Like the author's earlier books--"The Dutch Twins" and "The Japanese
Twins"--this reader aims to foster a kindly feeling and a deserved
respect for a country whose children have come to form a numerous
portion of our own population.
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 "Larry" and "Eileen" and with the scenes
illustrating their home life and surroundings.
During the reading, point out Ireland on a map of the world or on a
globe, and tell the children something about the unique character of the
country, thus connecting this supplementary reading material with the
work in geography.
The text is so simply written that any fourth or fifth grade child can
read it without much preparation. In the fourth grade 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. In the fifth grade the
children can usually read it at sight, without the preparatory study.
Give little attention to the expressions in dialect. Let the children
read them naturally and they will enhance the dramatic effect of the
story. The possibilities in the story for dramatisation and for
language and constructive work will be immediately apparent.
In connection with the reading of the book, teachers should read or tell
to the children stories of Irish life and from Irish folk-lore; for
example, "The Story of the Little Rid Hin," "The Dagda's Harp," and "The
Tailor and the Three Beasts," in Sara Cone Bryant's _Stories to Tell to
Children_; and "Billy Beg and his Bull," in the same author's _How to
Tell Stories to Children_. Material which may readily be adapted to
this use will be found in Johnston and Spencer's _Ireland's Story_. Let
the children bring to class postcards and other pictures of scenes in
Ireland.
The unique illustrations in "The Irish 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 water colour well, and
where books are individually owned some of the sketches could be used
for colouring 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.