The new work of grade IV consisted in the presentation of the formal use
of the dictionary. Many drill lessons were given in connection with
language, reading, and spelling lessons. A good habit has been started.
The children, however, have not become sufficiently familiar with the
dictionary to make the finding of words easy. Much practice in searching
for words needs to be given so that such searching becomes more or less
automatic. They have little need outside of school to use the
dictionary, and there are many matters which the fourth grade teacher
did not have the time to teach, even if the children had been prepared
for it. To give all the drill that is necessary without the work
becoming a burden which the children will approach with little or no
interest will tax the best ingenuity of the teacher.
The fifth grade teacher, therefore, must continue the good work begun in
the fourth grade. She must attempt to make the habit more automatic.
Children must be taught that they have a real need for the dictionary.
The fourth grade was taught the use of the long and the short vowels in
the word. The fifth grade completes this work by presenting the other
sounds of the vowels and the use of the key at the bottom of the page in
every dictionary. This work is presented in Lesson 7. Accompanying this
lesson is a list of words which present some difficulty in
pronunciation. Pupils are asked to look up the pronunciation in the
dictionary. _This should be done under the immediate supervision of the
teacher._ Directions are given the pupil as an aid in fixing this phase
of the work in the memory, _not as a substitute for the teaching_.
Toward the latter part of the year a further phase of the use of the
dictionary is presented. Lesson 145 deals with the subject of finding
the spelling of a word of which the pupil is not quite sure.
Steps in finding the spelling of a word: