To arouse the children's interest and thus to make the reading of this
story most valuable as a school exercise, it is suggested that at the
outset the children be allowed to look at the pictures in the book in
order to get acquainted with "Menie" and "Monnie" and with the scenes
illustrating their home life and surroundings.
During the reading, point out the North Pole, Greenland, etc., on a map
of the world or on a globe, and tell the children something about the
many years of effort before Peary succeeded in reaching his goal; also
about the work of subsequent explorers in this part of the world, and
around the South Pole as well. Thus this supplementary reading material
may be connected with the work in geography.
The text is so simply written that the second grade child can read it
without much or any preparation. It may be well to have the children
read it first in a study period in order to work out the pronunciation
of the more difficult words. But many classes will be able to read it
at sight, without the preparatory study. The possibilities in the story
for dramatization and for language and constructive work will be
immediately apparent.
In connection with the reading of the book, teachers should tell to the
children stories describing Eskimo life, and the experiences of
explorers and pioneers in the North. Grenfell's Adrift on an Ice-Pan is
suitable, for example. Holbrook's Northland Heroes and Schultz's
Sinopah, the Indian Boy, while not belonging to the land of the
Eskimos, contain stories of allied interest. Let the children bring to
class pictures of scenes in the North, clipped from magazines and
newspapers.
The unique illustrations in The Eskimo Twins should be much used, both
in the reading of the story and in other ways. Children will enjoy
sketching some of them; their simple treatment makes them especially
useful for this purpose.
The book is printed on paper which will take watercolor well, and where
the books are individually owned some of the sketches could be used for
coloring in flat washes. They also afford suggestions for action
sketching by the children.
An excellent oral language exercise would be for the children, after
they have read the story, to take turns telling the story from the
illustrations; and a good composition exercise would be for each child
to select the illustration that he would like to write upon, make a
sketch of it, and write the story in his own words.
These are only a few of the many ways that will occur to resourceful
teachers for making the book a valuable as well as an enjoyable
exercise in reading.