UC-NRLF fl34 Frederick Slate Professor of Physics * I HINTS ON [ANGUAGE IN CONNECTION WITH SIGHT-READING AND WRITING IN PRIMARY AND INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS BY S. ARTHUR BENT, A.M. SII'I KlJVrKNUKNT OK THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OK CLINTON, MASS. BOSTO X LKK AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS NKW YORK CHARLES T. 1)1 1.1,1 NC.ff AM 1886 Copyright, 1885. BY J.EK AND SHKVA ELECTROTYPF.D BY C. 0. PETE its A NO .Sox, BOSTON. PREFACE. LANGUAGE-EXERCISE is now found on the pro- gramme of most Primary Schools, from the lowest grade upwards. The absence of a text-book, how- ever, on a subject which must be taught orally, makes instruction unsystematic and often unsuc- cessful. In order to suggest a method of graded class-work, which shall include under the head of Language whatever is taught in reading, writing, form, color, and number, the author offers the fol- lowing Hints to the profession, on the basis of experiments already attempted by teachers whose assistance is gratefully acknowledged. S. A. J5. CLINTON, MASS., October, 188;. 984551 CONTENTS. GRADE I. PAC;K Language-Teaching. Its true place 7 Talking as Language 9 Object Lessons in Language ro The Development Method i r I See, O See, Developed 12 A Cat, Developed 13 Ran, Developed 15 Review [6 Third Month '. . . . 17 Writing j8 Sight- Reading 19 Phonic Exercise -22 Thiigh-book. Ugh-cat 22 Language-Exercises 23 The Cat as Object- Lesson . . 28 Vocabulary of Three Hundred Words 30 GRADE II. Sight-Reading ^ Definition \ i - Spelling 37 Language ; V S Picture Lessons 39 Letter- Writing i; 5 O CONTENTS. Correct Speech 44 Dictation 45 Number 45 Abstract and Concrete 46 GRADE III. Ink 47 Reading and Number 48 Language ' 49 Monday's Exercise 49 Tuesday's " c;i Wednesday's " 52 Thursday's " , 53 Friday's 54 Picture-Exercise on the Lion 56 Picture-Exercise on Silk 56 Geography 57 Declamation 58 GRADE IV. AND V. The Dictionary 59 What Pupils now Know 59 The Teacher's Programme 60 Oral Methods 61 Exercise on the Camel . . . 65 Exercise on the Elephant 68 Letter-Writing 70 Books of Authority on Topics Suitable for Language Ex- ercise . 72 Teachers' Consulting Library 74 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. GRADE I. FIRST YEAR. LANGUAGE is the medium through which man communicates with his fellow. The degree of his culture is measured by the comparative . . Lanffuage- fullness and precision with which he uses teaching. - this medium. Not so much the posses- Its true sion of knowledge as the ability to impart p it makes him valuable to society. To teach him to convey his ideas correctly is, then, as high a task as to teach him the ideas themselves. But the teacher of Grade I. has the double duty of creating ideas in her pupils' minds, and of calling out the correct expres- sion of those ideas. Looked at broadly, it is not her business to teach her pupils to read or spell, to write or cipher, but to develop in them the correct use of the English language in its written or spoken forms. As the possession of ideas must precede the expres- "sion of them, the teacher will first endeavor to sup- ply or create ideas in her pupils' minds. She does this through the operation of their senses, and in so 7 HIXTiS ON LANGUAGE. doing she merely introduces Nature's method into {e-'^hoolroora, Only in proportion as she makes herself Nature's assistant and interpreter will she succeed. As oral precedes written communication, her work in language will begin with oral communi- cation ; but whether oral or written, it must be con- sidered first and last an exercise in language, of which reading, writing, spelling, and oral number- work are but the various forms. The child enters school with the power of speech, and with a small vocabulary of words, sufficient to express, more or less perfectly, his ideas. To en- large his vocabulary it is necessary to increase the number of his ideas. These will be obtained from objects, of which words are the symbols or represen- tatives. Teach, therefore, no word until the idea it represents is understood; but, on the other hand, make the symbol as familiar as the object. As Nature presents objects as wholes, teach the symbols of these objects as wholes ; then analyze the objects in point of form, color, size, and their symbols in point of sound. (New teachers sometimes think that be- cause reading is no longer taught by analyzing words into their component letters, that the letters themselves are not to be taught ; and a teacher of Grade I. once objected to receiving a pupil because he did not know his letters, as if it were not her business to teach them.) As ideas are to be produced by means of objects, the objects must be shown. Talking about an ob- LANGUAGE-TEACHING ITS TKl'K I'LACK. 9 ject conveys no tangible idea to the child. To appreciate he must see. If the object itself cannot be shown, it should be represented by a picture. If the picture be not at hand, one should be drawn upon the board. The act of drawing is itself inter- esting, as line after line completes a recognizable form before a group of eager spectators. The teacher of Grade I. should be able to talk easily, and to draw. She should herself talk in order to excite ideas and expression in her pupils, and to draw in order to convey visible form when other representations are lacking. Remember that your pupils, if left to themselves, would talk all the time. This tendency should not be repressed in Grade I., but directed into Talking as proper channels. In many cases the teach- Lan g ua e - er's first duty is to overcome the timidity of certain children who find themselves in a strange room, sur- rounded perhaps by strangers, told to sit quietly in rows, facing a personage clothed with powers of, to them, vague and limitless authority. Be. mindful of first impressions. A sunbeam from the teacher's heart may at once melt the child's soul into music like that of Memnon's statue ; a cross or nervous welcome, a frown or threat, will freeze it into stone. A schoolroom of this grade, awed into silence, is more depressing than the " Street of the Tombs " in Pompeii. Talk to your children merrily and heartily, and make them talk, first to remove their timidity, and then to enlarge their power of expres- IO HINTS ON LANGUAGE. sion. Make them love to hear your voice, and \our power over them will be unlimited. Make all your talking, however, tell. With this in view begin with objects of daily life, familiar to Object a ^ children. Show the picture of a cat, a Lessons in dog, or a hen, or point to some object in .anguage. ^ e room, because the pupil will recognize the symbols of these objects sooner than those of objects hitherto unknown. Draw the picture of such objects as cannot be shown ; talk about them and let the children talk. In order that the power of lan- guage thus gained may be readily applied to read- ing, a list of three hundred words is given on pages 31, 32 which are to be developed during the first five months of school life. This system will be pursued for two months at least, before any attempt is made to teach reading from print, because at least that length of time is necessary to provide a sufficient number of ideas clearly apprehended by the child's mind, and because it is only after such a probation- ary period that the symbols of those ideas, which we call words, will be also equally well defined and un- mistakably impressed, so that the symbol for cat cannot by any misapprehension be applied to the idea dog. Let us enter a schoolroom and see how this system of development may be applied to a class recently admitted. The first lesson, for in- stance, is " a dog/' A group of eight or ten children run from their seats at the teacher's call, and surround her at the THE DEVELOPMENT METHOD. II blackboard. No timidity is apparent, for they have become thoroughly acquainted with her be- TheDe _ fore the lesson is attempted. She has in velopment her mind the word to be developed, and Met ' knows how to interest, which is the first step. u How many can tell me what their eyes are for ? " is her first question. " To see," " to look with." " Yes ; now open them wide and look straight at me, and see what I am going to do." The class are all atten- tion. With a few strokes of the crayon, and as rap- idly as possible, the teacher draws the outline of a dog. Before it is finished the whispered words, " It's a dog ! See the head ! See the legs ! " can be heard from the group. The children tell the teacher what it is, and a talk follows about dogs. The teacher asks what the dog says and does, and if they have one at home. She then writes the word on the board " a dog " and says " a dog." " I will put the word a dog on the board for every little boy and girl." Each child covers his word with his hand, and all say the word " a dog " in natural voice. Ask different children what word they have. A/I look at the word attentively, and then close their eyes and think how it looks. Finally ask them what they would do if a dog should come into school. " Laugh," says one. " Yes, probably, but should we let him stay ? " " No, we would drive him away." " Well, then, I think we had better send the dog we have here away." All erase in great haste, and then the teacher tells the children to run to their seats 12 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. and make a picture of a dog like the one on the board (later on they will be able to copy the new word). We will now apply this method to a common idiom, like / see, O see. " How many can tell me I See, once more, this afternoon, what they do See, De- with their eyes ? " " Look, see, .see ! " -veloped. yes, how do you know your teacher is here before you ? " " We can see you." " Yes, what did you see right here on the board this morn- ing? " "A dog." "Well, can you see a dog here now ? No ? Very well, look round the room and tell me what, you can "see." Teacher starts the game by saying, "/see a clock; I see a book." The children join in with, " I see a bell, I see a chair, I see you," etc. " Run to the window and tell me what you can see. Now what do you see here ? " the teacher asks as they return, taking a toy dog from her pocket. " A dog ! a dog ! " " Yes, but tell me the whole story. When you were at the window you said ' / see a bird ! I see a tree ! ' Now what's the story about the dog? " " I see a dog," some one says. " Now I will write it on the board and all the children may say it over once, twice, three times." " I see a dog," is the response, as the teacher writes the word up very high on the board, down low, in a dog- house, etc. " Children, if we should go out into the hall, and should see a real dog, what do you think we should say ? " "A dog's out there ! " says one. " Perhaps so, but if you were very much surprised, I SEE, O SEE, DEVELOPED. 13 as you would be to see a big, black dog in the hall, 1 think you would make your mouth very round and say, 4 O see the dog! 5 ' Teacher makes O see the dog on the board. " Now, children, make believe you are surprised and say, ' O see the dog ! ' " Com- pare O see and I see. Let them take their seats and make a picture of something they can see in the room. Ask them when they go home to use their eyes and tell you whatever they may see on the way- Let us now apply our method to teaching the sym- bol Cat. " How many are glad to come up here to see teacher this morning ? Those who are may raise their hands ; and, if you are very a " glad, you may raise both hands." " Good ! Now how many remember what the story was about yes- terday ? Look at me and try very hard to think ; now the one who thinks first may come here and whisper the word to me." All but two of the ten get the right word, and go to the place indicated, by the teacher's desk. Reward these children by let- ting them clap their hands vigorously for a few sec- onds, then let the one who thought first tell the word for the benefit of the two children who did not know. The teacher then writes the word a dog on the board several times, then the stories, I see a dog! O see a dog / The children distinguish between the two, and different ones repeat the sentences. "How many remembered to use their eyes coming to school this morning ? " A few tell what they saw, and then the teacher asks if they would like to know 14 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. \vhat she saw on her way to school. " Well, I will tell you all about it, and I will see if you can guess what it was. As I was walking along, something came right out from behind a tree, and ran across the road. Now, it was about so long ; it was all white, and had four legs and a long tail. What do you think it was ? " " A dog, a hen, a cat," are the various answers. u Well, children, it looked to me very much like this;" and the teacher draws rapidly the picture of a cat running. (If the teacher cannot do this, she might tell the class to close their eyes while she gets a toy cat. a pasteboard representation of a cat, such as are very common as advertisements, or, as a last resort, she may show the picture of a cat. but be sure to show some repre- sentation of the real object, and if possible draw it. ) Talk about the cat as about the dog, and write a cat under the picture. Write it many times, and let the children say " a cat." Then write the word in yellow-, red, blue, green crayons. Let the pupils close their eyes ; then hide the new word, /. ^., write it on different parts of the board, and at the same time write " a clog " to see if the children can dis- tinguish one from the other. The ne*w word may be written in a column of unfamiliar words, and the word " a cat " picked out. Finally, write the word in very large letters, and refer the children to it just before going home. Ask them to tell mamma about the new word they have learned. Of course, the idioms / see, O see, must be written in connection KAN. 15 with a cat, and the stones " i see a dog/' " I see a cat " compared. The word rat would naturally come next, and would be introduced when the story of the cat is reviewed and continued. Let us now take the action word ran. The teacher says next morning. " Children, the cat that I told you about yesterday, and told you I had at home" " I know, the one with the short tail," interrupts Johnnie. " Yes, Johnnie, that very one went down into the cellar last night, and what do you think she saw ? " " Some rats," is the im- mediate answer. u Yes, now what do you suppose she did ? " " Chased them ! " says one. " Ran ! " says another. " True, the cat ran and the rats ran. Now for a nice game ! I am going to let Frank make believe he is a cat, because he is the largest boy, and all the rest may be rats. No\v, then, the rats may start and run round the table, and the cat may run after them. Quick ! " This is great fun, and the cat and rats start off at full speed. When they return they are bright and animated with the exer- cise. " Now, tell me quickly what you did just now." tb We ran." " But the cat didn't catch me," says one " Yes, you all ran. Look, see what the chalk says," ran, ran, ran is written hastily on the board. All say the word over and over again. u Now, children, it says / ran, I ran, now a cat ran, a dog ran," etc. The teacher compares rat with ran, and then turning suddenly says : " Now, you mav all run to vour seats." l6 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. After the words a boy, a girl have been taught, in- troduce a few familiar proper names Frank, Tom, Max, Nell, Ann, etc. It is an easy matter after a few object and action words have been introduced to teach the quality words. A very fat pig can be drawn and compared with a lean one, a large hat with a small one, etc. If the teacher should tell a story about a boy who robbed a bird's nest, and then ask the question, Was he a good or a bad boy ? the desired word would be almost surely spoken by the children. We will now suppose all the words under the heading " First and Second Months " have been properly developed. The pupils have by this time a vocabulary of fifty-five words, and can tell them simply or in sentences. The les- sons will now be conducted on a little different plan from that employed when only one or two words were known. At the end of the second month we will suppose the teacher to be again before her class. The children now know what these lessons are, and spring eagerly forward at the mention of Johnnie's or Nellie's class. Turning quickly to the board the teacher says : " We will have a story this morning about a good boy (the italicized words are put on the board and told by the class) of the name of Tom. This boy lived on a farm in the country. Now, he had a great many things to do ; he had a fat pig, an old red cow, a white hen and some chicks, and a big ox to feed and take care of REVIEW. 