ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges OF Agriculture and Home Economics AT Cornell University Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013047323 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HISTORY NUMBER 4 SCIENTIFIC DETERMINATION OF THE CONTENT OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COURSE IN READING BY WILLIS LEMON UHL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION MADISON 1921 HnU OfnUegc of Agriculture %t (StOtmll UnitJCtBlts Jlibrarg UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HISTORY NUMBER 4 SCIENTIFIC DETERMINATION OF THE CONTENT OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COURSE IN READING BY WILLIS LEMON UHL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION MADISON 1921 A. U. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Introductory Statement 5 II. Method, Procedure, and Character of the Data 8 III. General Results of the First and Second Question- naires — ^Widely Used Reading Selectipns 24 IV. The Qualities of Reading Selections 36 V. The Elimination of Undesirable Reading Selec- tions 60 VI. The Detection of Superior Reading Selections.... 77 VII. Informational Material for the Course in Reading 90 VIII. The Relation of Reading Selections to the Grading in Various Schools 102 IX. The Placement of Reading Selections 108 X. Summary and Conclusions 147 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT Elementary school reading has been criticized adversely on several grounds. (1) It has been said that the content is too limited in many courses of study. (2) It is said that material which is over-mature in content and form is attempted, thus entailing the expenditure of much time in analysis and explanation. It is alleged in this connection that a more care- ful grading would enable the pupils to read and to enjoy more material than is now read. (3) The over-maturity of con- tent and the consequent need for explanation render silent reading difficult if not impossible. (4) Many selections are read and re-read or presented in different versions. This pro- cedure, it is held, leads not only to a waste of time but also to a loss of interest of pupils. (5) It is said that many series of readers are compiled with a view to giving drill upon certain difficulties or exemplifying literary forms, and that readers thus organized provide much material which is unde- sirable for school use. Such criticisms together with a desire to remedy existing conditions led to the present investigation. Purpose of the Present Investigation The series of investigations reported in the following chap- ters was undertaken, therefore, for the purpose of studying the content of elementary school reading courses and with a view to formulating plans for improving it. This general pur- pose includes three minor ones, each of which will be consid- ered in detail : first, the elimination of unsuitable reading ma- terial ; second, the detection of superior reading material ; and, third, the accurate placement of this superior material. The Outcomes of Elementary School Reading Inasmuch as the course in reading is a part of the necessary training of students in all other school courses, instruction in the art of reading leads to a wide variety of outcomes. The 6 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES following formulation of outcomes is presented in anticipation of analyses of reading material now in use and the comments of teachers and pupils upon this material. This formulation is introduced here because the determination of the content itself depends largely upon the character of the desirable out- comes. 1. Mastery of the Mechanics of Reading. The mastery of the mechanics of reading includes (1) the automatization of rapid word recognition in oral and silent reading and the correct pronunciation of words occurring singly or in pas- sages; (2) the development of expressional processes such as proper inflection, pitch, and tone; (3) the development of skill in different kinds of reading, as careful reading, cursory read- ing, and reading for purposes of reference; (4) the enlarge- ment of the reading vocabulary so as to include the ability to read (a) informational non-literary material such as news- papers, popular science books, easy biography and travel, and first-year high school books, and (b) belles lettres. 2. Ability in Interpretation. Ability in interpretation includes the ability (1) to understand the content of passages read; (2) to analyze what is read; (3) to select the points of interest in reading matter; (4) to assume the author's point of view; and (5) to apply the content to situations other than those presented in the material read. 3. The Development of General Culture. This general outcome includes (1) the cultivation of ability to' enjoy what is read; (2) training in further pursuance of thoughts sug- gested by the selections read; (3) an acquaintance with a va- riety of literature — (a) literary masterpieces to be enjoyed and to serve as standards of literary taste and (b) informa- tional literature dealing with current affairs, scientific inven- tions, biography, etc. ; and (4) practice in dealing with prob- lems involving nature, interesting action, character study, mo- rality, and other social matters. Means for Attaining the Outcomes 1. Means for Attaining Mastery of the Mechanics of Reading. In the lowest grades, readers have been care- INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT 7 fully constructed so that each lesson presents only a few new words. Certain readers are criticized for restricting too great- ly their content in order to ensure a simple vocabulary. Other readers, when offering more varied and interesting content, are criticized for presenting too many new words in each lesson. In order to avoid both difficulties, cumulative stories provid- ing drill have more recently been used. Drill upon the ex- pressional factors of reading greatly influenced the content of older readers ; teachers even now refer to certain selections as contributing especially to the development of effective oral expression. The development of skill in silent reading re- quires that a large amount of material of different types be provided. A closely related demand calls for a variety of ma- terial for practice in careful reading, cursory reading, and read- ing for purposes of consultation. 2. Means for Developing Ability in Interpretation. The development of ability in interpretation requires content which presents problems, interesting situations, or points of view pro- viding opportunities for the activity of pupils in selecting, ana- lyzing, and making applications. The selection entitled The King of the Golden River is an example of material which offers training in these aspects of interpretation. When this story is used in the later grades, the activities of the characters are within the pupils' understanding, and, after analytical study, are found to exemplify the author's attitude toward such traits as selfishness, adventure, and kindness. 3. Means for the Development of General Culture. Gen- eral culture requires ( 1 ) selections embodying qualities which add to pupils' interests ; (2) selections having a wide range of application; (3) selections possessing literary merit; (4) se- lections containing interesting information; (5) selections in which there are opportunities to apply the content so as to ra- tionalize emotions toward moral situations, and selections por- traying social situations which foster (a) the discussion of such qualities as faithfulness, kindness, and sympathy, or (b) cooperative activities such as dramatization and constructive work, and (c) selections which suggest other interesting prob- lems. CHAPTER II METHOD, PROCEDURE, AND CHARACTER OF THE DATA Up to the present time, several methods of selecting subject matter for the elementary school course in reading have been followed. A method commonly used is that in which the com- piler of a series of readers chooses the content upon the basis of personal interests and standards of value. A similar method is that in which a city superintendent in cooperation with one or more teachers selects material upon the basis of its apparent interest and worth and the teaching value as de- termined by ordinary experience in a single school or in a few schools. Another method is that employed by persons who have carefully tried out for a period of years a large number of reading selections with a view to selecting the most suc- cessful ones. The published statements accompanying the various readers now in use imply that one of these methods or a combination of them has been followed. Definite formu- lations of standards do not appear to have been made. These empirical methods by their emphasis upon certain reading selections and the gradual rejection and elimination of others have led to a rough standardization of reading ma- terial. The criticisms at the beginning of Chapter I show, however, that limitations in the application of these methods exist. One limitation is the tendency to overemphasize sub- ject matter, instead of giving sufiScient consideration to the interests and maturity of pupils. Criticisms of the results of using these methods show that data from a large number of school systems are needed in order to formulate legitimate standards for choosing reading material. These data should indicate (1) the range of selections now in use; (2) the degree of success of these selections; and (3) the reasons for success or lack of success. METHOD, PROCEDITRE AND CHARACTER 9 The Method of This Investigation. Two methods have been followed in this investigation: first, reactions have been obtained directly from teachers and pupils upon selections read in school ; and, second, these reactions have been studied with a view to formulating plans for selecting and standardizing the material of the reading course. Instead of accepting the judgments of a few teachers or of experts more or less closely associated with teaching, we have thus drawn upon the ex- perience of a representative number of teachers actively en- gaged in administering the reading course. From them we have learned what material is now in use and also their judg- ments of the success of this material. The Procedure. The following outline shows the form of procedure followed in obtaining the reactions from teachers and pupils to reading matter : 1. Reactions to basal reading matter. a. From teachers. Questionnaire I: Analytical questions on the content of basal readers. Questionnaire II: Classified lists of titles of selections sent to teachers for their comments. b. From pupils. Representative selections presented directly to pupils. Pupils' interest in the selections measured by asking them to state whether they liked or disliked each se- lection and why. Pupils' comprehension of the selections measured by questions on the selections read. 2. Reactions to new informational l iterature. a. PYom teachers. Questionnaire sent to teachers who. had used this liter- ature. b. From pupils. Informational selections presented to pupils with the reqiiest that they state whether they liked or disliked them and why. Character of the Data (1) Teachers' Judgments on Standard Selections. Ques- tionnaire I. An attempt was made so to present the first questionnaire that teachers would judge both the grading and the general character of the selections reported on. In order 10 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES to keep the teachers within the bounds of their actual experi- ence and yet give them a fairly free hand in naming selec- tions, they were asked to report on the readers most used in their grades. The questionnaire follows : To the Teacher: Fill out the blanks carefully. Return to Super- intendent's office by October 10th. City School Grade Name the one reader used most frequently in your grade Name selections in this reader which prove most successful for use in your grade as outlined below. Name the selection more than once if necessary. 1. Name two selections which pupils ask to re-read most. What reasons do they give for their choice? a. Title Reason for choice b. Title Reason for choice 2. Name two selections which the pupils discuss most enthusi- astically. Name the point of special interest in each. a. Title Point of Interest b. Title Point of interest 3. Name the selection most effective in stimulating pupils to do Independent thinking. Give reason. Title Reason Name the selections in this reader proving most unsatisfactory for your use in your grade as outlined below. 1. Name two selections which your pupils say they dislike. What reasons do they give? ft. Title Reason for dislike b. Title Reason for dislike 2. Name two selections about which you are unable to provoke discussion. State cause of difficulty. a. Title Cause of difficulty b. Title Cause of difficulty 3. Name one selection which the pupils cannot understand be- cause the content is too mature. 4. Name the selection with which you secure poorest results. Why? Title Reason for choice Signature This questionnaire was sent in September, 1915, to cities the superintendents of which had previously indicated a will- ingness to cooperate in the investigation. These cities were selected as representative of conditions in the country as a METHOD, PROCEDURE AND CHARACTER - 11 whole.^ The superintendents were asked to distribute cards bearing the questionnaire to teachers upon whose judgment in such matters reHance could be placed. Replies were received from 2,253 teachers from 80 cities located in 25 states and the District of Columbia. Table I shows the number and distri- bution of teachers responding for each grade. TABLE I. THE RESPONSES TO THE FIRST QUESTIONNAIRE. The Number and Distribution of Cities From Which Responses Were Receivi!d and of Teachers Who Responded Grades I Cities 40 Teachers . . . 184 The following copy of one of the teachers' responses is a fair sample of the returns (Baldwin and Bender Reader, Grade V) : 1. Two selections -whicli the pupils ask to re-read most. The Sportsman. — They like to play or act it. The Finding of Mabon. — Because it is about knights. 2. Two selections which the pupils discuss most enthusiastically, together with the point of special interest in each. The Story of Bucephalus. — ^Alexander's success. The Choosing of Oreyfell. — Testing the horses. II 75 III 72 IV 80 V 67 VI 55 VII 70 VIII 68 Total 80 361 327 376 327 185 261 232 2253 1. The fonowlng cities took part In the first questionnaire: Akron, C; Altoona, Pa.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Athens, O. ; Bangor, Me.; Battle Creek, Mich.; Brockton, Mass.; Burlington, la.; Butte, Mont.; Calumet, Mich.; Canton, O.; Cedar Rapids, la.; Charleston. S. C; Cincinnati, C; Cleveland, O. ; Clinton, Mass.; Columbus, Ga. ; Columbus, O. ; Creston, la.; Davenport, la.; Decatur, 111.; Des Moines, la.; Dubuque, la.; East Chi- cago, Ind. ; Elgin, 111.; Blmlra, N. T.; Erie, N. T.; Evansville, Ind.; Flint, Mich.; Hammond, Ind.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Holland, Mich.; Huntington, Ind.; Hutchinson, Kans. ; Iowa City, la.; Indiana Harbor, Ind.; Jack- son, Mich.; Jamestown, N. T.; Johnstown, Pa.; Joplin, Mo.; Kingston, N. T.; Lafayette, Ind.; Lancaster, Pa.; Lansing, Mich.; La Salle, 111.; Lewlston, Me.; Lexington, Ky. ; Logansport, Ind.; Louisville, Ky.; Manchester, N. H.; Marquette, Mich.; Minneapolis, Minn,; Mishawaka, Ind.; Montclair, N. J.; Muncie, Ind.; Muskegon, Mich.; New Britain, Conn.; Newton, Mass.; Niagara Falls, N. T.; North Platte, Neb.; Ogden, Utah; Phoenix, Ariz.; Port Huron, Mich.; Pueblo, Colo.; Reno, Nev.; Richmond, Ind.; Rochester, N. T.; Saginaw, (Bast and West) Mich.; St. Joseph, Mo.; South Bend, Ind.; Spokane, Wash.; Springfield, O.; Springfield, Mass.; Syracuse, N. T.; Topeka, Kans.; Troy, N. T.; Vln- cennes, Ind.; Wallingford, Conn.; Washington, D. C; and Wichita, Kans. 12 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES 3. The selection which is most effective in stimulating inde- pendent thinliing. Who Is the Happiest Mant — ^Moral lessons must be reached by the children's own thought. 4. The selection which is most satisfactory from every point of view. The Finding of Mabon. — Good moral lesson, interesting, and children like to play it. 1. Two selections which the pupils say they dislilce and their reasons. Elizabeth Eliza's Piano. — Stupid people. The Kettle and the Cricket. — Not enough action. 2. Two selections about which discussion cannot be provoked. A Happy Boy and His Playmate. — Too simple for this grade. The Kettle and the Cricket. — Children do not understand it. 3. One selection which cannot be understood on account of over- maturity of thought. Not any. 4. Name the selection with which you secure the poorest results. Eyes and No Eyes. — Speeches too long and not enough char- acter. After the returns from the first questionnaire had been tabulated, it was found that many standard selections had been named by large numbers of teachers. The questions were so worded, however, that selections with outstanding good or bad qualities were most likely to be mentioned. Also, the men- tioning of a selection depended upon its occurrence in a reader. Consequently, many standard selections were mentioned only a few times. In order to obtain more judgments on these standard selections, and judgments of many teachers of each of the successive grades on the same material, another ques- tionnaire was prepared. Questionnaire II. The second questionnaire, which was sent in February, 1917, was based largely on the results of the first. It consisted of titles of selections arranged in lists of about fifty for each of the eight grades. In order to obtaia a uniform terminology, a descriptive list of desirable and un- desirable terms used in the responses to Questionnaire I was included with the directions for judging the selections. The choice of selections to be submitted in the second ques- tionnaire was determined on the basis of several considera- METHOD, PROCEDURE AND CHARACTER 13 tions. Although close agreement existed in Questionnaire I upon some selections, there was either disagreement or a pau- city of responses upon other widely used selections. The sec- ond questionnaire was planned with a view to obtaining (1) confirmatory evidence upon certain selections which the earlier questionnaire had indicated as either desirable or undesirable — the lists were not as representative of inferior as of superior selections; (2) more ample comments upon selections regard- ing which the responses to Questionnaire I were divided ; and (3) judgments upon standard selections which were seldom or never mentioned in Questionnaire I. The descriptive list of qualities together with other directions was as follows : DIRECTIONS FOR JUDGING READING SELECTIONS 1. On the folio-wing page is a list of selections which are -widely used in your grade. The Committee on Economy of Time is desirous of securing the judgments of a large number of teachers with refer- ence to each selection. 2. Rank, by numbering from one to fifteen in order of merit, the fifteen selections which you regard as being the best ones for use in your grade. Do this independently of the following work. 3. Below is a list of qualities which are to be used by you in giving your estimate of each of the selections. (You -will need to ■write only the Italicized part of the quality.) 4. Below each selection with which you are familiar -write the names of qualities which you consider as being uppermost in the selection. Be as specific as possible. When you name more than one quality in describing a single selection name the most im- portant quality first. 6. On the back of the next sheet make more detailed analyses of two selections with reference to your own grade. Use the selec- tion which the pupils like best and the one which they dislike most. In these analyses use the following terms or other ones to designate the qualities which make the selections desirable or undesirable for your grade. Return the sheet by March 10. Keep this sheet. DESIBABLE QnAIJTIES 1. Interesting because of humor; variety of style or of material; dramatic, that is, exciting; interesting action, though not exciting; interesting repetition as in tales for lower grades; portrayal of home life or child life; personification; interesting people described or taking part in the action; interesting problems for class discus- 14 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES sion; or because the story Is well told. (State which of these qual ities makes the selection interesting to your pupils.) 2. Within grasp because of the familiar subject matter, the dic- tion, the form of expression, or easy content. (State which.) 3. A story of adventure, knighthood, romance, or heroism. (Stat* which.) 4. A valuable lesson for your grade because it cultivates expres- sion in oral reading; enlarges vocabulary by giving new words which are within grasp of the pupil; stimulates thought on account of interesting information or character study; presents good moral teaching; imagination stimulated. (State which.) 5. Rhythm or rhyme particularly attractive or because your pupiia like rhythm or rhyme. (State which.) 6. Festival element as in Christmas selections. 7. Nature — the selection is good for use in nature study. 8. Dramatization — appropriate for dramatizing. 9. AnimMl play or about animals. (State which.) 10. Fairy element, magic, or supernatural. (State which.) 11. Faithfulness, kindness, or sympathy portrayed. (State which. ) Undesirable Qualities 1. Too mature because of hard words, hard or unfamiliar subject matter, too abstract material, hard symbolism. (State which.) 2. Uninteresting because it has no story; too much repetition; is too long; not well told; unreal; too childish; monotonous; because poetry is disliked by your pupils; pupils are tired of it; scrappy, not enough of the story is told; characters disliked; or too didactic. (State which.) 3. Moral teaching bad or moral too obvious. (State which.) 4. Too sad or too depressing for pupils to enjoy. (State which.) The second questionnaire was sent to the cities which had cooperated in the first. Replies were received from 741 teach- ers in 49 cities located in 16 states and the District of Colum- bia. The following table shows the number and distribution of replies : TABLE II. THE RESPONSES TO THE SECOND QUESTIONNAIRE The Numbeb and Disteibution or Cities Fbom Which Responses Were Received and of Teachers Who Responded Grades I Cities 46 Teachers .... 95 II III IV V VI VII VIII Total 48 47 46 48 43 44 46 49 98 93 93 100 87 87 88 741 METHOD, PROCEDURE AND CHARACTER 15 In spite of the heavy demands made by this questionnaire, it was carefully treated by the teachers who responded. A large number of teachers copied th^ lists of selections to give themselves space for detailed comments on each selection. The most elaborate report consisted of eighteen pages of typewrit- ten material ; the briefest contained short comments on at least ten or twelve selections. The following copy of one of the reports shows the character of the most common typ"e of re- sponses (Grade II) : SELECTIONS Lamiikin Rohinson Crusoe Hans in Luck Town Mouse and Field Mouse Piping Down the Valleys Wild The Hare and the Tortoise Sleeping Beauty Who Has Seen the Wind? I Saw a Ship OrSailing Phaethon The Bell of Atri The Three Bears Little Red Riding Hood The Magpie's Lesson Dick Whittington and His Cat The Three Little Pigs Androclus and the Lion East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon The Old Woman Who Found a Sixpence COMMENTS Dramatic, interesting repetition, personi- fication. Interesting problems, imagination, adven- ture, nature. Interesting humor, cultivates expression. Within grasp, familiar subject matter, about animals. Hard symbolism. Dramatization, good morals. Imagination, nature. Easy content, rhythm. Child life, cultivates expression. Imagination, good moral, character study. Cultivates expression, kindness, good moral. Personification, dramatization. Imagina- tion. Dramatic, personification, imagination. About nature, cultivates expression. Adventure, character study, good moral. Dramatic, interesting repetition, personi- fication, dramatization. Stimulates thought, interesting informa- tion, faithfulness, about animals. Fairy element, good moral. Interesting repetition, interesting action, easy content. 16 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES The Flag The Bremen Band Eluge Else Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse The Fox and the Crow The Pied Piper of Hamelin Senny Penny The Swing (Stevenson) My Shadow The Ugly Duckling Sweet and Low The Village Blacksmith How Mrs. White Hen Helped Rose Cinderella Belling the Cat The Little Red Hen Three Billy Goats Oruff Billy Binks The Oolden Touch Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp The Ant and the Grasshopper The Doll's Thanksgiving Dinner Dramatic, rhythm. Personification, dramatization. Interesting repetition. Personification, good moral. Supernatural, imagination, dramatization. Interesting repetition, personification, dra- matization. Child life, interesting action, rhythm. Child life, cultivates expression, rhythm. Good moral, interesting action. Home life, imagination, rhythm. Too mature — ^hard words. Personification, cultivates expression, good moral. Fairy element, imagination, good moral. Personification, dramatic, cultivates ex- pression. Personification, dramatization. Personification, dramatization, cultivates expression. Too mature — hard words. Magic. Magic, imagination. Nature, good moral. Festival element, child life, kindness. In addition to such carefully written responses as the fore- going, further evidence of the teachers' care is found in the more detailed analyses of the best and the poorest selections which were made. Two of the most frequently mentioned se- lections from Grade III were analyzed as follows: Rotinson Crusoe was the first choice of most third-grade children. Its charm lies perhaps in its vivid realism. The child lives and feels Rohlnson Crusoe's struggles and triumphs — ^his process of get- ting fire, shelter, food, and clothing forms a romance of interest and thrill to every child. The story serves as a stepping stone to geography and world his- tory. It correlates with the handwork a third grade child can do — METHOD, PROCEDURE AND CHARACTER 17 •weaving, modeling, and drawing. It can be accompanied by other literature that emphasizes the spirit of adventure, as Slnbad the Sailor, Columbus, and Hiawatha, — ^literature with more artistic value perhaps than Defoe's homely, forceful style. It opens an easy avenue of self-expression in language work. It Is easy reading — within the word-concept and Imaginative grasp of the child. Daffy-dovm-dilly is liked the least by most pupils. It is old-fash- ioned, too long, and too didactic. The characters are uninteresting and disagreeable. It is not childlike, presenting rather an adult's viewpoint. Instead of emphasizing the joy of work, it presents a depressing, joy-killing theory that toil is found even in pleasure — and that to the children of the third grade. The care with which both questionnaires were treated to- gether with the large number of responses adds greatly to the weight of the judgments. They were apparently from the more careful teachers of representative cities. Consequently, there seem to be adequate data upon these representative se- lections so far as the teachers are concerned. (2) Pupils' Reactions to Standard Selections. In order to get a different kind of data, the third part of this study was made in 1918 and 1919. This consisted of the presentation of selections directly to pupils and was carried on in four differ- ent schools. These schools were chosen because of the differ- ences in the character of the pupils. One is the University of Chicago Elementary School (School U) ; the other three are public schools in Evanston, Illinois (Schools A, B, and C). Table III shows the number and distribution of pupils who participated. The Evanston schools are located in three very different neighborhoods and may be classified fairly accurately as follows : School A, attended by pupils of the middle class ; School B, by pupils having access to home libraries, oppor- tunities for wholesome recreation, and ample financial means ; and School C, by pupils of the poorer classes with many for- eigners and negroes recently from the South. Pupils of Grades I and II were not used in this part of the investigation because of their inability to write their reactions. References to the schools throughout this study will be by letter as just designated. 