGUAGE 73 The first step is the teaching of (1) the single and (2) the double consonants, as in the words bit, fit; fly, cry; etc. This work is taken up at the same time the blend is taught. To teach the consonant h, write the word hit on the blackboard and pronounce it slowly. The word it is taken from the vocabulary of the first story. Draw the attention of the class to the fact that the word consists of two parts, h and it. Erase the word and pronounce slowly. Let the children write. Finally, have the h and the it written from dictation alone. Change the initial consonant and develop the exercise gradually into the writing of words from pure dictation as each new consonant is learned. Suggestive List it bit, lit, mit, sit, pit, fit, hit, kit; chit, whit, flit, grit, skit, slit, spit, split, twit. ill mill, bill, till, rill, will, sill, pill, dill, fill, gill, hill; drill, frill, grill, skill, spill, still, trill, twill. all ball, call, tall, wall, pall, fall, gall, hall; small, stall. at mat, bat, cat, rat, sat, pat, fat, hat; chat, that, flat, plat, scat, slat. eat meat, beat, seat, peat, feat, heat, neat; wheat, cheat, bleat, cleat, pleat, treat. make bake, cake, take, rake, lake, wake, sake, fake ; shake, brake, drake, flake, slake, snake, spake, stake. 74 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING are arm, ark, art, arch; mar, bar, car, tar, par, far; char, scar, spar, star. king ring, sing, wing; bring, cHng, fling, sHng, string, swing. cow bow, how, now, vow ; brow, plow, prow, scow. me be, he, we ; she. so go, lo, no ; fro. my by ; cry, dry, fly, fry, ply, pry, shy, sky, sly, spy, sty, try, why. day may, bay, ray, lay, way, say, pay, fay, gay, hay, nay; bray, clay, dray, flay, fray, gray, play, pray, slay, stay, sway, tray. Note. — When the children have learned a certain consonant and can write it in words from dictation, it is not necessary to visualize that consonant when using it in connection with a new phonogram. For instance, about the tenth week the word all is built upon. The children have been taught all the consonants to be used. In this case it is necessary to visualize only the phonogram. But if ing is the phonogram to be built upon, a word, as sing, must be visualized, and the children allowed to separate for themselves the phonogram and the initial consonant. In review, the teacher may fill out the foregoing groups of words as the consonants are reached. II. FIRST YEAR, SECOND HALF In the second half of the first year the work in written language is continued as in the preceding grade. WRITTEN LANGUAGE 75 (a) Writing Words built from Basal Phonograms Suggestive List out bout, gout, pout, rout; clout, flout, scout, shout, snout, spout, stout, trout. for nor; cord, lord, cork, fork, stork; form, storm; born, corn, horn, morn, scorn, thorn. other mother, brother, smother. night fight, light, might, right, sight, tight; blight, bright, flight, plight, slight. (b) Writing Sets of Phonetic Words from Dictation The object of this exercise is to secure manual expression for the auditory recognition of long and short vowels ; that is, to have children learn to write any phonetic word from dictation. The new work consists in the presentation of vowel values in writing sets of phonetic words from dictation : First, with triple blend, long and short vowels, varying the initial consonant; as, lime, time, dime; net, set, pet. This first step in the presentation of vowel values for auditory recognition should begin with the first month of the second term. The first word in each set is visualized, the others are dictated. 76 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING Suggestive List Long Vowels came, dame, fame, game, lame, name, same, tame ; blame, flame, frame, shame, ate, date, fate, gate, hate, late, mate, pate, rate; crate, grate, plate, skate, slate, state, dine, fine, kine, line, mine, nine, pine, tine, vine, wine ; brine, chine, shine, spine, swine, thine, twine, whine, bore, core, fore, lore, more, wore ; chore, shore, snore, store, swore. deep, keep, peep, weep ; creep, sheep, sleep, steep, sweep. Short Vowels bag, fag, gag, hag, lag, nag, rag, sag, tag, wag ; brag, crag, drag, flag, slag, snag, stag. bed, fed, led, red, wed ; bled, bred, fled, shed, sled, sped, dip, hip, lip, nip, rip, sip, tip ; chip, cHp, drip, flip, grip, ship, skip, slip, snip, trip, whip, cot, dot, got, hot, lot, not, pot, rot, blot, clot, plot, slot, spot, trot, bun, fun, gun, nun, pun, run, sun, tun ; shun, spun, stun. Second, with triple blend, varying the vowels, as, hag, beg, big, bog, bug; lack, lick, lock, luck; pane, pine; tone, tune. These exercises for the further fixing of the vowels should begin with the second month of the second term, when the children can write from dictation most of the single and double consonants. WRITTEN LANGUAGE 77 a male pale tale stale dame tame Dane mate a bag Dan rack bad fan pan tan sap bat hat pat lack sack clack bland Suggestive Lists Long Vowels e I mile peel pile teel tile steel stile deem dime teem time dene dine mete mite Short Vowels beg big den din reck rick bed bid fen fin pen pin ten tin sip bet . bit hit pet pit lick sick click blend o mole pole stole dome tome mote bog don rock sop hot pot lock sock clock blond u mule pule dune mute u bug dun ruck bud fun pun tun sup but hut luck suck cluck blunder 78 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING Blackboc ird Drill (to be followed by written and oral spelling) fad fade slat slate kit kite glad glade den dene sit site mad made met mete spit spite shad shade bid bide whit white rag rage hid hide rod rode sag sage rid ride con cone stag stage prim prime hop hope wag wage slim slime mop mope sham shame din dine slop slope can cane fin fine dot dote man mane pin pine not note pan pane shin shine rot rote van vane spin spine cub cube cap cape tin tine tub tube tap tape win wine hug huge scrap scrape twin twine dun dune at ate trip tripe tun tune hat hate strip stripe us use rat rate bit bite cut cute ni. SECOND YEAR, FIRST HALF Note. — Formal Spelling is begun in this Grade. (a) Visualizing and Writing Unphonetic Words All unphonetic words are taught under this head. The following list, and that given at the end of WRITTEN LANGUAGE 79 Chapter One under Review Work (page 18), are suggested, because in these lists may be found most of the little words needed in dictation and composi- tion. Continued and conscientious drill on these words will show immediate results in all the chil- dren's written work. of always two there said head four one says they laugh once bread know both come when buy six some them chair five do these floor you could away gone who would pretty what whose his grew again here eye road brought read been give work eight does live other off every don't put shall very talk seven any were walk sure many have (6) Writing Words built from Basal Phonograms Group-words, as fur, pur, are taught under this head. Do not teach any word that the children would not be likely to use. 80 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (c) Writing Sets of Phonetic Words from Dictation Partial Plan of Work (with drills on long and short vowels) The children are able to write from dictation all simple words of the triple blend, as cut and heg. The work of this grade will include those words beginning or ending with double consonants. Drill especially on words taken from the reading book. band bend bond drag flap dreg flip flop drug fleck flick flock flash flesh span spin spun spake spike spoke stack stick stock stuck stale steel stile stole swam swim swum {d) Formal Spelling Begun Terminations — ing, y, ed, er, est, Jul, ly, less, ness. Dictate a word that admits of the addition of a termination without a change in the vowel value of the primitive word, as clear. Then dictate clearing, clearer, clearest. If a mistake is made, correct by means of visuahzation. WRITTEN LANGUAGE 81 IV. SECOND YEAR, SECOND HALF The work continues along the lines laid 4own in the first half of the second year. (a) Writing Unphonetic Words This list the teacher will supply. It is suggested that it be made up from the familiar words contained in the reading vocabularies of the second half of the first year. (b) Writing in Groups Words built from Phonograms Group words are taught wherever necessary. (c) Writing Sets of Phonetic Words from Dictation These drills will contain those words that begin and end with double and triple consonants. Then syllabic terminations may be used. a drank shrank thrash bland stacking batter patter Fanny barrow fallow fellow thresh blend better t u drink drunk shrink shrunk thrush blond blunder sticking stocking bitter butter potter putter finny " funny borrow burrow follow This list should be made as full as possible. 