[Illustration: A PICTURE STORY--PARTS 1 AND 2]
[Illustration: A PICTURE STORY--PARTS 3 AND 4]
BEGINNERS' BOOK IN LANGUAGE
A BOOK FOR THE THIRD GRADE
BY
H. JESCHKE
JOINT AUTHOR OF "ORAL AND WRITTEN ENGLISH"
BOOK ONE AND BOOK TWO
GINN AND COMPANY
BOSTON - NEW YORK - CHICAGO - LONDON
ATLANTA - DALLAS - COLUMBUS - SAN FRANCISCO
* * * * *
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY GINN AND COMPANY
ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
622.1
The Athenæum Press
GINN AND COMPANY - PROPRIETORS
BOSTON - U.S.A.
* * * * *
PREFACE
How shall we bring it about that children of the third grade speak as
spontaneously in the schoolroom as they do on the playground when the
game is in full swing?
How shall we banish their schoolroom timidity and self-consciousness?
How shall we obtain from them a ready flow of thought expressed in
fitting words?
How shall we interest them in the improvement of their speech?
How shall we inoculate them against common errors in English?
How shall we displace with natural, correct, and pointed written
expression the lifeless school composition of the past, the laborious
production of which was of exceedingly doubtful educational value and
gave pleasure neither to child nor to teacher?
These are some of the questions to which this new textbook for the third
grade aims to give constructive answers. Needless to say, much more is
required in the way of answer than a supply of raw material for language
work or a graded sequence of formal lessons in primary English.
It is the purpose of the present book to provide a series of schoolroom
situations, so built up as to give pupils delightful experiences in
speaking and writing good English. Since one can no more teach without
the interest of the pupil than see without light, these situations have
for their content the natural interests of children. They therefore
include child life and the heroic aspects of mature life, fairies and
fairyland, and the outer world, particularly animal life. Then, each
situation is considerably extended, not only that interest may be
conserved but also that it may be cumulative. Instead of the rope of
sand that one finds in the textbook of unrelated assignments, there is
offered here an interwoven unity of nearly a dozen inclusive groups of
interrelated lessons, exercises, drills, and games. Among these groups
are the fairy group, the Indian group, the fable group, the valentine
group, and the circus group.
These groups or situations call for much physical activity, pantomime,
dramatization. They provide for story-telling of great variety; for
instruction and practice in punctuation, capitalization, and other
points of form; for habit-creating drills in good English; for
correct-usage games; for simple letter writing; for novel exercises in
book making; and, second in importance to none of these, for the
improvement by the pupils themselves of their oral and written
composition,--all the work being socialized and otherwise variously
motivated from beginning to end.
Careful experiments made with children of the third grade while these
lessons were still in manuscript insure that the book will produce the
desired results under ordinary school conditions. Very exceptional work
may be expected where teachers conscientiously read the entire book at
the beginning of the school year and enter into the spirit of it. That
they may do this with the least expenditure of time and energy, the
lessons have been provided with cross references and numerous notes.
THE AUTHOR
CONTENTS
SECTION PAGE
1. Study of a Picture Story 1
2. Story-Telling 3
3. Making Stories Better 4
4. Study of a Poem. "Queen Mab" _Thomas Hood_ 6
5. Story-Telling 9
6. Correct Usage--_Saw_ 11
7. Study of a Fable. "The Ants and the Grasshoppers" _Æsop_ 13
8. Telling a Fable 18
9. Making up Fables 19
10. Correct Usage--_Saw_, _Seen_ 21
11. Words sometimes Mispronounced 23
12. More Making up of Fables 24
13. Story-Telling 26
14. Telling about Indians. "An Indian Boy's Training"
_Charles A. Eastman_ 28
15. Studying Words 33
16. More Telling about Indians 35
17. Still More Telling about Indians 38
18. Correct Usage--_Have_ 40
19. The Names of the Months 41
20. Making Riddles 44
21. Correct Usage--_Did_, _Done_ 45
22. Telling Fairy Stories. "Peter and the Strange Little Old Man" 47
23. Study of a Poem. "The Fairy Folk" _Robert M. Bird_
"A Child's Song" _William Allingham_ 52
24. More Telling of Fairy Stories. "Peter Visits the Strange
Little Old Man's Workshop" 56
25. Making Riddles 65
26. Making Riddles Better 65
27. Study of a Poem. "The Light-Hearted Fairy" _Unknown_ 68
28. Correct Usage--_Rang_, _Sang_, _Drank_ 70
29. Making up Fairy Stories 72
30. Writing Dates 74
31. Telling Interesting Things 75
32. Story-Telling. "Jack and Jill" _Louisa M. Alcott_ 76
33. Explaining Things 80
34. Words sometimes Mispronounced 81
35. Telling Interesting Things. "How the Eskimo builds his
House" 82
36. Study of a Poem. "Jack Frost" _Gabriel Setoun_ 87
37. Game 90
38. Correct Usage--_May_, _Can_ 92
39. Talking over Plans 94
40. Letter Writing 95
41. More Letter Writing 97
42. Still More Letter Writing 102
43. Improving Letters 103
44. Study of a Poem. "Mr. Nobody" _Unknown_ 104
45. Making a Little Book 107
46. Correct Usage--_No_, _Not_, _Never_ 109
47. Telling Interesting Things 111
48. Study of a Picture Story 114
49. Correct Usage--_Went_, _Saw_, _Came_, _Did_ 119
50. Two Punctuation Marks 120
51. Another Study of a Picture Story 121
52. Letter Writing 123
53. Words sometimes Mispronounced 124
54. Story-Telling. "The Daughter of Ceres" 125
55. Telling Interesting Things. "The Return of Spring" 131
56. Story-Telling. "Ceres and Apollo" 133
57. Correct Usage--_I am not_ 141
58. Riddles 141
59. Story-Telling. "Ceres and Pluto" 144
60. Talking over Plans 150
61. Letter Writing 152
62. Addressing Letters 153
63. Telling Interesting Things 155
64. Making Riddles 158
65. Telling about Wild Animals 159
66. Making a Little Book 162
67. Correct Usage--_Good_, _Well_ 163
68. Talking over the Telephone 165
69. Words sometimes Mispronounced 166
70. Talking over Vacation Plans 166
NOTES TO THE TEACHER i
INDEX xiii
BEGINNERS' BOOK IN LANGUAGE[A]
=1. Study of a Picture Story[1]=
The four pictures at the beginning of this book tell a story. It is
about a boy of your age. His name is Tom. Let us try to read that
picture story. Perhaps you have already done so. Perhaps you have
already found out what happened to Tom.
=Oral Exercise.=[2] 1. Look at the first of the four pictures. What is
happening?
Perhaps the owl thinks that the little man is a little animal. Perhaps
the owl wants to eat him for supper. What might the owl say if it could
talk? Say it as if you were the owl.
You know, of course, that the little man is an elf. And of course he
does not want to be eaten. What is he doing? Call for help as if you
were an elf. Remember that the owl is after you. Call with all your
might. Call as if you were frightened.
[A] NOTE TO TEACHER. Immediately preceding the Index are the
Notes to the Teacher. Cross references to these are given in the
text, as on the present page. Note 1 may be found on the page
that follows page 168.
See the surprised look on Tom's face. Play that you are picking flowers
in a meadow. Suddenly you hear a call for help. Show the class how you
look up and about you to see what is the matter. What might you say when
you notice the owl and the elf?
2. Look at the brave boy in the second picture. He has dropped his
flowers and run over to the elf. What is he doing? What is he shouting?
Do these things as if you were Tom in this picture.
Play this part of the story with two classmates.
3. The good elf has taken Tom to a wonderful tree in the woods. What do
you think he is saying to Tom? Should you be a little afraid to open the
door if you were Tom? Why? What questions might Tom ask before he opens
it?
Play that you and a classmate are Tom and the elf in the third picture,
standing in front of the door in the tree. Talk together as they
probably talked together. Some of your classmates may be other elves,
peeking out from behind large trees.
4. Just as Tom reached out his hand to open the door in the tree, what
do you think happened? Look at the sleepy but surprised boy in the
fourth picture. Why is he surprised?
Play that you are Tom. Show the class how you would look as you awoke
from the exciting dream.[3] What should you probably say?
Play this part of the story with a classmate. The classmate plays that
she is the mother. What do you think the mother is saying to Tom? What
might Tom answer?
5. Now you and several classmates will wish to play the entire story.[4]
Then it will be fun to see others[5] play it in their way. Perhaps these
will play it better. Each group of pupils playing the story tries to
show exactly what happened, by what the players say and do and by the
way they look.
=2. Story-Telling=
Tom awoke just as he was opening the door in the tree. We do not know
what would have happened next. Perhaps there was a stairway behind the
door. Perhaps this led to a beautiful garden in which were flowers of
many colors and singing birds. We do not know whom Tom might have met in
that garden. We do not know what might have happened there.
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Play that you are Tom. Tell the class your dream. But
make believe that you did not wake up just as you were opening the door.
Tell your classmates what happened to you after you opened it.
Perhaps you found yourself in a room that was full of elves. Perhaps the
king of the elves was there. How did he show that he was glad that you
had saved the life of one of his elves? What did he say? Did the elves
clap their hands? Did they play games with you in the woods?
Or perhaps the room was full of playthings, like a large toystore.
Perhaps the elf told you to choose and take home what you wanted most.
As you and your classmates tell the dream, it will be fun to see how
different the endings are.
2. It may be that the teacher will ask you and some classmates to play
the best dream story that is told. The first part of it you have already
played. Play it over with the new ending. The pupil who added this may
tell his classmates how to play it. Should he not be one of the players?
He will know, better than any one else, exactly what should be said and
done.[6]
=3. Making Stories Better[7]=
On the morning when Tom awoke from his dream he found his mother at his
bedside. The first thing he did was to tell her his strange dream. This
is what he said:
Mother, I dreamed about a door. It was in the trunk of a tree. A
kind elf showed it to me. I drove away a wicked owl that was trying
to carry the elf away.
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Do you think that Tom told his dream very well? Did
he begin at the beginning or at the end of it? Did he leave anything
out?
2. Does Tom's story tell what he was doing when he first saw the elf?
Does it tell how the elf looked?[8] How might Tom have begun his story?
3. Does Tom's story tell how he drove the owl away? What might Tom have
said about this? Look at the second picture of the story and see what it
tells.
4. Tom's story says nothing about going into the woods. It does not tell
what was written on the strange door. Look again at the third picture.
What does it tell you that Tom left out?
* * * * *
The questions you have been answering are much like the questions that
Tom's mother asked him. When he answered them, Tom saw that he had not
told his dream very well.
"I left out some of the most interesting things," Tom said, as he
thought it over on his way to school.
A few days after this, Tom's teacher asked the pupils whether they
remembered any of their dreams. Tom raised his hand. The teacher asked
him to tell his dream. This is what he told his classmates:
I dreamed that I was picking flowers. The sun was shining, and the
meadow was beautiful. Suddenly I heard a cry. Some one was calling
for help. I turned and saw a big owl. Its claws were spread out. It
was trying to get hold of a little elf and carry him away.
I ran to help the elf. The owl flew up in the air. I waved my arms
and shouted and frightened it away.
The good elf said that I had saved his life. He led me into the
woods where there were very large trees. In the side of one of the
largest I saw a little door. OPEN ME AND STEP IN was written on it.
At first I was afraid to go near the door. But the good little elf
told me to fear nothing. Just as I reached out my hand to open the
door, I awoke.
=Oral Exercise.= Did Tom tell the class the same dream he told his
mother? Read again what he told her. Now point out where he made it
better. What did he add? Which additions do you like most?
=4. Study of a Poem=
Some say that one of the fairies brings the dreams. They say that it is
Queen Mab, a queen of the fairies, who brings them. The following poem
tells about this good fairy, who flutters down from the moon. It tells
how she waves her silver wand above the heads of boys and girls when
they are asleep. Then, at once, they begin to dream. They dream of the
pleasantest things. They dream of delicious fruit trees and bubbling
fountains. Sometimes, like Tom, they dream of an elf or a dwarf who
leads them over fairy hills to fairyland itself.[9]
QUEEN MAB
A little fairy comes at night,
Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown,
With silver spots upon her wings,
And from the moon she flutters down.
She has a little silver wand,
And when a good child goes to bed,
She waves her wand from right to left
And makes a circle round its head.
And then it dreams of pleasant things,
Of fountains filled with fairy fish,
Of trees that bear delicious fruit
And bow their branches at a wish,
Of pretty dwarfs to show the ways
Through fairy hills and fairy dales.
THOMAS HOOD (Abridged)[10]
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Let us make sure that we understand this poem. Find
the following words in it and tell what you think each one means:[11]
flutters
wand
circle
fountains
delicious
branches
dwarfs
dales
2. Have you ever read about fairies? Tell the class how you think a
fairy looks. If you tell it well, you may draw on the board with colored
chalk your picture of a fairy. Explain your picture to the class.
[Illustration]
3. Play that you are holding a wand in your hand. Wave it as you think
the fairy waved it round the head of a sleeping child.
=Written Exercise.= Copy that part of the poem which you like best. Copy
all the little marks that you find. Write capital letters where you find
them. Every line of the poem begins with a capital letter. Perhaps you
can do this copying without making a mistake.[12]
=Memory Exercise.=[13] Read the poem aloud over and over until you can
say it without looking at the book. Then stand before the class and
recite it. If you make a mistake, you must take your seat. The pupil who
saw your mistake may then recite the poem.
=5. Story-Telling=
=Oral Exercise.= Think of some dreams you have had. Choose the one that
the class would probably like to hear most, but not one that will take
long to tell. Explain to the class how the dream began, what came next,
what after that, and how it ended.
If you cannot remember any dream, make up one. It may be that you can
make up one that will be more wonderful than any real dream of your
classmates.[14] But do not make it too long.
=Group Exercise.=[15] After you have told your dream, your classmates
will point out what they liked in the story itself and in your way of
telling it. Then they will explain to you how you might have told it
better. Perhaps, like Tom, you left out many interesting little points.
=Oral Exercise.= Make believe you dreamed that, as you were on your way
to school one morning, you came upon a big elephant standing on the
sidewalk. Tell the class what you did in your dream and how you got to
school.
Or play you dreamed that a smiling elf met you on your way to
school. He gave you a pretty box. He told you to open it when you
reached the schoolroom. Tell your classmates what you found in it.
Or make believe you dreamed that a lion came into the school. Tell the
class what you did. Were you and the teacher the only brave ones in the
room? Tell what some of your classmates did in your dream.
Or play you dreamed that you found a gold coin in the schoolyard. When
you could not learn who the owner was, you made a plan for spending the
money for the school. Tell the class about this plan.
Perhaps the teacher will ask you and the other pupils to play some of
these dream stories, if they are very interesting.
=Written Exercise.= 1. The teacher will write on the board one or more
of the stories told by you and the other pupils.[16] The class will read
them carefully and point out where each could be made better.[17] Copy
one that the teacher has rewritten. The next exercise, which you may
read at once, will tell you why you should do this copying without
making mistakes.
2. Now the teacher will cover with a map the story on the board that you
have copied, and will read it to you, while you write it again.[18] This
exercise will show whether you can write a story without making any
mistakes. You will need to know where to put capital letters and the
little marks that are placed at the ends of sentences. Besides, you will
need to know the spelling of words.
3. Compare what you have written with what is on the board. Look for
three things:
(1) Capital letters
(2) The mark at the end of each sentence
(3) The spelling of words
Did you have everything right? If not, correct the mistakes you made.
=6. Correct Usage--_Saw_=
Some pupils use the word _seen_ when they should use _saw_. Mistakes of
this kind spoil stories, just as a song is spoiled when some one sings
wrong notes. Let us begin to get rid of these unpleasant mistakes by
learning how to use the word _saw_ correctly.[19]
=Oral Exercise.= The word _saw_ is used correctly in the three sentences
that follow. Read these sentences aloud several times.
1. Tom said he saw an owl in his dream.
2. I saw a pretty dollhouse in my dream last night.
3. I dreamed that I saw a beautiful yellow bird sitting on a fruit
tree and singing.
=Game.= Let all the pupils, except one, play that they have fallen
asleep. When they have closed their eyes and rested their heads on their
folded arms, the one pupil who plays that she is Queen Mab tiptoes up
and down between the rows of seats. With a fairy wand she makes a circle
round several heads. Then the fairy disappears, the class wakes up, and
each pupil who has had a dream tells his classmates the most interesting
one thing that he saw in it. Thus, one pupil might say:
I saw an elf. He was sitting in front of the door of his
tree-house. He was making a toy for a little boy.
Another pupil might say:
I saw a dwarf. He was riding over the fruit-tree tops. He was on
the back of a beautiful eagle.
Another might say:
I saw an owl. It had big, round, shiny eyes. It looked at me, but I
was not afraid.
Still another might say:
I saw a fine white horse. It had a golden harness. A brave soldier
sat on its back.
Each pupil begins with the words _I saw_ and tries to say something
that is very different from what his classmates say they dreamed, and
much more wonderful.[20]
=7. Study of a Fable=
=Oral Exercise.= Did you ever read the story or fable of the ants and
the grasshoppers? Read it carefully as it is told on this and the next
pages. See whether you can tell your classmates the lesson that it
teaches.
[Illustration]
THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPERS
In a field one summer day some ants were busily at work. They were
carrying grain into their storehouses. As they plodded steadily to
and fro under their loads, they were watched by a number of
grasshoppers. The grasshoppers were not working. Instead, they were
sunning themselves by the roadside. Now and then these idle
fellows droned out a lazy song, or joined in a dance, or amused
themselves by making fun of the ants. But the ants were tireless
workers. They kept steadily on. Nothing could take their minds off
their business.
"Why don't you come with us and have some fun?" at last called one
of the grasshoppers to the ants.
"Oh, stop that work," another cried. "Come and have a good time, as
we are doing!"
But the ants kept right on with their work.
"Winter is coming," said an ant. He was busily pushing a rich grain
of wheat before him. "We need to get ready for the days when we can
gather no food. You had better do the same."
"Ah, let winter take care of itself," the grasshoppers shouted, all
together. "We have enough to eat to-day. We are not going to worry
about to-morrow."
But the ants kept on with their work. The grasshoppers kept on with
their play.
When winter came, the grasshoppers had no food. One after another
they died. At last only one was left. Sick with hunger, he went to
the house of an ant and knocked at the door.
"Dear ant," he began, "will you not help a poor fellow who has
nothing to eat?"
The ant looked him over a few seconds. "So it is you, is it? As I
remember, you are the lazy fellow who did not believe in work. I do
not care to have anything to do with you." And he turned his back
on the lazy fellow.
Sadly the grasshopper made his way to another door and knocked
again.
"You have nothing to eat?" cried the ant that lived here, in great
surprise. "Tell me, what were you doing while the weather was warm?
Did you lay nothing by?"
"No," replied the grasshopper. "I felt so happy and gay that I did
nothing but dance and sing."
"Well, then," answered the ant, "you will have to dance and sing
now, as best you can. We ants never borrow. We ants never lend."
And he showed the lazy fellow out of the place.
The hungry grasshopper dragged himself to a third house.
"I am sorry," said the ant that opened the door. "I can spare you
nothing. All that I have I need for my own family. If you spent the
summer without working, you will have to spend the winter without
eating." And he shut the door in the grasshopper's face.--ÆSOP
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Show the class how you would carry a heavy load.
Play that a bag of wheat stood before you. Lift it from the ground,
balance it on one of your shoulders, walk with it across the room, and
set it carefully down in the corner. Then go back for another, and
another. Let several classmates do the same.
2. Play that you and several classmates are the ants in the fable,
busily carrying loads from the field to the storehouses. What might you
ants be saying to each other while you work? Should you speak of the
sunny day, of the pleasant field, of the fun of working together? Should
you probably speak of the pleasure of seeing the grain pile up in the
storehouses? Should you be thinking, now and then, of the long, cold
winter ahead? What might you say about it? What might you say to each
other as you pass the grasshoppers loafing by the roadside?
3. Show the class how you would walk about if you had nothing to do all
day long. Would your walk be brisk? Should you look wide-awake? Play
that you and several classmates are the grasshoppers in the fable. What
will you do? Will you walk lazily to and fro before the class, one of
you twanging a guitar, another singing, and the third dancing about?
What might you grasshoppers be saying to each other about the weather?
What might you say about the busy ants you see passing by with loads on
their backs? What might you say about the coming winter?
4. Play the part of the fable that tells what happened in the summer.
First the ants will be seen at their work. They talk with each other as
they work. They say what they think about the lazy grasshoppers they see
in the distance. Now the grasshoppers slowly come along, humming tunes.
They talk about the beautiful summer. They laugh at the hard-working
ants. At last they call to the ants and invite these to join them in a
dance or in a song. Read the fable to see what each thinks and says and
does in this part of the story.
5. Now play that winter has come. You and several classmates may be the
grasshoppers. You are shivering in the cold and have no food to eat.
Remember, you grasshoppers are not singing and dancing now. What might
you say to each other about the summer that is gone? One grasshopper
dies of hunger. What might the others say? Another dies. What does the
last one say to himself and decide to do?
6. Can you see the last grasshopper going from house to house, begging
for food? How does he look? Show the class how he walks and how he
talks. What does he say at each door?
7. With three classmates, that will be the three ants, play the last
part of the fable,--the part in which the last grasshopper goes from
door to door. The fable tells what each ant says and does.
8. Another group of pupils may now play the whole story. Let them do it
in their own way.[5] If the story is played well, the class will see
everything as it happened.
=8. Telling a Fable=
The fable of the ants and the grasshoppers may be told in different
ways.[21] You could tell it as if you were one of the ants. In that case
the story might begin in this way:
I am a busy ant. I really have no time to stop to talk with you.
But perhaps a few minutes' rest will do me good. Yes, I will tell
you about the grasshoppers.
One day last summer I noticed some of these good-for-nothing
fellows near the field where I was working. They were sunning
themselves by the roadside. They were too lazy to work.
Or you could tell the fable as if you were one of the grasshoppers. Then
it would perhaps begin as follows:
I am a grasshopper. I had a hard time last winter. All my
companions died then. I think it is wonderful that I am still
alive. But my health has been ruined.
You see, last summer we grasshoppers did not feel like doing any
work. We thought it was more fun to dance and sing and to laugh at
the ants. We thought they were foolish to work so hard.
=Oral Exercise.= Tell the fable of the ants and the grasshoppers in your
own way. As you speak to your classmates, shall you play that you are an
ant or a grasshopper?
=Group Exercise.= As each pupil tells the fable, the class will listen
to see whether any important parts have been left out. The class should
tell each speaker where he did well and where the fable might have been
told better. There is a good way and a poor way of telling a story. Do
you not remember the two ways in which Tom told his dream?
=9. Making up Fables=
As you know, the fable of the ants and the grasshoppers teaches the
lesson that during worktime one should work. The same lesson could be
taught by other stories. Let us try to make up a fable of our own. Our
fable should show what happens to those who will not work.
=Oral Exercise.= 1. What animals shall we have in our story to take the
place of the ants? They must be very busy animals. They must be good
workers. They must not waste their time in idleness. They must not play
when they should be going about their business. Would bees do? Now, what
animals shall take the place of the grasshoppers? What do you think of
butterflies for this part?
2. Make up a fable about bees and butterflies and tell it to your
classmates. Will you tell it as if you were one of the bees? Or will you
be a butterfly? Or will you tell the fable as if you were a bird or a
field mouse that saw all that happened and heard all that was said?
=Group Exercise.= After each telling of the fable you and the other
pupils should tell the story-teller, first, what things in his story you
liked, and, second, what could be made better.
Sometimes pupils do not speak loud enough for the class to hear.
Sometimes they do not seem strong enough to stand squarely on their two
feet while they are speaking. They seem to need to hold on to a chair or
table, so as not to fall. Those who stand well and speak with a clear,
ringing voice should be praised for it by their classmates.[22]
=Oral Exercise.= Read the following ideas for stories. Perhaps you can
make up a story from one of them that the class would like to hear.
Perhaps you can make up a very interesting story that the class would
like to play.
1. There are two dogs living in neighboring houses. One is too lazy to
watch his master's house. The other is faithful. When a burglar comes,
the faithful dog drives him away. Then the burglar enters the neighbor's
house. There he finds the lazy watchdog fast asleep. What happens next
morning when the master of each dog learns what took place during the
night?
2. The billboards say that a circus is coming. In a month it will be in
a certain city where two boys live. These two boys plan to go. They need
to earn the money for the tickets. One of them begins at once and works
steadily. The other is unwilling to give up his play.
=10. Correct Usage--_Saw_, _Seen_=
Some time ago we began to learn about the correct use of the word _saw_.
Some pupils use _saw_ when only _seen_ is correct, and _seen_ when only
_saw_ is correct. The following sentences show the correct use of these
two troublesome words:
1. I _saw_ some ants busily at work.
2. _Have_ you _seen_ them?
3. Have you ever _seen_ a grasshopper at work?
4. I never _saw_ one.
5. But I _have_ often _seen_ ants at work.
6. _Has_ your brother _seen_ the ant hill in the field?
=Oral Exercise.= 1. In any of the sentences above do you find _saw_ used
with _have_ or _has_? Do you find _seen_ used in any sentence without
_have_ or _has_? Can you make a rule for the use of _saw_ and _seen_?
2. Using what you have just learned about _saw_ and _seen_, fill the
blanks below with the correct one of the two words:
1. The grasshoppers ---- the ants, and the ants ---- them.
2. I have ---- many ants and many grasshoppers.
3. Has any one ever ---- this grasshopper doing any work?
4. I once ---- two ants carrying a heavy grain of wheat together.
5. I ---- them at work.
6. Have you ---- the ants carrying grain this summer?
7. My brother once ---- a beehive.
8. He ---- hundreds of bees.
9. I have never ---- butterflies gathering food for the winter.
=Game.= 1. The teacher sends one of the class from the room. The
remaining pupils close their eyes. The teacher tiptoes to one of them
and shows him a pencil (or a book or a cap) belonging to the pupil in
the hall. When that one returns to the room, he asks each of his
classmates in turn, "George (or Fred or Mary), have you seen my pencil?"
The answer is, "No, Tom (or Lucy or John), I have not seen your pencil,"
until at last the pupil is reached who has seen it. He answers, "Yes,
Tom, I have seen it."
Then he in turn leaves the room, and another round of the game begins.
2. The teacher points to one pupil after another and asks each, "What
did you see on your way to school?" The answers come:
1. I saw many children all going in the same direction.
2. I saw a poster of the circus that is coming to town next week.
3. I saw a farmer driving a cow.
4. I saw a policeman.
Each answer begins with the words _I saw_. After half a dozen pupils
have spoken, the one who gave the most interesting reply[23] takes the
teacher's place. He asks his classmates a question beginning with the
words _What did you see?_ He might say:
1. What did you see at church last Sunday?
2. What did you see when you visited your grandfather?
3. What did you see when you went to the woods?
After half a dozen answers, another pupil becomes the questioner. Each
pupil tries to ask interesting questions and to give interesting
answers.[20]
=11. Words sometimes Mispronounced=
It often happens that a story is spoiled because the person who tells
it makes mistakes in English. It is as unpleasant to hear a mistake in a
speaker's language as it is to see a spot on a picture. You have already
learned the proper use of _saw_ and _seen_. In this lesson we shall take
up another matter. Sometimes pupils do not pronounce all their words
correctly. We must get rid of mistakes of this kind, too.
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Pronounce each word in the following list as your
teacher pronounces it to you:
can
catch
just
when
where
why
what
which
while
often
three
because
2. Read the entire list rapidly, but speak each word distinctly and
correctly.
3. Use in sentences the words in the list above.
=12. More Making up of Fables=
Of course you have heard the fable of the foolish little chick. That
chick paid no attention to its mother's warning to stay near her. You
probably remember that it boldly wandered away from her and was caught
by a hawk.
=Oral Exercise.= 1. If there are any pupils in the class who do not know
the fable of the foolish chick, some pupil who remembers it clearly
should tell it to them, so that all may know it. What is the lesson of
that fable?
2. Make up a short fable like the one of the careless chick and the
hawk. Read the following list of ideas for such a fable. Perhaps it will
help you to make up an interesting story to tell the class. Perhaps the
class will wish to play your story.
The Foolish Lamb and the Wolf
The Bear Cub and the Bear Trap
The Heedless Puppy and the Automobile
The Reckless Mouse and the Cat
[Illustration]
=Group Exercise.= The teacher will write on the board the best of the
fables that you and your classmates make. Then you and they may try to
improve these fables, as Tom improved the story of his dream. Make each
one as interesting as you can.[24] Think of bright things to add to each
one.
=Written Exercise.= Copy from the board one of the fables that the class
has improved. Write capital letters and punctuation marks where you find
them in the fable. What you write should be an exact copy of what is on
the board.[25] Do you think that there is any one in the class who can
make such an exact copy? Are you that one?
=13. Story-Telling=
=Oral Exercise.= Did you ever see a sign with the words SAFETY FIRST?
Explain to your classmates what you think it meant.
The three pictures on the opposite page tell three stories. Each story
teaches the lesson, "Safety First."
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Make up a story that you and your classmates may
play. Let it fit one of the three pictures. Tell it to the class.
2. Together with two or three classmates, whom you may choose yourself,
play your story. Perhaps you and the other players will meet before or
after school, and then you can tell them how each one must look, what he
must do, and what he must say, in playing his part. Try to do it all
without the teacher, but if you need the teacher's help, ask for it.
Play the story once or twice before playing it in the presence of the
class.
=Group Exercise.= Other pupils will play their stories. The class will
tell what it likes and what it does not like in the playing of each
story. These questions will help to show whether a story was well
played:
1. Did the players say enough?
2. Did the players speak clearly, distinctly, and loud enough?
3. Did the players look and act like the persons in the story?
4. How might the story have been played better?
[Illustration: SAFETY FIRST]
=14. Telling about Indians[26]=
[Illustration]
Long ago there were no cities and no railroads in our country. The white
men had not yet come. Only Indians lived here. As you probably know,
their houses were tents made of skins. They had no guns, but hunted with
bows and arrows. Their clothes were very different from those we wear.
=Oral Exercise.= 1. You have probably read or heard interesting things
about the Indians. What can you tell your classmates about them?
2. Of course you know that Indian children were not sent to school as
you are. They did not learn to read books. Do you know what they did
learn? Tell the class what you know about it.
3. Read what an Indian says in the following true story. When this
Indian boy grew to be a young man, he learned English. He has written a
number of books about his boyhood. As you read what follows, notice how
many things you are told which you never heard of before. Perhaps you
had thought that little Indian boys were never afraid of the dark. This
story tells how they get over it. What else does it tell that is
interesting to you?
AN INDIAN BOY'S TRAINING[B]
My uncle was my teacher until I reached the age of fifteen years.
He was strict and good. When I left the tepee in the morning, he
would say: "Boy, look closely at everything you see." At evening,
on my return, he used to question me for an hour or so.
He asked me to name all the new birds that I had seen during the
day. I would name them according to the color, or the shape of the
bill, or their song, or their nest, or anything about the bird that
I had noticed. Then he would tell me the correct name.
One day he told me what to do if a bear or a wild-cat should attack
me. "You must make the animal fully understand that you have seen
him and know what he is planning to do. If you are not ready for a
battle, that is, if you are not armed, the only way to make him
turn away from you is to take a long, sharp-pointed pole for a
spear and rush toward him. No wild beast will face this unless he
is cornered and already wounded."
[B] Copyright, 1913, by Little, Brown and Company.
[Illustration: KNIFE IN ITS BEADED CASE]
When I was still a very small boy, my stern teacher began to give
sudden war whoops over my head in the morning while I was sound
asleep. He expected me to leap up without fear, grasp my bow and
arrows or my knife, and give a shrill whoop in reply. If I was
sleepy or startled and hardly knew what I was about, he would laugh
at me and say that I would never become a warrior. Often he would
shoot off his gun just outside the tepee while I was yet asleep, at
the same time giving bloodcurdling yells. After a time I became
used to this.
My uncle used to send me off after water when we camped after dark
in a strange place. Perhaps the country was full of wild beasts.
There might be scouts from warlike bands of Indians hiding in that
very neighborhood.
Yet I never objected, for that would have shown cowardice. I picked
my way through the woods, dipped my pail in the water, and hurried
back. I was always careful to make as little noise as a cat. Being
only a boy, I could feel my heart leap at every crackling of a dry
twig or distant hooting of an owl. At last I reached the tepee.
Then my uncle would perhaps say, "Ah, my boy, you are a thorough
warrior." Then he would empty the pail, and order me to go a second
time.
Imagine how I felt! But I wished to be a brave man as much as a
white boy desires to be a great lawyer or even President of the
United States. Silently I would take the pail and again make the
dangerous journey through the dark.--CHARLES A. EASTMAN (OHIYESA),
"Indian Child Life" (Adapted)
[Illustration: INDIAN ARROWS]
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Play that you are an Indian boy or girl. Make
believe that you are walking through the dark woods. Remember, there may
be wild beasts in the woods, or the scouts of warlike Indian bands. Show
the class how you would walk and how you would look about you as you
picked your way to a spring to fetch water for the camp. Tell the class
what you might see and hear on this dangerous trip.
[Illustration: A TEPEE]
2. Now let three or four of your classmates be white boys and girls.
They are passing carefully through the same woods. Let these white
children show the class exactly how they would make their way through
the woods. What might they be whispering to each other?
3. Play that suddenly you and the white hunters meet in these dangerous
woods. At first you see them a little distance away. What do you try to
do? But they have also seen you. What do they try to do? At length you
find that they are friendly, and they see that they need not fear you.
When you meet them, what might you say to them? What questions might you
ask them? What might they ask you?
4. Make believe that the white boys and girls know very little about
Indian boys, and that they wonder why you are not in school studying
your lessons. What will you tell them? When they ask you whether you
never learn anything, tell them what you have learned in the woods.
5. Now tell them that you know nothing about the schools to which white
children go. Ask them to tell you why they go to school and what they do
there. Ask them more questions until they have told you all about their
school.
=15. Studying Words=
When the first white men who came to this country met the Indians, they
learned from them some new words. The white men used these Indian words
more and more. To-day we think of the words as English words, and we
have almost forgotten where we got them. In talking about Indians we
shall need these words. Let us learn them at once. Then we shall make
no mistakes when we use them.
[Illustration: STONE HATCHET]
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Listen carefully as the teacher pronounces each word
in this list of Indian words. Then pronounce it the same way. Then read
the entire list distinctly and rapidly without making a single mistake.
tepee
squaw
wampum
hominy
toboggan
wigwam
papoose
moccasin
tomahawk
tobacco
2. Which of these words do you already know? Make sentences using each
of these to show that you know what they mean. Learn the meaning of the
others and then use them in sentences.
=Group Exercise.= With each of the Indian words in the list make one
interesting sentence. This the teacher will write on the board. Then the
entire class will make it as much better as possible. The teacher will
write the improved sentence on the board under the other one. Thus, with
the first word in the list, you might give this sentence:
The hunter saw a tepee.
The class tries to make the sentence more interesting. At last the
following sentence is seen on the board:
The brave Indian hunter saw a large new tepee in the woods.
=16. More Telling about Indians=
One way of starting fire was for several of the boys to sit in a
circle and, one after another, to rub two pieces of dry, spongy
wood together until the wood caught fire.--CHARLES A. EASTMAN
(Ohiyesa), "Indian Child Life"
[Illustration: FLINT KNIVES]
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Do you know in what kind of houses the Indians
lived? Explain to the class how large you think an Indian house was, how
it was made, and what kind of door it had. If you can, draw on the board
a picture of the tepee about which you are talking.
2. In which of the following questions are you interested most? You
probably know something about it already. Learn as much more as you can.
Ask your teacher and your father and mother, and try to find something
about it in books. Then tell your classmates what you know. If you can
draw on the board[26] a picture of the thing about which you are
talking, it may help your classmates to understand you better. Or you
may make a drawing on paper with colored crayons.
1. What sort of boat did Indians use and how did they make it?
2. What did the Indians wear?
3. How were the Indian babies taken care of?
4. What did the Indians use for money?
5. How are the Indians of to-day different from the Indians whom
the first white men saw?
=Group Exercise.= 1. After each pupil's talk the class should explain to
the speaker, first, what they liked in the talk, and, second, how the
talk might have been better.
2. One of these talks the teacher will write on the board.[16] Then the
whole class should study it together, improving it as much as possible.
The following questions may help in this work:
1. Is anything important left out?
2. What could be added to make the talk more interesting?
=Written Exercise.= 1. When the talk that you have just been studying
has been rewritten on the board in its improved form, copy it. Before
doing so, read the exercise that follows. It will show you why it is
very important that you try to copy the talk without making a single
mistake. Look out for the spelling of words, for the capital letters,
and for the punctuation marks. In this way you will be preparing for the
battle in the next exercise.
2. The entire class may now be divided into two Indian tribes. The
tribes are to have a battle in the schoolroom. The battle will be a
writing battle. It will show which tribe can write from dictation[18]
with the fewer mistakes. What you have just copied from the board is to
be used for this dictation. Before the exercise begins, each tribe may
give its war whoop.
[Illustration: WALKING STICKS USED BY THE OLD MEN OF A TRIBE]
3. Compare what you have written with what is on the board.[12] How many
mistakes in spelling have you made? How many times have you written
small letters where there should be capitals? How many punctuation
marks have you forgotten? How many mistakes have all the Indians in your
tribe made? Did your tribe make fewer mistakes than the other tribe?
Then your tribe may give its war whoop as a sign of victory. The losing
tribe must remain silent.
=17. Still More Telling about Indians=
What boy would not be an Indian for a while when he thinks of the
freest life in the world? This life was mine. Every day there was a
real hunt.--CHARLES A. EASTMAN (OHIYESA), "Indian Child Life"
=Oral Exercise.= 1. What did Indian boys and girls enjoy that you do not
have? What pleasant things do you enjoy that the Indian children had
never heard of before the white men came to this country?
2. Make believe that you are an Indian boy or girl. Play that you have
been asked by the teacher to visit the school. The teacher asks you to
tell about your pleasant life in a tepee in the woods, and why you are
glad you are an Indian. The teacher will meet you at the door, lead you
before the class, and say something like this:
Boys and girls, I want to introduce you to our visitor. As you see,
he is an Indian boy, who has come to us from his home in the
woods. He will tell us why he likes the Indian life and why he
would not exchange places with us.
What will you say to the class?
[Illustration: BARK WIGWAM WITH CURVED ROOF]
3. Now play that the class is a tribe of Indians. You have been
captured by them as you were wandering through the woods.[27] They want
you to live with them and to grow up with the Indian boys and girls.
Stand before this Indian tribe. Tell them bravely why you would rather
stay with the white men. Ask them to let you return to your home. Give
good reasons why they should do so. Which of the following ideas will
you use in your talk?
1. You would rather spend your life in the city than in the woods.
2. You like the white men's houses and ways of living better than
those of the Indians.
3. You want to learn to read better so that you may enjoy many
storybooks of which you have heard.
=18. Correct Usage--_Have_[28]=
A game that Indians often played was called "Finding the Moccasin." The
players formed a circle around one who stood in the center and was "it."
They passed a small toy moccasin quickly from hand to hand. The one in
the center tried to guess who had it. If he guessed right, then the
player who had the moccasin became "it" for the next game.
[Illustration: MOCCASINS]
=Game.= Make believe that you and your classmates are a band of Indians
playing "Finding the Moccasin." Make a small moccasin of paper or cloth.
Pass it quickly from hand to hand as you stand in a circle. Be careful
that the player in the center does not see you passing it. He will ask
one after another in the circle, "Have you the moccasin?" The answer
will always be, "No, I haven't (or have not) the moccasin," until the
one who does have it answers, "Yes, I have the moccasin." Then this
player is "it" for the next game.
=19. The Names of the Months=
Here are two lists of names. The second gives the Indian names for the
months. As you see, the Indians use the word _moon_ instead of the word
_month_.
January Snow Moon
February Hunger Moon
March Crow Moon
April Wild-Goose Moon
May Planting Moon
June Strawberry Moon
July Thunder Moon
August Green-Corn Moon
September Hunting Moon
October Falling-Leaf Moon
November Ice-Forming Moon
December Long-Night Moon
=Oral Exercise.= 1. As you read the two lists above, do you see the
reason for each Indian name? Do you like the Indian names as well as the
names we use? Which Indian name do you like best of all? Which do you
think could be improved? Can you make up other names for the twelve
months?[29]
2. Can you name the twelve months in order? Remember to pronounce all
the _r's_ in _February_.
3. Let twelve pupils be the twelve months. Let the pupil who is January
speak first. He should tell who he is and what he brings. He might speak
as follows:
I am January. The Indians call me Snow Moon. I bring cold weather,
ice, and snow. Healthy boys and girls like me. When I am here, they
can go coasting and skating. When I bring too much cold, they stay
indoors by the fire and read books about Indians.
[Illustration: INDIAN SLED, OR TOBOGGAN]
In this way each of the twelve pupils may tell the class what kind of
month he is.
=Group Exercise.= After each month has spoken, the class should tell
him, first, what was specially good in his talk, and then, what might
have been better. These questions will help the class to see how good
each talk was:
1. What was the best thing in the talk?
2. Did the speaker leave out anything interesting?
3. Did he use too many _and's_?[30]