18 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE III The Distribution of Pupils in the Foub Schools Which Coopeb- ATED IN THE StUDT OF READING MATERIAL Schools Number of Pupils per Grade Grades III IV V VI VII VIII T'l Evanston Public A B C TT 56 18 18 42 32 36 44 73 215 50 University of Chi- cago Elementary School 38 30 37 28 26 34 17 172 92 Total for all grades 92 110 68 65 104 90 529 The selections presented to the 529 pupils were chosen be- cause of their use in nearly every city responding to either questionnaire, the variety of appeals to children as stated by teachers, and their common use in more than one grade. In order to provide a uniform appearance of these representative selections, they were printed in seventy-page booklets. With the exception of the selection entitled Douglas and Randolph, the prose selections were re-adapted for this use. In making these adaptations, the different versions were carefully studied to enable the writer to render the selections in a form closely similar to the versions found in standard readers. Before presenting these selections to the pupils, the teachers were consulted and told the nature of the problem and of the work already done. It was explained that a sufficient number of teachers' judgments had been obtained and that at this time only pupils' judgments were desired. The following form shows the names of the selections used and the grades in which the pupils read them : Grades in which used are checked (v) III IV V VI VII VIII SELECTIONS The Leak in the Dike v v v Excelsior v v v Phaethon v v v The Tillage Blacksmith v v v The Ugly Duckling v v v The Barefoot Boy - v v METHOD, PROCEDURE AND CHARACTER 19 Dick WMttington and His Cat v v v v - - Aiau Ben Adhem - - v v v v Cosette V v v - - - The Wreck of the Hesperus v v v v v v Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp v v v v t - Paul Revere's Bide - v v v v v The Wonderful One-hoss Shay - - - v v v The Q-ettysiurg Address - - - v v 7 The Chambered Nautilus - - - v v v Douglas and Randolph - - v v v v Baron Munchausen Tales - - v v v v Marco Bozzaris - — - v v y Christmas 25 The Wolf and the Kid. . 23 Careful Hans 12 Hans the Shepherd Boy. 11 Golden Cups 22 RoMnson Crusoe 21 The Leak in the Dike. . 14 Aladdin and the Lamp. . 14 St. Oeorge and the Dragon 14 David the Slinger 14 Irene the Idle 12 Story of Columbus .... 12 Androclus and the Lion 11 Hans the Shepherd Boy. 10 Hans Who Made the Princess Laugh 10 The Tar Baby 74 The Knights of the Sil- ver Shield 32 The Fairy Wand 27 Washington's Boyhood. . 19 The Wishing Oate 43 Black Beauty 29 The Skylark's Spurs ... 14 .E V- —Continued Pot favor- 1^0 Pot. Fre- favor- Selections Quency able The Giant of Brandbeg- 100 gar's Hall 24 44 100 Belling the Gat 47 40 100 The Magpie's Lesson... 62 37 100 The Foolish Weather- 100 cock 20 35 100 Sinbad the Sailor 20 25 98 Jackal and Lion 12 25 98 Why Ravens Croak 10 20 98 The Leafs Journey .... 29 11 97 Who Became King .... 10 10 94 Victor and the Sea-Gull. 10 10 93 Ama, the Sun Fairy . . . 10 10 Vndine 10 10 93 Sweet and Low 10 10 92 Ulysses and the Bag of 89 Winds 14 7 88 The Little Brook 33 6 87 Discontent 28 4 83 An Evening at Home.. 36 82 Blanche and Her Aunt. 16 Grade III 100 The Peddler's Pack 12 83 100 The Sleeping Beauty . . . 17 82 100 The Sprite of the Mill. . 21 76 100 Burning of the Rice Fields 12 75 100 The Boy Who Hated 100 Trees 17 71 100 Wynken, Blynken, and 100 Nod 11 64 100 The Vgly Duckling ... 56 61 100 Hercules and His La- bors 15 60 100 Columbus and His Son. 14 50 97 Daffy-down-dilly 15 40 The Proud King 14 36 97 The Endless Tale 23 31 96 The Corn Story 11 36 95 The Barefoot Boy 10 20 93 The Czar and the Angel 34 12 93 The Mad Tea Party ... 21 5 93 The Wind and the Moon 20 5 28 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE V— Continued Fre- Selections quency The Knights of the Sil- ver Shield 34 The Bell of Atri 21 The Brownies 10 Cinderella 27 The Bremen Band 26 Benjy in Beastland .... 13 Pot. favor- able 91 91 90 85 85 85 Pre auenc: 45 Selections The Flying Trunk The Maple 22 The Crow 16 The Cfai and the Moon 15 The Cricket on the Hearth 12 Clinibing Vp the Hill. . . 11 How Little Cedric Be- came a Knight 51 Florinda '33 William Tell 27 Out to Old Aunt Mary's 25 The Lattle Acadian .... 24 Roland the Noile Knight 23 Tilly's Christmas 22 A Boy Hero 16 Tom, Dick and Harry.. 16 Maggie's Visit to the Gypsies 14 The Magic Prison 13 The Leak in the Dike . . 12 Willie Boy 12 The Village Blacksmith 11 Snow-white and Rose-red 11 The First Thanksgiving 10 A True Story atout Leo . 10 Rotert of Lincoln 10 Dust Under the Rug... 10 Beowulf, the Brave Prince 25 7*716 Pied Piper 23 Cosette 100 Bahy Sylvester 17 Aladdin 54 Dick Whittington 15 Paul Revere's Ride .... 13 Roiinson Crusoe 12 History of Tip-Top 12 The Broken Flower-pot. 20 Inchcape Rock 16 Arthur's First Night at Grade IV The Ugly Duckling 100 The Nurnierg Stove... 100 Sleeping Beauty 100 Queen Alice 100 Tom the Chimney Sweep 100 King Alfred 100 Little Charley 100 A Strange Visitant 100 The Snow Image 100 Tom the Water Baby . The Spartan Three-Hun^ 100 dred 100 Sir Isaac Newton 100 The Emperor's New 100 Cloak 100 The Discontented Perv- 100 dulum 100 Water Babies 100 The House in Bidwell 100 Street 100 The Heart of the Bruce Who Brought the Oood 96 News 96 The Declaration of Inde- 94 pendence 94 Nurernburg 93 The Day Is Done 93 The Song of the Sower. 92 Baron Munchausen 92 Boyhood in the South . . 92 Little Nell 90 Nathaniel Hawthorne . . 88 Last Lesson in French. . The Whistle 17 14 13 15 30 28 12 15 28 11 16 16 Pet, fayor- able 3 65 64 62 53 50 50 42 40 36 36 31 25 13 23 13 23 18 22 30 20 11 18 13 15 21 14 11 10 10 10 13 8 37 5 36 5 20 5 19 5 18 5 30 4 GENERAL RESULTS FIRST, SECOND QUESTIONNAIRES 29 TABLE V— Continued Pot. rre- to' r- Selections qn^ncy able Bugiy 30 The WisJiing-gate 34 A Brave Boy's Adventure 18 Prince Ahmed H Hans Clodhopper 16 Our First Naval Hero . . 10 Sigurd 10 Christmas at the Cratch- its' 12 Brought to Trial 17 The Oolden Fleece 20 Nurnierg Stove 62 RoMn Hood 25 Maggie's Visit 24 Ulysses at the Cyclops. 12 How Little Cedric Be- came a Knight 12 The Leak in the Dike. . 12 William Tell 11 Beautiful Joe 11 King of the Golden River 11 A Brave Boy 10 The Simple Old Man.. 10 Nuremiurg 31 Patrasche 54 The Sportsman 16 Legend of Sleepy Hollow 14 Horatius at the Bridge. 26 Oiant and Pygmies 25 The Archery Contest . . 13 Robinson Crusoe 31 Cosette 20 Tom the Chimney Sweep 10 The Soldier's Reprieve. 10 Aladdin 18 The Man Without a Country 32 Joan of Arc 17 Hiawatha 19 Kentucky Belle 24 Pet Pre- favor- SelecUonB aneocy able 87 The Argonauts 48 85 The Factory Boy 22 83 A Letter to His Son 17 82 Literary Biographies . . 16 81 Duty 16 80 Language 15 80 Timothy's Incarnation.. 14 The Sunken Treasure . . 11 75 Child's Dream of Star. . 11 71 Printing 10 70 Geade V 100 The Pygmies 100 The Oolden Touch 100 The Pied Piper 100 Arabian Nights The Fate of the Indians 100 Darius Green 100 Caleb and Bertha 100 A Boy's Diving Trip 100 Boston Massacre 100 Pandora's Box 100 Order for a Picture 100 Paradise of Children . . 97 The Great Stone Face. . 95 Destruction of Pompeii. 94 Titania and Oberon 93 Capturing the Wild 92 Horse 92 Industry 92 The Blessings of Pov- 90 erty 90 Glimpses of the Great 90 Commoner 90 Lying 89 Daniel O'Connell Hatto the Hermit 88 Sleep 88 The Whistle 84 Reverie of Poor Susan. . 10 80 66 79 14 79 40 78 13 77 16 75 14 71 14 71 10 70 14 64 11 64 15 47 35 40 11 36 44 4 25 4 27 20 19 15 14 14 13 12 11 Geade VI 100 Legend of Hollow 21 91 30 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE V— Continued Pet Pre- favor- SelectionB quoncy able Bishop and Convict .... 14 100 Legend of Bregenz 13 100 The Courtship of Miles Standish 12 100 Gulliver's Travels 12 100 Sir Kenneth and the Flag 11 100 Midget, the Return Horse 10 100 Tom and Maggie 10 100 RoMn Hood 10 100 The Simple Old Man. . . 10 100 King of Golden River . . 56 97 The Pied Piper 16 94 Christmas at the Cratch- its' 20 93 Bip Van Winkle 39 92 Pot Fre- faTor- Selectiona auency able The Barefoot Boy 11 91 William Tell 11 91 Horatius at the Bridge. 31 90 RoHnson Crusoe 14 86 Story of Ulysses 20 85 The Revenge 12 85 Story of Achilles 15 53 Snowhound 16 50 liittle Daffy-down-dillv. 10 30 Death of Socrates 11 18 Fairyland of Science ..10 10 The Contest Between the Man and the Cannon. 11 9 Highest Aristocracy 13 8 Good Books 12 Bololink 10 Something Atout Books 10 Marco Bozzaris Legend of the Moor's Legacy The Prisoner of Chilian Snowbound Triiute to a Dog Christmas at the Cratch- its' Charley Legend of Sleepy Hollow Fitz-James and Roder- ick Dhu Rip Yan Winkle Mr. Pickioick's Slide. . . Patrasche William Tell Horatius at the Bridge. The Courtship of Miles Standish King Arthur Stories . . . Destruction of Pompeii. The Great Stone Face. . Evangeline King of Golden River. . Grade VII 15 100 Sword and Scimitar . . . The Vision of Sir Laurv- 13 100 fal 12 100 The Contented Man 10 100 Herve Riel 10 100 Skeleton in Armor Passing of Arthur 58 97 The Mystery of Life . . . 57 97 A Rill from the Town 98 95 Pump The Chamiered Nautilus 21 95 Cranford (Selections).. 20 95 Island of the Fay 16 94 Early Conquests 15 93 Wealth 15 93 What a Good History 12 92 Should Contain Character of Columbus 74 91 Character of Washing- 68 91 ton 16 88 Fall of the House of 31 87 Usher 28 86 What Constitutes a State 18 83 Genius and Industry . . 13 69 25 48 13 46 12 42 11 27 10 20 26 19 26 19 11 18 10 10 19 19 16 15 15 14 13 12 12 GENERAL RESULTS FIRST. SECOND QUESTIONNAIRES 31 TABLE V— Concluded Pet. Pet -, ^ .. Bxe- faTOr- Fre- favor- SelootionB Quenoy able SelecHonB aueney able Juhus Caesar 21 81 Moral Bights of Animals 12 Escape of Queen Mary. 14 79 Rhoous 10 Tales of a Orandfather. 25 72 Grade VIII The Man Without a Enoch Arden 21 81 Country 53 100 Merchant of Venice 40 80 Julius Caesar 36 100 Herve Riel 13 77 The Prairie Fire 22 100 Snowtound 59 76 The Courtship of Miles The Lady of the Lake. . 38 76 Standish 19 lOO Stories of King Arthur. 12 75 The Heritage 15 100 The Vision of Sir Horatius at the Bridge. 15 100 Launfal 79 71 Raleigh's Coat 11 100 Lady of Shalott 15 67 Bohrab and Rustum 10 100 The Sketch Book 12 58 Christmas at the The Descent into the Cratchits' 53 91 Maelstrom 47 53 Building of the Ship 11 91 Gray's Elegy 15 53 Evangeline 84 88 Thanatopsis 21 14 The Oreat Stone Face. . 50 88 Munera Pulveris 19 5 Paul Reveres Ride 50 87 The Renunciation 15 The Legend of Sleepy Wisdom and Prudence.. 11 Hollow 41 85 grade selection The Argonauts. The request for the names of over-mature selections led teachers to mention many pas- sages a few times each, while certain passages, as Franklin's The Whistle, were mentioned oftener for over-maturity than for any other undesirable characteristic. The more specific qualities named by teachers are discussed in the next chapter. Responses to Questionnaire II Table VI shows the character of the data obtained in the responses to Questionnaire II. Lack of space forbids includ- ing in this table the data for all the selections judged. This sampling of the responses shows agreement among the teach- ers. In all grades, from 45 to 78 per cent of the selections are favored by 85 per cent or more of the teachers who judged them. In Grade I, 11 selections were reported upon favor- ably by all who judged them. The responses to the second questionnaire revealed evi- dences of a character inadequately shown in the earlier re- 82 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES sponses. In the first place, the responses verified in several ways those of the first questionnaire. Selections which had been favorably mentioned by the teachers responding to the first questionnaire were again reported upon favorably. For example, in the responses for Grade I, The Gingerbread Boy, The Three Little Pigs, and The Christmas Story (Aldine) were mentioned by 33, 17, and 10 teachers respectively in Questionnaire I, all of the teachers reporting favorably upon them. In the second questionnaire, the same selections were reported upon by 87, 82, and 61 teachers respectively, and again all reported favorably. Likewise, selections upon which dis- agreement was shown in Questionnaire I were disagreed upon by the teachers responding to Questionnaire II. The com- ments on The Great Stone Face illustrate this type of verifica- tion. There are also cases in which close agreement exists upon the inferiority of a selection. The poem Nuremburg, for example, is in disfavor with all excepting 3 per cent and 17 per cent respectively of the teachers who judged it in the first and second questionnaires. Furthermore, the second questionnaire cleared up many doubtful cases, as that of The Barefoot Boy. In the first questionnaire, this selection made a very exceptional gain from Grade III to Grade IV — from 20 per cent of the teachers fa- voring it in one grade to 86 per cent favoring it in the next (less than ten teachers judged it in either grade). In the second questionnaire, however, this selection was judged by the teachers of Grades IV to VIII inclusive and responses from 40 to 69 teachers per grade obtained. Here, consistent gains were made throughout the intermediate grades, thus con- firming the suspicion that the exceptional gain made in Ques- tionnaire I was due largely to the small number of teachers judging the selection. Likewise Abou Ben Adhem showed an unusual gain from Grade IV to Grade V in Questionnaire I, but a more thorough canvass of teachers as afforded by the second questionnaire indicated that the teachers in the first gave it too high a rating. Such cases as those just cited re- sulted from the small numbers of teachers judging the selec- tions in the first questionnaire. GENERAL RESULTS FIRST, SECOND QUESTIONNAIRES 33 < z o H ai S Of O Eh 02 & a < o & m Z O 02 W I Pi H -a) anUqa PIO* IPM IBJOJVL iUlB^ ■o:ja 'siBininv 8in:jB^ •oja 'ssanpnig ■3:ja JamjooApv lonmH staaiqoid Sni^jsajajui noi:^3B aiqBJOABj ADnanbaiji 33' CO "5 CQ N CO i-IIM 'I li-H tH 0« Ca T-H iH ?H OOCO CO I li-l (M U3 tH Oi CO ■* Cq I I tH OO tH i-H CO (M lO C^ tH W CS a O <0 OQ Si e,co ■a ,2 "^ m » El d to e s- « 54 to lis 112 tot I j^ _^ !*• to a -g « to 135 SB s§^§ ^2 s. o S S8 -M (u "eta to &^ to to to^l to to s to §• - SI -^ s & to aaoa w s a 3 ft o a So OJtH !3° 34 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES In the third place, the second questionnaire elicited com- ments upon standard selections which were seldom or never mentioned in the first. As examples, Paul Revere was re- ported upon only twice in Grade VIII in the first question- naire, while teachers of Grades III to VIII reported upon it in the second, and Horatius at the Bridge which was reported upon 12 and 15 times, respectively, in Grades VII and VIII was judged 52 and 42 times, respectively, in the second. Recurrences of Selections in Different Grades Many reading selections recur in different grades. Exam- ples of recurrence found in Questionnaire I are Cinderella in Grades I to III, Dick Whittington in Grades II to IV, The Barefoot Boy in III to VI, Aladdin in I to V, Horatius at the Bridge in IV to VIII, and different versions of The Pied Piper in II to VII. These cases of recurrence raise the question of the correct placement of reading selections which is treated in Chapter IX. This investigation has led to the collecting of experiential data pointing to the grades in which some selections ordinarily become appropriate. For example, Dick Whittington is not ordinarily judged as appropriate until Grade III, although the pupils of several succeeding grades are interested in this tale. Other examples occur in Table V and again in the tables of Chapter IX. These experiential data should be interpreted as showing only how early and not how late these selections may be used. Summary This chapter presents the judgments of teachers upon a large body of reading material now in general use. These teachers who administer this material assert that many very undesirable as well as many highly desirable selections have become estab- lished in the reading course. The data show that many selec- tions are used in two or more grades. Several problems arise out of these data and discussions: (1) the determination of standards for eliminating undesirable selections ; (2) the formulation of bases for detecting superior GENERAL RESULTS FIRST, SECOND QUESTIONNAIRES 36 selections; (3) the grading of selections so as to avoid (a) over-maturity or under-maturity of reading material and (b) too extensive duplications in different grades. Attention has been called to teachers' agreement upon the desirability of flexible placement for many selections. Before these prob- lems can be adequately considered, a detailed study of the qualities of reading selections must be made. Such a study is undertaken in the following chapter. CHAPTER IV THE QUALITIES OF READING SELECTIONS The terms used by teachers to characterize reading selec tions are descriptive rather than analytical. In the first ques- tionnaire, teachers used whatever terms they happened to choose ; in the second, they used defined terms drawn from a classified list. Pupils' use of terms was restricted only by the selections presented to them and the terms at their disposal. The purpose of this chapter is to show the frequency and to discuss the importance of the qualities of reading selections as indicated by the terms used by teachers and pupils. Undesirable Qualities General Discussion of Tables and Diagrams. Table VII shows the names and percentages of frequency of the unde- sirable qualities mentioned in both questionnaires. In addi- tion to these undesirable qualities, several others were men- tioned in the first questionnaire. The most important of these is uninteresting, which attains percentages ranging from 19 to 46 for the eight grades. In the second questionnaire this term does not occur because it was subsumed under others.^ One per cent of the teachers of Grades V to VIII stated that their pupils dislike poetry. But dislike of poetry is omitted from the table of qualities because evidence shows clearly that the popular notion of this dislike is based upon pupils' dislike either of certain poems or of poems which are not well taught. One other quality, lack of content, was mentioned by 2 per cent of the teachers of Grades I and II. The selections thus described are alleged to provide merely for "word drill"; all of these comments are made upon the same series of readers. The quality too mature occurs less frequently in the seconcf questionnaire than in the first because the teachers in respond- »Se6 Chapter II for directions to teachers. QUALITIES OF READING SELECTIONS ■il iiig to the second stated the reasons for over-maturity by using such terms as hard words, wnfamiliar subject matter, abstract, and hard symbolism. TABLE VII The Fbequenct of Each Undesibable Quality Shown in Pbecent- ages foe the diffebent grades in the two qxtestionnaibes* Qualities Ques- tion- Grades - naire r II III IV V VI VII VIII Too f mature \ I 11 176 63 114 93 190 138 175 155 199 148 221 170 116 140 136 131 Hard J words ( I II 46 32 24 49 35 83 29 99 33 92 39 77 19 49 16 38 Unfamiliar sub-J ject matter ( I II 17 15 9 28 15 43 13 54 13 57 17 64 8 51 8 39 Too f long \ I II 6 4 21 7 ?,5 6 24 6 23 10 24 5 22 6 17 Abstract or hardt symbolism — 1 I II 3 23 4 35 9 57 11 88 9 88 10 107 3 90 4 88 Too 5 sad 1 I II I II I II 3 6 3 9 17 15 2 13 1 13 11 12 5 16 2 17 19 11 4 27 2 14 18 11 5 26 3 14 19 14 4 44 3 14 20 21 3 52 2 13 8 19 5 61 Tired f of it ( 1 5 No story, | lacks action- 4 15 Scrappy 1 I II I II 1 II I II 6 2 4 15 7 16 2 3 2 2 3 18 5 13 1 3 3 3 7 22 10 17 2 2 3 3 8 17 9 17 1 2 3 4 8 25 9 18 1 2 4 6 7 44 8 21 2 4 2 6 2 52 3 17 1 4 I Too child- J ish 1 1 47 Un- real 2 14 Too J didactic \ 1 3 Characters disliked I II 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 3 Monoto- nous I 11 I II 6 83 7 6 3 26 6 4 4 20 7 4 11 6 3 2 6 3 5 2 6 2 5 1 5 _...- teaching 5 2 Not well f told I II 4 2 5 5 7 4 5 6 3 3 3 5 1 2 •The percentages were derived by using the numbers of teachers per grade as bases and the total frequencies of the respective quali- ties as the divisors. 38 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES Table VIII shows the relative frequencies of the terms by which both pupils and teachers characterize unsatisfactory se- lections. In this table, three terms of Table VII are omitted. These terms, bad moral teaching, characters disliked, and too didactic are seldom used and never more than twice in the com- ments on a given selection even in Questionnaire II. Some of the qualities included in Table VII are not common in the first questionnaire, but recur frequently when suggested to teachers in the second. For example, 16 teachers report that The Wreck of the Hesperus is too sad in Grade III ; relatively large numbers reported similarly on The Prisoner of Chilton, The Fall of the House of Usher, and Thanatopsis in the later grades. The recurrence of the use of the term too sad in com- ments upon a few selections is in contrast with the sporadic occurrence of the terms which have been omitted from Table VIII. The terms not well told and scrappy are included here because the style of certain selections in certain series of read- ers seems to limit the success of these selections. Diagrams I and II show in graphic form the data of Table VIII. Table IX shows the relative frequencies of terms used in characterizing the most unsatisfactory selections. The data here shown from the second questionnaire refer to the analyses of the selections which the pupils say "they dislike most." Detailed Discussion of Each of the Undesirable Qualities. Too mature; abstract; hard words. The diagrams emphasize the prevalence of the quality too mature, and show conclusive- ly that teachers regard much reading material as over-mature for their classes. Detailed analyses are made in the next chapter of such selections. Unfamiliar subject matter. Closely related to over-matur- ity of selections is the pupils' unfamiliarity with subject mat- ter. The tables show that the term unfamiliar subject matter is frequently used by teachers of all grades. Teachers make this criticism of Paul Revere' s Ride for Grade IV; here, one may well excuse them from the labor of adding sufficient con- tent to prepare their pupils for this selection, because it is in advance of the work in United States history and is written in a style suitable for older pupils. Analogous comments QUALITIES OP READING SELECTIONS S9 TABLE VIII The Relative Fbequencies of the Most Imfobtant Undebibable QUAUTIBS IN THE TEACHEBS' RESPONSES TO QUESTIONNAIEBS I AND II* Qualities Ques- tion- naire Grades I II III IV V VT vn Vlli Too f mature ( I II 60 25 60 28 61 30 62 30 65 28 65 28 66 28 73 26 Hard ( words ( I II 15 13 13 15 11 18 10 19 10 18 11 13 11 10 9 8 Unfamiliar sub-J jeot matter.- ( I II 6 6 5 9 5 10 4 10 4 11 4 11 4 10 4 9 Abstract or hard symbolism I II 1 9 2 10 3 12 4 16 3 17 3 18 2 17 2 19 No story, lacks action.. I II 5 6 6 4 6 2 6 2 6 3 5 3 5 3 2 3 Un- 5 real \ I II I II 2 6 2 9 3 4 2 3 4 2 5 3 3 2 5 3 3 2 4 2 3 3 4 2 3 3 4 1 8 Too ( long I 3 4 Scrappy ( I II I II I II I II I II I II 2 1 1 3 2 6 1 3 2 13 1 1 1 1 1 4 2 6 1 4 2 8 2 1 1 1 2 3 2 5 1 4 1 5 2 1 1 1 1 5 3 3 1 3 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 5 2 5 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 10 1 10 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 Too \ sad ( 3 13 Too child- ( ish _ . ( 1 10 Tired f of it 1 1 1 Monoto- nous ..__. Not well told I •The relative frequencies were derived by using- the sums of the frequencies of these qualities for each of the grades as divisors and the frequencies of the respective qualities as bases. 40 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE IX The Relatitb FBEqtrENciES of Undesirable Qxtaixties nr JuDOMEirTS Vvom THE Most Uin)EsiRABLE Selections. Based Upon the Judo- IIENTS OF THE TeACHEBS WhO RESPONDED TO BOTH QtHiBTIONHAIBES* Qualities Ques- tion- Grades naire I II III IV V VI vn VIII Too f mature ( iJ 42 13 48 15 74 16 66 12 58 9 78 5 65 7 72 9 Hard f words 1 I II 30 14 15 15 4 17 21 18 19 19 14 19 16 15 5 13 Unfamiliar sub-f ject matter_.l I II 4 12 7 12 3 12 7 13 6 13 "ii" 8 13 "ii' Abstract or hard symbolism I II 3 13 3 19 "21" 2 24 9. 5 6 9 26 No story, f lacks action— I I II 9 8 15 8 10 8 6 9 12 9 7 11 S 10 12 11 Un- f real ( I n 4 7 1 7 3 8 5 9 1 10 ..... 1 6 6 4 Too ( long I I n 1 14 2 12 ..... 1 7 1 5 4 4 4 Scrappy ( I n 2 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 Too J sad.„ X I II 4" 1 5 ..... 1 5 3 11 1 6 9 12 Too child- f ish 1 I II 1 1 ..... 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 Tired f of it 1 I II 4 3 4 4 3 3 2 1 _____ Monoto- f nous I n 1 10 3 7 1 3 5 4 3 3 3 Not well J told i I II 2 6 5 6 5 4 1 1 3 1 2 1 •The relative frequencies were derived as In Table VII. could be made with reference to using either The Prisoner of Chillon or Marmion and Douglas in the intermediate grades. Too childish. At the other extreme, a few selections are regarded as too childish. Such selections vary in number from grade to grade, but there are about as many for Grade I as for Grade VIII. The most common cause for the criticism is the duplication of the content of readers used in different grades. Some selections are doubly unfortunate in this re- spect. Of those on which data have been collected, The Pied Piper and Hiawatha are noteworthy. These selections not QUALITIES OF HEADING SELECTIONS 41 Qualities To0 mature Unfanriliar subject mat- ter, abstract, and bard Syoibolism No Story, lacks action, unreal, too long, too sad,scrspp7',too cblld- ish, tired of it,Miecu>- tonous, not well told Diagram I. The relative frequencies of the most important desir- able qualities in Questionnaire I. Based on Table VII. Combinations are here made in order to emphasize the frequency of the use of terms denoting over-maturity of subject matter. Qualities Too mature Unfamiliar subject mat- ter, abstract, and hard symbolism Ko story, lacks action, unreal, too lon3,teo sad, scrappy, too child- ish, tired of It mono- tonous, not Hell told Diagram II. The relative frequencies of the most Important un- desirable qualities in Questionnaire II. Based on Table VII. Com- binations are made as in Diagram I. 42 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES only appear in many readers but are rendered in various forms so that when the poems are finally used many pupils either regard them as too childish or are already tired of them. No story. The terms no story and lacks action are elicited from both teachers and pupils in the case of such selections as Gray's Elegy, The Chambered Nautilus, and Abou Ben Adhetn. Pupils' additional comments on Abou Ben Adhem include the following (Grades VII and VIII, School A) : "too serious", "dry", "not much adventure and exciting things." Similar comments occur in pupils' statements about The Cham- bered Nautilus: "1 can see no scheme or story in this although the descriptions are beautiful", and "dislike because not ad- venturous." Monotonous. The term monotonous is dependent upon the same literary form that gives rise to the term interesting repe- tition, namely, the cumulative arrangements used to ensure drill during the early grades. Some selections, as The Three Bears, possess content of sufficient interest to avoid this adverse criti- cism and are, therefore, commended for their interesting repe- tition. Other selections, as The Endless Tale, have enough interesting content to avoid adverse comments from only a part of the teachers. There seem, consequently, to be two ways of avoiding monotony and at the same time securing drill during these grades: (1) the avoidance of repetition unless the subject matter is of great interest, and (2) the use of de- vices employed to make drill periods interesting — games, for example, in which flash cards are used for drilling on difficult or new words. The relative frequency of the term monotonous decreases from grade to grade, thus paralleling the course of interesting repetition, as shown in Table XII. Unreal. The term unreal was used by many teachers, but was not often applied to any one selection. No selection of the list for Grade I was so described by more than one teacher in the second questionnaire. Two selections. Baron Mun- chausen and The Fall of the House of Usher were so regarded by a much higher percentage of the teachers of the later grades. We find, however, that only about 20 per cent of the pupils regard the Munchausen tales as too unreal while a much QUALITIES OP READING SELECTIONS 43 higher percentage find them interesting just because they are "nonsensical", "untrue", 6t "impossible." Too sad. Certain selections, as Thanatopsis and Gray's Elegy, are responsible for the greater part of the use of the term too sad. Some additional selections, unless very care- fully presented, also leave an undesirable impression of sad- ness with pupils. The comments of older pupils indicate, how- ever, that the poem entitled The Wreck of the Hesperus is a favorite because it does arouse a feeling of sadness. Here also the teacher may control the appeal and turn an undesir- able effect into a desirable one by emphasizing one aspect of the poem rather than another. Not well told. Literary form affects the success of scores of selections, some of which will be analyzed in later chap- ters. The comparison of teachers' reactions to different ver- sions of the same stories is, however, inconclusive on this point because selections having sufficient merit to gain a place in more than one series of readers are usually interesting enough to counteract a poor rendering. There are, neverthe- less, a few selections which are favorites only with teachers using certain versions. For example, in Questionnaire I, The Gingerbread Boy is mentioned from one to sixteen times, re- spectively, by teachers reporting upon the versions found in six different readers. This selection is mentioned by all the eleven teachers reporting on the Riverside readers, but only once by the ten teachers using another series. An additional example, the selection entitled The Clever Jackal, is discussed in the next chapter. Two matters probably control this select- ive process: (1) the attractiveness of the version and (2) the relative attractiveness of other selections in the same reader. The comments regarding the teachers' responsibility for the success of reading matter are made because of the writer's firm belief that although method and content are separable as- pects of the problem of teaching reading, they are often re- solved into a single complex aspect. It is suggested that, if superior teaching were exhibited, many of the undesirable qualities would diminish materially. 44 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE X The Peequenct of Each Desibable Quauty Showw in Pebcentaoes FOB the Two Questionnaibes* Geoitp I. (Qualities which make a selection intrinsically interesting) Qualities Ques- tion- naire Grades Interesting action- Interesting characters Interesting problems Interesting information.. Interesting repetition Humor Home life Child life Character study Dramatic action- Heroism 4 Bomance Knight- hood. Kind- ness Nature Dramati- zation Personifica- tion About animals or animal play Pairy element or supernat- ural Festival element I II I II I II I II I n I II I n I II I n I II I II I II I II I n I II I II I II I II I n I II I II 23 20 270 271 7 11 33 48 17 15 45 58 12 18 19 35 10 6 346 238 Ifi 25 163 174 3 2 41 30 12 11 90 94 2 42 68 16 19 225 230 2 5 10 81 1 13 16 1 4 11 16 185 215 25 20 192 147 29 26 246 198 3 3 188 122 23 24 244 211 12 18 228 313 24 15 84 46 III 17 237 22 66 14 64 29 37 3 113 30 163 1 28 14 120 3 111 26 226 9 164 1 15 5 50 24 254 13 110 22 144 3 87 25 183 21 321 5 27 IV 17 197 29 83 13 65 33 31 29 26 166 3 25 13 141 4 134 30 195 12 217 2 21 6 45 24 238 9 83 15 88 1 40 22 103 22 321 2 36 V 20 180 34 83 15 64 33 40 VI 20 215 26 96 16 72 34 54 vn 22 228 20 113 18 81 33 70 15 30 179 5 44 13 135 5 163 36 181 14 223 2 37 4 50 23 227 7 121 13 74 1 33 19 84 16 319 3 53 12 34 182 5 58 8 94 9 188 32 188 14 216 3 63 7 53 17 173 5 134 8 65 12 32 222 4 78 5 55 13 218 27 222 12 227 4 85 8 63 13 172 4 168 6 66 28 11 44 12 185 3 57 28 6 42 7 109 1 54 vm 23 238 13 140 17 90 30 71 8 20 206 4 84 2 44 16 233 17 240 10 216 4 100 9 64 7 154 2 170 4 70 27 1 25 4 80 1 53 •The percentages were derived by using: the number of teachers per grade as bases and the total frequencies of the respective qualities as divisors. QUALITIES OF READING SELECTIONS 46 Gboijp II. (Qualities commonly mentioned along with desirable results of teaching). Qualities Ques- tion- naire Grades Moral I II I II I II I II I II I II I 22 254 1 23 13 130 2 50 5 128 3 58 II 36 299 2 17 14 141 2 28 4 133 2 61 III 54 306 4 15 14 144 4 43 4 105 1 64 IV 55 253 5 16 17 139 6 39 3 72 2 50 V 62 252 7 29 17 131 7 66 4 81 2 58 VI 52 293 6 45 14 125 7 71 3 106 1 68 VII 35 323 8 72 8 128 8 84 2 127 1 73 vin 28 333 Patri- otism Cultivates imagination- Stimulates thought Cultivates expression Enlarges vocabulary 8 86 3 131 9 79 1 129 "67" Group III. (Qualities which are dependent upon literary merit). Well told-. Rhyme Rhythm Diction easy Content easy Variety Familiar sub- ject matter. f I 5 8 12 15 17 15 16 II 85 103 126 132 150 174 207 I 7 5 4 3 4 3 2 II 124 103 81 74 81 89 79 I 4 3 2 2 2 1 1 II 226 217 182 156 179 195 231 I 3 3 4 4 5 4 4 II 16 18 16 17 26 40 64 I 45 37 30 25 24 19 19 II 115 116 115 112 119 118 123 I 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 II 19 20 21 14 17 18 20 I 9 9 8 6 4 2 1 [ II 134 103 73 42 49 57 69 16 233 "66' 1 234 3 82 14 128 17 '73' Desirable Qualities The frequencies with which each desirable quality was men- tioned in the questionnaires are shown in Tables X and XL These qualities have been divided into three somewhat arbi- trarily defined groups. Group I contains qualities tending to make a selection intrinsically interesting to pupils; Group II, qualities commonly mentioned in connection with the desirable results of teaching; and Group III, qualities depending chiefly upon the literary merits of the selections. These groups are discussed in consecutive order in the following pages. Table XI shows the relative frequencies of the qualities 46 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES which seem to be the determinants of pupils' interests in read- ing selections. Although some of these qualities occur no of tener than other qualities, their presence in the comments on practically every desirable selection indicates that they and not other qualities determine the interest. Diction, rhyme, moral value, and degree of difficulty need to be considered, but both teachers and pupils agree that the qualities catalogued in Table XI govern the merit of reading matter. For example, a selec- tion with excellent diction may be referred to as "mere words" ; or, one having excellent moral teachings be "too didactic" or have "too obvious" a moral. If instead of looking for didactic qualities in a standard reading selection, one looks for the qualities of Group I, the moral and other important values will, teachers contend, be more impressively taught than if di- dactic qualities determine desirability. Another reason for designating certain qualities as determinants is that the selec- tions judged to be the "best" in the respective lists in the sec- ond questionnaire have been found to exemplify these quali- ties to a marked degree, while the selections judged to be the "poorest" almost without Exception fail to do so. In answer to the possible objection that the qualities here regarded as de- terminants merely aid in teaching or cater to the superficial desires of pupils, it may be said, first, that no critics of reading matter object to the presence of any of these qualities and, second, that a careful study shows that the finest examples of literary achievement abound with these characteristics rather than with merely formal qualities. The determinants refer then to attributes of good literature and, at the same time, to attributes of content by means of which didactic or other formal results may be most readily attained. The grouping of qualities under eleven terms in Table XI conceals very little so far as either teachers' estimates of pupils' interests or the interests of teachers themselves are concerned. Diagram III shows graphically the data for Questionnaire II as shown in Table XI. The high percentage of teachers naming each quality when judging a large and representative group of selections gives value to the relative frequencies of the qualities shown in this diagram. The diagram emphasizes QUALITIES OF READING SELECTIONS 47 Qualities Drantatlc ac- tion, adventure and heroic Interesting action Kipnor Foiry and supernatural Interesting charactera i etc* Interesting problemstchar- acter study Kindness and faithfulness Jbitmals and persenlf Icat ioA Drematizetion Interest Ing repetition Interest ins inforniation Diagrram III. The relative frequencies of the moat important d«- ■irablo qualities in Questionnaire II. Based on Table XI. 48 UNTVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE XI The Rexattte Fbequeitcieb of the Most Imfobtaht Dbstbawt.b Quau- TiEs Based Upon the Judgments of Teachers Who Responded to Both Qtjestionnaibes* Ques- Qualities tion- Grades naire Dramatic ac- I II III IV V VI Vil vni tion, adven- ture, and I 7 9 15 20 23 23 19 19 heroic II 14 19 23 27 28 28 28 28 Interesting ac- tion (not I 8 8 9 10 10 9 11 14 dramatic) II 11 11 9 9 8 10 11 12 Humor - I II 10 7 13 6 11 6 9 7 9 8 12 10 14 11 10 10 Fairy and I 7 7 8 7 6 5 3 2 supernatural . n 9 13 13 14 11 9 5 5 Interesting characters, home life, or 1 I 16 12 13 13 16 14 19 13 child life n 7 6 8 12 14 14 13 13 Interesting problems and character I 8 7 6 6 7 10 14 20 study II 3 5 7 8 10 11 13 14 Kindness and I 6 8 10 9 8 6 4 4 faithfulness __ About animals, II 8 9 10 10 10 8 9 8 animal play. or personifi- I 13 14 9 8 7 4 2 1 cation II 16 13 10 6 5 3 3 3 Dramatization, availability • I 13 10 7 6 5 3 2 2 for II 10 8 7 4 3 3 3 3 Interesting I 5 3 1 repetition , II 14 9 5 -- ..... -- — „ ..... Interesting ] I 7 9 11 12 9 14 12 15 information _' II 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 •The relative frequencies were derived as in Tables VIII and IX. the desirability of providing selections portraying action of a dramatic or otherwise interesting character. Qualities Which Make Reading Selections Intrin- sically Interesting Interesting Repetition; Interesting Problems. Diagram IV shows the shifting of interest from grade to grade. Inter- esting repetition, for example, passes from the third place in QUALITIES OP READING SELECTIONS 48 Grade I to the fifth in Grade II ; thence nearly to the last place where it remains. In contrast with this is the course of inter- esting problems, which moves from next to the last place in the list to the second position in Grade VIII. While cumula- tive tales with their interesting repetition are used only in the early grades, the subject matter of all grades admits of raising problems, as, for example, questions dealing with character study. The data show, therefore, that at present the relative importance of these and other qualities varies from grade to grade. The extent to which this variation is due to the char- acter of the subject matter now used or to the possibility of arousing the child's interests in any other subject matter is not shown. Diagram V shows in another way the frequency changes of important qualities which vary from grade to grade. Interesting Action. Interesting action is the best guaran- tee of success for a selection. A passage may be as success- ful with simple non-dramatic action as with action of a dra- matic or adventurous character. Among the most successful selections, however, are many which exemplify both types of action, as The Pied Piper and Dick Whittington. The fre- quency of terms which can be subsumed under interesting ac- tion shows that if a selection is not to be greatly enlivened by the teacher, it must possess qualities of action. Furthermore, this quality is often accompanied by other desirable qualities such as interesting characters, home life, and child life, as io Cosette, Dick Whittington, and How Cedric Became a Knight. The success of these passages attests the desirability of such combinations of appeal. Table XII contains data upon the selections designated as the "best" in the responses to Questionnaire 11.^ The small number of these selections probably accounts for the irregu- larities of the table but, at any rate, there is a striking simi- larity to the more general results shown in Table XI. The importance of action throughout the grades, of interesting repetition and animal play in the early grades, and the increas- ing prominence of interesting problems, interesting characters, ■The selections designated as the "best" are shown in Table XVII of Chapter VI. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES QUALITIES OF READING SELECTIONS 61 TABLE XII The Rexative Fbequencies of the Most Impobtant Desibable Quau- TiBS IN THE "Best" Selections in Questionnaieb II* Qualities Grades Dramatic action, adven- ture, and heroic Interesting action fnot dramatic) Humor Fairy element or supernatural Interesting characters, home life, and child life Interesting problems and character study- Kindness and faithful- ness ' About animals, animal play, and personifica- tion Dramatization, availability for Interesting repetition- Interesting information 19 13 16 18 11 II 22 12 8 4 9 5 6 13 12 7 2 III IV V 24 24 23 12 7 13 5 13 4 6 6 7 11 14 17 9 12 14 10 13 11 8 5 3 8 3 5 5 3 3 3 VI VII VIII 22 10 18 12 6 9 9 10 10 8 7 4 18 20 22 15 16 17 7 6 6 2 1 1 5 1 6 6 4 6 6 •The relative frequencies were derived by dividing the frequencies of each quality by the total frequencies of all qualities for each re- spective grade. and interesting information show that the general results may be depended upon as guides to the best selections. Animals, Animal Play, and Personification. In the early grades, stories of animal play are important. Such stories are supplanted in the intermediate grades by Black Beauty, Pa- trasche the Dog of Flanders, and the lilte. Although animal stories are favorites, too few of them appear in the readers used in the later grades to give the quality about animals great importance. Dramatization. Dramatization is important throughout the grades. Such selections as The Pied Piper are suitable for dramatization in any of the grades in which they are used. The Courtship of Miles Standish and The Merchant of Venice are often used for this purpose in the upper grades. Fairy Element and Supernatural. The fairy story is very important in Grades II to V. Tables XI and XIII indicate 52 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES differentiations made in the use of the terms fairy and super- natural in the different grades. Such stories as The Shoemaker and the Elves and Rip Van Winkle illustrate this differentia- tion. The pupils' reactions show clearly that interest in fairy tales does not end with the passing of the intermediate grades. Indeed, a high percentage of grammar grade pupils profess enjoyment in the tale of Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp. The results indicate that a failure to use such tales in the later grades should not be attributed to a lack of interest in fairies or the supernatural. Kindness, Faithfulness, and Loyalty. Kindness and faithfulness are frequently used in connection with other quali- ties. For example, the faithfulness of Patrasche and the kind- ness of the stranger in Cosette enhance the interest of pupils in selections which are interesting even apart from the pres- ence of these qualities. Humor. Humor is an important quality throughout the grades. Only occassionaly does one find both teachers and pupils who look askance at material which exemplifies this quality. Such persons either fail to see anything humorous in such selections as The One-hoss Shay and the Adventures of Baron Munchausen or regard them as "silly." Interesting Information. The older reading selections containing informational material are especially unfortunate in all of the grades. The reason for this lack of interest in these selections is obvious if one bears in mind the attributes of popular selections. There is, however, no evidence that well-graded informational material is not interesting. Indeed, the popularity of the Community Life Leaflets is as great as that of any other selections upon which data have been col- lected. The quality interesting information has importance also in such selections as The Leak in the Dike: teachers sup- ply additional information about Holland and report that they succeed very well so far as interest is concerned. Qualities Commonly Mentioned Along With the Desirable Results of Teaching Moral; Cultivation of Imagination. Among qualities mentioned along with desirable results of teaching the moral QUALITIES OF READING SELECTIONS 53 SOO 4«0 M 111 5 300 z kl 3 o Id £ too ZOO Valrr and supernatural 2= :=:^ Grades i 2 3 4-5678 500 —1. Animals and _q lersonlf ieation 500 +00 ajoo "soo o III ffioo . Interesting _ prelleme ana "ctioraeter stnay J . . . . ^" y y / /\ Soo I- Interesting I repetition Grapes i z. 3 4 s 6 7 a 500 Linteresting ciiar- -Aetera,tioine \\X», child life 6RAPESI 234-5 67 5oo 4oo Soo Ul 5 I ZOO o ■^ . K lOO lb dranatie and. non-dramatic _ GRtPCS i 2^4-5^70 Dlairram V. Changes In the frequencies of Important desirable qualities from grade to grade. Questionnaire II. Based on Table X. 54 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES quality leads in all grades, while the development of imagination holds either the second or the third rank. Nearly all selections are used for teaching morality and developing imagination. When these data are considered with reference to the original statements of pupils, it appears that there is not an over-use of the story with a moral, but rather that there is an attempt to provide material which will give desirable emotioiial settings for morality without making the moral problem too obtrusive. Statements supporting this deduction are found in many of the. responses: as already stated some selections teach morality "without seeming to do so." Patriotism is exemplified by so few selections that its importance cannot be determined from its frequency in the tables. Cultivation of Expression and Stimulation of Thought. The recent tendency to emphasize silent reading' is not re- flected in the responses to either questionnaire. The term cultivation of expression refers to expressive reading and the term stimulation of thought to promotion of class discussion. The interpretation of material read is emphasized more by the incidental comments than by the responses tabulated under stimulation of thought. Later tables show that many selec- tions are used for the purpose of stimulating thought upon im- portant topics. Enlargement of the Vocabulary. Although the enlarge- ment of the vocabulary is an important result of teaching, it is not mentioned as a specific value of many selections. It is, however, frequently mentioned in connection with selections about which there are other comments. For example. Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which are very popular selections, are regarded as having great value in this respect. The Literary Qualities Familiar Subject Matter, Easy Content, and Easy Dic- tion. The overwhelming evidence that many selections are too difficult for the grades in which they are taught is in agreement with the evidence that many other selections are ' C. H. Judd and others : Reading; Its Nature and Development. Sup- plementary Educational Monographs, Vol. II, No. 4. The University of Chicago Press, 1918. QUALITIES OP READING SELECTIONS 66 » o u M O -I ^ ^ i go 00 g 5 5 •O !5 I H M a & -< o m B u .2 C ojruBia ooji II r ! 1 1 1 1 1 1 t SpiOM. piBH 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II ! ! ! 1 i I i ! icoi-t t ! 1 1 1 1 1 t II II t II PBS OOJ, 1 1 1 1 t 1 1 III II lllll f-llTHICOl(li-HII 1 1 ; 1 i i 1 ill i 1 ^sug^ 1 ( 1 (NNCO lOa lOiHOO 1 CO T-H 1-1 CO i-< t^ ^ 1 ItH 1 r-i tH tH 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 t 1 t ! 1 1 j ! 1 1 j 1 1 1 |S''S5'°S" 1 1 1 1 1 ( < < 1 1 ) 1 Pio* IIBAV 1 1 1 »OOOU500QlO lOi-HN 1 1 1 1 rBJoj^r COOCO jlOWUSTHT^OOt^COCOCOeOOONO ssanpnrx OCOTrt*i-l 1 CO CO CO !>■ ^ 1-1 lOS^-^lO^ i-H ^H i-H Cq T-H li-ICsli-H ■ ICN i-H 8jn:^n9Apv t t 1 1 1 t 1 1 1 00 O) t* CO 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 jonmij 1 1 t 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 t 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 t 1 1 i i i i i i i r i i 1 i i i i i i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ ' 1 r 1 1 r 1 1 1 ^OI:^B^IUOJ^^ Sni:;s3J3:^nj II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Til UO )0 1>> U? CO 1 li-H 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 noi:jDB 3nHS3ja^ni 1 1 1 1 1 1 111 CO iiffl i- Tfl tH lO 3 ^ ^ 3 o 1 1 The Leak in the Dike Dick Whitting- ton and His Cat The Village Blacksmith 56 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES a o « c<) iH lo lO CO lo CO o» II 1 1 1 1 1 TJH CO CO CO CO eq ;r-t 1 1 CN 1 1 1 t 1 taOOi-^ZO tHi-I 1 I 1 I I 1 1 tH - ir* (M CO CO lO CO CO lO 1 1 1 1 Cq i-Ht-Ht-I t— 1 ^H 1 1 1 1 lilt 1 1 1 1 sjidnd 10 laqoBax &^ (1, ri ilH Ph H PM &^ ^ H PL, H Ph EH ^ H Ph apciQ ^ ^ ^> p a ^ a B 1 1 Paul Revere's Ride The One-hoss Shay The Oettyslurg Address I I ij3 QUALITIES OF READING SELECTIONS 57 regarded as effective particularly because they are within the mental grasp of the pupils who study them. This fact shows at least that teachers desire material which increases interest instead of material which needs so much explanation that in- terest is lost by the time the meaning is mastered or the words correctly pronounced. Rhyme and Rhythm and Variety. Pupils' statements about their interests in rhyme and rhythm agree with teachers' statements. Variety, an incidental quality, refers to both style and content. Comparison of Teachers' and Pupils' Responses As shown by Table XIII, there are some distinct differences between the incidental qualities named by pupils and those named by teachers. For example, literary quali- ties, excepting rhyme and rhythm, are seldom^ mentioned by pupils. Well told is seldom used by pupils except in case of the Gettysburg Address where it means good diction ; elsewhere it means that the story has a good ending, as in The Ugly Duckling and Cosette. Close agreement is found, however, between pupils' and teachers' mentioning of the qualities which determine the merit of reading matter. Here, we find a cor- relation of .87. It seems justifiable to maintain that teachers' judgments on many other selections not judged by pupils would be in equally close agreement with pupils' judgments. The interest of teachers in the moral value of many selec- tions is notable. Reactions of pupils show that they do not feel this emphasis unduly. In many cases, the pupils' comments in- dicate their appreciation of fair play, penalty for wrong-doing, and other moral qualities or teachings. For example, they show marked disapproval of the magician in Aladdin and for Phaethon; also, they mention the moral qualities of Ahou Ben Adhem and The Chambered Nautilus in terms unlike those which teachers are said to "impose" upon pupils. Table XIII shows also the difficulties encountered in an at- tempt to inculcate patriotism by such a selection as What Con- stitutes a State. (In the table morality and patriotism are combined.) The lack of a variety of appeals is one of the 58 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES reasons advanced by pupils as a cause for their lack of interest in this selection. The analysis of this poem in the following chapter indicates, however, that over-maturity of content and of diction is the more fundamental difiSculty. Other selections frequently cited for their patriotic values are The Leak in the Dike and Paul Revere's Ride, but both are superior owing to other appeals such as interesting action, adventure, and interest- ing characters. Pupils mention the moral and patriotic values of these interesting selections oftener than in the case of What Constitutes a State. Additional qualities were often mentioned by pupils. For example, the fairy element in Aladdin was mentioned by seven- ty-five pupils, and the festival element in Christmas at the Cratchits' sixty times. Many pupils found nothing more vital to say about other selections than that they are interesting be- cause of the great men who wrote them. This is true of the Gettysburg Address in Grades VI to VIII ; here, the following percentages of pupils stated that they liked this passage be- cause of their interest in Lincoln : 14 per cent, 14 per cent, and 37 per cent. This does not prove that such a selection is un- successful but shows that teachers should at the outset make use of the interest in the author and then attack the additional problem of teaching the main argument of the address. Conclusions In all grades, teachers and pupils mention over-maturity of reading material oftener than any other undesirable quality. This .term refers to the difficulty of diction or content, un- familiarity with the subject matter, or to difficulty with the symbolism found in reading selections. Teachers' comments indicate that, in addition to over-ma- turity, a few other qualities act as determinants of undesir- ability in reading selections. The additional determining quali- ties are no story, lacks action, unreal, too long, scrappy, too sad, too childish, monotonous, and not well told. Also, a few selections are Undesirable because pupils are tired of them. Reading courses should be so planned that either the selec- tions will not present considerable difficulties with the subject QUALITIES OF READING SELECTIONS 59 matter or that able teachers will be given ample time for the presentation of necessary explanatory material. Teachers have difficulty with some easy selections which are found in many versions and sometimes in readers of sev- eral different grades. Pupils either tire of such selections or find them too immature. Interest in the repetition contained in cumulative folk tales continues throughout the primary grades ; beyond these grades, such tales are likely to be monotonous or too childish. Teachers who lack interest in humorous passages should be warned against the use of the Munchausen tales, The One-hoss Shay, and other similar selections. So far as pupils are con- cerned, however, such selections, if easy, will teach themselves ; if difficult, they require sympathetic teaching. Careful teach- ing is required also by selections possessing a touch of sad- ness; if poorly taught, such selections leave an over-emphasis upon an otherwise desirable quality. Literary form is important. Some versions of certain tales elicit many favorable comments while other versions pass un- noticed. Many superior selections are popular in any of the versions found in different series of readers. Although many desirable qualities are mentioned by teachers, only a few of them are determinants of merit. The qualities such as interesting action and interesting characters ensure intrinsic interest in the selections which portray them. Teach- ers find such selections better for didactic use and for use as illustrations of literary merit than selections which are pri- marily of literary and didactic value and only secondarily of intrinsic interest. The relative percentages of the determinants of interest vary from grade to grade. The judgments of many teachers, after being found to agree closely with those of pupils, seem to form an adequate basis for computing the relative importance of the determinants of interest. Some qualities, as fairy and super- natural elements, persist in importance throughout the grades, although the character of the subject matter referred to by them changes considerably. CHAPTER V THE ELIMINATION OF UNDESIRABLE READING SELECTIONS Schoolmen have long realized the fact that in reading classes n:iuch time and effort are wasted as a result of poorly selected subject matter. The purposes of this chapter are to present evidence drawn from teachers' and pupils' reactions to unsatisfactory selections, and, by analyzing several such selections, to show the reasons for their unsatisfactory charac- ter. Except for incidental treatment, selections unsatisfactory only in certain grades will not be discussed in this chapter. Evidences of Undesirability Shown in the Statements OF Teachers and Pupils The Most Undesirable Selections for Each Grade — Teach- ers' Statements. Table XIV contains a list of the ten most undesirable selections for each grade as found in the first questionnaire together with the number of times that each selec- tion was mentioned and the percentage of teachers reacting unfavorably to it. This table brings out the important fact that a large number of teachers are unanimous in their disapproval of forty-five selections contained in the readers they most fre- quently used in 1915, and that many additional selections are unsatisfactory to nearly all the teachers who mentioned them. The undesirable qualities of these selections are mainly the following: too mature, hard words, unfamiliar subject mat- ter, and no story or lacks action. All excepting two are said to be too mature. The frequencies of terms referring to over- maturity are greater than the sum of the frequencies of all other terms. These qualities recur in the comments on nearly every selection, while such terms as too sad or monotonous occur in the comments on only a few selections. Many of these selections appear in one or more of the most widely used ELIMINATION OP UNDESIRABLE READING SELECTIONS 61 TABLE XIV The Ten Most Undesibable Selections foe Each G-base, the Nxtmbeb OF Tbachebs Mentioning Them and the Pebcentage Unfavobable* Gbade I Selections Rose, Daisy, Pet un- No. of favor- teachera able and Lily. . 15 100 Selections Breakfast Time 8 Whichever Way the Wind doth Blow 8 The BnowMrds 7 King Alfred and the Cakes 7 An Evening at Home. . . 36 My Nephew Philip 19 Blanche and her Aunt.. 16 Phaethon 6 Discontent 28 The Little Brook 33 The Maple The Crow The Cral) and the Moon. The Cricket on the Hearth Climiing up the Hill . . . The Factory Boy... Duty Language The Argonauts The Whistle Baron Munchausen. 22 16 15 12 11 22 16 15 48 25 37 100 100 100 100 The Little Fairy 9 The Bagpipe 9 The House that Jack Built 8 The White Lily 17 The Clever Jackal 11 Pet. nn- No. of faTor- teachers able 89 89 Gbade II 100 The Leafs Journey. . Ulysses and the Bag of Winds 14 Ana the Sun Fairy 10 Sweet and Low 10 100 100 100 96 94 Gbade III 100 100 100 100 100 The Blessings of Poverty 20 100 Lying 15 100 Sleep 13 100 The Whistle 12 100 Olimpses of the Great Commoner 19 100 89 88 73 29 89 93 90 90 Climate 9 100 The Flying Trunk 40 97 The Mad Tea Party 21 95 The Wind and the Moon 20 95 The Czar and the Angel. 34 88 Grade IV 100 Little Nell 20 95 100 The Last Lesson in 100 French 18 95 96 Boyhood in the South .. . 36 94 96 The Declaration of 95 Independence 21 86 Geade V Industry 27 100 The Fairyland of Science § 100 Nuremburg 31 97 Titania and Cberon 44 96 Capturing the Wild Horse 25 96 •Based on Questionnaire I. 62 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES Gbadk VI Pet Pet. un- un- UTo. of favor- No. of favor- Selectlona, teachers able gelectioDfi. teachers able Good Books 12 100 The Death of Socrates . . 11 90 Boholink 10 100 The Fairyland of Something atiout Books. 10 100 Science 10 90 Education 9 100 Elegy (Gray) 9 89 The Highest Aristocracy IZ 92 Cranford (Selections).. 9 89 The Contest ietween the Man and the Gannon. 11 91 Grade VII Early Conquests 19 100 The Fall of the House The Isle of the Fay 19 100 of Usher 13 100 Wealth 16 100 What Constitutes a What a Good History State 12 100 Should Contain 15 100 Genius and Industry... 12 100 The Character of The Moral Bights of Columius 15 100 Animals 12 100 The Character of Washington 14 100 Grade VIII The Renunciation of Poor Richard's Almanac 7 100 Wisdom 15 100 Munera Pulveris 19 95 Wisdom and Prudence. . 11 100 Thanatopsis 21 86 Immutable Justice 9 100 Elegy (Gray) 18 47 To a Skylark 9 100 The Descent into the L'Allegro 8 100 Maelstrom 47 47 newer readers. Of the eighty selections listed in Table XIV, seventeen are found in one series of readers, while four other series contain ten each. Teachers, in naming these eighty selections, referred to the versions found in fifteen different readers, six of which have been published since 1910. Prob- ably there are unfortunate selections in all series of readers ; if this be true, teachers should be asked to omit such selections unless special effort is to be made to make the selections suc- cessful. Some of the selections in Table XIV. were included in the lists of selections submitted in Questionnaire II. The percent- ages of unfavorable judgments then obtained are shown in Table XV. Table VIII shows the percentages of times that each undesirable quality was mentioned for these undesirable selections. ELIMINATION OF UNDESIRABLE READING SELECTIONS 63 Two conclusions may be drawn at this point. First, selections which are not as satisfactory in one grade as in another can be better taught by placing them in the grades where there is less initial resistance by the pupils. Second, the experience of teachers indicates that such selections as Gray's Elegy, The Fall of the House of Usher, Nuremburg, and The: Czar and the Angel have no place in the elementary school reading course. Pupils' Statements. Table XVI shows both teachers' and pupils' reactions to selections which are often judged ad- versely. In addition to the selections listed in the earlier tables of this chapter, three others not usually favored by teachers are here included. The version of Baron Munchausen read by the pupils was different from that which the teachers judged ; this fact may account for its better showing with pupils^. In general, however, pupils' judgments support those of teachers ; both agree that these passages are undesirable for the grades in which they are used if not for any of the elementary school grades. TABLE XV The Percentages of Teachers in the Second Questionnaire Who JiTDOED Unfavorably the Selections Which Had Been Un- favorably Judged in the First Questionnaire* Number of Selections Teachers Percent Grade Judging Unfavorable The House That Jack Built* I 52 21 A Clever Jackal* I 41 20 Phaethon* II 42 21 Sweet and Low II 66 14 The Cricket on the Hearth* III 29 45 Czar and Angel* Ill 24 37 The Flying Trunk* Ill 31 23 Phaethon* JII 42 14 Cricket on the Hearth IV 32 59 Baron Munchausen* IV 24 46 Last Lesson in French* IV 31 42 The Argonauts* IV 34 38 Phaethon* IV 35 3 Nuremburg V 23 83 > The version of the Miinchauaen tales presented to pupils Is closely similar to that contained In the Merrill readers. 64 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE XV — Continued. Numiber of Teachers Per Cent Grade Judging Unfavorable The Blessings of Poverty* V 14 57 Titania and Oberon* V 23 48 Baron MuncUausen V 33 30 Phaetnon V 36 3 Gray's Elegy*... VI 40 82 The Cricket on the Hearth VI 32 34 Cranford* VI 21 33 Baron Munchausen* VI 29 31 Gray's Elegy* VII 43 49 The Cricket on the Hearth* VII 22 38 Cranford VII 23 30 The Fall of the House of Usher* VII 23 65 What Constitutes a State* VII 34 26 Thanatopsis* VII 44 64 Gray's Elegy* ...VIII 43 56 The Cricket on the Hearth* . . .VIII 29 7 House of Usher* VIII 26 54 Thanatopsis* VIII 47 43 V Allegro* VIII 28 64 Descent into the Maelstrom,* . . .VIII 27 7 •Selections marked with an asterisk were also mentioned by teachers of the respective grades as the most undesirable selections in the list for the grades. ELIMINATION OF UNDESIRABLE READING SELECTIONS 65 S I CD lO CO Irt •<* 1 1 .-1 •* !D Ttl CO 1 leot- 1 1 >^ II II T^ 1 1 IC^ 1 1 o 1 1 1^ 1 1 s leococDlOi-i ii-iW)CO-*eo gs icoeot^ i(M iiMcart irt 1—1 1 I^C^ 1 1 a 1 IS" 1 1 s ISSS^S 1-1 53^ ItH t I 1 1 >0' rco i 1 1 1 1— 1 1 1 ro 1 En C 1 1 KOiO 1 1 1 IT-I 1 "2 03 5 S ■ CM 1 lOOC^I l(M 1 l-^iX) >S lO lOi-fO ICO IC^rH'rr^ i-H lO ro lO C lO lO lO li-H ItH Ii-H £ OS 1 1 t ICO CO 1 1 1 ICD b^ CO^X* 1 It^N ■^ 1 1 ro«3 iH o Of 1 1 t 1 to 1 1 1 1 ItH S lO 1 1 1 rr-( CO 1 1 1 l«D ^ ! ! ! ! I T— 1 1 1 1 1 1 tH LO 1 1 1 1 1 a t>- 1 1 1 1 1 CO a \ \ o e:s . : "3 S ^1 : • QD n Mun t Cons Cham.: '■ Ben Isior. . ^ o e 5s w ^fel^ss 1^ K |S&,TtjK,/ 66 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES Analysis of Undesirable Reading Selections In order to show more fully the reasons for the unsatisfac- tory character of the subject matter discussed in this chapter, analyses of several selections have been made. The Whistle. Our analysis begins with a selection which has for several generations been found in readers and has given rise to one of our popular sayings. This selection. The Whistle, by Benjamin Franklin, was mentioned unfavorably thirty-seven times in the first questionnaire for Grades IV and V and favor- ably only once. Excepting two fifth-grade teachers who say that their pupils are tired of it, all refer only to its hard words and over-maturity. It is contained in substantially the same form so far as content is concerned in books four and five of two widely used series of readers and in the fifth book of an- other series published for use in a single state. In looking for difficult words, one finds in a fifth-grade ver- sion the following expressions which might be new or trouble- some for many pupils : directly, voluntary, vexation, reflection, chagrin, ambitious, court favor, sacrificing, levees, popularity, political bustles, benevolent, accumulating, man of pleasure, audible, corporeal, sensations, appearance, equipages, and con- tracts debts. In the version intended for Grade IV, only a few of these expressions remain: directly is changed to at once; voluntary is omitted; reflection is changed to thought of it; chagrin is changed to shame; ambitious, sacrificing, court favor, levees, popularity, and political bustles are avoided by omitting the sentences containing them ; accumulating is chang- ed to heaping up. The sentence reading, "When I see a man of pleasure, sacrificing every laudable improvement of mind or of his fortune, to mere corporeal sensations," etc., is changed to "When I see a man neglecting the improvement of his mind, wasting his fortune," etc. The remainder of the difficult ex- pressions are avoided in the fourth-grade book by omitting two other sentences. In the use of the fifth-grade selection, approximately twenty expressions would need explanation to pupils of that grade. Assuming that a few words should be added to the pupils' vo- ELIMINATION OF UNDESIRABLE READING SELECTIONS 67 cabulary, we might argue that this list is not too long. Here, however, we meet with another difficulty, namely, the sentence structure. The second sentence of the fifth-grade version reads as follows : "I went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children, and being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered and gave all my money for one." The fourth-grade version divides and otherwise simplifies this sentence. This involved style persists throughout the fifth-grade version. The fifth-grade pupils are thus confronted with examples and applications drawn from adult life, by many difficult words, and many difficult sentence constructions. The closest observers of pupils of this grade, namely, the teachers, report that the pupils do not react favorably to the anecdote in this form. The Island of the Fay. Two selections from Poe appear among those which seventh-grade teachers find unsuitable for teaching purposes. The excerpt from The Fall of the House of Usher is referred to in every case in connection with one of the older series of readers. The Island of the Fay as found in one of the newer series of readers is mentioned by nineteen teachers, all of whom judged it adversely. The reasons for such judgment are as follows: lacks action, unreal, unfamil- iar subject matter, hard words, and over-maturity. An analysis of this selection shows clearly the source of some of the difficulties. The demands made upon the imagination are not beyond the powers of many pupils of this age, but, as commonly taught in this grade, they are beyond the reach of most of the pupils. That is to say, such a selection as this re- quires a careful assignment — such an assiignment as it is not always possible to arrange, or else a well-conducted "study lesson." The pupil who, without such preparation, begins read- ing this passage is supposed to pass suddenly from his school world into a very unreal situation. Only those pupils who can readily follow a writer upon one of his "lonely journeyings amid a far distant region of mountain locked within mountain, and sad rivers and melancholy tarns writhing or sleeping with- in all" — only such pupils are able to place themselves in the attitude needed for the appreciation of the story. The brief 68 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES introduction to the scene straightway described contains several phrases which are of slight if any significance to one who can- not readily imagine the appearance of hidden mountains, sad rivers, and writhing tarns. These references constitute for most pupils unfamiliar subject matter and need more than mere explanatory treatment. Such explanatory treatment is prob- ably necessary, but it needs to be supplemented or preceded by an emotional preparation. This emotional preparation would place the pupils in possession of an attitude which many of them may at some time in their lives have assumed while con- templating a situation which was in certain of its aspects simi- lar to Foe's imaginary islet. The possibility of such a prepara- tion is, it seems, a measure of the probable success of this se- lection with the average class. The probability of such a treat- ment by the teacher in a given school can be judged by the superintendent or the principal. Several things may prevent teachers from giving such a preparation: lack of personal interest in the passage, lack of time for their own prepara- tion or for presentation, or lack of ability to inspire interest in such a situation. Also, the suggestions given in manuals for the teaching of such passages as this do not usually lead one to think of anything except the explanation of meamngs. At this point we approach the problem of method, which is not the problem of our investigation. Capturing the Wild Horse. The lack of movement might be suggested as another fault of the selection just analyzed. That the presence of movement does not, however, ensure interest is shown by an analysis of the fifth-grade selection en- titled Capturing the Wild Horse^. Instead, the fault through- out this passage seems to be that it deals with a type of imagi- nation to which a careful preparatory appeal must be made if the selection is to be successful. This selection contains "action," is well told, and tells about a hunting expedition involving large game. It is, notwithstanding these good qualities, judged as a poor teaching selection by ninety-six per cent of the teachers who mention it. The reasons assigned for such judgments are two : hard words and over-maturity. ' Prom Washington Irvine's A Tour on the Prairies. ELIMINATION OP UNDESIRABLE READING SELECTIONS 69 All the references to the tale are to the version contained in one of the newer readers. In criticizing this selection, we may analyze it and also com- pare it with successful ones. In the reader containing the selection, there is, immediately following it, a well-selected list of twenty-seven words for the study of pronunciation and of thirty-eight words and phrases for the study of meanings. The tale is approximately four pages in length. There is, there- fore, according to the editor's judgment, an average of about twenty difiScult words or phrases per page. There are thirty- five lines per page. One questions whether pupils should be asked to read material which averages more than one major difficulty per sentence as this does. The question is the more troublesome when one notes that the selection contains no "childish" material which would prevent its use being post- poned. The words and phrases listed for special study vary in difficulty, but there are many which would tax severely an eighth-grade pupil. The adventure here reported is one in which only adults par- ticipate. No references are made to children. The adventure is not one about which fifth-grade pupils are likely to have clear notions. Many children have, however, contemplated a solitary existence in the midst of many natural and artifi- cial goods such as surrounded Robinson Crusoe when he was shipwrecked on foreign seas. Crusoe's adventures are replete with the things children do or about which they have had many discussions and thoughts. The capturing of a wild horse might be made equally interesting by approaching it with a consider- ation of so interesting a project as getting wild horses for a circus or for riding. The selection does not contain such refer- ences to a familiar background as run through the account of Robinson Crusoe. The tale of the capture of the wild horse may be compared with another favorite tale. Such a tale is the Story of Robin Hood which also appears in the reader containing the account of the wild horse. In spite of many difficult words or new words such as abbey, jousts. Justiciar, and tryst, the Story of Robin Hood is named as a favorite selection. Reasons given 70 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES for the popularity of this story are that it portrays adventure involving the child life of Little John, knighthood, heroism, and kindness, and raises interesting problems such as questions regarding group loyalty and kindness to the weak and the poor. The Capturing of the Wild Horse is handicapped by a lack of such appeals. Capturing wild horses and training them to perform marvelous feats would give the narrative a human appeal. Such interests as it caters to come later in children's development, but even then tales of Rip or Ichabod with their play upon human shortcomings and superstitions are much more certain of a favorable hearing. Pupils care very little about the outcome of the wild horse hunt; a selection which does not compel the reader to finish it must always take its chances with school pupils as it has to with the general read- ing public. A few persons will finish fine literary selections partially for the literary merit; teachers' judgments indicate, however, that school pupils will not appreciate literature better as a result of having read passages in which attention flags as it does in this selection. What Constitutes a State. The poem entitled What Con- stitutes a State has been unfavorably received by teachers. The criticisms indicate that the selection is too mature, too didac- tic, and that it contains symbolism and words which are too difficult. Pupils made similar criticisms and also showed by their answers to questions that the passage is too difficult for them. Reasons for the difficulties mentioned are found in nearly every line of the poem. Such phrases as labored mound, moated gate,, turrets crowned, broad armed ports, laughing at the storm, spangled courts, and perfume to pride occur in lines two to eight at the rate of two per line. These examples of difficult words and difficult symbolism show that a great deal of explanation is needed to enable pupils to understand merely the opening lines. The following questions were asked of the pupils in order to test their comprehension of such phrases as those just quoted: How do rich navies laugh "at the storm"? What Is meant by the "state's collected will"? ELIMINATION OF UNDESIRABLE READING SELECTIONS 71 The first of these questions was answered correctly by the following percentages of pupils of Grades VI, VII, and VIII, respectively: 50 per cent, 48 per cent, and 54 per cent; the second question, by the following percentages: 21 per cent, 58 per cent, and 28 per cent. Avoidance of this passage is recommended by many teachers, while less than 50 per cent of the pupils of Grades VI and VII enjoy or understand it. Thanatopsis. Bryant's Thanatopsis is so widely used and is disliked by so many teachers that it deserves analysis. Over- maturity, abstractness, and sadness are its alleged defects. The well-known opening of this selection exemplifies the undesir- able qualities. First, the sentence order is very unusual. Second, there are several difficult phrases, as Nature's "various language," "communion," and "her visible forms." These phrases conceal the antecedent of "him" in the first line, and confuse the pupil by difficult content and style. The second sentence begins with the brooding thought of the "last bitter hour," and "sad images of stern agony," phrases which, in the opinion of some teachers, had better pass un- explained. The next sentence warns the reader that the "Earth that nourished thee, shall claim thy growth, to be resolved to earth again." These lines are also quite out of keeping with the things which teachers find interesting to pupils. There are, of course, pupils and teachers who are not averse to these dis- mal forebodings. Unless, however, a supervisor has strong reasons for believing that an extraordinarily large percentage of his teachers belong to the group favorable to the poem, he should heed the warning of about 50 per cent of the teachers who find it unsatisfactory. The Fairyland of Science. An informational selection giving difficulty to sixth-grade teachers is The Fairyland of Science. An analysis of it shows a number of faults. First, pupils of Grade VI may secretly enjoy fairy tales, but the clear reference of the title to a childish type of appeal is not con- ducive to interest. The next unfavorable suggestion comes in the first sentence, where the reader is reminded of the com- mon impression that science is "a bundle of dry facts." The next sentence announces the author's attempt to prove that 72 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES this common belief is incorrect. The really interesting mater- ial of this selection is further burdened with subsequent refer- ences to fairyland: "Tell me, why do you love fairy land? What is its character?" etc. This style which is believed to be suitable for children just because it employs references which fit pupils of Grades II to IV gives the impression that the selection is "written down" for children. If there is any- thing which pupils of Grade VI desire to escape, it is the sug- gestion that they are still children. Sixth-grade pupils' judg- ments show that the tale of Aladdin is very interesting to them, although many add that they are "pretty old for fairy tales." In The Fairyland of Science, however, the pupils are told that "wherever they wander," when old as well as when young, these fairies — fabrications for little folk — will follow them. In contrast with the lack of success of this selection is the success of other informational material which is written in a virile unpatronizing style'. The Ctov/. One of the most unsuccessful selections in the newer readers is an adaptation of one of John Burroughs' essays, and is entitled The Crow. This nature-study selection is mentioned sixteen times in the resppnses to the first ques- tionnaire and each time unfavorably. Its alleged faults are over-maturity and lack of story or action. An analysis of this passage in comparison with a favorite for the same grade shows that the diction of the two selec- tions is about alike in difiSculty. In the first paragraph of The Crow, the pupils would need a little help in understanding the phrase, "the air of a lord of the soil." Beyond this, few phrases or words require explanation to the average third- grade class. The selection does not deal with abstractions. The subject matter can be readily understood by pupils. The content presented about the crow's life consists of the following : leaving meat near a window for a crow ; the crow carrying the meat away ; the crow lighting on the ground and beginning to eat; a fellow-crow coming near; a struggle ex- pected but avoided; the first crow making a "gesture" and ' See Chapter VII for an account of the success of other informational literature. ELIMINATION OF UNDESIRABLE READING SELECTIONS 73 flying away without the meat; the second crow flying to the meat and starting to eat; the return of the first crow; division and carrying away of the meat. The second part of the selec- tion continues: the crow's attitude toward a trap; trying to feed a crow by placing meat on the branch of a tree; a care- ful investigation for three days by two crows; a portion of meat eaten on the third day; the position of the meat changed to a fork in the tree and later to the ground ; "but they grew more and more afraid of it" ; a dog carrying away the meat ; and finally the crow quitting the tree. Although similar attempts to feed birds are made by many children in winter, the selection is uninteresting. Nothing un- usual happens, or rather the lack of action in at least two places is the most unusual characteristic of this passage. The ending gives a particularly strong impression of a desire to finish the narrative: "Finally, the dog carried off the bone, and the crows stopped visiting the tree." Such an ending is in marked contrast with the closing of the successful story of the Knights of the Silver Shield which follows the selection under discussion in the reader. In this account of knights, the "golden star" was, at the end of the battle, "still shining," and the lord of the castle addressed the knights as follows: "Sir Roland has fought and won the hardest battle of all to- day." It is noteworthy that Sir Roland did not lay down his shield for some straggler to find, but that a definite objective was attained, and, with the portrayal of a feeling of victory, this superior selection closes. These comments and compari- sons indicate the reasons for the teachers' criticism of the lack of action in The Crow. The Clever Jackal. Despite children's keen interest in animal play, we find among the least liked selections one en- titled The Clever Jackal. The version always referred to in the responses to the first questionnaire is in one of the newest series of readers and has three attractive illustrations. Criti- cisms of the selection are as follows : over-mature, hard words, unfamiliar subject matter, unreal, monotonous, too long, and portrays bad morals. 74 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES The length and monotony are incidental faults inherent in this particular selection; favorite selections as The Three Bears and Three Billy Goats Gruff are no shorter and contain no less repetition. The difference between The Clever Jackal and the favorite selections is that the latter are interesting and, there- fore, neither too long nor monotonous. The story of the jackal runs as follows : A jackal lived near a river to which he went to find some crabs for his dinner. He put his paw into the water to catch a crab, "And snap 1 a big Alligator had the paw in his mouth." From this time on the alligator tried to capture the clever animal, but always the jackal was wiser. At last, the jackal came home one day and found the alligator. Instead of trying to overcome his mortal enemy by combat the jackal piled wood in front of the door and burned the house and along with it the alligator. The alleged portrayal of bad morals consists of the deceit practiced on the alligator. For example, when the jackal's paw was caught, he laughed at the alligator for mistaking for a jackal's paw the reeds growing in the river : "So the Alligator opened his mouth and let the little jackal go." Both animals are involved in trickery: the one in order to capture and the other to avoid being captured. Without being prudish, one can detect underhanded diplomacy in the tale. The unfamiliarity of subject matter is probably due to pu- pils' common ignorance of river and alligator scenes. Also, over-maturity of content is found in the crafty plans for cap- turing and remaining free. Children who have difficulty with the general setting will encounter more difficulty when they try to follow these plans. Rose, Daisy, and Lily. The first-grade selection entitled Rose, Daisy, and Lily is disliked by all the teachers who men- tion it. Lack of action, hard words, and over-maturity are its faults. This three-page selection consists of ( 1 ) a description of Rose, Daisy, and Lily growing side by side in a beautiful garden and (2) a conversation about where they spent the win- ter excepting that Daisy, in the spring, does not know where she was. ELIMINATION OP UNDESIRABLE READING SELECTIONS 75 Lack of action is an obvious characteristic of this selectioa Action might readily be introduced by an animated introduc- tion, by correlated nature study, or by dramatization. Hard words are found in several lines: Daisy, beautiful, garden, these, alone, flowers, around, none, bright-eyed, winter, white, indeed, asleep, awake, shining, brightly, felt, melting, violet, blossoming, and leaves. Drill upon the following words is pro- vided by a word list which precedes the lesson : these, felt, melt- ing, would, sun, none, and indeed. The other words just cited occur in earlier selections in the reader or are preceded by words upon the same bases: blossoming is preceded by blos- som, around by round, etc. The context of nearly all these words is familiar to the pupils. The only new word which may not have been used is indeed. The teachers' criticism seems, therefore, to result from the lack of drill upon the words as thejr occur in the reader or the lack of interesting content which might carry pupils over otherwise difficult passages. The content of this selection presents objects of nature in a personified form : flowers are growing in company with their friends and have their periods of rest and of blossoming. Such tales are supposed to be interesting to children. If a selection is unsatisfactory after meeting these requirements, the difficulty may result from the large amount of teaching necessary for its success. In this respect, this selection is well prepared for by three preceding selections upon similar matter which ensure familiarity. The flowers themselves would be interesting to children. The conversation of the flowers is not difficult to follow. Lack of interesting action, hard words, and over- maturity of content as alleged against this selection may be due to a lack of enthusiasm on the part of teachers; at any rate, the teachers do not report success. An analysis of unsatisfactory selections with reference to the presentation of the optimal number of new words per page or per lesson has not been attempted in the present in- vestigation. Such an analysis would involve a tabulation of the words presented in both basal and supplementary readers and is obviously impossible with the kind of data at hand. A more important reason for avoiding such an analysis is that 76 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES hard or new words present difficulties according to pupils' in- terest in the material read, and not merely in proportion to their number. Hard words frequently constitute only an in- cidental difficulty. Evidence of this fact may be seen by com- paring the difficulty of the words contained in the superior selections analyzed in the following chapter with the words contained in the inferior selections analyzed in the present chapter. A sufficient number of inferior selections have been dis- cussed in detail to illustrate the meaning of the term "unde- sirable reading selections." These analyses lead to the follow- ing conclusions regarding the material which teachers and pupils designate as undesirable. Conclusions Only in exceptional cases can teachers interest their pupils in the selections judged undesirable. Teachers agree with regard to the undesirability of these selections. These selections require explanation and analysis by the teachers, and therefore necessitate slow reading in class, make silent reading difficult if not impossible, and lead to verbalism and formalism as a result of attempts to force conceptions of adults upon children insufficiently prepared for them. In view of the great mass of valuable literature which pupils can understand and would probably enjoy, the use of undesir- able material in elementary schools cannot be defended upon the basis of social demands or the lack of an adequate amount of desirable material. CHAPTER VI THE DETECTION OF SUPERIOR READING SELECTIONS In the questionnaires and the direct investigation of pupils, many evidences of the outstanding qualities of superior read- ing selections appear. The purpose of this chapter is to for- mulate norms for use in detecting superior reading matter. To this end data from teachers and pupils are presented after which several representative superior selections are analyzed. Evidences of Desirability Shown by Statements of Teachers and Pupils Th€ Most Desirable Selections for Each Grade. Atten- tion was called in Chapter IV to the variations in the fre- quencies of qualities from grade to grade and to the qualities which seem to be the determinants of superiority. The inter- est of children in these qualities depends so largely upon the form of material read that one hesitates to say that pupils of any grade will be uninterested in selections possessing these qualities. For there are, as examples, animal stories and stories of animal play which are favorites in the lower grades, as Patrasche is in the intermediate and Muir's Stickeen in later grades. Likewise with interesting repetition, adults are attracted by repetition such as that found in some of Poe's poems and in certain famous orations. Furthermore, pupils of Grade I are interested in information applicable to their activities. The discussion of qualities, therefore, leads to the question of availability of types of reading matter of suitable difficulty. The qualities whose frequencies are high through- out the grades are interesting action and character, adventure, humor, easy content, easy diction, and portrayal of the super- natural and of kindness, faithfulness, and loyalty. The persis- tent frequencies of these qualities indicate that superior selec- 78 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES tions for any grade possess them. The large frequencies of easy or familiar emphasize the fact that over-maturity of read- ing matter is very common. In Table XVII are catalogued selections judged superior by either teachers or pupils or both. These lists show typical selections to which a large number of reactions have been ob- tained. The arbitrary standard of superiority set up before making this table admits only the selections favored by 90 per cent or more of the teachers judging them and both favored and comprehended by 80 per cent or more of the pupils who reported upon them. This standard admits practically all se- lections which stood high in either of the questionnaires. Some selections have been placed in only the grades where the high- est percentage of favorable judgments were obtained although high percentages were also obtained in other grades ; that is, selections were placed in the grades in which there was evi- dence of their being from every point of view most superior. A significant value of Table XVII appears when it is studied in connection with Table V of Chapter III. Such a comparison shows that wide use of many selections antedates by several grades the grade in which those selections are superior accord- ing to the standard here set up. For example, Paul Revere's Ride is superior in Grades VII and VIII, although it is used in Grade IV. Similarly, The Barefoot Boy is used in Grades III to VIII in spite of the fact that it does not rise to the standard of superiority until Grade VII. Other selections show similar misplacements and will be discussed in Chapter IX. Comparative Opinions of Teachers and Pupils. Table XVIII indicates close agreement between teachers and pupils. The percentage of teachers favoring a selection usually exceeds that of the pupils because the pupils passed their judgments before class study while teachers passed theirs afterwards. DETECTION OP SUPERIOR READING SELECTIONS 79 The Gingeriread Boy The Three Bears The Three Little Pigs Three Billy Goats Gruff The Boy and the Goat The Little Red Hen Cinderella Little Boy Blue The Elves and the Shoemaker The Lion and the Mouse Henny Penny How Patty Gave Thanhs The Pancake The Crow and the Pitcher . The Little Steam Engine The Hare and the Tortoise Tom and the Wind Johnny Cake Tom, Tom the Piper's Son The Bremen Band Christmas Morning TABLE XVII Superior Selections fob All Grades* Grade I The Old Woman and Her Pig Lamiikin Sing a Song of Sixpence The Clouds What Does Little Birdie Say The Swing My Dream My Shadow The North Wind Our Flag The Star The Squirrels The Little Plant Playing in the Snow SnowMrds Snowflakes Santa Claus Who Is It? Santa Clausf The Night Before Christmas The Caterpillar Grade II The Bremen Band The Three Bears The Three Little Pigs Cinderella Three Billy Goats Gruff Little Red Riding Hood How Mrs. White Hen Helped Rose Lamiikin Epaminondas and His Auntie The Robbers The Crow and the Pitcher Androclus and the Lion The Magpie's Lesson The Hare and the Tortoise Town Mouse and Field Mouse The Old Woman and Her Sixpence Jackal and Alligator Hans in Luck When the Little Boy Ran Away The Little Red Hen Ruff's Adventure Columbus Nathan and the Bear Who Became King Mr. and Mrs. Leghorn to the Rescue The Doll's Thanksgiving Dinner The Ant and the Grasshopper Belling the Cat The Golden Touch My Shadow The Swing Our Flag I Saw a Ship a-Sailind Who Has Seen the Windf Sleeping Beauty Henny Penny Billy Binks so UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES Grade III The Tar Baby Robinson Crusoe The Leak in the Dike Hans the Shepherd Boy The Wishing Bate Dick Whittington and His Cat Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp The Elves and the Shoemaker The Golden Cups The -Bell of Atri William Tell The Golden Touch Sleeping Beauty Knights of the Silver Shield Knights of the Silver Arrows The Fairy Wand Washington's Boyhood David the Slinger St. George and the Dragon Brownies and the Cook Irene the Idle Hans Who Made the Princess Laugh The Three Wishes Pandora's Box Wynken, Blynken, and Nod The Boy, the Bees, and the British Black Beauty The Skylark's Spurs The Brownies Grade IV Knights of the Silver Shield Knights of the Silver Arrow How Cedric Became a Knight Florinda Black Beauty Dick Whittington and His Cat The Little Post-boy Maggie Visits the Gypsies Beowulf, the Brave Prince William Tell The Little Acadian Robert of Lincoln Roland the Noble Knight Out to Old Aunt Mary's Time's Christmas Tom, Dick, and Harry The Wishing Gate Patrasche The Brave Boy's Adventure A Boy Hero The Magic Prison Snow White and Rose Bed The First Thanksgiving A True Story About Leo The Twelve Months Alexander and BucepTvalus Inchcape Rock The History of Tip-Top Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp Grade V Robin Hood The Nurnberg Stove The King of the Golden River Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp Hiawatha Maggie Visits the Gypsies Arabian Nights (Selections) The Leak in the Dike How Cedric Became a Knight Robinson Crusoe Ulysses at the Cyclops William Tell Beautiful Joe A Brave Boy The Simple Old Man The Village Blacksmith Gulliver's Travels Tom the Chimney Sweep The Archery Contest The Sportsman Cosette DETECTION OF SUPERIOR READING SELECTIONS 81 GOADE VI The King of the Qolden Biver Kentucky Belle Hiawatha The Legend of Bregenz The Bishop and the Convict Sir Kenneth and the Flag Gulliver's Travels Midget, the Return Horse Tom and Maggie Rip Van Winkle The Courtship of Miles Standish Evangeline Snowbound The Day Is Done King Robert of Sicily The Man Without a Country King Arthur Stories The Barefoot Boy Paul Revere's Ride The Pied Piper of Hamelin How They Brought the Oood News William Tell Evangeline Snowbound Paul Revere's Bide The Barefoot Boy The Man Without a Country Rip Van Winkle The Legend of Sleepy Hollow The One-hoss Shay Christmas at the Cratchits" The Courtship of Miles Standish Birds of Killingworth The Heritage Raleigh's Coat Mr. Pickwick's Slide The Splendor Falls The Sandpiper The Daffodil The Revenge Robin Hood The Simple Old Man Birds of Killingworth The Arrow and the Song The Sandpiper William Tell The Pied Piper of Hamelin Horatius at the Bridge Christmas at the Cratchits' Grade VII The Legend of the Moor's Legacy Horatius at the Bridge Christmas at the Cratchits' To a Waterfowl The Sandpiper The Death of Baldur Marmion and Douglas Mr. Pickwick's Slide Birds of Killingworth Before Coins Were Made The Minting of Coins Paper Money Money in the Home and the Community Geade VIII Marmion and Douglas Oh Captain, My Captain How I Killed a Bear A-hunting of the Deer The Gettysburg Address The Prairie Fire Herve Riel The Building of the Ship The Great Stone Face Julius Caesar The Skeleton in Armor The Cricket on the Hearth Randolph and Douglas Before Coins Were Made The Minting of Coins Paper Money Money in the Home and the Community •Selections mentioned favorably by less than ninety per cent of the teachers judging them are excluded from , this table. These selections were judged by representative numbers of teachers In one or both of the questionnaires. Some of the selections in the lists for Grades III to VIII were also judged by pupils. 82 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES > 8 • U U O o ■ ■M C B o A S " I- B h « O ■o OO as DETECTION OP SUPERIOR READING SELECTIONS 83 In all cases shown in Table XVIII the percentages of pupils and teachers responding favorably are high enough to indicate successful use of the selections. Three lines of evidence point, therefore, to the st^eriority of these selections: (1) those who administer the elementary reading course chose them as the representative of the best material in their readers ; (2) high percentages of the same kind of judges also reported favorably upon them when asked specifically about them; and (3) pupils' reactions are favorable even before class study. So far then as interest is concerned, these materials are quite satisfactory to pupils as well as to teachers. Many of the selections of Table XVII appear in the lists of more than one grade. This means that they would nearly "teach themselves" in the grades in which they are listed. In case of many of these selections a different version may be found in each of the series of readers containing them, but in- terest in them indicates that they contain plots, forms of action, or other content which may be successfully used in any of the grades indicated if written in a style adapted to the child's control of the mechanics of reading as attained in the re- spective grades. This type of selection is exemplified in The Bremen Band, Aladdin, Tales of Robin Hood, and Robinson Crusoe. Occasionally, a version of one of these tales is un- fortunate. The clearest case of this kind is that of The Clever Jackal which, in one version, is one of the poorest selections for Grade I and, in a different version, one of the best for Grade II. In all cases the references to this tale are to the versions in two series of readers. This is the only case re- vealed in this investigation in which an unfortunate version is shown to be responsible for the unpopularity of a selection. Types of Superior Selections Prose and Poetry Not DifFerentiated. In discussing the content of selections there are no sufficient reasons for class- ifying prose and poetry into two types of reading matter. Pupils' interest in poetry is shown by their reactions to the poems submitted to them. The first poem reported on by them 84 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES was Excelsior. Only a low percentage liked this poem while the majority stated that they did "not like poetry anyhow." In nearly every case, however, the pupils who said that they dislike it stated why they do like The Village Blacksmith, The Barefoot Boy, and The One-hoss Shay. The results here ob- tained confirm the opinions of many teachers who have found that the difficulty is nearly always with certain poems and not with poetry in general. This statement holds for both boys and girls so far as the results indicate. Distinctive Types of Superiority. In Table XIX appear the types of selections which stand out clearly in Table XVII. Although the types are fairly distinct, several different char- acteristics are often exemplified by the same selection. The manifold appeal of these selections has much to do with their popularity. Also, the interests of pupils in some of them in- dicate that they might be offered in any of several diflferent grades if properly written for these grades. Superior Reading Selections and the Objectives of the Course in Reading. In our introductory chapter, several objectives of the course in reading were set up. These objec- tives may be used as bases for judging the selections now under discussion. Among these objectives is the ability to enjoy literature. As means for attaining this objective, selec- tions embodying qualities found to interest pupils were ad- vocated. A second group of objectives as set up includes ability in imagination, ability in expression, and the possession of an adequate vocabulary. These objectives are also attained, teachers assert, by the use of interesting selections. In Grades I and II, for example, The Three Bears is useful in the culti- vation of imagination and expression and in building up a vo- cabulary; the same is true in Grade VI of The King of the Golden River, and in Grade VIII of Evangeline. A third group of objectives includes literary taste. This objective re- sults from eflfective use of well-written subject matter. Statis- tical evidence shows that teachers regard the selections cat- alogued in Table XVII as examples of good literature. Fur- thermore, our introductory chapter contended that the attain- ment of the desirable objectives necessitates the use of material DETECTION OF SUPERIOR READING SELECTIONS 85 TABLE XIX Types of Reading Selections for the Respective Gbades and Examples of Each Type Types of Selections foe Gbades I-II Animal stories: The Three Little Pigs; Three Billy Goats Gruff. Cumulative tales: The Little Bed Hen; The Old Woman and Her Pig. Nursery Rhymes: Tom, Tom the Piper's Son; The Swing. Fairy tales: Cinderella; The Elves and the Shoemaker. Child life: My Shadow; Little Boy Blue. Humorous tales: The Gingerbread Boy; The Bremen Band. Adventure: The Three Bears; Little Bed Biding Hood. Interesting information: The Little Steam Engine; The Flag. Nature: What Does Little Birdie Say; The Magpie's Lesson. Dramatization: The Three Bears; The Bremen Band. Types of Selections fob Gbades III-VI Fairy tales: Pandora's Box; Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp. Child life: Dick Whittington and His Cat; Cosette. Adventure and heroic: The Leak in the Dike; Boiinson Crusoe. Knighthood: The Knights of the Silver Shield; How Cedric Became a Knight. Animal stories: Black Beauty; Patrasche. Humor: The Wishing Gate; The Tar Baby. Interesting information: Washington's Boyhood. Nature: Daffy-down-dilly ; Hiawatha. Dramatization: The Pied Piper of Hamelin; Hiawatha. Poetry: The Village Blacksmith; The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Types of Selections foe Gbades VII-VIII Adventure: Horatius at the Bridge; Fitz-James and Roderick Dhu. Description: The Day Is Done; Snowbound. Romance: Evangeline; The Courtship of Miles Standish. Knighthood: King Arthur Stories. Humor: Mr. Pickvnck's Slide; The One-hoss Shay. Supernatural: Rip Tan Winkle; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Biography and History': Paul Revere' s Bide; The Courtship of Miles Standish. Interesting information: Before Coins Were Made; Paper Money. Nature: Birds of Killingworth; The Sandpiper. Dramatization: William Tell; The Merchant of Venice. Child life: The Barefoot Boy. Poetry: Evangeline; To a Waterfowl. ' Travel may be mentioned In this connection ; there were, however, no references to selections telling of travel. 86 UNIVERSITy OF WISCONSIN STUDIES whose content is within the mental grasp of the pupils who read it. These selections are, teachers assert, within the grasp of pupils. The selections discussed in this chapter are found, therefore, to be superior when judged with reference to the desirable objectives of the course in reading and the means for attaining these objectives. Superior reading material may, therefore, be described as follows : it possesses one or more — usually more — of the qual- ities which make selections intrinsically interesting to pupils; it is found by those who administer the course in reading to be available for attaining one or more of the desirable ob- jectives of the course in reading; it possesses literary merit; and it is within the mental grasp of the pupils who are to read it. Analyses of Superior Reading Selections The following analyses set forth the important qualities exemplified in a few superior selections. Owing to the gen- eral familiarity with many of these selections, there is no need for such detailed treatment as was given in the preceding chapter to undesirable selections. The Tar Baby. The Tar Baby is an outstanding superior selection for Grade III. This selection has for its setting a woodland scene in hot weather. Two animals, a rabbit and a fox, are interested in avoiding the extreme heat. "Brother" Fox proposes that they build a cool little house. The rabbit does not favor this proposal but says that a few green leaves are quite suiificient for him. The fox proceeds, however, to build a house. After the house is completed, the rabbit, in the absence of the fox, occupies it. The fox plans to entrap the rabbit by means of a wooden doll covered with tar. The rabbit comes along and, after an attempted argument with the exasperating doll, finds that he is unable to free himself from the sticky object which he has tried to force into a con- versation. The fox then comes out and places fire-wood near the rabbit, at the same time audibly planning for a feast. The fire is kindled, the tar becomes heated, the rabbit extricates himself and runs away. DETECTION OF SUPERIOR READING SELECTIONS 87 This story avoids a fault of many morality stories by por- traying the administering of only a vigorous warning to the slothful rabbit. It holds the reader in suspense while the rabbit is trying to extricate himself from the toils of the silent, sticky wooden doll. The humor and resourcefulness of both the fox and rabbit are shown in their plans to entrap and to attain freedom, respectively. The pleasing effect of the story is enhanced by a satisfactory ending in which the fox's ex- treme plans for punishment are foiled by his own eflforts while the rabbit is given a warning which he will remember. The story also offers an excellent opportunity for dramatization. Teachers' comments show that they value especially the action, which is both dramatic and otherwise interesting, the animal play, the humor, and the ease with which the selection can be understood. Other incidental values are its good end- ing and vocabulary. The resourcefulness of the rabbit was mentioned by nine teachers of Questionnaire II. The Three Bears. The selection entitled T/ie Three Bears is too well known to require extended analysis. Its stated values are the animal element and personification, interesting action, adventure, interesting characters, ease, and availability for dramatization. Many teachers who responded to the ques- tionnaires referred to the "variety" contained in the story. This variety of appeal results from such qualities as the fol- lowing in addition to those already mentioned: interesting repetition, the bear's home, opportunity for dramatic reading and telling, the child's escapades. This selection has also a good ending, humor, and provides an opportunity for the play of imagination. Such a variety of appeals is one of the notable characteristics of superior selections. The Gingerbread Boy. Another favorite of the primary grades is The Gingerbread Boy. This English folk tale re- lates the story of making and baking a gingerbread boy, his subsequent adventures as he fled from the old man and woman, and his last words when the fox craftily captured him. The important qualities of the story are fairly obvious if one reads only this fragmentary outline. Interesting action 88 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES and adventure are exemplified from the time the old woman begins to plan the gingerbread boy until his ultimate capture by the fox. The interesting characters are the old man and the woman who live in the little old house down under a hill, the cow, the horse, the fox, and the boy himself, all of whom engage in interesting conversation. The rollicking versions virhich appear in several different readers emphasize the humor of the situation and prepare judiciously for the "sad ending" of the story. Dramatization of the story is easy and involves interesting action as well as interesting conversation. The incidental teaching values of the selection are its availability for cultivating imagination and expression and for enlarging the vocabulary. The Knights of the Silver Shield; How Little Cedric Be- came a Knight. The Knights of the Silver Shield is one of the most popular selections for Grades III to V. This tale and How Little Cedric Became a Knight call forth much praise of knighthood — its interesting characters, adventure, and portrayal in an unobtrusive way of wholesome virtues. Sev- eral teachers asked in their responses why they cannot have more tales of knighthood. Although these tales are desirable for Grade III, they seem to be more suitable for Grades IV and V. In these grades the stories can be freely elaborated, while in Grade III there is a danger, if the story is well rend- ered, of using over-difficult constructions. Without further examples, the criteria here set up may be used in locating the good qualities, as the criteria set up in the preceding chapter may aid in locating undesirable qualities in inferior selections. In this sense, these criteria form one of the important bases for a formulation of standards for evaluating reading matter. Conclusions Teachers' statements show close agreement upon the super- iority of many reading selections. So far as pupils judged the same selections, they regarded them as superior even be- fore they studied them in class. DETECTION OF SUPERIOR READING SELECTIONS 89 Superior reading selections usually possess several appeals. Many also appeal to pupils of several grades. Many selec- tions are always superior even though rendered in different versions. Many selections designated as superior in certain grades are frequently studied too early in the reading course and are then judged undesirable. Poems as well as prose selections are among the passages which both pupils and teachers designate as superior. Selections having one or more strong appeals may be class- ified as typical of the grades in which these appeals are im- portant. The fact that many appeals are important in several successive grades accounts for the persistent superiority of certain selections in these grades. Moral qualities are not obtrusive in superior reading mat- ter although incidental qualities of great moral value often appear in superior selections. Similarly, other desirable ob- jectives of the reading course are to be attained by the use of superior selections although the superiority would result from their appeals to the interests of the reader apart from the more remote values. The literary merits of superior selections are very frequently mentioned by teachers. The reactions of teachers and pupils as well as our analyses of superior selections show that such selections are intrinsically interesting, that they are available for attaining desirable ob- jectives of the reading course, and that they possess literary merit. CHAPTER VII INFORMATIONAL MATERIAL FOR THE COURSE IN READING Ample evidence of the pronounced interest of teachers and pupils in informational material^ has been found^. This in- terest is in striking contrast with the lack of interest of teach- ers in the informational passages found in some widely used readers. The purposes of this chapter are as follows: (1) to show the appreciation with which pupils read well-graded informational material; (2) to show that teachers agree with pupils regarding the values of and interest in this material; (3) to show the striking contrast between teachers' reactions to this material and their reactions to such informational ma- terial as appears in their basal readers; and (4) to suggest guiding principles affecting the choice of informational pass- ages to be used in the reading course. Pupils' Appreciation of the Informational Material Read In Table XX is shown the character of the responses of seventh and eighth-grade pupils to the selections in the Com- munity Life Series. As there was no observable difference be- tween the reactions of the pupils of the two grades, their re- sponses are not separated in the tables. The fact that pupils of both grades are almost unanimous in favoring these selec- tions, together with the fact that there are few differences be- tween their reactions to each of the four selections, indicates that this kind of material is suitable for these grades so far as pupils' interests are concerned. The wide range of population groups represented in the classes investigated adds further sup- port to this conclusion. " See note, p. 21, chap. 11. = See Chapter II, pp. 22 f. for the method of procedure followed in obtaining data upon this material. INFORMATIONAL MATERIAL FOR COURSE IN READING 91 TABLE XX The Chabacteb op the Responses of Pupils to Infobmational LiTEEATDEE WkITTEN ESPECIALLY FOB THEIE USE No. of Pet QualltieB mentioned „ , „ pupilB t«7or- and the frequency SelectionA judgine able of each Quality Before Coins Were 82 100 Various media of exchange.. .37 Made History 24 Evolution of modern money. .23 Indian trade 20 Barter 20 Need for use of metal as me- dium 15 Trading in Virginia 11 Ants taking gold out of ground 6 W^ell told 6 Early use of iron for money. 4 Chinese making hoes 1 Use of scalps by Indians 1 The Minting of Coins 82 96 How money Is made 48 Stamping the coins 38 VCeighlng the coins , 23 Making over coins 20 Getting designs 19 History 18 Ancient methods of computa- tions 17 Well told 2 Uninteresting 2 Too mature 1 Paper Money 82 99 The engraving process 36 How paper money is made... 33 The kind of paper used 21 How counterfeiting is avoided . 21 How paper money is made over 20 Economy In having paper money 15 Getting rid of old bills 13 History 13 Redeeming old bills 6 United States the first to use paper money 3 Guarding the vaults 1 Counting the money 1 Too mature 1 92 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES No. of Pet. Qualities mentioned pi^)l]s faTor- and the freatiency Selections judging able of each Quality Money in the Commun- 82 94 Use at home of money from ity and the Home taxes T. .26 National and local expenses.. 24 The process of taxation 20 Interesting information about taxes 19 The family budget 18 Assessments 13 War time use of money 7 "Well told 2 Uninteresting 2 Tired hearing of taxes 2 Not so well told as the others. 1 Additional evidence of the pupils' interest is found by com- paring their comments on these passages with their comments upon some of the standard selections submitted to them. The fullness as well as the vigor of the comments upon the informa- tional passages is shown in the following quotations: C. F. — What Constitutes a State. "Dislike. Because it Is not a poem for a boy. Uninteresting." A'bou Ben Adhem. "Dislike. Because it is not exciting, or sad, or glad, and has too much talking, not many rhyming sentences." Oettysiurg Address. "Like. Because it's by A. Lincoln, it's pa- triotic." Before Coins Were Made. "Like. Because it tells what people did in ancient times concerning money. How the iron hoes were used in China. About the ants and the gold they took out of the ground. "WTiat traders used and what the Indians used for money. How the people in Virginia used tobacco for money." B. D. — What Constitutes a Btate. "Like. Because It Is so well expressed and you can learn something from the selection." Paul Revere's Ride. "Like. Because of the patriotism shown and the continuous rhythm throughout the selection." Marco Bozzaris. "Like. Because it is so vividly pictured and very natural." Paper Money, "Like. Because I have found the value of paper money and the way and means of making it and practically remak- ing It." INFORMATIONAL MATERIAL FOR COURSE IN READING C. D. — Marco Bozzaris. "Like. I like this because it is a war story and is exciting." Christmas at the CratcUits'. "Like. I like this because it seems so much like a true story." After writing more than a page on the Community Life Leaflet, C. D. closed by saying she liked the leaflet "because it tells all about the making of money, the history of money, how they traded goods of different sorts instead of using money, designing of money, how government taxes and collects taxes, national, county, state, and public expenses. This (the history of money) is all very in- teresting." Although the term patriotism is not mentioned at all in the pupils' responses, references to civic information are made by practically all of them. In striking contrast with these state- ments are the inane comments made by scores of pupils on such patriotic selections as What Constitutes a State and the Gettys- burg Address. The civic value of the selection entitled Money in the Conmiunity and the Home is clearly brought out by over one hundred of the responses in Table XX. These tabu- lations are based upon such clear-cut statements as the fol- lowing : "Tells where the public money goes." "Tells how money is collected through taxation." "Shows how money should be spent and that so much should be allowed for each thing." "It teaches the child how to save by making budgets." "It tells the actual cost of things that I didn't know cost so much." "My family is interested in government doings." "It shows what carelessness and money wasting will do, therefore, we should save our money." The same pupils wrote as follows about the Gettysburg Address : "I like it because it was written by a good man and tells us a great many things in a few words." "Like. Because it gives glory and brings out the point." "Like. Because it was written by one of the greatest men the United States ever had." "Patriotic — spoken by a great man." "I like it because it is from the mouth of Abraham Lincoln." "Like. Because about a great battle and because it is about Lin- coln." "Like. Because Lincoln spoke it, and because he spoke it with a lot of meaning." 94 UNIVEHSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES The comments on the Gettysburg Address are given in full; those on Money in the Community and the Home only in part. This comparison is not for the purpose of showing that the Gettysburg Address is a poor selection. The purpose is merely to show that pupils are greatly interested in such informational passages as the Community Life Series, and to point out the fact that the older informational selections designed to deal with similar topics may require more careful teaching than those written by experts especially for school use. Indeed, many important selections in current use seem to be very hazardous teaching material. Teachers' Evaluations of the New Informational Passages Table XXI shows the grades in which the selections from the Community Life Series were tried by teachers and the de- gree of success reported by them. In order to show the shift- ing of the degrees of success from grade to grade, the responses of teachers from all grades in which these selections were used are given. This shifting is shown by the higher percentages of teachers giving favorable ratings to the material in succes- sive grades. On the one hand, the per cent of teachers who graded the selections as "Poor" (C) decreases from 13 per cent in Grade IV to 3 per cent in Grade VII (in Grades VIII and IX, no teachers rated the selections as low as C). On the other hand, the per cent of teachers who rated the selections as "Highly satisfactory and understood by the pupils" (A) in- creases from 29 per cent in Grade IV to 94 per cent in Grade IX. INFORMATIONAL MATERIAL FOR COURSE IN READING 95 TABLE XXI The Percentages of Teachers of Grades IV to IX Who Placed Each of the Diffeeent Estimates on the Community Life Series* Grades IV V VI VII VIII IX Degree of success Number of teachers: 31 50 59 34 34 16 A 29 58 13 68 30 2 71 24 6 62 35 3 65 35 94 B 6 C D Total number of teachers judging, 59. •The success is rated from A, excellent to D, complete failure. Owing to the small number of responses from Grade IX, the ratings for Grades V to VIII possess greater significance than those for Grade IX. In the later grades, about two-thirds of the teachers regard these passages as excellent. The condi- tions under which they were read may have had something to do with the lack of outstanding success in some schools. Evi- dence of insufficient time for reading them was found in the statements of some of the teachers who reported to the ques- tionnaire; a considerable number of teachers began with the earlier numbers of the series and did not reach the selections under discussion'. A rating of either "A" or "B" indicates that a selection is successful. Hence, the responses show that nearly 100 per cent of the teachers found the selections good if not superior. So high a rating by teachers was obtained by only a few of the selections in the readers most frequently used in these grades. The data indicate that these informational selections can be successfully used in Grades V to IX ; children in the later grades do not find the selections too easy in either content or style. The use of this material is far less hazardous for the teacher than the use of standard informational selec- tions. The amount of time given to such material would not *The selecUons here discussed are numbers 21 to 24 of the entire Conununity Life Series. Only the reports of teachers who used these four selecUons appear in any of the tables of this study. 96 UNIYERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES deprive the pupil of acquaintance with as much standard litera- ture as he now reads, if the course in reading were so adapted to the child's maturity that detailed explanations of content could be omitted. TABLE XXII Gbades foe Which Teachees Recommend the Use of Infoemational Selections Contained in the Commxtnitt Life Seeies Selections Number of Number of teachers for each grade teachers IV V VI VII VIII IX Before Coins Were Made . . . The Minting of Coins Paper Money . . . Money in the Community and the Home. . . . Total recommendations for each grade. 49 52 50 50 10 16 4 14 11 8 7 36 14 15 14 59 10 14 12 12 48 10 33 3 11 In addition to the statistical data given in Table XXII, the following comments of teachers of Grades VII and VIII sup- port the conclusion that such informational material is valu- able: "Information excellent for teachers as well as for pupils." "Content good, but diction too difficult for tlie material to be satisfactorily handled by pupils of sixth and seventh grades." "Material good but too difficult for seventh grade." "Interesting and practical." "Material not found elsewhere is here well written." "Good supplement to American History." The tone of these comments as well as those of teachers in lower grades indicates that these selections are better adapted for use in the later grades than in the lower. INFORMATIONAL MATERIAL FOR COURSE IN READING 97 The Contrast Between Teachers'" Reactions to the New Informational Literature and Their Reactions to the Older Informational Literature In marked contrast with the success of the informational passages already discussed is the utter lack of success of the informational selections found in some of the readers in cur- rent use. Table XXIII shows the reactions of teachers of Grades VII and VIII to this older material. The most strik- ing feature of this table is that nearly all of these selections were rated as failures by all of the teachers who mentioned them. Indeed, of all selections mentioned as undesirable, these selections are in greatest disfavor. They are said to be over- mature in content, words, or style. There is a very high correlation between the judgments of pupils and of teachers so far as pupils read the older selections. The selection entitled Before Coins Were Made avoids any reference to the child's presumed interests. The child is not told that he "will be interested in learning" about something. There is no apology for the selection. The account is allowed to stand on its own merits. These merits are exemplified in the first paragraph, the characteristics of which are such that it would receive a high rating even if judged by standards designed for evaluating standard poems, tales of adventure, or romances. This first paragraph with its interesting action, suggestions of adventure and heroism, interesting characters, problems, and information is as follows: When the agents of the Hudson's Bay Co. began to trade with the Indians they found it useless to talk about the prices of the things to be bought and sold in English money. The Indians did not want silver or gold. They wanted guns and knives and food and clothing. In return they brought furs to the trading stations. Among the Indians everything was spoken of as worth a certain number of beaver skins. Traders found that they could deal with the Indians much rtiore easily by saying guns and other things cost so many skins. For example, a gun cost 20 skins. Throughout this informational account are many picturesque details which appeal to the reader's interests and serve to hold 98 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES his attention so that other facts may be presented effectively. For example, early kinds of money such as wampum, dried codfish, and the red scalps of woodpeckers aid in describing TABLE XXIII The Reactions of Teachbes to Cebtain Types of Informational Literature* No. of Pot. ofra»- Qualities mentioned - , . , t™es favorable and the frequencies of Selections mentioned responses each auality Grade VII The Mystery of 26 81 Too mature 21 lAfe Interesting problems 4 Early Conquests 19 100 Too mature 8 Hard constructions 8 Too abstract 3 Wealth 16 100 Too mature 16 What a Oood His- 15 100 Too mature 9 tory Should Con- Hard words 4 tain Uninteresting 1 The Character of 15 100 Too mature 12 Columbus Uninteresting 3 The Character of 14 100 Too mature 13 Washington Unfamiliar subject matter ... 1 Not well told 1 Oenius and Industry 12 100 Too mature 11 Uninteresting 1 The Moral Rights 12 100 Too mature 8 of Animals Hard constructions 6 The Desert 11 73 Too mature 8 Geographical information 2 The Settlers of 9 77 Too mature 2 New England Hard constructions 1 Uninteresting 1 History and blograpliy 1 INFORMATIONAL MATERIAL FOR COURSE IN READING 99 Geade VIII Munera Pulveria 19 96 Too mature 16 Uninteresting 12 Interesting information 1 Abstract 3 The Renunciation 15 100 Too mature 15 Uninteresting 1 Wisdom and Pru- 11 100 Too mature 9 dence Uninteresting 4 Immutahle Justice 9 100 Too mature 4 Uninteresting 3 Hard Words 4 *Based upon responses to Questionnaire I. early media of exchange. In another place, the beginnings of metal money are described. The story which Herodotus tells of the huge ants bringing up gold when they burrow and the story of the use of iron hoes as a medium of exchange in China aid in enlivening this part of the account. Although the other informational selections used have some- what less of the picturesque, they describe matters which pupils find very interesting. The pupils referred to nearly all of the processes described in their comments on The Minting of Coins and Paper Money. Table XX shows that pupils are interested in this form of action, problems, and general information. In their comments on Money in the Community and the Home, a large amount of interesting and familiar subject matter is shown to introduce pupils to facts which otherwise might be very dry. Pupils frequently mentioned the information about expenditures of public money which they "did not know about before." Also, in the comments on this passage, the interest in discussions of the "family budget" is attested by the forceful statements of the eighteen pupils who mentioned it. Parents of many of the pupils had been trying to devise a budget sys- tem. The enumeration of these facts by the pupils indicates that the selections are valuable not only as social science but also as interesting and stimulative problematic literature. 100 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES Conclusions : Guiding Principles Affecting the Choice OF Informational Literature The forceful statements of pupils indicate their understanding of the informational material presented to them in this investi- gation. These statements are in contrast with their statements ahout much of the traditional literature upon which they re- ported. The lack of interest in other informational literature may be due to the form in which it is written and not to a lack of in- terest in the informational content itself. At any rate, pupils almost unanimously favor the newer informational selections, although they usually refer only to interesting information. If the traditional form of informational literature is used, teachers must recognize the difficulty of teaching it and plan to do more "teaching" than is needed if the newer informa- tional selections be used. Informational material, if used, should be written for pupils' use by experts and not culled from masterpieces written for the use of adults. The interest of pupils in the informational passages sub- mitted to them is keen even before class discussion or study of them. This fact indicates that these passages might, with careful teaching, be presented in lower grades than those in which we have presented them. Interesting informational literature may be written so that it will possess the same important desirable qualities as classi- cal non-informational literature. Social needs of pupils and the amount of teaching possible are the best guides for determining the grades in which this material shall be used. It is highly satisfactory in all of the grades here reporting upon it. Of all the inferior selections mentioned by teachers, the traditional passages are given the lowest ratings; of all the superior selections reported on by either teachers or pupils, the newer informational passages are as popular as any. INFORMATIONAL MATERIAL FOR COURSE IN READING 101 Pupils of different population groups show equally strong in- terests in these passages. Extensive additions of informational literature should bf made to the elementary school reading course. This increase might be an addition to the amount of matter now read in many schools if less time were devoted to oral reading and the analysis of over-mature reading selections. CHAPTER VIII THE RELATION OF READING SELECTIONS TO THE STANDARD OF GRADING IN VARIOUS SCHOOLS Before the placement of reading selections can be adequate- ly discussed, the relation of reading material to the academic standards of different schools needs to be studied. The com- ments of teachers upon this matter will first be studied, but pupils' responses constitute the chief source of information and form the basis for most of the conclusions at the end of this chapter. Differences Between the Grading of Various Schools As Shown by Teachers^ Responses Differences Are General Rather Than Specific. A lim- ited number of isolated cases indicate distinctly local differ- ences among pupils' reading interests. For example, a teacher in an industrial community cited her foreign-born city pupils' inability to enjoy the poem entitled The Fringed Gentian. Similar statements are made about The Barefoot Boy. Inabil- ity to present these selections satisfactorily results from the limited experience of many city pupils. In contrast with these difficulties arising from local limitations, we find a few cases in which advantages result from local conditions. For example, Paul Revere and The Great Stone Face appeal particularly to children acquainted with the settings of these selections. The cases just cited show that local handicaps or advantages may at times lead either to a lack or a presence of interest. But such specific cases are rare while general cases of another sort are frequent. Indeed, a careful search for indications of local differences shows that variations in interests and comprehen- sion are due to a general lack of familiarity with the material in certain passages having localized appeals. The case may be illustrated by the comments on Glimpses of the Great Com- READING SELECTIONS AND STANDARDS OF GRADING 103 moner and The Mad Tea Party. These passages are assumed to have no local advantages in most cities, yet they elicit the same kinds of comments as cited above. These comments state merely that the selections contain unfamiliar subject mat- ter or that the content is outside the experience of pupils. The fact that such comments relate to general difficulties with vari- ous types of selections leads one to suspect that the problem results from the character of the teaching and grading of pupils in certain schools and not from the local appeal of certain reading selections. So far, then, as local differences are indicated by teachers' comments, there are no grounds for excluding material solely because it lacks a local appeal. On the contrary, the determin- ing matters are the general maturity of the pupils in a given school and the amount and kind of teaching possible or feasible. Differences of Grading Shown by Pupils' Responses Among the comments of pupils upon the selections presented to them, isolated instances show a particularized appeal re- sulting from local differences. For example, some of the chil- dren of one school refer with apparent delight to their own experiences as backgrounds for two of the selections : The Barefoot Boy and The Wreck of the Hesperus. Inasmuch as these few comments constitute all of the pupils' references to matters of local interest, we turn to the results of the compre- hension tests. The comprehension questions drew forth answers showing pronounced differences between pupils of different schools. In Diagram VI, the differences between the responses of Schools U and C are shown for selections read in three grades. Here appear the percentages of pupils who profess interest in the selections designated and the percentages of questions cor- rectly answered. In comprehension the pupils of one school are at least two grades behind those of the other. Only in the case of Douglas and Randolph do the seventh-grade pupils of School C reach the comprehension scores attained by the fifth- grade pupils of School U. The diagram thus shows a marked 104 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES to So Int«rast Comprehenslen ... I^^^__.^^ " 1 5 b , 7 The Borefoot Bojr loo 9o 70 6o 5o __ ~ - - "^^ ■^ ^' -•' 1 ^ ^ 1 5" 6 GRADES 7 loo ««° 1o Gh ?Ei » r Diagram VI. Comparison of Interest in and comprehension of cer- tain selections as shown by the responses of pupils of different schools. ( equals School U; equals School C.) READING SELECTIONS AND STANDARDS OF GRADING 105 Interest Cemprehenslpn Dick Nhittington and his Cat loe 9e "= = — ^ — 1 k- ■* *z 5o \ 5 G RA aes 4- loo 00 *~" ■^ Sfto _ _. Sto 8 60 50 3 eeAPES ^. The YllLage Blocksmtth fiRAOES loo a!! K 8o so lOO ~~ — • — ^^ «•* ^ -■ 3 6 RA oe s 4. «9«> 880 60 So Phoethen loo «9o Seo §70 *6o ■■" .— ■" ^' -" 6R AP ES i 50 -- The U0ly Ouokllng 3 6RA0e9 The WrecK of the Hesperus So 70 60 5o — — — — / / /' / r ^^ 4o 3o /^ ^^ 0^^ ^ * 5 Gr AC l££ 1 / §* «'4o So — — — — — — ** ■^ 1 5 61 «AI 7ej s i \ Diagram VII. Comparison of Interest in and comprehension of cer- tain selections as shown by the responses of pupils of two schools within the same school system. ( equals School B; equals School C.) 106 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE XXIV COBKEXATIOITS BET'WBEN DIFFERENT SCHOOLS IN INTEREST Grades Schools III ABC IV ABC V u c VI uc VII AUG VIII A C A B — .90 .96 .90 — .86 .93 .86 ... .90 .76 .90 ... .69 .76 .69 ... .80 .71 — .95 C u .88 ... ... .88 .70 ... .70 .71 .71 ... .80 ... .71 .95 ... TABLE XXV Correlations Between Different Schools in Comprehension Grades Schools III ABC IV ABC V u c VI uc VII AU C VIII A C A B ... .89 .87 .89 — .85 .87 .85 .95 .89 .95 ... .88 .89 .88 ... .82 .93 ... .88 c U .80 ... .„ .80 .80 ... ... .80 .93 .77 .„ .82 ... .77 .88 ... variability in the grading of the pupils of two schools. It is, however, quite unnecessary to go outside a single school sys- tem to find great differences between schools. Indeed, the differences between the two schools of the same system repre- sented in Diagram VII are as marked as those between schools of different systems. Here we find that in only one case, that of the very easy selection entitled The Ugly Duckling, do the fourth-grade pupils of School C comprehend reading material as well as the third-grade pupils of School B. In their com- prehension of each of the other selections the two schools re- main about two grades apart. Tables XXIV and XXV show the correlation between pupils' comprehension scores and in- terest ratings in different schools. The character and amount of preparation of pupils for read- ing a selection are dependent upon the locality in the case of only a few selections. Among these selections are some deal- ing with nature-study. A reading course cannot be regarded as satisfactory unless it provides proper preparation of pupils READING SELECTIONS AND STANDARDS OF GRADING 107 for such passages. The dependence of pupils' interest upon their comprehension as shown in the following chapter justi- fies a flexible placement of reading material. The only alterna- tive lies in the solution of the difficulties of presenting reading material to the pupils who ordinarily find it very difficult and, therefore, very uninteresting. Conclusions Dififerences exist among pupils in interests and compre- hension of reading material. Except in a very few cases, differences are due to varia- tions in the abilities of pupils to comprehend reading matter rather than to variations in interests in matter which is un- derstood. So far as interests are concerned, variations do not war- rant different kinds of literary material for different localities. Local differences may require a different approach to and presentation of reading selections which, in themselves, lack a ready-made appeal. When different schools vary in comprehension so that the pupils classified in a given grade are consistently two or more grades apart in comprehension, radical measures should be taken to ensure a flexible grading of material or an improve- ment of teaching or both. CHAPTER IX THE PLACEMENT OF READING SELECTIONS In Chapter II several traditional methods of selecting ma- terial for reading were catalogued. These methods have led to the use of many standard passages by pupils several grades apart. The purpose of this chapter is to formulate standards for placing passages in the grades where they can be used with optimal benefit. Teachers' Statements Regarding the Placement of Reading Selections The Range of Placement of Certain Selections. Tables XXVI and XXVII show teachers' judgments upon the place- ment of selections used in several different grades. Some of these selections are used in different versions in different grades. The Pied Piper of Hamelin, for example, in prose or verse occurs in Grades II to VII, as shown by the first questionnaii-e. Some selections, as The Ugly Duckling and The Village Black- smith, recur from grade to grade until pupils tire of them. The reports show that children read and re-read certain selections instead of extending their acquaintance with literature. Selections Which Gain in Favor from Grade to Grade. Another matter shown by Tables XXVI and XXVII is that many selections gain in favor in later grades. In the case of selections written in many versions of varying difficulty, we can draw only general conclusions. Among such selections, Aladdin is increasingly popular from Grades III to V; this fact may be due to either or both of two reasons : the versions in the more advanced readers may be more effectively written than those in the primary readers, or the pupils of the later grades may be able to appreciate better the story itself. In the case of The Village Blacksmith and The Barefoot Boy, there is a distinct gain in the percentages of teachers who favor substantially the same versions. Many other selections rise THE PLACEMENT OP READING SELECTIONS 109 TABLE XXVI Teachebs' Reactions Re&abding the Placement of Selections Now IN General Use* Selections Ques- tion- naire Grades in which judged and percentages of responses favorable Sleeping f I II II I II T II I II I II II I II I II I II I II 11 I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I 85 II 67 96 97 98 98 94 88 97 79 III 82 99 86 IV 62 V VI VII VIII Beauty ( I Saw a Ship f assailing | Lambir ( kin ( 85 "ir 100 96 100 48 55 The Pied Piper f of Hamelin ...\ RoMnson f 96 97 92 92 33 85 41 100 75 21 36 64 80 •94 79 97 90 93 80 94 66 60 82 40 57 92 86 68 93 66 13 58 94 94 86 93 100 90 '"§§" Crusoe \ The Sand- f piper ( 90 62 92 94 78 74 33 80 90 88 83 90 77 11 18 Cricket on the f Hearth \ 93 100 100 87 87 Rip Van j 93 Winkle \ 67 98 The Great f 88 Stone Face. . . ( P6 The Snow f Image ( 75 92 96 94 95 94 27 80 "sT 48 14 36 100 46 100 93 84 Horatius at f 100 the Bridge . . . | 98 Lochin- f var 1 98 The Legend of ( 85 Sleepy Hollow) ion Thf Skeleton in f Ar-mor \ 50 92 Elegy ( 53 (Gray) ( 44 The Vision of ( 72 Sir Launfal. . .[ 57 91 Thana- f 14 topsis \ 57 The Prisoner of f Chillon 1 36 "53" 58 The Man WithA 88 63 inn out a Country.] 97 •The percentages of favorable responses are based on the number of teachers responding for each of the grades. 110 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE XXVII Teachebs' and Pupils' Reactions Regabbino the Placement op the Selections Presented to Pupils* Selections Ques- tion- naire or Pupils Grades in which judged and percentages ol responses favorable The Leak in QI QII Pupils QI QII Pupils QT QII Pupils QI QII Pupils QT QII Pupils QI QII Pupils QI QII Pupils QII Pupils QI QII Pupils QII Pupils QII Pupils QI QII Pupils I II III IV 100 99 96 38 37 V 100 99 99 60 38 VI VII VIII the Dike \ 100 97 Excelsior \ "ir 88 69 39 25 86 65 66 79 Phaethon i 97 61 100 94 91 69 83 85 86 75 68 93 99 91 63 97 67 100 97 97 The Village f Blacksmith . . ■ 64 80 88 62 91 90 20 69 94 97 80 81 The Ugly f Duckling i 90 85 "94' 81 The Barefoot f 91 96 87 Boy 91 100 93 99 Dick Whitting- ( "n 100 87 100 97 89 ton and His i Cat 88 89 52 90 84 Atou Ben ( Adhem | 53 55 55 r 94 66 80 Cosette i 1 75 31 52 100 95 86 90 The Wreck of ( the Hesperus. Aladdin and His ' 66 93 97 87 92 83 64 71 90 98 93 74 85 78 60 68 "79" Wonderful i Lamp 84 81 Paul Revere's f Ride j 77 "76" 97 92 96 94 95 100 •The percentages of favorable responses are based on the numbers of teachers or pupils judglngr the selections In the different grades. THE PLACEMENT OF READING SELECTIONS 111 TABLE XXVII— (Continued) Selections Ques- tion- naire or Pupils Grades in which judged and percentages of responses favorable The One-hoss Bhay { QII Pupils QII Pupils QI QII Pupils QI QII Pupils QI QII Pupils QI QII Pupils QI QII Pupils QI QII Pupils I II III IV V 100 91 VI VII VIII 100 94 67 100 76 9fi H9^ The Gettysburg Address i 72 81 92 82 18 83 34 72 88 89 100 82 The Chambered 88 Nautilus i 30 "ir 93 34 Douglas and Randolph 59 70 78 70 98 Baron Munchau- sen Tales I S4 69 76 74 84 100 84 86 97 99 86 74 44 84 Marco Bozzaris.i 97 81 100 73 81 84 86 92 84 84 97 90 84 90 Christmas at the Cratchits'.i 98 90 What Consti- tutes a State. 97 31 55 in favor from grade to grade. This is shown in Tables XXVIII and XXIX. When one finds these selections placed far earlier than the grade in which they find greatest favor, he may well question the grading of a course of study unless unusual conditions on the part of either the teacher or the pupils justify the placement. Selections Which Decline in Favor from Grade to Grade. Other selections rise to a maximal percentage of teachers favoring them and then gradually decline as shown in Table XXX. Decline in favor occurs less frequently than rise in favor because many selections are attempted long before they begin to be appropriate, while few are used after they become too easy. Among the few clear cases of this sort is The Ugly 112 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES Duckling which is usually more popular in Grade III than in Grade IV. In the second questionnaire, the percentage of teachers favoring this selection declines from 90 per cent in Grade III to 83 per cent in Grade IV. The pupils' favorable judgments on this selection show a corresponding decline from 90 per cent to 85 per cent for the same grades. Picciola de- clines similarly from 94 per cent in Grade V to 77 per cent in Grade VII. There is evidence that the same conditions hold also for The Little Match Girl which is judged as too immature by 20 per cent of the teachers in Grade V ; likewise, Hiawatha declines from 97 per cent in Grade V to 86 per cent in Grade VI where 6 per cent of the teachers criticise its immaturity. Agreement of Teachers Regarding the Need for Flexibil- ity of Placement. If some teachers agree on the suitability of a selection for one grade, others agree on its suitability f oi one or two adjacent grades. As examples of this extended agreement. Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Horatius at the Bridge are agreed upon as suitable for Grades VII and VIII, with a strong probability of success in Grade VI. In very few cases do we find single grades as the outstanding positions in which selections are successful. Consequently, a general principle of placement may be ad- duced, that is, if a selection is highly desirable for any given grade, it is likely to be a favorite in at least one adjacent grade. The placement of a selection in one particular grade will depend on some additional consideration other than its possible value from the grade teachers' point of view; such considerations, for example, as the academic standards in a given school, the social value of the selection, or its relation to other school work. The Relation Between Comprehension and Interest of Pupils. The correlations between pupils' comprehension and interest for each grade and for all grades taken together are either "marked" or "high." Before discussing these cor- relations, several exceptional cases will be discussed. First, some selections, as Paul Revere's Ride, are interesting, aU though the pupils' comprehension scores for them are only fair; such selections are always found to contain one or more THE PLACEMENT OF READING SELECTIONS 113 > > 'i >l-l^l-IIHI-ll-IIHMI-ll-ll-(l-IIHI-ltH O a a, 53 ^ ■* •53 W O >>>.(>(>>>• (P 4? v (i> d) cd n cd o3 CO |4 »H »4 h M M M CJ O CJ O tiJ C3 C5 ^X3 T^ 'C^ ^3 ^3 tJ rt nt ra ^ cd cQ »H h t4 h t4 S CJ C5 O CJ CJ O 5 -a *» § s g m » ft S OS 05 eS O o ^ Pi a fr4 h Ph F-t F^ M f4 APiPtAOiAPiPi M »H ^1 ^ dj 0) 0) a> Pi n Pi 000000000000000 t-H hH l-l 1-4 HH ^ ^ •O 'O "^ a g 2 g g O (S "O "O 'd "O "d "O *© "O 'O "O 'O 0} a CS 03 dddadaaaaadadcta ' t-t j « * " 00 I ^ «. ^»-lhh;^(-l(HhtHht4tMf-t»H PiPiPiPiPinPAPtPiPiPiAPiPiA aaaaaaaaaaasaa 00000000000000 Vl4^«^«-t«^^4tMVI«M«-l> > > aa aa sa g p'*' ji;& aa s> fc ■o -o cd CIS O C5 O 00 M *^ 03 05 Soaa ia IS •d "d •d Id d d IS a> a a s 2 CD CQ CQ 09 d d s ri a) S (1> o a o o tH M »4 fc s S a) 4? Pi Qi n Pi lA 00 CO -* t- CO 00 CO a a a B o o o o u u u J-t ti a «H 4-4 CQ GQ 09 09 Ol V 2 ra iS CQ m !> t> •a -d d d d d Pi Bi M Mt-I >> b>>- >!> a aa ^^ ^^ "^ ■d -a 55 55 SdJ cscs 5 «5 5-a 55 a d d t- 00 a a 2 s it 13 3 ti it 'S Pi Pi fi •T *> ^ S GQ H P4 oi Pi IB d S P> 9 9 tl PL* .a s 13 o a s o ■ti l» 13 i» I 1 lio 01 « THE PLACEMENT OP READING SELECTIONS 115 TABLE XXX Selections Which Abe Used Both Too Eably and Too Late in the Reading Cocese* The rise and decline' in the percentages of teachers fa- voring the use of these selections in the grades named Per cent Per cent Per cent Selections Grades favorable Grades favorable Grades favorable The Village ' ■..,:• '%•! Blacksmith... II 64 V 97 VIII 81 The Pied Piper II 88 V 97 VIII 88 I Saw a Ship a-Sailing I 85 II 97 III 86 The King of the Golden River. IV 86 VI 98 VIII 87 The Walrus and the Carpenter III 86 V 97 VI 81 *The percentages were derived as In Table XXIX by dlvidlne' the number of teachers favorable by the total number of teachers Judgring' the respective selections. (Data from Questionnaire II). of the important desirable qualities in an obstrusive form. Selections of another group, as Phaethon, are comprehended, although for definite reasons they are not greatly enjoyed in any grade ; such selections are always found to contain one or more of the undesirable qualities. Still other selections as The Ugly Duckling, Aladdin, and The Wreck of the Hesperus are, owing to their somewhat childish content, less interesting to pupils of the highest grades in which they were read than to pupils of lower grades. As a rule, however, selections are both comprehended and enjoyed or else neither comprehended nor enjoyed. In addition to the questions upon selections as measures of comprehension, the pupils were asked to state why they liked or disliked each of the selections judged. They fotmd certain selections "too hard for our grade," to contain "too many hard words," and so forth. These comments on over-maturity show a correlation of .77 with the understanding of the selec- tion as measured by comprehension questions. Comprehension is still further tested by comparing pupils' statements as to over-maturity with the statements of teachers about the same 116 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE XXXI Pupils' Compkehension of and Interest in Selections Read in Dif- PEEENT Grades. All Schools* Percentages of pupils comprehending or inter- ested in the selections read Selections Grades The Leak in the fComprehension.. Dike (Interest Excelsior {Comprehension. (Interest- Phaethon jComprehension.. (Interest The Village fComprehension_. Blacksmith (Interest The Vgly Duck- |Comprehension_. ling (Interest The Barefoot fComprehension.. Boy (Interest Dicfc WftiUinfffonfComprehension. A,ou Ber. A..aM}C-^P-^ension. Cosette (Comprehension.. (Interest The Wreck of t/iefComprehension. Hesperus (Interest. ^''^^^'^ SS'!°!-1°: Paul Revere's fComprehension. Ride (Interest The One-hoss fComprehension. Shay (Interest Gettysburg fComprehension. Address (Interest The Chambered (ComprehtT.sion. Nautilus (Interest Douglas and fComprehe.ision. Randolph (Interest Munchausen fComprehension. Tales (Interest. Marco Bo««aris. .|?oj"Prehension. (Interest Christmas at tTiefComprehension. Cratchits' (Interest What Oow^tittttesfComprehension. a State (Interest III 88 97 21 39 63 65 65 88 73 90 89 71 75 73 52 59 IV 92 96 42 37 73 61 74 91 88 85 45 68 90 91 80 74 66 59 87 42 64 71 81 V 96 99 58 38 91 67 74 97 96 85 61 81 91 88 47 52 94 90 82 71 81 93 53 76 70 59 69 78 68 VI 67 47 90 97 68 87 97 84 59 53 86 74 81 84 68 92 77 67 62 81 42 31 80 70 76 76 61 60 70 84 46 31 VII 73 69 81 100 61 55 89 85 83 81 75 94 80 76 72 82 51 34 85 «9 89 84 68 73 80 86 52 44 VIII 79 66 86 99 47 55 89 78 65 100 75 82 70 82 42 34 82 98 90 84 66 54 88 90 58 55 •Percentages of pupils who answered correctly the comprehension questions on the selections read and of pupils who said they were Interested in the selections. THE PLACEMENT OP READING SELECTIONS 117 selections; here, there is a correlation of .71. Teachers' com- ments about over-maturity and pupils' comprehension scores on the questions give a correlation of .59. The same compre- hension scores give a correlation of .56 with the percentages of teachers' favorable responses regarding the same selections. If, then, a selection is judged by teachers and pupils as too mature, the pupils' ability to pass a test on the selections is closely parallel with the stated amount of maturity. Diagram VIII shows some of the differences in the amounts of teaching required for the success of such selections as The Leak in the Dike, Dick Whittington, and Cosette as compared with such other selections as Abou Ben Adhem, The Cham- bered Nautilus, and What Constitutes a State. This series of diagrams shows also the decline in interest in the some- what childish selections as The Ugly Duckling, Phaethon, and Aladdin, while the comprehension increases. The fairly close paralleling of the increase of interest with the increase in comprehension already mentioned is shown in many selections. The decline in the comprehension scores of Grade VIII has been accounted for by the fact that a school which raised con- siderably the scores for Grades VI and VII has no eighth grade. Table XXXII shows the effect of a single discussion period devoted to eleven selections in Grade VII in the University Elementary School. A gain in appreciation was made in all selections except Christmas at the Cratchits" and the selections given a very high rating after the first reading. The average gain in pupils' interests was 8.68 per cent per selection; the median gain 10.0 per cent; the range of changes was from 3 per cent to 19 per cent. The possibilities of careful teaching are here suggested ; here, at any rate, selections enjoyed by 80 per cent or more of the pupils when presented without com- ment, increase in interest when studied for even a short time. 118 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES too Sm xa ifiH ^^ ^ — .— -^ J "■^ 9o jUJkJB aLB, ^1 T , '-1 ha] «r«i oot i-*1 ^-^> Wet line y^ ^ Bd/ ^ ^ •/ y ^ /^ k" li-io ^ ^ *' k « 60 ,^ -^ ^^ / N 5o / — >* — ■ *" S / ^ k\ lOU 1 en J dhai iS ^ 4o ; } ^ GRA »«* > e I ■OS 1 9o ^^' ^. ^ «. ^"^ ^ <-' ■■ uiSo Al« ddiij on< \ hi: ! ._. 2i. .-»- . ^. .^. _ a"" S7o Moi a«ri ul 1 rfUUi ,;:rK> ^ / 1 '"A ncbn, X»4 ;?- , M / riJTO to ^ ^ So . S < 'SR. .o»« » 1 r e \ Diagram VIII. Graphical representation of changes In pupils' in- terest in and comprehension of certain selections in successive grades. Based on Table XXXI. { equals Comprehension ; equals Interest.) THE PLACEMENT OF READING SELECTIONS 119 too 1 ' ^.-^ 1 1 1 9o Die KWilttJ M*^ n - 1 ' \ ' — ■~-- s— "* Bo -^ 1 the Hespprusi ^ ,t-"--r : 1 1 — ^ ' 1 i H ^ 1 ;^^ -f-^ "H — 1 ,^ ; TO 5 • ^ ° Tn °5n ^ ... . 1 ^ J gao ^ ^ k 4o <„ fl^ H lUtl ^us Jl 3o ^^^ 1 — •• Zo J 4 V c t ( > ' r i GRADCS lOO 9o Chr .stm IS aL th 3 ^ IT— :> «&» . ; chits* ^ L**? ^ r — ■' r TOpBl \fo L ^ ^ '- = — " 3 S 4 6 GRAoes ' » 5 Diagram VIII — Continued 120 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES TABLE XXXII PrrpELS' Reactions Toward Reading Selections Befobe and Afteb a Bbiet Class Discussion* Before discussion After discussion Selections per cent favoraUle per cent favorable Change The Wreck of the Hesperus 78 97 19 Aladdin 66 77 11 Paul Revere's Ride 97 97 The One-hoss Shay 81 100 19 The Oettysiurg Address 81 88 7 The Chambered Nautilus 40 52 12 Douglas and Randolph 97 94 -3 Baron Munchausen 87 93 6 Marco Bozzaris 69 83 14 Christmas at the Cratchits' 84 84 What Constitutes a State 50 60 10 •Grade VII, School XT. Prom 29 to 32 pupils reported upon each selection. Comparison of Teachers' and Pupils' Reactions to Reading Matter A comparison of pupils' and teachers' statements shows the degree of reliability of the judgments of carefully selected teachers. Table XXVII shows that The Ugly Duckling was favored by 91 per cent and 83 per cent of the teachers of Grades III and IV, respectively, and by 90 per cent and 85 per cent of the pupils of the same grades. The reliability of these teachers' judgments of The Village Blacksmith is about equally great; they rate it favorably as follows in four consecutive grades : 80 per cent, 94 per cent, 97 per cent, and 94 per cent ; pupils of the same grades favor it in the following percentages : 88, 91, 97, and 97. For some selections, the evidence from teach- ers is not so reliable. As an example, in Grade V Abou Ben Adhem is favorably rated by 89 per cent of the teachers, while only 52 per cent of the pupils favor it. Inasmuch as only 63 per cent of the teachers favor this selection in the preceding THE PLACEMENT OP READING SELECTIONS 121 grade, a question is raised as to its desirability for either grade as shown in the following test of results. This test consists of a study of the additional comments made by teachers as well as the mere statements that the selections were or were not desirable, and of the regularity of increase or decrease in the number of favorable comments on selections. The latter con- sideration is illustrated in the case of What Constitutes a State. Here, 97 per cent of the teachers of Grade VIII favor the selection although only 74 per cent favor it in Grade VII and those not favoring it make very forceful comments on its demerits. Besides, the twelve eighth-grade teachers who men- tioned this selection in the responses to Questionnaire I were unanimous in their disapproval of it. Therefore, in the light of these judgments taken as a whole, the selection should be regarded as very hazardous, even for Grade VIII in view of the teachers' comments alone. Teachers' judgments on the other selections catalogued in Table XXVII were studied in a manner similar to that just described for What Constitutes a State. Insofar as pupils' judgments are correct, the teachers erred only in the case of the following selections and only in the grades checked (v) : Grades: III IV V VI VII VIII The One-hoss Shay v v Baron Munchausen Tales v These selections are, however, criticized also by many pupils in exactly the same manner that many teachers criticize them.- That is, many pupils say that they are mere "nonsense" or are "silly." We conclude, therefore, that when the responses to both questionnaires are considered, one can safely use teach- ers' judgments as bases for predicting pupils' interests in rep- resentative standard selections, and, therefore, for placing selections in grades where comprehension by pupils is possible. Another line of agreement between teachers and pupils is found by comparing the cases in which both groups of judges assert that certain selections are too mature or contain too many hard words. Here, the correlation is .71. The accuracy of teachers' judgments on this matter can be checked. Teach- ers' comments on too mature and hard words give a marked correlation (.59) with pupils' comprehension scores, while 122 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES these scores, in turn, give a correlation of 77 with pupils' com- ments regarding over-maturity. Inasmuch as high correla- tions are found in all these cases, we may trust the judgments of teachers regarding the maturity of reading matter and pupils' interest in it. Teachers generally give a slightly higher rating to selections than pupils do. Some selections are greatly over-rated, as The Chambered Nautilus, Marco Bozzaris, and What Consti- tutes a State in Grade VIII and Phaethon in Grades IV and V. These cases are, however, exceptional ; a selection rated favor- ably by from 90 per cent to 100 per cent of the teachers is usual- ly favored by from 80 per cent to 100 per cent of the pupils. Out of the fifty-five cases in Table XXVII in which both teachers and pupils judged the same selections, only six failed to conform to the rule just stated. TABLE XXXIII COEBELATIONS BETWEEN TEACHEBS' AND PUPttS' REACTIONS TO Reading Selections Pupils' Interests and comprehension In all grades 66 Pupils' comprehension and teachers' interests in selections 56 Teachers' and pupils' comments as to over-maturity of selections. .71 Pupils' comments on over-maturity and their comprehension scores 77 Teachers' comments on over-maturity and pupils' comprehension scores 59 Teachers' (Questionnaire I) and pupils' interests 63 Teachers' (Questionnaire II) and pupils' interests 48 Teachers' (both questionnaires) and pupils' interests 66 Teachers' interests (Questionnaires I and II) 47 Teachers' (Questionnaire II) and pupils' mention of "determin- ing" desirable qualities in case of selections read by pupils 87 Teachers' (both questionnaires) mention of "determining" desir- able and undesirable qualities in case of selections judged by both groups 67 Summary of Correlations. From the foregoing discus- sion we draw the following conclusions: (1) Three kinds of teacher-pupil measurement show correlations ranging from "marked" to "very high" when taken in any combination. THE PLACEMENT OF READING SELECTIONS 123 (2) Selections which show irregularities of judgments of teachers of either questionnaire or of pupils must be regarded as at least questionable for use in the grades concerned. (3) A classification of selections with reference to either interests or maturity can be accurately made by studying the comments of teachers upon selections which we have not presented to pupils. In order to bring the correlations together. Table XXXIII is presented. An Optimal Placement for All Reading Selections. In the foregoing discussions, reference has been made to several different groups of selections, namely, those in which there is a gradual development of interest followed by a decline, those in which there is a gradual development followed by a long and undetermined period of interest, and also selections in which there is little interest until near the end of the eighth grade. The data collected indicate that selections of the last- named group may be used in only the later grades of elemen- tary schools of average academic standards. Selections in which there is a gradual development of interest followed by a gradual decline should be placed in the grade in which in- terest is at its height. Such selections are limited with refer- ence to both the lower and upper limits of their use. The re- maining group of selections, those in which there is a gradual development of interest followed by a long and undetermined period of interest, should be placed in one of the grades in which interest is great. These selections are limited only with reference to their lower limits of use. Weighting the Determinants of Interest in Reading Selections In the chapter on the qualities of reading selections, it was found that certain important qualities are the determinants of the value of reading matter so far as the interests of pupils and teachers are concerned. In order to arrive at a definite basis for using these qualities in standardizing reading mat- ter, they must be weighted for each of the grades. To obtain such a weighting, the responses to the second questionnaire 124 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES have been used. The total frequencies for the determinants were found for each of the grades and, with the frequencies as bases, the percentages of each of the quaUties — ^the relative fre- quencies — were derived as shown in Table XXXIV. This table is read as follows : dramatic action, etc., comprise 14 per cent of the comments in which first-grade teachers name any of the qualities included in this table, 19 per cent for the second grade, and so on. Table XXXIV is offered, therefore, as an index of the rela- tive importance of each of the determining qualities of interests in literary selections for the respective grades. A selection containing interesting action and telling about animal play or personification is likely to be successful in Grade I. Problems involving questions of conduct are frequently found in the suc- cessful selections for Grade VIII, and so oh. The Formulation of Standards for Judging Reading Selections Guiding Principles for Setting up Standards. Several principles may now be stated relative to setting up standards for evaluating reading matter. (1) Selections in disfavor with both pupils and teachers of a given grade should either be de- ferred or not read at all ; for example. Excelsior in Grades III to VI. Exceptions to this principle might be justified in schools with unusually high academic standards. (2) Selections fav- ored by both teachers and pupils can be placed according to the units of subject matter to be studied in reading and other school work ; for example. The Leak in the Dike in Grades II to V. (3) Disagreements of teachers and pupils in which the latter give a low rating to a selection indicate that superior teaching is necessary for success ; for example. The Chambered Nautilus in Grades V to VIII. The evidence for this state- ment is found in pupils' original statements even more fully than can be expressed by the statistical data. (4) Selections rated higher by pupils than by teachers should be used if they are worthy as well as interesting, for example, Baron Mun- chausen Tales in Grades IV to VIII. (5) In case of the selec- THE PLACEMENT OF READING SELECTIONS 125 TABLE XXXIV The Hmji.nvE Feequencies of the Most Impoktant Quauties of Reading Selections* Qualities Dramatic action, adventure, and heroic Interesting action, (not dramatic) Humor Fairy and supernatural Interesting characters, home life or child life Interesting problems or character study Kindness and faithfulness About animals and per- sonification Dramatization, availability for Interesting repetition Interesting information Grades I TI III IV V VI VII 14 19 23 27 28 28 28 11 7 9 11 6 13 9 6 13 9 7 14 8 8 11 10 10 9 11 11 5 7 6 8 12 14 14 13 3 8 5 9 7 10 8 10 10 10 11 8 13 9 16 13 10 6 5 3 3 10 14 1 8 9 1 7 5 2 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 3 3 1 3 VIII 28 12 10 5 13 14 8 •Derived from Table XI by taking the relative frequencies for Questionnaire II shown in that table. tions in which there is a decline of interest from grade to grade, there is no warrant, statistical or otherwise, for neglecting the indications here shown; for example, Dick Whittington in Grades IV to VI and The Ugly Duckling in Grades III to V. (6) The wording of a selection has great influence upon its suitability for a given grade ; for example, Aladdin can be made suitable for any of the grades from II to VII. This selection seems to be as good so far as the plot is concerned for the third as for the fifth grade. Makers of readers should not write above the grade for which the plot of a selection and its sug- gestions are suitable. (7) A "spiral" form of treatment for some persistently popular selections may be desirable; for ex- ample, The Village Blacksmith might, so far as pupils' interests are concerned, be read in Grades III or V or later, and PomI Revere's Ride in Grades V or VIII. (8) A selection as un- popular as What Constitutes a State in Grades VI to VIII should be looked upon as hazardous teaching material and, therefore, be undertaken, if at all, only after special provision 126 UNrVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES has been made for meeting its difficulties. (9) Inasmuch as pupils' ability to pass a comprehension test upon a selection is accurately judged by teachers, a selection which teachers re- gard as too easy or too difficult should be placed in accordance with teachers' judgments and with reference to other matters such as its social value, possible earlier or later use, interest, and other work. (10) The high correlations between teachers' judgments and pupils' interests indicate that unequivocal state- ments from a large number of carefully selected teachers re- garding any selection will be very accurate. (11) A high correlation exists between pupils' and teachers' naming of the qualities characterizing the same selections. This indicates that the teachers' statements regarding the large number of selections commented upon by them are very nearly the same as though the pupils themselves had made the statements. (12) Since carefully selected teachers' judgments are trust- worthy, the reliability of their ranking of interests depends largely upon the range of selections judged by them. A very wide range of selections has been judged by teachers in the course of the present investigation. (13) The weighting of qualities on the basis of teachers' judgments is justified because this weighting is derived from careful estimates of the values of many representative selections. Attributes of a Set of Standards for Judging Reading Se- lections. In order to facilitate the use of results already summarized, a set of standards has been formulated for esti- mating the probable success of various reading selections. These standards have been formulated with the following at- tributes in mind : (1) The standards should enable the teacher or supervisor of reading to judge fairly accurately the ma- turity of a selection for a given grade. (2) The standards should contain a list of qualities of reading selections so weighted as to indicate their relative if not their absolute im- portance in the school grades. (3) The standards should em- phasize the importance of flexibility of placement of selections. (4) There should be lists of representative selections for each grade so arranged as to show the ratings of the selections with reference to both comprehension and interest. (5) There THE PLACEMENT OP READING SELECTIONS 127 should be comments indicating the reasons for differences of interests in different selections. The comments of teachers and pupils already reviewed supply ample data for providing these attributes. A Set of Standards for Judging Reading Material. The set of standards for judging reading material as formulated in the succeeding pages is based upon the foregoing principles. A list of the important determining qualities is given with the respective weightings for each grade. The weightings are the same as those shown in Table XXXIV. The selections are classified upon two bases : difficulty and interests. Both classifications are made with reference to the reactions of all teachers and pupils. In these classifications, the responses of pupils have been closely followed. This has led to only one marked deviation from teachers' judgments, namely, in the case of Aladdin, which has been placed with reference to pupils' comprehension of the difficult version presented to them^. The reactions of teachers of adjacent grades were considered in the rating of selections. The literal ratings of selections refer in all cases to the per- centages of pupils and teachers favoring the selections and the percentages making comments upon the over-maturity of the selections. In addition, the comprehension scores of the pupils are considered. In the comprehension ratings, the letters have the following percentage values: A (very easy) denotes a comprehension score of 85-100 attained by pupils ; B (moder- ately easy), 75-85; C (difficult), 65-75; D (too difficult to be attempted), lower than 65. The same numerical values hold for the interest ratings : A denotes very interesting; B, moderately interesting; C, needing careful teaching to secure interest; D, too uninteresting to he attempted. A teachers* comprehension rating for selections is used in the case of selections which were not presented to pupils. This comprehension rating is based upon the number of times that teachers judged the respective selections as over-mature for their pupils. The score for a selection is, therefore, derived ^Thls version Is of approximately the same dlfflculty as that con- tained in the Bison series, Qrammar School Reader, Book I. 128 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES by using the number of teachers judging a selection as a base and then computing the percentage of those who mention the over-maturity of the selection. Inasmuch as the pupils reported upon only a part of the selections included, the interest ratings of additional selections were also based upon the pupils' probable reactions to them as indicated by teachers' comments. For example, in Grade V Excelsior received ratings of 58 per cent and 38 per cent by pupils for comprehension and interest, respectively. The same selection received comprehension and interest ratings of 60 per cent, 60 per cent, and 16 per cent by the teachers who re- sponded to the first two questionnaires. Taking these teach- er-ratings as bases, Nuremburg, with ratings ranging from 3 per cent to 35 per cent by teachers only is assigned a final rating of "D". In the same grade, The Leak in the Dike was rated by all judges as from 96 to 100 per cent in both comprehen- sion and interest. Therefore, Robin Hood, which was rated by teachers as of the same difficulty as The Leak in the Dike, is assigned a final rating of "A" upon teachers' judgments alone. The "additional comments" are given in the set of standards as suggestive of the manner in which the qualities of any selec- tion may be judged. 130 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES B O 3 > mora ■e 5 •« oaoe ■^ og » e o o E) !? £ 65 5 " •a So." 5S tf 5 £ *• ^iCM •OS BO *S Ik"* JO ^ o B bo B Q B t-:3 =2 CD Qj SI ce o oa d < §* Si. to *K •O to Sb. ° 6fe8§ «5tofeBl S to «> «^ B u V u •a ■ B • ■B il II 11 ^1 M W (-( il.*2 oO o a _B - £Sf». a Soiiii lyj B HH l-l *3 -05 60*0 t« • CQ » Gd I cQOa THE PLACEMENT OF READING SELECTIONS 131 2SgS 3S2o . Sag" l..2SccSS^ I. »"!<»'= ■a- 5 1 = a illillllli^- ^§ „— « DD^_, Sir* L, oS2-S Co. SjS * &I 4i I «1 o 8 ^ »q & - ^ ?>^i^ bt o o ^ O a .55 h it 132 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIE3S 3 C a o o m o M Eh U H 03 O 2 Q < m a a M Eh < o Q 09 V CQ bo P ooq ^» e » o ^ s ■a 5 S * ®"^ o>S «>'® •2 S ^ '-5 ? -■a.ts <3S Sia aj S sS „2s § a *> a |1 18? s5 » . to s S tt) o to qjo ^S © 5 E-iSl Eh i ^ sg 1^ ? s^ ii 00 2«« _ S S3 §•86 .§•§ Ce bSS 50 6 » n laqt^Ei ^61 si=5 ■a » ff - 'i'tiCjEH I I c8 ce J cd ® rt "* fcH Q BO IS c ^ o Is a: OS (U • t< • Ul in s s ■w S C o o?? s CO O 9V fc S 5 +j +J Ulo THE PLACEMENT OP READING SELECTIONS 133 O Q) W^ O k 1« • 134 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES 3 e +3 B o O o O IS O % M Q o a S! "> 9 at! ^ .spelt I 5 fi.U.'^I^ 136 UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN STUDIES •S lO »«) id VI a -a is 8 » s (Q t,5 aw Eh "I e o S » » _W B J Ss*l «5 •o eS -Bo Orf£ ® O •sS-aB^g S O 05 •4^ ta ae « tt £ eg I- o OS ^ ® § o So ® O si i*^ * 1 i § 2ft» 1 |l S.S • eg gl I . I (Uio • a • -OS'S • " ■ !«■««: a " fe ■a* W M W bold ^ 0; C b aQoK 5 ^•o "8 Ud 3 Sg < a *J cj ■•-•5 THE PLACEMENT OP READING SELECTIONS 137 5=> Big ^ tap h m h «)A ttS l« OjS'iT to . e m o 140 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES m O M o a a EO M < o % a o CO a > 0,0.0 bO-«rO . iiii«3 ho fl (3 • S Sk a -M en rt I 3 0! -4-) « S » © a, o CQ U O ***■ a s a H w a • 3 • on • Sd hd dC •o • s • = d s -H±; dS gd n g.2 01 o te ■ a n o THE PLACEMENT OF READING SELECTIONS 141 I s iS 8 •5; oi-ss S §■•« SP.2 a 88 i: 8l^ IS? 142 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES 3 C *j s o O isi Z O tH t< O m O M Q eg V Ota « o » fe o % s^^ ^.^ oS i s CD §1.5 Q Abou B The Ch Cranfor Elegy larafel ^ iS o o s 1 ^ iq f^ c- ■s s \a ^ S O ihL is oa ^t. &, u Deer ace DO 5 111 la m A-hunting Aladdin Anthony's The Great Baron Mil qa ■ I'S «? s s'^ r o o « The Barefoot Before Coins Chriatmas at its' Horatiua at t So?' a a. 5 ^e oo eo PS ^ oa e<] iH T-1 t- c-° : 1 . 1 1 1 t , ^4 1 1 . a t- • C * o c • Ot iiS : "^ m J3 • °s>. & • as S ^f^- ;« o«r ■ o • P.U'O "iR 3 ■ "t. ■ b) ■ M-oS bo " c M ■ fa lain be as *g S o *-^ j„ ■ sS ' 8 U (Q O •si ?■ 1^ to u .a* o £to~ ; to ^ to a,a,E- a! a .c S"t!*H ■O • C ■ Gt-t 3 a 3 n Sed >'^ •SCI ■*lj P M M OB 01 o ■WSH C c m o THE PLACEMENT OP READING SELECTIONS 145 § t4 ^i 25sS a o o a» Oftt 146 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES Comments upon the Standards Set Up and Conclusions OF THE Chapter In order to facilitate the attainment of the desirable results advocated throughout this study, a set of standards for judging reading selections is presented as an improvement upon tradi- tional bases for determining the placement of reading matter now in use. While many of the selections are used in several different grades, a large number are especially valuable for only one or two grades. Errors in the placement of selections in school readers and courses of study are usually in the direc- tion of over-maturity. Good teaching can be depended on to increase interest ten per cent or more in most selections. High correlations between teachers' and pupils' reactions warrant a weighting of qualities on the basis of teachers' re- actions to representative selections. The reading matter on which a large number of teachers reported did not include any informational literature except the traditional. The weightings of qualities in the set of stand- ards do not apply directly to such material as that discussed in Chapter VII, although such literature receives a high rating when judged by the standards for other good literature. The standards set up must possess flexibility because the amount of time to be devoted to a selection and the responsive- ness or academic standard of a class may change a selection from the "easy" rating to the "difficult," and vice versa. In order to use the standards effectively, one must become thoroughly familiar with the style and content of several of the selections of each degree of difficulty and interest for each of the school grades. The standards may be used in judging not only reading matter now in use, but also matter proposed for use. When used for the latter purpose, the standards constitute a tenta- tive scale for evaluating reading selections. CHAPTER X SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The purposes of this concluding chapter are (1) to review the aims and methods of the present investigation, (2) to sum- marize the results obtained, (3) to call attention to the guid- ing principles already formulated, and (4) to add final con- clusions. Aims and Methods of This Investigation. At the be- ginning of this investigation, a three-fold aim was set up, namely, the collection and organization of data which would make possible the detection and elimination of undesirable reading selections, the detection of superior selections, and the correct placement of these superior selections. In order to es- tablish a working basis, the desirable outcomes of the course in reading were formulated together with a statement of the means for attaining them. In the pursuance of this project, several methods of procedure have been employed in order to obtain first-hand reactions from both pupils and teachers. These forms of procedure include two questionnaires sent to carefully selected teachers for their reactions to standard reading material and one questionnaire also sent to teachers for their reactions to new informational selections. Pupils' reactions to representative selections were obtained by direct presentation of them to pupils of Grades III to VIII. Summarization of Results. The present investigation has led to the accumulation of teachers' judgments upon a very large number of selections found in basal readers. Many teachers report that much of this material is unsatisfactory for the grades in which it is used. The most prevalent un- desirable quality of reading material reported is its over-ma- turity. As evidence of this over-maturity, there are not only the testimonies of teachers of lower grades to the effect that many selections are too difficult for their grades but also the 148 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES testimonies of teachers of higher grades that the same selec- tions are successful when used in these higher grades. In addition to selections which are undesirable because of their over-maturity are selections undesirable because they lack ac- tion or a plot, or because they are unreal, depressing, monoto- nous, or not well told. Selections possessing these undesirable qualities are also said to be too long or scrappy. A few selec- tions are unsatisfactory in certain grades because the pupils have outgrown or become tired of them. A detailed treat- ment of undesirable qualities is contained in Chapter IV. Although most standard selections are now established within two or three grades, variability still exists in the place- ment of much reading matter. Among selections which are variously placed, are superior passages possessing wide ranges of appeal. These ranges of appeal render them available for use in more than one grade. Such selections often begin to be satisfactory in one grade and thereafter rise or continue in favor from grade to grade. Evidence has been cited to show that many of these superior passages are unsatisfactory in some of the lower grades in which they are used. In these cases our data show the beginning but not the end of satisfac- tory use. Other selections rise in teachers' ratings but also, within the elementary grades, decline. Variabilities in the success of selections in different schools indicate that variabilities in academic standards rather than in population are responsible for this success or the lack of it. Clear evidence of this fact is found in the responses of pupils of the different schools cooperating in this investigation. Al- though great differences exist in the character of the popula- tion represented by these schools, the pupils do not show dif- ferences in interest in the control of the passages read if provision is made for the ability to comprehend the content. This means that moderately difficult or difficult selections may properly be presented to pupils of one grade in one school, while pupils in other schools may not be ready for them until at least one or two grades later. When different schools vary so greatly that pupils regularly classified in a given grade are consistently one or two grades apart in comprehension, differ- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 149 ences in the selections read are necessary unless radical meas- ures are taken for the improvement of teaching in the more backward schools. In view of the fact that pupils shift from school to school, changes in gradation of material for different localities are attended with administrative difficulties. These difficulties are believed to warrant less consideration than the fact that pupils in many schools derive little benefit from se- lections which are suitable for pupils of their grades in other schools. Teachers in widely separated cities agree upon the undesir- ability of certain selections and the desirability of others. Evi- dences from pupils' responses support the teachers in their objections to many undesirable selections. The selections to which teachers most frequently object are those which reijuire careful analysis by teachers and, therefore, necessitate slow reading, make silent reading difficult if not impossible until after class study, and lead to^ verbalism. A few teachers cling to these selections with the avowed purpose of inculcating moral principles. Most teachers, however, agree that attempts to force adult conceptions upon children insufficiently prepared to receive such conceptions are futile. Selections which are satisfactory to both teachers and pupils are abundant. The varied kinds of satisfactory material to- gether with its abundance remove the necessity for using ma- terial which is agreed upon as unsatisfactory. The character- istics of satisfactory selections are set forth in the formula- tion of standards in the preceding chapter. A careful study of our data on traditional informational literature throws light upon the lack of interest of either pupils or teachers in the informational literature now available in readers. Newer informational literature, however, as dis- cussed in Chapter VII finds favor with both pupils and teach- ers and provides content which has ample social justification. The success of this material emphasizes the importance as well as the desirability of having such literature written for pupils' use by experts and not culled from larger masterpieces or writ- ten for adults. Extensive additions of such material to the elementary reading course might be accompanied by an in- 150 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES crease instead of a decrease in the amount of general litera- ture read if the whole course were more carefully graded, be- cause such a gradation would eliminate the necessity for spend- ing large amounts of time explaining over-mature selections. Setting Up Standards and Guiding Principles for Select- ing Reading Matter. The problem attacked in the present investigation is chiefly one of setting up standards for select- ing and placing reading matter. By reason of the long ex- perience of teachers with a large number of selections, our problem is the more readily solved. The evaluations of this existent and loosely organized body of reading matter indicate both the degree of the pupils' comprehension and of teachers' and pupils' interests, because they are regarded as basic in the selection and placement of material. At this point, the question arises whether or not passages which are interesting to pupils are, at the same time, appro- priate for use in the attainment of the ultimate values of the reading course. In answer to this question, carefully selected teachers give an unequivocal reply that the ultimate values are more readily attained by the use of interesting material than by the use of uninteresting material. This reply comes from teachers who have used both interesting and uninteresting ma- terial and are, therefore, able to speak authoritatively. The nature of the replies of teachers to this question of at- taining ultimate values by using interesting material may be analyzed with reference to the outcomes set up in Chapter I. First, the mastery of the mechanics of reading is said by teach- ers to result from the use of interesting material. Mastery of the mechanics of reading as analyzed in Chapter I consists partly of attaining a favorable attitude toward what is read. This attitude, in turn, necessitates both understanding and in- terest upon the pupils' part and leads to expressive oral read- ing or to formation of habits which ultimately make expressive or efficient silent reading possible. Also, in order to progress in reading, the pupil must grow in the ability to recognize words automatically. Here again interesting reading material is said to facilitate the development of appropriate processes SUMMARY AND CONCX,USIONS 151 by reason of the concomitant increase in the desire of the pupil to get the meaning from the printed page. Second, teachers assert that ability in interpreting the printed page is facilitated by the use of interesting content. Here, as in the development of the mechanics of reading, a favorable attitude is necessary. That is, the reader should be able tem- porarily to assume the author's point of view and must under- stand the content of the passage read. Also, the willingness of the pupil to analyze the content and apply it to situations other than those presented in the material read depends upon his interest in the passage. The content of the course in read- ing must present problems, interesting situations, or points of view which provide for the activity of the pupil in selecting, analyzing, and making application. Such activity is, in the opinion of teachers, provided by the selections designated as superior and placed accordingly in the formulated set of stand- ards. Third, the development of general culture as presented in Chapter I is primarily dependent upon a certain type of exer- cise, namely, pleasurable activity in reading. Obviously, such pleasurable activity can result only in case the material read is interesting to the reader. In the development of general culture and ability in inter- pretation, there is no necessary objection to the use of passages which require careful explanation and presentation. There is, however, in the accumulated statements of teachers, strong evidence that, to be satisfactory, reading matter must be care- fully graded in both mechanics and content, and that the diffi- culties must be presented less abruptly than they are in certain current series of readers. Teachers as now prepared and with present-day facilities as to time for teaching reading, the num- ber of pupils in classes, and individual differences of pupils are practically unanimous in asking that makers of readers take cognizance of schools as they are and select content accord- ingly. In the case of the compiler, there is an attempt to de- velop speedily an appreciation for fine literature and also speedily to extend greatly the pupil's familiarity with litera- ture. In the case of the teacher, there is an attempt to teach 152 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS her pupils as they advance day by day. On the one handi the compiler is, the teachers imply, inclined toward the logical organization of the subject matter; on the other hand, teachers are compelled to cope with the psychological development of pupils. In order to bring the two points of view together, — the ideal of the compiler and the practical attitude of the teacher — ^there needs to be a broader range of literature organ- ized with specific reference to the psychological problems of the teacher, including the slowly developing ability of her pupils. Without commenting on the advance already made in this di- rection, we have presented evidence upon the present status of the content of readers. This evidence is unequivocal in the demand for still further advance in the increase in the amount of reading material and its more careful selection and organ- ization. These considerations have led to the formulation of the standards presented in the preceding chapter. In taking cog- nizance of teachers' and pupils' interests, these standards are, therefore, believed to possess psychological values which have been wanting in the plans of certain compilers of readers. While these directly practical matters have been held in mind, the ultimate values of the course in reading have not been overlooked. Flexibility in the placement of reading selections is provided in the formulated standards in accordance with the responses of teachers and pupils. The ratings of the selections in suc- cessive grades indicate their probable interest and difficulty. This feature of the standards will enable persons who desire some easy and also some difficult matter in the course of a single year to make use of the collected judgments of the par- ticipants in this investigation and will also aid in the selection of material adapted to pupils whose academic standing is rela- tively low or high for their grades. Based, as they are, on the experience of persons directly engaged in administering the course in reading, the standards of judgment are offered as a guide in the selection and place- ment of the content of the course.