17 every day. One day he took a walk into the woods with a little girl. Who do you think she was ? Yes, his sister, and she took her doll with her, and a large fan, too, for it was very warm. 'Their little dog Jip went with them, and did a great many funny things. They saw a sly fox, and Jip ran after him for a long way," etc. And so the story might con- tinue until all the words are brought in. The next day an entirely different story may be told. This, however, is only one of the many ways of reviewing the words. They may fill the rounds of a red lad- der, be packed into a blue trunk, or put into a basket, or, what is still more interesting, be hung on the branches of a Christmas tree. Aim to give the children a variety of exercise ; try to do something different in each lesson. In the "third month " the words are a little more difficult, but the ideas they express are still familiar. Many of these object words would naturally Third come into the same story. Frank might Month, catch a fish in the pond, and put it into a pail. A Jrog might jump into the water, a ship, swan, or duck might be seen on the water, etc. At the end of the second month the child is able to begin to read from the chart; during the third month he can read the first half. The printed words must be compared with the script, so that at the end of the third month the class will be able to put into script on their slates the printed stones on the chart. When this is done much .will have been accomplished, and the class 1 8 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. will take up the book at the beginning of the fourth month with little difficulty. During the progress of the development method in teaching reading and language at the same time, the pupil is learning to write. Begin on Writing his entrance to school with the letters com- posed of the simplest strokes, like // and //, / and e, written on slates ruled with lines not less than a quarter of an inch apart. Teach a large round hand. It can hardly be too large to overcome the pupil's tendency to write a small contracted hand. Before the words of the " first and second months " are developed, the pupil will be able to write them, certainly the simplest of them. When the chart is taken, he will write most of its sentences, at least two or three of each page. Teach also as early as possible the capitals A, which begins an army of sen- tences, and I. As soon as the script words of the board are compared with printed words upon the chart, teach the pupil to connect the two in their minds, and note their correspondence and differ- ences. Teach the class to hold the slate pencil exactly as you would teach them to hold a pen if you were teaching penmanship. See 1 that the slates He upon the desks, and do not rest on the child's lap and the edge of the desk. Write a copy for the class on the board in a round hand, more care- fully executed than is possible in the hurried man- ner of developing words. Let the class practice the use of cravon on the board, and in such exer- WRITING. 19 cise teach an easy swinging method of making curves, ovals, and circles. Continue this in higher grades, to counteract the cramping tendency of copy-books and paper, where pupils think they must be particular and so hold the pen as in a vice, with effects fatal to freedom and elasticity. When your other duties permit, see how the class write by look- ing at their work when it is in progress. Continue this inspection in all grades, and do not let your pupils learn to apply the proverb of the Russian peasants to excuse their shiftlessness : " Heaven is high and the czar afar off." Gradually, as the year goes on, the first grade will learn to write all that they read. Make this the end and aim of your work in writing, which should be to connect it with and make it a part of reading and language-exer- cise, or rather, one of the departments of the devel- opment of language in the pupils committed to your care. To teach children to read what, after a proper time, they cannot write, is like a boy walking on stilts of unequal length. The child has now been taught to read, through the medium of language-exercises of the most im- portant character. Not only has he gained a large number of ideas and found symbols for their expression, but he has prepared himself to apply to oral expression those symbols when printed, which we call reading. Having been taught to talk easily and naturally he reads naturally, and as if he were talking. From 2O HINTS ON LANGUAGE. this time the teacher's task is easy, and reading becomes as natural an exercise as talking. A sen- o tence with the question-mark presents no difficulty, because the pupil was taught to modulate his inflec- tion in asking a question while he was engaged in the development- work upon the board. In reading from the chart do not point to words separately, or one by one. That habit causes the pupil to merely pronounce the individual words of a sentence, I-scc- a-cat, which is not reading. Let the pupil read each sentence silently, then aloud as a whole. The success of your entire year, and that of teachers to follow you, depends upon a direction so simple and yet so necessary. When, however, your pupils have read the chart intelligently, they are ready, at the end of the fourth month, to take a book, and the work of language-exercise goes on under new con- ditions, but on the same principles and with similar results. When the book is to be introduced, call a squad into the floor and hand them the primers from your desk. They will thank you for them as for any gift. Select the new words, and put the first one on the board. If none know it, tell its name and meaning. Place it in a sentence, or let the children do so. Do not tell the new word if they can discover it them- selves. Suppose the first sentence is : " The bird sits on the branch of the tree." All the words but branch you know to be familiar to the class. Ask where the bird is. " On the tree," some will say. READING. 21 " Yes, but on what part of the tree ? " " On the limb, branch, twig," will be the various answers. If the word branch does not appear, draw a tree and teach the new word from the picture. Let the class rind the new word in the lesson. When they take their seats they will write such words more than once. When on the floor, teach them to talk in such a way as to bring in the new words. Do not lose sight of the fact that the reading-lesson, like all your work, is a language-exercise ; and develop new words in the book in the same manner as those on the card. Ask pupils questions which can be an- swered by short sentences. Avoid such as* may be answered by merely yes or no, or by a repetition of the thought of the question. So, in higher grades, do not recite the pupil's lessons for him, leaving him to approve of your statements by a monosyllable. See that every pupil reads each sentence silently. Then let each out of turn read a sentence. Then let the story be read in turn from the beginning. Each pupil thus reads the whole story silently for the thought, and two sentences at least for oral ex- pression. When that is done let the class close books and tell the story. They can then run to their seats and write what they can remember, or such sentences as the teacher may prescribe. Let them recall the story of the previous clay, and write it in their own language. Teach all words phonetically, and use diacritical marks at your discretion. Phonic drill tends to 22 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. open the mouth, a very important habit. Each word Phonic Ex- when taught should be distinctly pronounced ercise. by the teacher, making each sound sepa- rately. The class must then imitate her. Train them to open the mouth from the first day. Timidity on entering school closes the mouth, and confirmed bad habit produces mumbling. First make children feel at home, then make them speak distinctly. In all grades make them look at you when they recite, and not at the window. The seeds of bad habits of enunciation and recitation in grammar grades are sown in the first years of school life. ^ Do not allow the child in reading to say thugh- book, ugh-cat. This is not a part of the " New Thiigh- Education," although new teachers have book. done that system great injustice by suppos- ing it to consist in substituting thugh-book for the-book, and ugh-cat for a-cat. Neither is correct ; nor is thugh pronounced separately any improve- ment upon the. The proper pronunciation is that