82 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING (d) Formal Spelling (i) Using Suffixes and Prefixes Use here not only the terminations already drilled upon, but add new suffixes, as ish, ment, and ance. Introduce the use of prefixes, as, com, con, de, dis, en, ini,'m, re, sub, un. In the following illustrative exercise, the basal word joy is visualized ; all others are dictated. joy enjoy enjoyed enjoying enjoyment joyful Note. — exercise. pad beg slam sun drop big hot joyfully boy boyish boyishly annoy annoyance annoying annoyed royal royalty royally royalist Careful articulation is necessary in this (2) Doubling the Final Consonant Read across : padded padding begged begging slammed slamming sunned sunning dropped dropping bigger biggest hotter hottest Follow the blackboard drill with oral and written spelling. WRITTEN LANGUAGE 83 (3) Y Changing to / Final y changes to i when es, er, est, or ed is added to the word. Read across : cry cries cried try tries tried crazy crazier craziest funny funnier funniest happy happier happiest merry merrier merriest Follow the blackboard drill with oral and written spelling. These lists should be amplified according to need. CHAPTER V WRITTEN LANGUAGE Part II : Sentences OUTLINE I. WRITING VISUALIZED SENTENCES (a) First year, first half. (6) First year, second half. (c) Second year, first half. (d) Second year, second half. II. WRITING DICTATED SENTENCES (a) New work in punctuation. III. WRITTEN REPRODUCTION IV. FORMAL COMPOSITION 84 CHAPTER V WRITTEN LANGUAGE Part II: Sentences I. WRITING VISUALIZED SENTENCES The writing of visualized sentences should begin in the fifth month of the first term. The material for the work is to be taken from review reading matter, either directly or in rearrangement. As to punctuation, lay main stress on the capital at the beginning of a sentence and the period at the end. (a) First Year, First Half BLACK RAT One day Black Rat met the King in the kitchen. " Please give me something to eat," said Black Rat. " I will not," said the King. Black Rat would not go away. So the King called Big Cat. " Black Rat is in the kitchen, Big Cat. Go and eat him up," said the King. But Black Rat ran away. He was afraid of Big Cat. THE MOUSE AND THE CHEESE Once there was a little mouse. She hved with her mother in a big house. 85 86 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO, READING One day the mice were in the cellar. The little mouse said, " I see some cheese." " It is a trap," said the mother. The cheese smelt good. The little mouse took a bit. Snap went the trap. The little mouse was held fast in it. (6) First Year, Second Half LITTLE LARK " The sun is shining," said Little Lark. " I will fly- away to the King, and sing him a song." On the way he met Brown Fox. " Where are you going, Little Lark ? " asked Brown Fox. " I am going to the King, to sing him a song," said Little Lark. Brown Fox said, " I will go with you. Little Lark." Little Lark said, "No, you would only eat me up." So Little Lark flew away till he came to the King's house. THE HEN AND HER BREAD The Hen found a bag of flour. She wished to carry it home. So she asked the Duck to help her. The Duck said, " No." The Hen went to the Turkey. " Please help me to carry home the bag," said the Hen. "No, I will not," said the Turkey. So the Hen carried it home herself. The Hen wished to bake the bread. She asked the Duck to help her. The Duck said, " No." WRITTEN LANGUAGE 87 Then the Hen went to the Turkey. " Please help me to bake my bread," said the Hen. The Turkey said, " No, I will not." So the Hen asked the Goose to help her. But the Goose said, " No." The Hen baked the bread herself. The Duck, the Turkey, and the Goose saw the bread. They said, " Give us some." The Hen said, " No, I shall eat it myself." (c) Second Year, First Half Once upon a time there were three bears. One was named Big Bear. One was named Middling Bear. One was named Little Bear. These bears lived in a little house in the woods. In the kitchen there were three bowls. In the parlor there were three chairs. In the bedroom there were three beds. One day the bears went out for a walk. While they were gone, a little old woman came along. She knocked at the door. Nobody said, " Come in." She knocked again. Nobody said, " Come in." The little old woman opened the door and went in. And this is what she did. First she ate the soup in Little Bear's bowl. Then she went into the parlor. She sat down in Little Bear's chair, and broke it to pieces. Then she went into the bedroom. She lay down on Little Bear's bed, and fell fast asleep. 88 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING By and by the bears came home. They went into the kitchen. " My soup is all gone," said Little Bear. They went into the parlor. " My chair is all broken/' said Little Bear. " Somebody is in the house," said Big Bear. They went into the bedroom. " Here she is in my bed," said Little Bear. " Let us hang her," said Big Bear. " Let us drown her," said Middling Bear, " Let us throw her out of the window," said Little Bear. " Gr ! Gr ! Gr ! " said all the bears. This woke up the little old woman. She jumped out of the window, and never went back to the woods again. (d) Second Year, Second Half THE LORD OP THE FOREST A man once had a cat who was very bad. So one day he put the cat into a bag. He carried the bag into the forest and left it there. " Here I am in this forest," said the cat. " I will build myself a little house." So the cat built a little house and lived there very happily. One day when he was out walking he met a fox. The fox had never seen a cat. " Who are you? " said the fox. " I am the lord of this forest," said the cat. The fox bowed low. " You are very beautiful," said the fox. " Let me be your servant." WRITTEN LANGUAGE 89 "Very well," said the cat. "I will stay at home. You go and bring me a good dinner." Away went the fox. On the way he met a wolf and a bear. " How do you do ? " said the wolf. " I have not seen you for a long time." " I have been working," said the fox. " Who is your master ? " asked the wolf. " My master is the lord of this forest," said the fox. " Tell your master I will come to see him," said the wolf. " I will come too," said the bear. " Very well," said the fox. " But when you come, be sure to bring a sheep or a goat. If you do not, my master will eat you up." The wolf promised to bring a sheep. The bear prom- ised to bring a goat. The fox ran home to his master. That night the wolf caught a goat. The bear caught a sheep. They carried them to the cat's house. They knocked at the door. The cat came to the door. " Is this my dinner ? " said the cat. " This is not enough." " I am the lord of this forest. Bring me dinner every day, or I will eat you up." The wolf and the bear promised, and ran away as fast as they could. They were very much afraid. That night the bear and the wolf told the story to all the other animals of the forest. They were all very much afraid. But the cat and the fox were happy. They had plenty to eat. 90 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING II. WRITING DICTATED SENTENCES The writing of dictated sentences is to begin in the middle of the first year, second half. The material is to be taken from review reading matter. Writing visualized sentences has given practice in the use of a capital at the beginning and a period at the, end of a sentence. (a) For new work in punctuation take up : 1. Capital for proper names. 2. Quotation marks. 3. Capital for the first word of a quotation. 4. Comma. To teach the use of quotation marks, the following method may prove suggestive. FiKST Step The teacher writes on the blackboard the sen- tence, The sun is shining said Little Lark. She then asks questions to determine the placing of the quotation marks : What did Little Lark say ? What is the first word he said ? What is the last word he said ? The teacher places the quotation marks thus, "The sun is shining" said Little Lark. Now she proceeds to the placing of the comma. What part of the sentence was not said by Little Lark ? WRITTEN LANGUAGE 91 The teacher underlines said Little Lark. Then she asks several children to state what Little Lark did say. The teacher then states that the part spoken is always separated from the rest by a conima; thus, ^'The sun is shining, ^^ said Little Lark. The exercise may be varied by reversing the order of the clauses; as. Little Lark said, ''The sun is shining." Second Step The teacher gives the clauses one at a time ; for instance, The man said, — It is a fine day, — and the children are required to answer these questions : What did the man say ? What is the first word he said ? What is the last word he said ? Where will you place the quotation marks ? Where will you place the comma ? This drill is absolutely necessary in the case of the third group, and it is well to make sure of the first and second groups also. Third Step When the children can go through the above drill fairly well, begin to dictate sentences. All mistakes in each sentence should be corrected before further dictation. 92 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING III. WRITTEN REPRODUCTION At the end of the first term the children should begin to reproduce simple stories as seat work. This should be entirely free, but should be criticized by the teacher in punctuation and capitalization. IV. FORMAL COMPOSITION Formal composition should begin in the middle of the second year. Success in composition depends largely upon the teacher's method in the oral de- velopment of the thought to be expressed in writing. Naturally, variety of expression will arise, and should be encouraged, but the main thing is to have the child see a topical analysis grow on the black- board as the oral work of the class progresses. The necessary vocabulary should be developed on the blackboard at the same time. CHAPTER VI SUGGESTED SEAT WORK OUTLINE I. FIRST YEAR, FIRST HALF (a) Handwork. (6) Silent reading. (c) Writing: visualizing sentences. (d) Number : counting, addition, subtraction. n. FIRST YEAR, SECOND HALF (a) Hand work. (b) Silent reading. (c ) Writing : free reproduction. (d) Number : notation. HI. SECOND YEAR, FIRST HALF (a) Hand work. (6) Silent reading. (c ) Writing : formal spelling by copy ; stories. (d) Number: problems. IV. SECOND YEAR, SECOND HALF (a) Hand work. (h) Silent reading. (c ) Writing : formal spelling by copy ; stories. {d) Number : measurements ; multiplication tables. V. GENERAL STATEMENT 93 CHAPTER VII SUGGESTED SEAT WOEK I. FIRST YEAR, FIRST HALF If the class is taught in groups, as is recom- mended, the teacher will have to provide for profit- able seat work. For the first month or two the various forms of hand work, such as weaving, sewing, raffia and bead work, will predominate. Gradually, however, the silent reading of the supplementary stories, the exercises in writing, and the study of number will take the place of much of the manual training. At the end of two months it will be found that only the hand work regularly prescribed in the course of study will be necessary. The written reproduc- tion of simple stories may begin at the end of the first term. Particular attention is called to the fact that if the number work is carefully arranged for silent study, the pupils will make surer and more rapid progress than if all the time spent in number had been used in oral recitation. 1 This chapter does not attempt a full exposition of the fore- going outline. It aims only at suggestive explanation. 94 SUGGESTED SEAT WORK 95 Before the teacher can begin work in number, a child must have a conception of number. No one can give a child his notion of number; he must get it for himself. However, he may be helped to acquire it, and to that end the seat work in number must be carefully arranged. For a while he must work with objects. Blocks are better than anything else, because they are easily seen, easily handled, and not easily lost. Moreover, if the child has had kindergarten train- ing, he will be familiar with blocks. The child needs to round out his conception of number by having the same facts presented in many different forms. Exercises in counting should be given every day. II. FIRST YEAR, SECOND HALF By the middle of the second term the first and second sections will be able to read well. Then the teacher may take several large sheets of oak tag, and write on each as many numbers as it will hold ; thus : six eight fourteen forty-six twenty-three On other sheets the hundreds are written, one hundred on one sheet, two hundred on another, etc. 96 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING The hundreds' sheet is hung on the wall, and the other sheet beside it, in this way : one hundred forty-eight six eighty-five thirteen two When the child has finished his work, his paper will read : 148 106 185 ' 113 102 Or the teacher may place on the blackboard : 45 137 106 8 59 and direct the children to write the numbers in words. This combines silent reading of words, number work, writing of figures, and writing of words. SUGGESTED SEAT WORK 97 III. SECOND YEAR, FIRST HALF Let the children build up words out of given phonetic elements already mastered. Children should here be encouraged to write stories. Simple problems may be set on chart or blackboard in words the children can surely read. Addition of like numbers and continued subtrac- tion of the same number will prepare for multiplica- tion and division. IV. SECOND YEAR, SECOND HALF Continue the copying and the free reproduction of stories. Encourage free writing of stories. Build words with given initial consonants, basal phonograms, and terminations. Set columns of singulars for formation of plurals and the reverse. In general, follow the suggestions given in Chapters III, IV, and V on Phonetic Development and Drill and Written Language. Let the children work with rulers. Let them measure their desks, seats, books, pencils, paper, etc., and even the width of the boards that com- pose the flooring, and make record of the measure- ments. The multiplication tables may be learned entirely through seat work. A weekly test will show when the children are ready for the next step. Division may be taught in the same way. 98 THE PROGRESSIVE ROAD TO READING V. GENERAL STATEMENT The wise teacher in any grade will quickly dis- cover whether the seat work is really profitable, and will be governed accordingly. The vital point in this whole matter is to make the children feel that the seat work is a serious and important part of the school curriculum. This will be accomplished if they know that the teacher will look over the results of the seat work carefully.