The dictionary work of the sixth year aims to establish the dictionary
habit. Lesson 30 is the beginning of the use of the synonym, although
this word is not used in the pupil’s text at this point. This lesson
should be worked out very carefully under the immediate supervision of
the teacher. The formal work on synonyms is presented in the seventh
grade, but this preliminary work is of very great importance.
The rule for forming the plurals of nouns ending in _o_ is given in
Lesson 35, and for nouns ending in _s_, _sh_, _ch_, and _x_, is given in
Lesson 36.
On pages 63 and 64 are presented lessons consisting of words having _i_
before _e_, or _e_ before _i_. After teaching Lessons 45 to 50
inclusive, the words of these lessons should be reviewed as a whole.
Other reviews of them should be frequent enough to be sure that the rule
is fixed in the child’s mind and is being followed. There is no greater
cause for misspelling than the confusion existing because of these two
combinations of letters. Careful teaching at this point means much.
Lessons 51 to 54, inclusive, are exceptions to the rule and should be
carefully noted.
Individual words are constantly occurring which well illustrate the
rules that have been taught. Teachers should not fail to take advantage
of these opportunities in the teaching part of the lesson.