suggested in the " Manual of the Board of Educa- tion " of New York City : When the child reads the in a sentence, as, See the cat and the dog play, let him pronounce it with the following word, as if it formed the first syllable of that word, speaking the lightly as [e] in the words e-vent' , e-vade'. The a, when used as a word in like circumstances, should be pronounced like a in a-miise'. Language has hitherto been considered in connec- tion with reading ; but language lessons as such should LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 23 simultaneously form a part of every day's work. They begin with a child's entrance to school ; Language for" making him talk " is but a language les- Exercises, son in disguise. These lessons have as objects opera- tion of Hie senses, quickening of the imagination, proper expression of ideas gained by the senses, the use of new idioms, etc. They are to be given to a squad of ten or twelve, not to the whole school. The time of each lesson will be about fifteen minutes. The manner and style in which these lessons are given, and their results, will largely depend upon each teacher's originality. The following hints may be useful : Present a picture, and let the children look at it closely. Ask them to tell you what they see. He sure everything is mentioned, and in complete sentences, as, / sn a dog, not a dog, a cat. Then lead them on by saying : " I think the dog will catch the cat." They will naturally follow by : " I think the cat will climb the tree," etc. Aid pupils by the use of the interrogatives who, which, what, where, what kind* how many, wJiy. Children should give sentences including all the objects in the picture, their color and position, what they are, where they have been, what they are doing, or have been doing, what they are made of (if animals, their habits, uses, etc.). If children are represented, let the class give their names, where they live, what they probably have at home, etc. Pupils find difficulty in learning ind properly using brief idiomatic expressions. They may best be taught by picture lessons. The 24 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. following should constantly be brought in and spoken so many times that they become perfectly familiar : This is, it is, here is, there are, she has, they have, I think, I see, etc. Give several lessons from one picture. In the first, note in a general way all the objects in the picture, the names of which may be written on the board. Next notice the quality, color (if animals, their habits and uses) ; thirdly, the position, what they are doing, where they are going, etc. In each successive lesson on the picture, re- view all that has been said before. The following exercise was given by a teacher during the latter part of the first year. One day she took a picture representing an old sheep and a lamb. A tall girl with a red dress was giving the sheep some grass from her hand, while a large boy was holding his baby brother on the sheep's back. -The babv had a lon peculiar exercise. Twenty-five minutes will be time enough to give to language lessons in this grade. Fifteen or twenty minutes may be occupied by pupils in reading their exercises and listening to instruc- tion and criticism from the teacher. For Monday's lesson the pupils are asked to Monday< write a story. Each pupil chooses his own subject. The following is a specimen : Once as I was walking through a field, I met a poor little girl. I asked her what her name was and she said her name 5O HINTS ON LANGUAGE. \vas Katie Brown. Her clothes were ragged and torn, and her lips were blue with cold. I asked her if she had a mother. She said her mother and father were dead and she was left alone to seek her fortune. Would you like to come with me ? Oh yes said the little girl will you take me to your house ? Yes I shall be glad to take you with me. Where is your house said the little girl. My house is up on that hill. I brought the little girl up to my house and let her warm herself I gave her something to eat. I put a dress of mine on to her and told her she could keep it. She lived with me and went to school every day. After that she was a good scholar. And we played every day together. When such exercises as these reach the teacher's desk, she will see that no use has been made of quotation marks, and that the punctuation must be changed to correspond. But every day her pupils have been reading stories full of conversations marked and punctuated properly. Their attention has not been called to such points, and thousands of pupils finish the second and third readers every year, and have been " drilled " on the pieces until they know them by heart, who were never told that such a thing as a quotation mark existed. When, however, the use of such forms of punctuation is understood, pupils will write conversations as readily r.s plain narrative. For instance, the teacher may ask John to tell something about the schoolroom. John says, The schoolroom has four windows. The teacher asks the class to write the statement, the room has four windows, and then the double state- ment, John says. "The room has four windows," \\c;K. 51 telling them to look in their readers for such forms and punctuation. In the pupil's exercise just given, the quotation is divided, u Oh, yes," being sepa- rated from the rest by said the little girl. To write it correctly requires a knowledge of capitalization and punctuation beyond that required for John's statement concerning the windows. Consequently, the work of correction will be taken up in this ex- ercise by bringing about such a change as is indi- cated by this form : " Would you like to come with me?" "Oh, yes!" said the little girl, k< Will you take me to your house ? " " Yes, I shall be glad to take you with me." " Where is your house ? " said the little girl. " My house is up on that hill." To accomplish this, more than one Monday will be nec- essary, but the pupils of Grade III. are capable of it. The teacher for Tuesday's exercise ex- .... Tuesday, limits a picture, or draws one upon the board. Each pupil writes detached sentences de- scribing it, as follow : Two boys are in a boat. The boat is on a pond. There is a dog in the boat. One of the boys has lost his hat in the water. The other boy has taken off his coat. The dog jumps into the water and gets the hat. The water is not very deep; one boy dips his hand into the water. I think the water feels cool. I hope he will not fall in. The mechanical part of this original composition has been learned in Grade II. Still, if found neces- sary to dwell upon periods and capitalization, the exercise can be varied with dictation work, in which 52 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. the attention is entirely given to the mechanical por- tion and to spelling. For the latter purpose let John rise, read the first and succeeding sentences, spelling each word, mentioning capitals and punctuation. Change slates and correct. For a written exercise, let the class copy that description of the picture which exhibits the best sentences properly executed. Later in the year the class will connect the detached sentences given above, or others like them, making a narrative, which will include all the objects shown in the pictures. A teacher who can draw will easily make a picture off-hand, which the class will be eager to describe in answer to questions which she may ask. P^ncourage the children to bring to school pictures or advertisement cards, and make each ex- hibition a language-exercise. A short story is read aloud, on Wednesday, by the teacher once. Then the pupils write as much of it on their slates as they remember. They write Wednes- busi j v ten or fif tee n minutes. Then all day. stop writing, and listen while several of the stories are read aloud. In reading aloud nothing is suggested as to proper mechanical execution. When the class comes up from Grade II., try such an exercise, and on looking at a few slates you will quickly see what they know about punctuation and capitalization, and what they must still be taught. The following exercise from a story read by the teacher shows the writer's knowledge and i^no- LANGUAGE. 53 A fox after running till he was out of breath, begged a man to show him a place to hide. He showed him his hut and let him hide under his bed. He told the fox he would not tell. Soon after the hunters came along and asked him if he had seen the fox. He shook his head and pointed. The fox had just time enough to escape out of a window that was on the other side of the hut. A few days after the man met the fox and said, why did you leave my hut for without thanking me for saving your life. You did not tell the truth said the fox. I did not tell where you were. No said the fox but you pointed that is all that deaf and dumb people do when they tell lies. Thursday is correction clay, when the important features of the week's work are commented upon. Keep the poorest papers and copy them Thursday, upon the board. Let the pupils correct them aloud. That corrections may be free, do not write the names of the authors of the exercises. Fullness of spontaneous correction tests the knowl- edge of the class. Note failure to correct certain mistakes, and bring in the same points the next week. Corrected sentences can be written on the pupils' slates. Take this day for common and vul- gar errors, correcting what has been improperly spoken in the class-room, or what passes outside for correct speech. Street signs furnish an amusing commentary on popular knowledge or ignorance, es- pecially the use of the apostrophe as a sign of the plural, where no thought of possession is intended. Pupils make very good critics when their attention is turned in the proper direction ; but many a teacher who "drills " her class on the names of all the 54 HINTS ON LANGUAGK. coral reefs of the South Pacific never thinks of the familiar misnomers of the village street, or the journalistic freaks of the special reporter. This is also an appropriate time to test the knowledge of the class in writing sentences from oral dictation. Dic- tate sentences, making no mention of capitalization or punctuation, calling upon the class to supply them. Teach here the signs of the possessive case, both in the singular and in the plural of regularly formed words, and the punctuation marks not already familiar. Avoid, however, definitions of the posses- sive in a technical form. See that such sentences are written properly: "John gave William and [ Franks shoes, the childrens books," etc. Continue the correction of school vulgarisms, and interest your class in the use of correct forms of speech In- making error ridiculous. Friday is letter day. When the letters are written let them be directed. It may not be practicable to sup- ply envelopes for each week's exercises; but the address can be written on the back of the folded letter. Change the style of address from time to time. Practice in this grade the different forms of address inside the sheet, ac- cording to the degree of acquaintance and corres- ponding formality. A teacher once said : " Write a letter to your mother to-day; make believe she is away from home, and tell her what has hap- pened in her absence." The following was one response : LAN(iUA(iK. 55 CLINTON, MASS., May 22, 1885. DKAK MOTHER, I am going to tell you what happened at home. Last night all the clothes fell down on the ground and they got dirty. When I went to bed I heard a great noise in the kitchen. When I got up it was the cat. The cat broke the sugar-bowl and a cup, and she broke the lamp too. I planted some seeds when you went away and they are very nice, they are coming up. Mother I would like you to come home Saturday afternoon. T want you to visit my school Wednesday afternoon. It is public day. I am going to speak a piece. Good bye, Your daughter, L. c. To vary the week's programme a lesson like any of the following is sometimes given. The teacher O O writes upon the blackboard a short story or part of a long one. The sentences are written incorrectly, capitals are misplaced, punctuation marks omitted, words misspelled, etc : " A man caught a little fish let me Go sed the fish til i am larger, i shall soon be a large fish Then you can catch Me agen but the man sed, You wil then no to much too bite." Sometimes a story is written on the board in the following manner, and the pupils copy it on their slates, supplying the words omitted: ''Torn and lived the water They not swim so - mother them must go alone the . Tom a good and as was - ; but went the . He in and was . His mother was that did mind," etc. Occasionally divide the school into six or eight divisions ; give each division a different word, as 56 HINTS OX LANGUAGE. palace, princess, queen, etc. Then let the children when called upon in each division rise and give a sentence containing the word assigned to their di- vision. In addition to purely literary work in Grade III., continue object-teaching by means of pictures. Allow sentences spoken to be written on slates or preserved on paper. Thus on the Lion the teacher will call out these facts, supposing that the children have seen a lion in a menagerie, or that the teacher lias a picture of one. The lion belongs to the cat family. lie comes from Africa; some are found in Asia. They live in pairs. They are from six to eight feet long. They weigh from four to five hundred pounds. Their color is a tawny yellow. The male lion has a mane of long hair; the female has no mane. They have thirty teeth, sharp and pointed, like those of a cat, so that they can tear flesh with them. They have a rough tongue for the same purpose. The lion has great strength and can carry a calf or sheep in his mouth. The lion springs upon his prey like a cat. He can spring twenty feet at one bound. The lion has a terrible roar. At night he causes other animals to tremble by his roar. lie can see well at night like a cat. He swings his long tail when he is angry like a cat. His tail is strong enough to strike a man down with one bl;;w. This will tell the class something arxmt silk : Silk is the web of the silk-worm. The worm feeds on mul- berry leaves. After eating eight weeks, the worm begins to spin. The thread is stronger than a spider's web. The worm spins the thread around itself in the form of a case. This is called the cocoon. The cocoon is about an inch long. The worm is an insect like the caterpillar. It changes two or three times, and at last makes a hole in the cocoon and tiies out, lay.- LANGUAGE. 57 eggs, and dies. To prevent the worm from making a hole in it the cocoon is placed in a heated oven; the insect is then killed. . The threads of the cocoons are loosened in hot water, and then wound upon a reel. They are then sorted and arc ready for spinning. The web of a single cocoon is from three to five hundred yards long. Silk is raised in Asia, Europe, and in the United States, and is manufactured in France and in this country. It is used to make ribbons, handkerchiefs, gloves, stockings, shawls, dresses, sewing-silk, and many other articles. Begin geographical instruction in this grade. Apply the points of the compass to the schoolroom, and names to local geographical objects, il- Geogra- lustratimr without much definition the earth's phy. o shape, sunrise, sunset, horizon, zenith, etc. Illus- trate ideas of boundary and distance by the adja- cent towns, even by objects within sight, the maps or pictures upon the walls, etc. Let pupils associate names of county, state, country, with their own town or city, and begin here descriptions of local indus- tries. Make this a language-exercise in all cases, and see that facts are stated in the form of full and gram- matical sentences. As " busy work " let pupils draw and cut out triangles, squares, circles, and polygons. Show their differences, but avoid technical defini- tions. Continue oral instruction in physiology, con- necting it with hygiene (where no text-book is sup- plied), and take whatever opportunity offers to inculcate good school morals, especially kindness and courtesy to schoolmates, as well as the more obvious requirements of cleanliness, veracity, and purity of word and act. 5 8 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. It is important that the memory be trained in connection with language-exercise. For this pur- Declama- pose the teacher of Grade III. will give tion. out verses or other short selections to be committed to memory and spoken at proper inter- vals. Begin with a single verse of poetry, because that form of composition is more attractive to the young than prose. Avoid long selections : rather one verse a day than a long poem once a week. Select the best authors. In Germany the children learn at school the ballads and lyrics of such a poet as Schiller, and never forget them. See that the senti- ment is as pure as the verse, and that lessons of patriotism, charity, courtesy, generosity, kindness, truthfulness, humanity, are learned from those who tell us : " Never to blend our pleasure or our pride With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels." GRADES IV. AND V. FOURTH AND FIFTH YEARS. As there is no particular distinction in the work of these grades, they are united for our present pur- pose. The general course of instruction changes here ; books are substituted for oral instruction, and primary work ceases. Still, in language-exercise ORAL METHODS. 59 the teacher is not released from playing the leading role. Her work in this department must continue to be largely oral, and, that it may be successful, she must extend the domain of her own activity. It is true that the dictionary takes the place of the teach- er's definition. At the beginning of the year she should prepare her class for the intelligent use of the dictionary, calling attention to the divisions of words, marks of accent, signs or synonyms of pro- nunciation, and whatever may be technical in the particular book used. Kach pupil should be pro- vided with one, or the unabridged copy on the teacher's desk should be open to unrestricted con- sultation by the class. Your pupils have been prepared 'in the lower grades for the more serious tasks now before them. See that they are not lacking in practical acquaint- ance with the comma, period, question and surprise marks, hyphen, apostrophe in its various uses, quo- tation marks, and the common abbreviations. They can write a letter, can describe with a certain degree of fullness objects or pictures, can take down with reasonable accuracy what is read to them of simple style and diction. They know something of geog- raphy, physiology, color, form, measure, relative sixe and distance. They have obtained information concerning the more common animals, have de- scribed their uses and habits, and have seen how food, clothing, pleasure, and labor are procured from them. As their study of the geographical text- 6O HINTS OX LAX(iL r A(ii:. book continues, they read of vegetables, minerals, animals, and manufactures, which are mentioned but not described, belonging to countries briefly noticed, and exported from cities whose names are all the pupils know of them. This vast hiatus be- tween what is told and what is untold is our teacher's opportunity. To merely mention it indicates a pro- gramme. This consists in filling out the bare out- line of the text, by telling what the things are whose existence only is mentioned. Thus the lumber product of Maine, the granite quarries of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the maple-sugar and marble product of Vermont, the fisheries of Massa- chusetts, the manufactures of cotton, ship-building, the cure and manufacture of leather, are only alluded to in books, and the desire to know is stimulated but not satisfied by the statement that Lowell is called the Manchester of America, or that Nan-tucket was a famous whaling port. The teacher has in a primary geography a ready guide to language exercise. She is not limited to it, however. She should at all events have a logical plan of her own, and adhere to it. Teachers of in- termediate grades, who have text-bboks thrust into their hands, are in danger of confining their work to them, or of throwing it on to the class. So far as language-work, however, is concerned, she is almost o o ' entirely put upon her own resources. The success or failure of her attempts at oral language-exercise will depend upon herself. " There is, perhaps, no ORAL MHTHODS. 6 1 practice better adapted to insure effective oral teach- ing/' says one author, ''than diligent preparation of the lessons which the teacher intends to give her pupils ; " and again : " Experience daily proves that an unprepared lesson, or what may be termed ex- tempore teaching, is sure to be vague, diffuse, and shallow; and on the other hand that a well-prepared lesson is generally clear, to the point, and given with spirit and effect." In arranging a plan of in- struction the method is not new. It should still be oral and objective ; it is only the scope which is ex- tended, until the library is drawn upon in the course of the teacher's and pupil's combined interest in in- vestigation. From his entrance to school, the attention of the child has been directed to objects, at first within the schoolroom, and then beyond its walls as his power of observation increases. Methods. Apply the principles of attention to language- exercise of the fourth grade. The universe is one vast object-lesson, and yet teachers ask plaintively, " What shall we teach in language ? Where shall we look for subject-matter ? " Let the teacher first ask herself in what direction her own tastes lead her. What she enjoys she will teach well ; what she does not like she will teach, if she must, per- functorily, and therefore unsuccessfully. The secret of reasonable supervision lies in giving full play to the natural bent and predominating tastes of teach- ers, where they have any ; where they have none, 62 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. and are incapable of inspiration, the case with them is indeed hopeless. As means of development, object-teaching has borne its share in the work of the previous grades. We now consider it as a source of information, the communication of which serves to produce correct speech in both its oral and written forms. When your class come into the fourth grade, dis- cover by experiment what they can do. Illustrate by example their knowledge of punctuation, of the principles of letter-writing, of the correct use of e very-day forms of speech, of abbreviations and capitals. Do not be surprised if they make occa- sional and even frequent blunders ; neither are their elders exempt from error. After the first month of such trial, begin your own course of language-work. Provide each of your pupils with a blank book. Tell them that only the best exercises of the class on any subject will be written therein. Begin with what is common and near at hand. In addition to the animals, plants, vegetables, minerals, which you will take up in the course of your instruction in geography, add to your repertory such familiar ob- jects as the following : pen, candle, match, honey, sealing-wax, pin, ink, paper, milk, coral, ivory, whale- bone, camphor, cork, acorn, needle, bell. Show a lead- pencil and ask of what it is composed. Tell where the lead is found, what other name may be given to it, how it appears when dug from the earth, where the wood of the pencil comes from, of what shape 63 are the trees, what early mention is made of them, how the wood is prepared for use, what different operations are required to prepare the wood for the lead ; split a pencil and show the strips and the groove. Have the statements made in clear, com- pact sentences written on slates, to be transferred to the blank book. A drop of water will lead to re- marks, drawn from pupils if possible, upon its springs and sources, the various kinds and conditions in which it is found, its qualities and uses, the names of the larger bodies, and of such as may be within the personal knowledge of the class. Draw out answers from pupils before giving them information. When those answers are correct let them be written down. When many such statements are made on any one subject, combine those statements into a description, and let that be a weekly exercise, the result to be written in the book. Stimulate the pupil's interest by making him seem to inform you of what you perhaps do not know. Never repress any attempt to talk, however rude or uncouth it may be. Correct, but do not ridicule. Choose the subjects for these daily talks and ex- ercises according to your own taste and familiarity with them. Proceed in all cases from the simple to the more complicated, and begin at home before go- ing abroad. If you take animals, divide them into branches, classes, orders, and families ; mark the differences, as you proceed, of mammals, birds, rep- tiles, and fishes ; show the features certain families 64 HINTS ON LAN(iL'A(iK. have in common ; illustrate traits of character bv anecdotes, and before offering information of your own, draw it from the pupil by questions. Show pic- tures when possible, and make the language-exercise an object-lesson first, a writing-exercise later. Mow- ers, vegetables, minerals, will take their turn in your programme, and be submitted to similar treatment. Suit the description of qualities to the age and de- velopment of your pupils ; use the words opaque, porous, soluble, nutritious, brittle, transparent^ elastic, odorous. Whenever you can, explain those words so that your pupils can apply them correctly the next time they appropriately occur. You will find the fol- lowing words applicable to a piece of refined sugar : white, sweet, sparkling, crystalline, solid, fusible, soluble, shapeless, hard, refined, nutritious, crumb- ling, opaque, vegetable (substance), brittle. There is among them hardly a word that may not be made plain to your pupils by a few words of explanation, nor one that they will not be eager and able to use in describing some other vegetable or mineral substance. Take an interest in what you are teaching, and J o" your class will feel the contagion. You can inspire them to original investigation, and your pupils of Grade V. will acquire a fund of information which grammar scholars of higher grades once failed to possess. The year represented by Grade IV. will best be occupied with simple exercises, in which the pupil's slender fund of knowledge is supplemented ORAL METHODS. 65 by the teacher's larger hoard. As he reaches the fifth grade, inspire him to find out for himself what lies within reach of every schoolboy. Let him bring to school the fruit of his investigation, and the best essay will merit preservation in the blank book ; or, when a subject has been studied, let the teacher ask questions, and the simple answers of the class may be written down as given, or made over into a narrative form. Here are certain questions and answers about the Camel, which may serve as a guide for class work. It is too much to expect a teacher to make a dialogue concerning the objects of an entire year's study ; but suppose that your class have read about the camel, and that each one has acquired some fact which he gives in answer to the teacher's question ; or the teacher may bring an encyclopaedia into school, and, having read to the class about the camel, call for facts in the pupil's own language: 1. Of what is the camel a native ? Ans. Of the desert countries of southwestern Asia, whence it spread over the arid regions of the eastern hemisphere. (What do you mean by " arid " ? ) 2. What is it sometimes called ? Ans. "The Ship of the Desert." 3. Why is it so called ? Ans. Because it carries heavy loads over the desert, where nothing could take its place. (Some precocious child answers : " Where it is the only means of locomotion.") 4. How is it prepared for its life in the desert ? First Ansvver. Its teeth are wonderfully suited for tearing apart and masticating the coarse, dry shrubs on which it feeds. (Question : What do mean hy masticating ? ) 66 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. Strojttf Answer. Its nostrils can be opened or shut at will, and thus the organ of smell, which is very acute, is defended against the hot sand which sweeps over the desert. Third Answer. The toes, except the two forming the foot, are connected by a broad, elastic pad, which buoys the camel up as it moves over the yielding surface of the desert. Fourth Answer. The hump or humps on the camel's back are masses of fat, forming a reserve of nourishment to be used when other supplies fail. (In reply to this statement, which is denied by some authorities, the teacher will tell her class that in a recent war in Afghanistan sixty thousand camels died of starvation and thirst.) Fifth Answer. The stomach contains cells in which water can be stored. 5. Describe the camel. Ans. JOHN. The camel is about eight feet high. MARY. It is of a dark brown or yellowish color. JAMES. It has teeth like a dog. FRANK. The camel chews the cud like the cow. SARAH. It has cushions on its knees, so that it can kneel down to receive its load. Qtiestion. How is the camel taught to kneel ? Ans. The young camel's legs are bent under it every day by its owner, until it kneels when commanded. They are also taught to fast for five or six days at a time, to prepare them for their life on the desert. 6. How heavy a weight can the camel carry ? CHARLES. From five hundred to one thousand pounds. EDWARD. They are expected to carry their load twenty-five miles a day for three days, without water. JENNIE. Some camels can travel fifty miles a day for five days without drinking. PETER. When too heavily laden the camel refuses to rise from its knees, but when on the march it is exceedingly patient, only yielding beneath its load to die. 7. How does the camel meet a storm ? ORAL METHODS. 6/ Ans. When overtaken by the simoon, or sand-storm, it falls upon its knees, and, stretching its neck along the sand, closes its nostrils and remains thus motionless until the air is clear. 8. How is the driver protected at this time ? Ans. The driver crouches behind the camel, wrapped in his mantle. 9. How does the dromedary differ from the camel ? Ans. It is found in Arabia, and lias but one hump. It is much more fleet than the camel, and has finer hair and a more elegant form. It can carry its driver, when necessary, one hundred miles a day. The dromedary is to the camel as a race-horse to a cart-horse. 10. How do we know that the camel was one of the earliest animals subdued by man for his use ? Ans. Because it is mentioned in the oldest records of the human race, six thousand camels forming part of the wealth of Job. The trace of no wild camel has been found, from which the tame species could have been derived, as is the case with all other domestic animals. 11. Is the camel an amiable creature ? Ans. No, it is very vicious and bad-tempered. They often fight with each other. They are so obstinate that they often sink on their knees, and no amount of beating will get them up until they choose to rise. 12. What do they live upon ? Ans. Date leaves, and a kind of cake made of the dates ; beans, and prickly shrubs. 13. What can you say of its milk? Ans. It is a favorite drink, and is often made into butter. Its flesh is cut up and salted for food. 14. What is manufactured from the camel ? Ans. The hair is made into small brushes used by painters. The hide is made into very strong leather. The Arabs shear their camels every summer, and weave the hair into tent-cover- ings and clothing. SUSAN. Mv mother has a camel's-hair shawl. 68 HINTS ON LANGUAGE. 15. How can you show that the camel is a native of the desert ? Ans. Because all camels dislike to cross a stream of water or marshy ground, so that their owners deceive them by spread- ing tent-cloths upon damp ground which they wish them to pass over. 16. What is the motion of a camel? Ans. The camel moves first the legs on the right side, then the two on the left side, giving its body a swaying motion, which causes in people unaccustomed to the motion a feeling like seasickness. Here follow some questions upon the Elephant : 1. What do we notice particularly in the elephant? Ans. The size of the body, the teeth, and the proboscis or trunk. 2. What is the trunk ? Ans. It is a^huge extension of the nose and upper lip, from six to eight feet long, formed of a mass of muscl'es. These muscles number nearly forty thousand. They are so arranged as to produce the greatest possible diversity of motion. 3. What does the end of the trunk contain ? Ans. The end of the trunk contains the two openings of the nostrils by which the elephant breathes when swimming. It fills its trunk with water through these nostrils, and then throws the water into its mouth or over its body. 4. How does the trunk end ? Ans. In something like a finger, of great delicacy of touch. 5. To what may you compare it ? Ans. It forms an organ in many respects like the human hand. The elephant smells with it also. 6. How does the elephant use this finger ? Ans. With it the elephant collects food, discovers snares, and strikes down its enemy. It can also pick up a pin or open a door with its proboscis. 7. From what is the word " trunk" derived? ORAL METHODS. 69 Ans. From a French word meaning trumpet, because the elephant utters through this organ a shrill, trumpet-like sound when enraged. 8. How much does the elephant depend upon its trunk ? Ans. Without it the elephant could not feed itself. It is therefore very cautious in its use. 9. How many teeth has the elephant ? Ans. Two incisors, or tusks, and six molars. As the latter are gradually worn away others appear, and the elephant may be said to be always teething. 10. Of what are the tusks composed ? Ans. Of ivory. They grow during the animal's life, and sometimes weigh two hundred pounds. They are hollow for a part of their length. 11. Of what use are they? Ans. The elephant uses them in fighting, and has thrown a tiger thirty feet into the air with them. They are useful in tearing down trees, upon the leaves of which the elephant feeds. In Ceylon, where the elephant lives on grass, it has no tusks. 12. Has the elephant a large brain? Ans. It is rather small ; but the bones of the skull are very large, in order to support the powerful muscles of the head and trunk. 13. How much does the elephant weigh at full size ? Ans. Fully three tons, and stands eleven feet in height. 14. How long does the elephant live? . Ans. It grows for thirty years, and lives more than one hun- dred. Some have lived one hundred and thirty years in cap- tivity. 15. How does the African differ from the Asiatic elephant? Ans. The ears of the former are very large, completely covering the shoulders when thrown back. They have been known to be three and one half feet in length by two and one half feet wide. The African stands higher, and his tusks are heavier. 1 6. How much ivory is imported ? 7O HINTS ON LANGUAGE. Am. England imports 1,200,000 Ibs. yearly, to obtain which 30,000 animals are killed. Perhaps 100,000 a year supply the entire world. 17. For what has the elephant been used ? Am. By the ancient nations, like the Romans, in war. By the natives of Asia, to drive off invaders. Since fire-arms came into use, elephants are employed to drag heavy cannon and carry baggage. They are also used in India to hunt tigers, the hunters sitting on the elephant's back in an open box, the driver being on the animal's back. 18. How are elephants caught ? Am. They are driven into a large enclosure or corral. The entrance is then walled up, and the elephants rush wildly about, seeking means of escape. After a while they become tired, and tame elephants are let in, bearing a keeper. As the wild elephants mingle freely with the tame ones, they are thrown off their guard, and a rope, one end of which is attached to the neck of a tame elephant, is passed over each leg of the wild animal. It is then securely tied to the trunk of a tree. After a training of two months, in which the tame elephant assists, the captive may be ridden by the owner, and worked in four months. 19. Why are white elephants so valued ? Am. Because they are so rare. In Siam the chief white elephant ranks next the queen, and before the heir apparent to the crown. (Tell your class that in the sixteenth century a war was waged in lower India, in which five kings were slain for the possession of a particular white elephant. Read ac- counts of their habits of bathing in herds, and the exploits of hunters like Gumming.) The pupils of Grades IV. and V. will continue the practice" of letter-writing. They are now prepared to pay some attention to style. Hence Letter- teach the division of the body of the letter Writing. into paragraphs. Show that a change in the thought or subject matter of the letters should LETTER-WRITING. /I be indicated by taking a new line ; mark in some illustration upon the board the place of the first word in the new paragraph. Teach the abbrevia- tions belonging to certain titles or offices. Let the children write imaginary letters, not like Toots to himself, but to personages enjoying titles of office, dignity, rank, etc. Make the style of address con- form to the age, character, or office of the person addressed. Let the class answer advertisements found in newspapers for clerks, teachers, mechanics, artisans, agents, and state in modest terms the qual- ifications possessed by the applicant. Remove from all language-exercises anything cramped and formal, all the etiquette attending the " composition " of higher grades. Let the exercises be fresh while instructive, interesting while beneficial ; invest them with the charm which you endeavor to throw around your work in all branches of study, and, while your pupils will know nothing of technical grammar, they will write a letter or read an essay which will show them to be, like the Emperor Sigismund, " above grammar." On the following pages will be found a list of books of authority on themes suitable for language- exercises, together with the catalogue of a Teachers 1 Consulting Library. BOOKS OF AUTHORITY ON TOPICS SUIT- ABLE FOR LANGUAGE-EXERCISE. All Encyclopaedias. Manual of Object Teaching : Primary Object Lessons : Lessons on Objects : Elementary Instruction : Development Lessons : Object Lessons : Cambridge Information Cards. Fairy Land of Science : Matter and Force : Geological Story : Science Primers. Oral Lessons in Science : Familiar Science ; Child's Book of Nature : Child's Book of Natural History : Natural History : Animal Physiology : Talks with my Boys : 72 Calkins. Sheldon. ?> DeGraff. Walker; Welch. Lee &> Shepard. Buckley. TyndalL Dana. Applet on s. Barnard. Brewer. Hooker. Carll. Harpers. Angell ; Cleland. Mowry. BOOKS OF AUTHORITY. 73 Natural History Series and Manual : Prang Natural History Reader : Glimpses of the Animated World : How Plants Behave : How Plants Grow : Manuals for Teachers : Methods of Teaching : Object Lessons on Human Body : Picture and Word Cards : Word Method in Number : Seven Little Sisters : Geographical Readers : Voices for the Speechless (for memorizing). Memory Gems : Lambert. Little Gems : Potter 6* Ainsworth. Selections for Little Folks : Eldredge 6 Co. Ballads and Lyrics : Lodge. Johonnot. Gray. ?) Eldredge 6 Bro. Swett. Lovell <$* Co. Davis. Sanford. Andrews. Philip. TEACHERS' CONSULTING LIBRARY. Education as a Science : Bain. Art of School Management : Baldwin. Calderwood on Teaching. Early and Infant Education : Currie. School Room Guide : DeGraff. Lectures on Teaching : Fitch. Morals and Manners : Gow. In the School Room : Hart. Errors in the Use of English : Hodgson. School Management : Kellogg. Comenius ; His Life, etc. : Laurie. Talks with Teachers : Mayo. Teacher and Parent : Northend. Science of Education : Ogden. Teacher's Manual : Orcutt. Quincy Methods Illustrated : Patridge. Science and Art of Education : J. Payne. Lectures on Education : School Supervision : W. H. Payne. 74 TKACHKRS CONSl'LTIM; IJ1JKARV. /5 After Kinclergarden, What? Peabody and Mann. Talks with Teachers : Parker. Educational Reformers : Quick. ( hitlines of Psychology : Sully. Philosphy of Education : Tate. Methods of Instruction : Wickers ham. Lectures on Pedagogy : Hailman. Methods of History : Hall. Education : Spencer. Principles and Practice of Teaching \Johonnot. Vocal and Physical Training : Munroe. 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Comprising: (i) Dr. PEABODY'S Address; (2) Mr. TRENCH'S Lecture; (3) Mr. PARRY GWYNNE'S " A Word to the Wise; or, Hints on the Current Improprieties of Expression in Reading and Writing; " (4) Mistakes and Improprieties of Speaking and Writing Corrected. Handbook of Punctuation and other Typographical Matters. For the Use of Printers, Authors, Teachers, and Scholars. By MARSHALL T. BIGELOW, corrector at the University Press, Cambridge, Mass. Handbook of Blunders. Designed to prevent 1,000 common blunders in writing and speaking. By HARLAN H. BALLARD, A.M., principal of Lenox Academy, Lenox, Mass. Broken English. A Frenchman's Struggle in the English Language. Instructive as a handbook of French conversation. By Professor E. C. DUBOIS. Beginnings with the Microscope. A working handbook containing simple instructions in the art and method of using the microscope, and preparing articles for examination. By WALTER P. M ANTON. Field Botany. A Handbook for the Collector. 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HUNT, instructor in gymnastics at Smith (female) College, Northampton, Mass. The Parlor Gardener. A Treatise on the House-Culture of Ornamental Plants. By CORNELIA J. RANDOLPH. With illustrations. Whirlwinds, Cyclones, and Tornadoes. By WILLIAM MORRIS DAVIS, instructor in Harvard College. Illustrated. Practical Boat-Sailing. By DOUGLAS FRAZAR. Classic size, $1.00. With numerous diagrams and illustrations. Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, post- Paid, on receipt of price. LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston, 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DIPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. -JWrZ- YA 00729 984551 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY