a knight's plume? Can you draw a picture of it on the board for those
who do not know how it looks? Why did knights have shields? Draw a
picture of a shield on the board.
3. Can you draw on the board a picture of a palm tree? Draw an oak or an
apple tree beside it, so that every one will see how a palm tree is
different. Explain your drawings.
4. Which part, or stanza, of the poem do you like best? Read it so that
your classmates may see why you like it.
5. Play that you are Jack Frost. Show the class how you tiptoed into the
room and out again without waking any one. Think of the following
questions, and tell the class what you did last night when all children
were sound asleep:
1. Did you visit more than one home?
2. What did you paint on the windowpanes?
3. Did you paint the same pictures in all houses?
=Memory Exercise.= When you understand every stanza in this poem, read
the whole poem aloud several times. Perhaps the teacher will read with
you, so that you may be sure to read correctly. After a few readings you
will find that you can say the poem without looking at the book. It will
be fun to see which pupils will know it first. But which pupils can
recite it best?[47]
=37. Game=
=Group Exercise.= 1. Did you ever telephone? Make believe that you are
telephoning to a classmate. Hold the make-believe telephone in your
hands and call for the pupil with whom you wish to talk. He will take up
his make-believe telephone and answer you. Ask him some questions.
Listen to what he says. Reply to what he asks. In this way carry on a
conversation with him.
2. The class will listen, and when you have finished talking they will
tell you what they liked and what they did not like in the telephone
conversation. The following questions[15] will help the class to decide
how the talks might have been better:
1. What interesting thing was said by the speakers?
2. Was any poor English used?
3. Were the voices of the speakers pleasant?
4. What might have been said that the speakers did not say?
3. Other pairs of pupils may now telephone. Each pair will of course try
to make their conversation as bright as they can. The class will enjoy
listening to the bright talks.
4. Would it not be a good plan, before going on with this game of
telephoning, for the class to make a telephone directory? All names
beginning with _A_ could be written on one page of a little notebook
that you could make. All names beginning with _B_ would go on another
page. And so it would go on, through the _C's_, the _D's_, the _E's_, to
the end of the alphabet. Then each name could be given a number, just as
in telephone books. Perhaps the teacher will bring a telephone directory
to class and explain it to you.
[Illustration]
5. It might be fun to place in your telephone directory such names as
Jack Frost, Santa Claus, Peter the toymaker's son, Joseph his brother,
Queen Mab, the busy ant, the lazy grasshopper, and some of the Indians
and Eskimos that you have come to know in this book. Then you could
telephone to these. One pupil would be Jack Frost and would always
answer when Jack Frost's number rang. Another would be Santa Claus,
another would be Peter the toymaker's son, another Queen Mab, and so
on.
6. You and your classmates may now have the following conversations
over the make-believe class telephone:
1. A conversation between Queen Mab and Jack Frost about some pupils
in your class
2. A conversation between Peter and Joseph about the lost magic ring
3. A conversation between the ant and the grasshopper in the fable
4. A conversation between an Indian boy and a white boy
5. A conversation between two fairies, one in the woods and one in
Santa Claus's workshop
6. A conversation between a polar bear and a boy hunter (the bear
objects to being hunted)
7. A conversation between an Eskimo girl and a girl in your class
8. A conversation between Santa Claus and the teacher about some
pupils in your class
9. A conversation between two girls about a plan for a good time
next Saturday with which to surprise the class
10. A conversation between two girls about a new dress that one of
them will soon wear to school
=38. Correct Usage--_May_, _Can_=
A mistake that pupils sometimes make is to use the word _can_ when they
mean the word _may_. These two words do not have the same meaning. The
following conversation shows this:
"Mother, can I eat another piece of pie?" once asked a boy at the
dinner table.
"I suppose you can, Tom," replied his mother. "You have teeth to
bite and chew, and there is room in your stomach for another piece.
Yes, I suppose you _can_ eat another piece. But you _may_ not,
because I want to save it for to-morrow."
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Read the following sentences and try to tell the
difference in meaning between _may_ and _can_:
1. I can run faster than you.
2. I can write my name.
3. May I write my name in your notebook? Will you let me?
4. May I run over to George's house, mother?
5. I can do many things.
6. May I read the book Santa Claus gave you?
7. I can read books.
2. Do you see that when you say, "I can do this," you mean, "I am able
to do this"? What do you mean when you say, "May I go to the
moving-picture theater, Mother?" Do you mean, "Will you permit me to
go?"
3. Fill each blank in the sentences below with the right word, _may_ or
_can_:
1. John, ---- you spell _Eskimo_?
2. Father, ---- I go with John to the game?
3. Miss Brown, ---- I change my seat?
4. Miss Brown, ---- you see me when I stand here?
5. Mary, ---- you find that book for me?
6. ---- you touch the ceiling when you are on the chair?
7. ---- I go home at three o'clock, Miss Smith?
8. Miss Smith, ---- I borrow a pencil of Ruth?
9. Miss Smith, ---- you speak French?
10. Miss Smith, ---- I have another sheet of paper?
=Game.= 1. Let the boys write on the board a number of sentences in
which _may_ is used correctly. Then let the girls do the same. Now let
the girls read the boys' sentences. The boys will read those written by
the girls. Who made the fewer mistakes?
2. After all sentences have been corrected (if they need to be
corrected), let the boys read their sentences aloud, and the girls
theirs. The teacher will tell whose reading was the better.
=39. Talking over Plans=
Valentine Day is near at hand. Why could not your class plan a special
good time for that day? Other classes have done it. One plan would be
for pupils to send each other valentines. You could have a post office
right in the schoolroom. One of the pupils could be the postmaster. It
would be the business of the postmaster to see that each valentine went
to the right person.
=Group Exercise.= Make plans with your classmates for Valentine Day.
Think out what should be done and how it should be done. Then stand
before the class and explain your plan. The other pupils will explain
theirs. At last the whole class will choose the one that seems best. The
following questions will help in the making of plans:
1. How shall the class post office be run?
2. Who shall be the class postmaster? What shall he do? Shall there
be letter carriers?
3. Would it be more fun for pupils to send short notes to each
other than valentines bought at the store? Perhaps red-paper
borders could be pasted around the edges of the letters? Some of
the letters might be from Jack Frost, Queen Mab, Peter, and other
friends you have met in this book.
=40. Letter Writing=
First of all, in getting ready for Valentine Day, you will need to learn
how to write letters.
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Who wrote the first of the following letters? How
can you tell? Who wrote the second? To whom is it written? To whom is
the first written?
Dear Jill:
The doctor says that I am perfectly well again. I should like
to go coasting Saturday. Shall we go together? I want to show you
how careful I can be in steering a sled.
Jack
Dear Jack:
My mother will not let me go coasting. I wish you would come
over to my house Saturday. We could write valentine letters
together, to our friends. We could pop some corn too.
Jill
2. Do you see the little mark (:) after the words _Dear Jack_ and _Dear
Jill_ in these two letters? That mark must always[48] be written there
in a letter. Next, do you see how the first line in each letter is
different from the other lines? The first line of a letter must always
begin a little to the right of the other lines. Notice where the name of
the writer of each letter is placed. Is there any mark after it?
=Written Exercise.= 1. In order that you may not forget the points you
have just learned about letter writing, copy Jack's letter to Jill. Then
compare your copy with the letter as it stands in the book, and correct
mistakes.
2. Now read carefully Jill's letter to Jack. Notice once more exactly
how the different parts of the letter are written. Write the letter from
dictation. Then correct what you have written by comparing it with the
letter in the book.
It is well that you now know how to write a letter. There is at this
very time an important letter that needs to be written by you. As you
know, the teacher will soon choose some one in your class to be the
postmaster for Valentine Day. Whom do you want for that position?
Perhaps you would like to be postmaster yourself. Or do you want to be
one of the letter carriers? The next exercise will give you a chance to
tell the teacher.
=Written Exercise.= It would take too much of the teacher's time to
listen to each pupil's opinion about those post-office questions.[49]
Then, too, the teacher might not remember all that each pupil said. So
there is only one thing to do. Each pupil must write his ideas and
wishes in a letter to the teacher. Write your letter, beginning it thus:
Dear Teacher:
Tell in your letter exactly what you would tell the teacher in a private
talk. No one but the teacher will see your letter.[50]
=41. More Letter Writing=
When Valentine Day comes, you will wish to write very good letters to
your classmates. You already know how to write a letter, but it is
another matter to write a bright letter.
Do you remember that boy, Tom, who once dreamed about an owl and an elf?
One day Tom told his mother that his school was planning a special good
time for Valentine Day. "We shall have a post office in our room," he
said. "Everybody is to send everybody else letters."
"What kind of letters are they to be?" asked his mother.
"Well," answered Tom, "each pupil is to write at least one bright letter
about himself. Those who receive the letters have to guess who wrote
them. You see, we do not sign our names."
Tom had already written his letter, and he showed it to his mother. It
was to his best friend, Fred. Here it is:
Dear Fred:
I am four feet three inches tall. I weigh seventy-five pounds.
I like to run and jump. I like to read books, too. I am your best
friend.
Somebody
=Oral Exercise.= What do you think of Tom's letter to Fred? Is it a
bright letter? How does every sentence in it begin? Do you like to have
all the sentences begin the same way?
Tom's mother read the letter. Then she read it again. Then she said,
"Tom, you can do better than that."
Tom was surprised. He thought it was a good letter. "Are there any
mistakes in it?" he asked. "No, there is not a single mistake in it,"
answered his mother. "You have the right mark after the words _Dear
Fred_. You have begun every sentence with a capital letter. You have the
right mark at the end of every sentence. But, Tom, it isn't a bright
letter."
"How shall I make it bright?" asked Tom.
His mother smiled. "Look at the first sentence in your letter," she
said. "It tells that you are four feet three inches tall. How
uninteresting that is! Who cares to know your exact height, down to an
inch! Why not say instead, 'I am a funny little blue-eyed chap with
brown hair all over the top of my head'! Would not that be much brighter
than 'I am four feet three inches tall'? Now look at the next sentence.
It tells that you weigh seventy-five pounds. How uninteresting that is!
Is some one thinking of buying you by the pound, as if you were a little
pig or a calf? Why not say instead, 'I am as round and fat as a ball of
butter'? Look at the third sentence. It says that you like to run and
jump. That is true. You do like to run and jump. But why not tell it in
a bright way? You might have said, 'My brother says I can run like a
deer and jump like a frog.'"
Tom took the letter back and gave a shout. "I see what you mean," he
cried. "I'll write the whole letter over." A little later he showed his
mother the following:
Dear Fred:
I am a funny little blue-eyed chap with brown hair all over the
top of my head. I am as round and fat as a ball of butter. My
brother says I can run like a deer and jump like a frog. My
sister says I am a bookworm. But rather than be a deer or a frog
or a bookworm, I want to be your best friend.
Somebody
=Oral Exercise.= Which of the letters that Tom wrote do you like better?
Can you tell why? Point out bright sentences in his first letter. Point
out interesting sentences in his second letter.
Tom was very much pleased that he had written his letter over. "The next
time I have to write a letter," he said, "I shall write two, and send
the second one."
"That's a good plan," said his mother. "First write the best letter you
can. Then read it over and make it better." Tom began at once to write
more letters for Valentine Day. "It's fun," he said, "and the teacher
told us that we might send more than one if we cared to." He followed
the new plan of writing a first letter, rather rapidly, and then slowly
writing it over and making it better. Then he would throw away the
first. Tom worked more than an hour. At the end of that time he showed
his mother three letters. Here is one, written to a schoolmate named
Marjorie:
Dear Marjorie:
I have two blue eyes and a roof of brown hair. Besides, I have
a nose, a mouth, and two ears. But I must not tell you any more,
or you will guess who I am. My name is short and begins with
_T_.
Somebody
Tom's next letter was written to George, the biggest and strongest boy
in the room. He and Tom were good friends. Probably Tom wrote the letter
in order to have some fun with George. This is it:
Dear George:
I am the boy who can spank you. I think I shall do it soon, if
I feel like it. Better be good when I am near. Of course you know
who I am. My name is short and begins with _T_. Better be good,
George.
Somebody
Tom's mother asked whether this letter might not hurt George's feelings.
"Oh, no," laughed Tom. "He knows that I am only joking. Why, he is so
big and strong, he could spank me, if he wanted to."
Tom's third letter was to a friend whose name was Mary. Tom liked to
tease her. Only a few days before, he had thrown snowballs at her. Here
is the letter:
Dear Mary:
I am the very, _very_ good boy who _never_ teases you. I never
pull your hair. I never throw more than one snowball at you, at
a time.
Somebody
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Which one of the three letters by Tom do you like
best? Read the sentence or sentences in it that you like specially.
2. What plan does Tom follow in writing letters? Why did he decide to
follow this plan?
=42. Still More Letter Writing=
=Written Exercise.= 1. Write a letter for Valentine Day. Write it to one
of your classmates. Have your letter tell about yourself, just as Tom's
told about himself. Sign it _Somebody_, and let the receiver guess who
wrote it. Better write the letter twice. Make the first one as good as
you can, but write it rather rapidly. Then read it over carefully and
make it better wherever you can. Let the second letter be the one you
send.
2. If you would like to write more than one letter, as Tom did, do so;
but it is better to write one very carefully than two or three
carelessly.
Now all the letters should be taken to the class post-office. Each
letter should be folded and should show on the outside the name of the
person to whom it is to go. Perhaps the class postmaster will have a
box for all this mail. In this the letters may be kept until Valentine
Day. On that day the entire mail should be sorted by the postmaster. All
the letters for each row may be placed in a separate pile. The letter
carriers, one for each row, will deliver them.
=43. Improving Letters=
After the Valentine letters have been read, and the writer of each has
been guessed, it will be time to copy some[51] of the letters on the
board for the following exercise.
=Group Exercise.= 1. The first letter on the board should be read
carefully by the class. You and your classmates should tell clearly what
you like and what you do not like in it. The teacher will rewrite it on
the board as the class tells how it can be made better. The following
questions will help in this work:
1. Is the letter as good as it might be?
2. What do you like best in it?
3. Can you tell how it may be made better?
4. What bright thought might be put in the letter?
5. Are there any mistakes in the letter?
2. Other Valentine letters should be studied in the same way.
=44. Study of a Poem=
Our friend Tom, who wrote the bright letter we read a few days ago, was
somewhat careless about putting his things in their proper places.
"I wonder where my cap is," he shouted one morning, just as it was time
to hurry to school.
"Where did you put it?" his mother asked quietly.
"On the hook in the hall," answered Tom.
"Well," said his mother with a smile, "if you are sure you put it there,
Mr. Nobody must have taken it away. Perhaps he threw it on a chair in
the kitchen or on the table in the hall."
And there, to be sure, on a chair or table somewhere in the house, or
even on the floor, the cap was found. Mr. Nobody had put it there.
On another day Tom was unable to find a story-book he had been reading.
"I'm sure I put it back in the bookcase," he said.
"Isn't it there now?" asked his mother.
"No!"
"Then Mr. Nobody must have been reading it," she answered. "He always
forgets to put the books back where they belong. Perhaps he left it on
the lounge, where you were reading last night."
And there, to be sure, in a corner of the lounge, was the lost book.
In Tom's house Mr. Nobody was always doing mischief. He was always
mislaying Tom's things. He was always tearing his books, leaving doors
ajar, and making finger marks on the doors. Now and then he spilled the
ink on Tom's desk. He usually forgot to put Tom's boots where they
belonged. He was so careless and forgetful that he got Tom into trouble
nearly every day.
Does Mr. Nobody visit your house, too? If he does, you will understand
the following poem about him:
MR. NOBODY
I know a funny little man,
As quiet as a mouse,
Who does the mischief that is done
In everybody's house!
There's no one ever sees his face,
And yet we all agree
That every plate we break was cracked
By Mr. Nobody.
'Tis he who always tears our books,
Who leaves the door ajar;
He pulls the buttons from our shirts,
And scatters pins afar;
That squeaking door will always squeak
For, prithee, don't you see,
We leave the oiling to be done
By Mr. Nobody.
He puts damp wood upon the fire,
That kettles cannot boil;
His are the feet that bring in mud,
And all the carpets soil.
The papers always are mislaid,
Who had them last but he?
There's no one tosses them about
But Mr. Nobody.
The finger marks upon the door
By none of us are made;
We never leave the blinds unclosed,
To let the curtains fade.
The ink we never spill, the boots
That lying round you see
Are not our boots; they all belong
To Mr. Nobody.
UNKNOWN
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Read the poem again in order to see which of the
four stanzas you like best. Can you tell why? Look through the poem and
tell all the things that Mr. Nobody does. Which of them has he done at
your house?
2. Did you ever see Mr. Nobody at your house? Do you think you could
catch sight of him if you looked in the mirror? Make believe that you
did see him at your house. Tell your classmates exactly how he
looked.[52]
=Group Exercise.= As each pupil gives the class a picture of Mr. Nobody
the class will say whether this picture looks like the pupil speaking.
Then the class will point out what they liked and what they did not like
in that pupil's way of speaking. These questions will help in this work:
1. Did the pupil stand squarely on both feet, or was he so weak
that he had to hold onto a chair or desk to keep from falling over?
2. Did he speak so clearly that every one in the class could
understand him?
3. Did he make a stop at the end of every sentence and drop his
voice there to show that the sentence was finished?
4. Did he use too many _and's_?
=45. Making a Little Book=
Would it not be pleasant for you and your classmates to make a class
picture book? Perhaps you do not know how to make one. This is the way.
Every pupil writes a few sentences that tell how he looks. These give
the reader a picture of each writer. Then these pictures are all put
together in a little book.
One pupil might write this picture of herself:
I am a short little girl with straight yellow hair, blue eyes, and
red cheeks. My mother says I am always giggling. So my picture
would show my round face covered with smiles.
Another pupil might write as follows:
I am a boy with black hair that is curly, brown eyes, and a long,
thin nose. You would know me by my size, for I am the tallest pupil
in the room.
=Written Exercise.= Write a picture of yourself. Write what will help a
reader to see you as you are. You need not say that you have two eyes,
two ears, two arms, and two legs. But if you have only one leg, or only
one arm, say that. If you wear your hair in two braids, say that.
Perhaps you will write twice, using the first writing as a help for the
improved second writing, as Tom learned to do when he wrote letters.
[Illustration]
=Group Exercise.= 1. When every pupil has finished his picture of
himself, all these should be given to the teacher. Then the teacher will
read one after another aloud, and the class will try to tell whose
picture each one is. You see, this will be like a game. If the class
cannot guess a picture, the teacher will read the name of the writer.
Then the class will explain what should be added to the writing, or
changed in it, so that it may give a true picture of the writer.
2. You and your classmates should now rewrite your pictures, making them
better. After that they should be neatly copied. Then[53] all these
pictures should be fastened together to form a book. A cover should be
made for the book, on which may be written words like these:
+----------------------------------+
| PICTURE BOOK |
| |
| OF THE |
| |
| THE PUPILS OF MISS SMITH'S ROOM |
| |
=46. Correct Usage--_No, Not, Never_=
_I haven't_ means _I have not_
_you don't_ means _you do not_
_he doesn't_ means _he does not_
_never_ means _not ever_
It is a common mistake to use two _not_-words in a sentence when one is
enough. Each of the following sentences is correct. Each contains only
one _not_-word.
1. I have _never_ seen your father.
2. I _haven't_ ever seen your father.
3. I have _no_ money in my pocket.
4. I _haven't_ any money in my pocket.
5. I _don't_ see any mistakes in this example.
6. I see _no_ mistakes in this example.
7. I _don't_ ever go down that street at night.
8. I _never_ go down that street at night.
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Point out the _not_-word in each of the eight
sentences above. Are there any sentences there that need another
_not_-word? Do you see that the second sentence is only another way of
saying the first? Which sentence do you like better, the first or the
second? The third or the fourth? The fifth or the sixth? The seventh or
the eighth?
2. Say each of the following sentences in another way without changing
the meaning:
1. I haven't any ink.
2. He has no book.
3. She hasn't any paper, and I haven't a pencil.
4. I have no ticket.
5. My father doesn't do any work on Saturday.
6. My father does not play any kind of instrument.
7. Haven't you ever seen a circus?
8. I have no pocketknife.
9. I haven't seen a ball game this year.
10. He had no money to spend.
=Game.= A pupil, who may be called _John_, is sent from the room. The
teacher gives a flower, a piece of colored paper, a thermometer, or some
other object that is not usually found in pupils' desks, to a member of
the class. Then John is told that he may return.
TEACHER: John, some one in this room has a flower (or whatever the
object may be) in his desk. Try to guess whose desk it is. You may
ask any of your classmates whether they have it.
JOHN (to a classmate): Have you that flower in your desk?
THE CLASSMATE (if he does not have it): I have no flower in my desk
(or, I haven't any flower in my desk).
THE CLASSMATE (if he has it): I have it in my desk. Here it is.
[Illustration]
=47. Telling Interesting Things=