LANGUAGE IN THE PRIMARY GRADES BY JOSEPHINE B. STUART Assistant Saperintendent of Schools New Bedford, Mass. LANGUAGE IN THE PRIMARY GRADES ©y Josepkine B. Stuart Assistant Superintendent of Schools New Bedford, Mass. NEW BEDFORD, MASS. E. ANTHONY & SONS, INC., PRINTERS 1917 ■Ss COPYRIGHT 1917 BY Josephine B. Stuart APR 13 1917 *CI.Aa57938 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. LANGUAGE IN TEE PBIMABY GBADES. I. Evidences op lack op success in teaching oral LANGUAGE, p. 9. II. Causes op lack op success, p. 9. III. Requirements por securing oral language training: 1. Favorable environment, p. 17. 2. Acquaintance, p. 20. 3. Interest, p. 21. 4. Participation, p. 24. 5. Vocabulary, p. 30. 6. Ear-training, p. 32. 7. Thought, p. 36. 8. Spontaneous expression, p. 39. 9. Individual expression, p. 39. 10. Reproduction, p. 40. 11. Picture-reading, p. 41. 12. Dramatization, p. 42. 13. Oral reproduction — literal version, p. 47- 14. Oral reproduction — individual version, p. 52. 15. Oral adaptation, p. 54. 16. Oral composition — description, p. 55. 17. Description and exposition — individual work, p. 57. 18. Oral composition — imaginative narration, p. 58. 19. Narration, p. 60. 20. Picture story, p. 63. IV. The play impulse, p. 63. V. The correction op errors in written work, p. 71. VI. The point op view, p. 77. CHAPTER II. OBAL LANGUAGE WOBK IN GSADE IB. (First Term's Work.) I. Acquaintance, p. 88. Learning names, p. 90. II. Vocabulary — 1. Woman, boy, girl, p. 92. 2. Review, p. 92. 3. Pictures, p. 92. 4. Making a picture, p. 93. 5. A cutting lesson, p. 93. 6. A pasting lesson, p. 94. 7. Seat-M^ork, p. 94. 8. Man, p. 95. 9. Girls, boys, p. 95. 10. Men, women, p. 95. 11. Review, p. 95 12. Composing a picture, p. 98. 13. A home, p. 99. 14. Courtesies, p. 99. 15. Action words, p. 99 16. Names of objects, p. 100. 17. S form of verbs, p. 100. 18. Can, cannot, can't, p. 101. 19. Do, does, does not, doesn't, p. 101. 20. Size, shape, color, etc., p. 103. 21. Reading vocabulary, p. ]03. III. Oral expression — 1. Picture reading, p. 104. 2. Dram- atizing a story, p. 105. 3. Reproduction — literal version, composite version, p. 105. CHAPTER III. WSITTEN LANGUAGE IN GSADE IB. (First Term's Work.) Aim of seat-work exercises, p. 107. Seat-work exercises — I. Recognition of words of rhyme, p. 108. II., III. Building the rhymes from memory, p. 110. IV. Building the rhymes with letters, p. 112. V. Dictated sentences, p. 113. VI. Building indi- vidual sentences with seat-word cards, p. 113. VII Individual sentences built with letters, p. 120. Chapter III. — Continued. Standards for good work, p. 121. Inspection and correction of seat-work, p, 122. Care of seat-work materiai;, p. 123. Securing good results, p. 125. CHAPTER IV. LANGUAGE IVOEK IN GBADE I A. (Second Term's Work.) Review and application of previous work, p. 127. Aims in oral work, p. 128. Aims in seat- work, p. 129. Seat -WORK exercises (continued from Chapter III) — VIII. Word-building, p. 131. IX. Pupil's name, p. 147. X. Using the reader as a dictionary, p. 147. XL Building original sentences with the printed letters, p. 148. XII. Silent reading with oral response, p. 149. XIII. Silent reading with seat-work response, p. 153. Correction of seat-work, p. 154. Sentences confined to one subject, p. 155. Illustrative sentences, p. 156. XIV. Working from topics, p. 165. Oral exercises — 1. Introduction of topics, p. 166. 2. Appli- cation of topics, p. 166. 3. Studying the sentences to secure variety, p. 168. XV. Seat-work. Description from topics, p. 171. Description of a fruit, p. 171. Illustrative sentences, p. 175. XVI. Reproduction, p. 177. XVII. Picture-reading. Free expression, p. 178. Illustrative sentences, p. 179. Chapter IV. — Continued. Obstacles to good work, p. 180. Means of securing good work, p. 181. Testing for good work, p. 182. Essentials for accomplishing the work outlined, p. 183. Outlines for Language Work in Primary Grades. While these outlines have been prepared for the schools of New Bedford they are in no sense to be considered as instructions to be followed here under compulsion. They are the outcome of many conferences with teachers and of requests that the suggestions offered in these conferences might be put into permanent form. The didactic style chosen, which seemed the most direct and compact way of conveying the information requested, may suggest an arbi- trary imposition of methods and devices but no such com- pulsion is intended. The following pages contain sugges- tions and directions which have been followed by many teachers with successful results and are now offered in this form with the hope that others may find them useful not only in throwing light upon the aims and results outlined in the course of study but by showing at least one well- trodden path by which these aims may be followed and these results reached. Teachers who use these outlines are requested to look for the "Why?" which underlies each direction given and to substitute in practice any plan by which the pupils can gain the same results by easier or shorter paths, bearing al- ways in mind that no method, of and by itself, will give any specified results. The method is merely a tool which must be wielded and guided by the teacher's mind and, as is the case with every workman and his tools, the results will be commensurate with the worker's intelligence and skill. Chapter I. LANGUAGE IX THE PRIMARY GRADES. /. Evidences of lack of success in teaching oral language. To the question, "What seems to be the chief hindrance in the teaching of oral language!" the replies may vary somewhat in phrasing but almost without exception they voice but one idea, "The children won't talk." "I can't get the pupils to talk." Perhaps no other recitation brings such discouragement to the teacher as does the attempt to secure good results in an oral lesson in language. In addi- tion to the pupil's unwillingness to speak at all, the teacher is confronted with the monosyllabic replies which bring the oft-repeated injunction, "Make a complete sentence." In the rare instances in which the pupil speaks freely his in- accuracy in the use of the English tongue is often accom- panied by such imperfect articulation and poor quality of tone that the teacher finds it hard to choose her first point of attack in correcting his mistakes. Usually she takes up each error in turn with the result that all spontaneity is nipped in the bud and each succeeding oral language exer- cise becomes more dreaded by teacher and pupil. Some- times a teacher thinks she has found the way out of the difficulty by drilling the pupils in the responses she expects them to make and consoles herself with the reflection that their statements are accurate and are expressed in good English though they may not be the spontaneous ex- pression of the pupil's own thought. But as a result of this she finds her pupils even less ready in spontaneous ex- pression. II. Causes of lack of success. To the query, "What are some of the chief causes of this failure to secure voluntary speech on the part of the 10 child?" the answers vary somewhat. The teacher of the foreign-born child feels that the pupils' lack of knowledge of the English language is an insurmountable obstacle in the oral language exercise, while the teacher of native-born pupils equally unwilling to talk will answer frankly, "I don't knoAv the cause." It is a well known fact that little children pick up a new language with surprising rapidity if they have the opportunity to hear and to speak it constantly. If it be true that the pupils' ignorance of the language is such a bar to thought and expression then there rests upon the teacher of these classes the imperative duty to teach the pupils to speak English before any other language work is attempted. We must grant that these children sometimes appear to be wrapped in a mantle of ignorance which resists every effort of the teacher to penetrate to their intelligeuce. May not this be due in part to the power of suggestion? The doubt of the pupil's power which the teacher so frankly voices to visitors cannot fail to react unfavorably upon the pupil's confidence in his own ability. Many instances of these inhibitions by suggestion may be found in a day's visit to the classrooms, but other inhibitions have their effect in robbing the pupils of a desire to speak freely in school. An unsympathetic attitude on the part of the teacher, too many commands and prohibitions, an insistence upon a rigid routine of procedure without explanation of its purpose, each of these tends inevitably to the inhibition of individual thought and speech on the part of the pupils. Some one has illustrated the effect of this inhibition by quoting the remark of a teacher. "My children are always well- behaved for they know I ivon't stand any nonsense, but they are the dumhest set you ever saw!" Another frequent cause of unwillingness to speak freely in the schoolroom is the pupil's fear of offending the teacher's more refined standards of speech, and this is in- creasingly in evidence as the pupils grow older and is par- ticularly noticeable in boys whose out-of-school time is spent mainly upon the streets. The fear that some familiar but 11 questionable word or phrase ma^' slip out- — and not infre- quently it does slip out if the child is speaking freely — prompts him to seek safety in silence. Another cause of the pupil's unreadiness to talk freely is a mental inertia which is the result of out-of-school environ- ment. In many cities the majority of the pupils in the lower grades come from homes in which the adults are workers and not thinkers. In some families both parents spend long hours away from home in exhausting toil, returning at night too tired to think beyond the range of their immediate imperative needs or duties even though possessed of minds capable of enjoying reading and thought ; in such a home the child learns to work with hands and body, but to stand still and think, as he is required to do at school, is a new art to him and one which must be patiently taught. This art can be approached only through the pupil's interest, his interest in the subject under discussion or his interest in the mental progress he is making. It is the absence of interest that marks so many recitations in which the pupils stand before their teacher listless, unresisting, patient, bored, responding briefly when forced to do so but in the main mentally deaf and blind to the teacher's instruc- tion. It is chiefly to these two causes, mental inertia and lack of interest, rather than to ignorance of the language, that we may trace the foreign-born pupil's failure to respond to the teacher's instruction. Awaken the pupils' interest and they will surprise the teacher with their ability to follow her directions. Children are proverbially quick to interpret the meaning hidden in the remarks of adults even when the latter resort to the use of a foreign tongue or to spelling the words when they seek to hide their meaning. It is also said that little children can often read the mind of the adult regardless of the words he uses. But each of these is true only when the child desires to read the message. When the foreign-born pupil's interest is aroused the teacher's inflections, her ges- tures, the rapport existing between her mind and the pupil's. will often convey the meaning of her words in spite of the child's ignorance of the language in which she speaks. Hence the chief essential in classes of foreign-born pupils is a friend- ly relation between teacher and pupil and a subject which interests them both. Two serious barriers to the pupil's freedom of speech in the recitation are built by his lack of practice in speaking in the schoolroom and by the natural self-consciousness re- sulting from the size of the audience. The remedy for the second difficulty is to make the oral language groups quite small at first, increasing them to include possibly a third of the class when the pupils have become sufficiently acquainted to feel at ease in the larger group. In the lower grades an oral language exercise with the entire class is usually a waste of time as far as practice in oral language is concerned. The remedy for the other difficulty mentioned is harder to apply. It consists in curtailing the time occupied by the teacher in talking and in giving the pupils more opportunity to talk. It is probable that, without exception, we would be startled if in a reproduction of one of our oral recitations w^e could count the number of words spoken by the teacher and those spoken by the class. Stenographic reports have been made showing high percents for the teacher's share. Again, the exceedingly low standards concerning the men- tal activity required of the pupils in these exercises tends to reduce the out-put. We are content to have him say instead of requiring him to tell. To tell means to communicate, to impart, while to say means to recite, to utter or express in words. Telling implies comprehension, the presentation of a thought which the pupil has made his own or a statement which he understands and accepts. The teacher who allows her pupils to say instead of requiring them to tell may be recognized by her practice of passing her question to another child when the first child questioned fails to give the ex- pected answer. Wlien this answer is secured she feels that her purpose is accomplished, and though she may administer reproof or other correction to the pupil who failed, she neglects 13 her opportunity and her responsibility in the matter of the mental activity which is the main reason for the recitation. If with each failure she probes to find its cause, if the pupil knows and expects that he alone will be held responsible for the answer to any question asked him, if he recognizes that no state of masterly inactivity will enable him to evade the work required, that no more gifted or more faithful pupil will be asked to furnish the answer he failed to give, and if he knows that this probing for the cause of his failure is intended to be both sympathetic and helpful, not infrequently this proc- ess will result in a gain in the mental ability which will sur- prise not only the pupil himself but his teacher as well. "But this takes so much time!" protests the teacher. As well might w^e say, "It takes too much time to mend the hole in the purse, the leak in the water-canteen, the break in the mechanism of the machine," for as long as these are allow^ed to continue our most strenuous efforts fail to pro- duce results. We continue the futile method which secures answers from only the bright children and leaves the dull child still duller, when the habit of insisting upon personal responsibility from each pupil will not only develop mental ability but -will in the end result in a saving of time which will profit both bright pupils and duller ones. One more cause of our failure to secure results in oral language lies in the practice of using the oral language period merely as a means of preparation for the written work which is to follow immediately. No practice more injurious to in- diAdduality in oral or written work could be devised. This oral preparation as usually conducted sets a mold and prevents originality in the written work which follows it. Sometimes teachers are so blinded to the unfortunate effects of this preparation that they will accept an entire class set of papers identical in word and thought. When these are presented for inspection as "good papers" they indicate clear- ly that the teacher's aim is narrowed to include only the mechanical phases of the work, faithful reproduction, technical correctness, and good penmanship, and that she is ignoring 14 the chief aim of all language work, i. e., training the pupil to think and to express his thoughts in his own words. This aim does not exclude the lesser aim, technical accu- racy and good penmanship. Good oral work will furnish an excellent preparation for all written work, in fact, in primary grades good written Avork can rarely be secured without pre- vious oral presentation, but this preparation should seek to secure individual thought and expression in written work from each pupil. An illustration of the difference existing between these two aims may be found in the methods of two second grade teachers. Each is preparing a set of written papers describing a flower. One teacher selects the daisy as the subject of the paper and in an oral exercise gives the preparation she thinks the pupils may need for the written work. This includes the spelling of such words as daisy, field, color, flower, white, and the oral discussion of such topics as the name of the flower, where it grows, what color it is, etc. The pupils write from these topics and, naturally, each paper states with but few verbal changes, ' ' This is a daisy. It grows in the fields. The color of this flower is white." No other result could be ex- pected or required under these conditions. It has sometimes happened that a visiting official has interrupted this plan just as the pupils were taking pencils to write and has substituted a red rose or some other flower at hand, requesting the children to write about that flower instead of about the daisy. Both teacher and pupils are disturbed, the teacher protesting that "they haven't had any preparation for describing the rose." The pupils write doubtfully, frequently asking for help, not only for the spelling of words but for facts. Some trust blind- ly to the previous preparation and write confidently, "This is a rose. It grows in the fields. The color of the flower is white, ' ' knowing that these sentences were what they were expected to write when the visitor interrupted the exercise. The second teacher's plan difl'ers materially. As a part of the oral work of the grade the pupils had for weeks been playing the game of ' ' Guess What " as a nature review. This 15 was played by calling some child before the class to describe a flower, tree, insect, bird, or other animal without giving its name. If he had chosen a flower he used the topics, "color, height of stem, where it grows," etc. and having completed his description, asked, "What is its name?" Another phase of the preparation given was found in the exercises in oral spell- ing in which the children volunteered to spell hard words they knew. It required only a hint from the teacher to introduce into these spelling lists the names of the flowers recognized in the nature lesson and such words as roadside, meadow, field, garden, swamp, to describe the locality where they were found. The nature records consisted chiefly of lists upon the blackboard and of crayon drawings by the pupils. These drawings served later as a means of recognition and review. Having received this previous training the pupils are now ready to take up the oral preparation needed for a written description of a flower. The teacher displays as many dif- ferent flowers as it is convenient to procure and supplements the supply with the pupils' crayon drawings of flowers pre- viously studied. The aim of the coming written exercise, to describe a flower, is explained to the children and they are asked to suggest the topics it would be well to use. They supply these from their memory of the guessing game and other exercises and are careful to use only the topics which would apply to the description of any flower. Each child is then asked to select some flower and to use the name of the flower as the title of his paper, the selections being made ^^ithout any oral expression. Each child then mentally re- views the topics, selecting those he considers most appropriate to the flower he has chosen, but not attempting to include all the topics in his description. (Four topics out of six or seven would be a good selection as far as the length of the paper is concerned. Too many topics to select from are not so help- ful as a smaller number more definitely outlined). His next step is to consider what help he- may need in spelling or in other ways and to ask for it before he begins to write. His earlier preparation has covered most of the 16 points on wliieh he might ask for assistance and his request ■may indicate a lack of self-confidence rather than a real need. While encouraging self-confidence and self -direction by telling the pupil very little, referring him to the word-families in spelling, to his earlier experiences or to his textbook when he can find the desired information there, the teacher stands ready to give any help he cannot gain by his own efi'orts. These pupils are now ready to write the description of any flower they can recognize and the resulting papers will be marked by an individuality that is the product of the pupil's intelligence, information, and power of expression. Not only has he produced a good paper but he has acquired all that the pupils of the other class lacked when they were found unable to write about a red rose because, too truly, "they had had no preparation for it." In this second class of pupils the child Avho wrote about a daisy may have produced a paper which Avould appear to be no better than any one of the papers on the daisy written by the pupils of the class first described. The value of the second papers is disclosed only Avlien the entire set is considered. When we contrast the variety of phrasing, each accurately applied, "by the roadside," "in the woods," with the poverty shown in the first papers, each with its reiterated "in the fields," used automatically whether correct or not, we get a glimpse of how a set of papers should be read. An isolated written paper rarely shows either the aim or the method of the exercise, it merely shows a result which may have been obtained in one of several ways, some of them legitimate, others not. It is in our estimate of results that we may find the funda- mental cause of our lack of success in teaching language and of the low standards which our narrow aims have forced upon us. In all the history of education until the present, scholar- ship has been the chief aim of the schools and all results of instruction were estimated in terms of scholarship. The ac- quisition of learning regardless of what use the student might make of it in future years was the purpose of the instruction 17 in all elementary schools, and the aim of school discipline was conceived to l)e to prevent interference with this acquisition of knowledge, no matter what the pupil might be and do so long as his acts and character did not interfere with the re- quired routine of the school. It is but fair to say that many notable exceptions have been found among the teachers of all times and the standards of these men and women of higher ideals have advanced the theories of education during and after the times in which they lived. But in practice the schools were judged by the scholars they produced, not by the men and women of character and efficiency they had helped to mold, and the administration of discipline, the ranking system, promotions and diplomas were considered solely with a view to their relation to the amount of knowledge to be acquired. The ordinary accepta- tion of the term education meant knowledge, learning, facts acquired from books. The present day interpretation of the term includes all this but it means vastly more. Knowledge, instead of being the end and aim of education, is but the tool by which it is wrought, indispensable, but useless unless properly tempered, adapted to the worker's hand, and wielded by him. But methods have much inertia and practice frequently lags be- hind them. The present day uncertainty in methods, standards, and measurements is due to the fact that the modern change in point of view is of but recent development and that the thinkers and the doers must blaze the trail before the followers take up the work and convert trails into main traveled lines. III. Requirements needed to secure oral language training. 1. Favorahle environment. These requirements are merely the reverse of the causes of failure. If as a rule children do not usually speak freely in the presence of strangers but will chatter for hours with those they Imow intimately, if they usually remain silent under 18 criticism and antagonism, if they lose interest when they are compelled to be onlookers for much of the time, if a lack of knowledge of the English tongue is a bar to their comprehen- sion of the teacher's instruction, then the remedy is clearly indicated. In the following pages exercises intended to furnish the required conditions are outlined step by step. It is need- less to state that unless the teacher perceives the purpose of each step, unless she furnishes the sympathetic environment, the atmosphere which encourages spontaneous expression, and unless she adapts each step to the needs of her pupils, satisfactory results cannot be expected. No mechanical attempts to furnish these requirements will accomplish the work. These requirements demand on the teacher's part a purpose, a state of mind, a definite aim, an ability to estimate results and a personal individual interest in each pupil, — conditions which no mere method can furnish though it may help to secure them. Even in the lowest grades the teacher does not need to resort to the vivacity of manner which frequently degenerates into gush, she does not need to use terms of affection and endearment (though every woman who loves children finds it hard to refrain from showing her feeling in this way), she does not need to make each recitation a period of entertainment, nor does she need to spend long hours out of school in the preparation of instructive seat- work or to use any portion of her salary in its purchase. On the contrary, the recognition of the reasons for failure to secure good results in oral language discloses the fact that half the difficulty will be solved when the teacher learns to refrain. If she wishes spontaneous expression from her pupils she must put herself to school and learn, first of all, to talk less herself and to allow her pupils more opportunity for speech. She must refrain from making her discipline con- spicuous, from impatient or unfriendly comment, from un- reasonable or arbitrary commands, from punishments which are based upon the pupil's acts and not upon his motives or his needs. She must refrain from appropriating to herself the opportunities, too few at best, for physical relaxation through 19 supplying the pupils' needs in the matter of paper, pencils, crayon, etc., since not only do the pupils who may be assigned to attend to these matters gain the refreshment which comes from the physical activity, but they gain in efficiency and in feeling more at ease and at home in their surroundings. Not all the pupils can be given a share in the work at each recita- tion, the others may be required to sit in position while it is being done, but it should be recognized that too much "sitting in position" is an excellent preparation for a state of passive inactivity on the pupil's part in the recitation which follows. The teacher who insists upon an arbitrary and elaborate routine of filing, dismissals, and other matters of adminis- tration without explanation or discussion of the purpose or the value of the exercise is training her pupils toward a state of unthinking, silent acquiescence which will not only check the promptings of thought but Avill help them to regard school as something apart from their lives and interests. On the positive side the teacher who explains and dis- cusses with her pupils the best ways of eliminating con- fusion, waste of time and of energy, and the best ways of securing safety and efficiency in the administration of the routine matters of the class room has provided not only a good oral exercise in thought and individual expression but has helped to create the friendly relation which is the first requisite of good oral work. If to this she adds friendly greetings in school and out of school, story-telling, drama- tization, and unfailing courtesy, patience, justice and truth in all dealings with her pupils, she needs only to add a per- sonal interest in the welfare and progress of each child and she will find that the dullest and most hopeless among them will not fail to respond. Her work consists in so planning and conducting the exercises of the school that each day this response grows more spontaneous, more thoughtful and more accurate ; and until she has removed all the impedi- ments mentioned above she should hold herself responsible for her pupils' failure to respond and to progress. This may seem a severe arraignment but it is so uniformly the result 20 observed in every classrooin where the causes of success or failure to create a sympathetic environment have been stud- ied that the conclusion is warranted. 2. Acquaintance. Exercises to secure acquaintance should find a place in the oral langnage recitations during the first days or weeks of the new term, especially in the lowest grade where the pupils are not only strangers to each other but strangers to school life in all its aspects. Not a little of the feeling of strangeness may be removed if the teacher is careful to illustrate the meaning of each order she gives during these first days. A lesson for us is contained in the remark of the little girl who boasted to her mother at the end of her first day of school, "I can do everything the teacher tells us to do but only just one thing. I can't do that yet for I don't know how to do it. Wlien the teacher tells us to ' Sit-a-wreck ' I watch the other children to see if I can find out how they do it, but I haven't yet." "Wliat do you do?" her mother asked. The reply w^as, "Oh, I clasp my hands and sit up tall the way the other children are doing and the teacher hasn't found out yet that I can't 'Sit-a-wreck.' " And a neM^comer in one of our classes asked her mother, "Wliat makes the teacher look at me and say, 'Cigarette'?" Sometimes children suffer under a more or less vague fear of principal, janitor, supervisors and other school of- ficials which could be removed by a sentence that Avould help the child to feel acquainted with these unfamiliar and therefore dreaded school officials. Investigations in psycho- pathy point to the fact that such impressions and fears may play no small part in speech interference and inhibition in a nervous child. Nothing serves more quickly to bring teacher and pupil into friendly relations than does story-telling and drama- tization, provided the teacher enters into the pleasure of the story and the acting and does not present these pleasures 21 as school exercises too rigidly dominated by her. The drama- tization and games may be used to increase the pupils' ac- quaintance with each other by asking them to use the child's name when giving invitations to play or when selecting actors for a part in games or dramatizations. While the precocious child may be given a prominent place during the introduction of a game or play that the others may more quickly gain the idea or learn the game, later the parts should be assigned with a view to giving each child an oppor- tunity to receive the training which comes in this way, and during no time should any child be allowed to feel neglected or excluded. 3. Interest. The youngest pupils will recognize the difference between the attention which is aroused by the entertaining nature of the subject, involuntary attention, and the attention which is voluntarily directed by the pupil and is the result of an awakening of motives which prompt to self-directed mental activity along the lines of thought suggested by the subject. The practice of sugar-coating all doses of knowledge pre- sented in the lower grades may secure the attention and in- terest ^^■hich will help to fix the knowledge in mind but this subversion of the ordinary experience of life, where progress comes through effort and not through entertainment, results in a slackness of mental and moral fibre which forms a poor preparation for the future education of the child. Children even too young for school may be influenced through pride or self-respect or desire for approbation to make efforts which are to them unattractive or even distasteful. The pupils who enter school usually come with the idea that school is a place for work and one of the teacher's first exercises might well be an explanation of the nature of school work and the means by which it is accomplished. To learn to do what the teacher tells one to do, to learn to read from the blackboard and from the book, to learn to talk and to write well, — the list 22 should not be made to seem too long at first — this is the work of school. And always the way to learn is to try to remember, not a hard thing to do, to find out all one can for one's self, and to do one's best every time. From the time this view of education is presented to the child his progress should be made a subject of interest to him, not by reference to a possible "promotion" or "non- promotion" but by gratifying his natural desire for ap- proval and by increasing his self-respect when he has accom- plished some task or conquered some difficulty. Too often the child remains in ignorance of what he is expected to gain from a lesson and so fails to profit by it. A case in point was that of a little girl who was one of a group of new-com- ers being tested during the first weeks of school to see if they could recognize the words of the first rhyme. This pupil was ready and eager to recite the rhyme whenever it w^as called for but she showed no interest in recognizing the words on the printed seat-work cards and failed to name correctly any of them. At the close of the lesson those who were able to recognize the words were complimented upon their knowledge of all those words gained in so short a time. They were then allowed to take their seats and the teacher proceeded to express sympathy for the others and to en- courage them to try hard to remember the words and to learn them as rapidly as possible. At this the little girl who had failed so signally drew herself up and with quivering lips and brimming eyes exclaimed indignantly, "I don't need to learn the printed words! / know the rhyme al- ready!" When it was explained to her that knowing the rhyme was only the first step and that the next step was to learn to tell each word whenever she saw it she lost no time in gaining the knowledge. This emphasis upon voluntary attention and effort whether the subject is interesting or not does not imply that a subject should be stripped of any entertainment it may legitimately furnish. But catering to involuntary in- terest alone deprives both teacher and pupil of a force which 23 is sometimes more powerful and always more force-pro- ducing than the appeal to involuntary interest can be. This force is a product of the child's natural interest in his own progress, of his natural enjoyment of his own mental activ- ity, and of his intelligent understanding of the point the teacher is trying to develop in the exercise. To secure this there must be intelligent self-directed activity on the pupil's part, and this cannot be gained by asking questions which indicate the too obvious answer or by having the pupil repeat the replies given by his neighbors. To secure the kind of interest demanded for progress each answer should require thought on the pupil's part. Nothing dissipates the pupil's interest more quickly than does any evidence of lack of interest by the teacher, whether it be a lack of interest in the subject of the lesson or of her personal interest in the individual pupil. Some- times the claim is made that a teacher cannot be expected to give individual attention to each one of fifty pupils, but the fact remains that many teachers do give this interest and attention and that they are the ones whose work is most successful. Not only do their pupils make more rapid pro- gress, not only is the teacher's work lightened by every effort put forth by the pupil, but she is spared the effort of needless repetition, the almost endless repetition of instruc- tion, indulged in by those who fail to give this individual attention and hence fail to know which children need the drill and which have already gained the knowledge and would be retarded by further repetition. A pupil's interest in his own progress can be helpful only when he recognizes that this progress depends upon his own effort, that he cannot gain the required answer by guess-work, by copying his neighbor's answer, or by being told by another pupil. He must recognize that the habit of delaying to answer till the question is passed to another pupil is a distinct loss to him and is not, as he is inclined to look upon it, a lucky escape. So long as the teacher permits this evasion of responsibility by the child just so 24 long will she have inattentive and uninterested pupils, shirkers and idlers in the recitation. i. Participation. One of the surest ways to arouse this self-directed interest is participation. On the other hand when the teacher requires the pupils to stand or to sit quietly in position during- the exercise she has produced a passive attitude which militates against interest and mental activity. A marked quickening in interest is noticed when the pupil is allowed some freedom of choice, to recite from topics instead of from questions, to exercise some self-direction in any line. An illustration of an appeal to interest through activity may be found by comparing two exercises in teaching color given by different teachers. The purpose of the exercise in each case is to give drill upon recognizing red, the name and association having already been developed. Each group re- citing includes about fifteen pupils. Teacher, What color is this flower, Clara? Pupil. Red. Teacher. You may tell me what color it is, John. Pupil. Red. Teacher. Helen, tell us the color of this flower. Pupil. Red. Teacher. Mary, what is the color of this ball? Pupil. Red. Teacher. James may tell us the color of this apple. Pupil. Red. Teacher. Charles may tell us about the color of the apple. Make a sentence, Charles. Pupil. The apple is red. Teacher. Children, please give sentences in telling the color after this. What is the color of this ribbon, Manuel? Pupil. The color of the ribbon is red. The exercise was continued in this manner till the teacher thought the pupils could recognize red without fur- 25 ther drill. The ninnerous admonitions to stand still, to keep from handling the objects, to pay attention, etc., have been omitted from this report but an}' one familiar with this form of recitation will recall how frequently they occur in exer- cises conducted in this way. The contrasting lesson may have received no more care- ful preparation in the matter of providing material but the teacher's aim included not only the purpose to give drill in recognition of the color but to furnish a test of the pupil's individual ability to recognize it and to furnish enough physi- cal activity to prevent the need of the inhibitions which, though directed solely toward physical movement, result in inhibiting mental activity as well. Teacher. Look at the color of this flower, this ribbon, this paper. Each of you find something having the same color that they have. I will walk away, so far away that you cannot hear a whisper from here, and I will call upon some child standing straight and tall to come to me and whisper the name of the color of the object he has chosen. Will you remember to make good sentences'? Harold may come to me and whisper the color of what he has chosen. • Pupil. This ribbon is red. Teacher. That is correct. You may stand beside me and call the next child. Call one who is standing well. Pupil. Marion. Marion whispers the sentence telling the color of the object she has chosen. Teacher. Is that correct, Harold? Pupil. Yes, she has told the right color. Teacher. IMarion may stand here with us and call some one. Pupil. Grace may come. "When half the pupils have been tested in this way the exercise may be varied. Teacher. Each of you children standing near me may move farther away from me and awav from each other. 26 Now you children who have not yet recited may each choose one of these children and may come and whisper your sentence to the one you have chosen. Then these children may tell me if you are correct. In this way each child has been required to name the color without suggestion or help from any source. Those who have failed to answer correctly should be noted and should be given special drill apart from the others. Teacher. Now come back to the recitation. Mary may look carefully at each little girl and be ready to name those who have any red in their clothing. John may look at the boys for the same thing. Elsie, please walk about the room and look for anything with red in it. The rest of you may think of fruits or flowers you know — you may choose whether you will think of fruits or flowers, — be ready to name one. Now, Mary. Pupil. Grace, Margaret, Helen and Alice have red on them. Teacher. In their clothing, John may tell us about the boys. Pupil. They hain't no boys what's got red on 'em but just only Frank. Teacher. Wouldn 't you like to say it this way ? "Frank is the only boy who has red in his clothing." Does that say what j^ou mean ? It is better to tell the thought that way. Suppose you tell it so. Pupil. Frank is the only boy what's got red in his clothing. Teacher. That's a great improvement though not just as I said it. Now who is ready to name a red fruit or flower ? Pupil. A rose is a red flower. Pupil. A beet is a red fruit. Teacher. A beet is a vegetable. Let us include those also and I mil tell you whether the one you name is a fruit or a vegetable if you can't tell for yourself. Pupil. A pink is a red flower. 27 Pupil. A poppy is a red flower. Pupil. A tomato is a red fruit. Pupil. A radish is a red fruit. Teacher. Vegetable. Pupil. A plum is a red fruit. Teacher. Is a plum always red? Pupil. Some plums are red. Teacher. Let us change our sentences when we need to and say, ''Some poppies are red. Some grapes are red." Who can name any other fruit or tlower which is sometimes red? Pupils name several. Who can think of anything at home that is red! Who has seen anything red on the way to school? Name some- thing red which you like very much. Here are some colored pictures of birds. Francis may hold them up, one after the other, for us to look at, and as soon as you see a bird with any red in his feathers you may clap your hands, once, but don't say anything. These exercises in recognition need not be crowded into one recitation period and they should be continued till all the pupils recognize the color readily. The children's tones are kept at a conversational pitch with conversational inflections, and the teacher does not hesitate to suggest changes in the form of the sentence whenever these are needed to secure variety or accuracy. But these changes are made cautiously that they may not substitute the teacher's expression for the pupil's thought, and that they may not become a check to his freedom of expression. In many cases a very gradual approach to correct expression is all that can be expected if the pupil is to express his own thought in his own words. At the conclusion of the exercises in drill in recognizing red the teacher says, "How many of you think you know red when you see it? Are you sure? Then you know something which will be useful to you all your lives. Before long you will learn to read and to spell or to write the word red. ' ' 28 The foregoing- exercises illustrate the use of participa- tion to arouse interest and to secure the increase in execu- tive ability which comes from practice in execution, in the exercise of choice, in comparison and the exercise of judg- ment, and in the power of self-direction. In the first case the exercise illustrates the teacher's failure to make use of the pupil's active physical participa- tion in each step of the recitation with its resulting in- terest, it illustrates the teacher's failure to estimate the men- tal activity required of each pupil" and to note the absence of independent thought permitted by the form of the questions. It allows little or no opportunity^ for a comparison of objects to enable the pupil to form a judgment concerning the color and to test his ability to recognize the color. On the con- trary the questions are presented in a way which would al- most insure a correct answer from the most inattentive child or even from one who was blind since from these questions the child might gain through inference the knovdedge denied through sight. The opportunity to choose, to decide for one's self fur- nishes a training too often neglected. The very fact upon which teachers base their objection to its use in the school- room, i. e., that the pupils are so slow in making up their minds that the practice uses up so much valuable time, is an argument for the early cultivation of the habit of coming to a prompt decision in unimportant matters. A conver- sation (not a lecture) upon the economical use of time in this exercise and of the really trivial nature of the choice helps to bring the pupils to promptness in decision. The reasons which often cause this hesitation are usual- ly either the child's desire to prolong the pleasure of keep- ing the attention of the class focussed upon himself as long as possible while coming to a choice, or the self-conscious- ness produced by bashfulness or embarrassment. The rem- edy for each of these is found in a quiet talk with the in- dividual child who is inclined to be unduly slow in making a choice, in one ease making an appeal to him to help as much 29 as he can by choosing quickly, thus giving an opportunity to many more children in the time which can be given to the recitation, and in the other case leading the pupil to think not of himself but of whom he will choose quickly and showing him how slight is the part he has to play. Inexperienced teachers are inclined to avoid this active participation of the pupils, fearing that the good order of the class may be unfavorably affected. When the children's activity is based upon an intelligent motive which they rec- ognize as having a close connection with the lesson being taught, when it is evident to the child that this activity in- creases his grasp upon a fact or tests his knowledge of it, the result is far different from what it would be if the physi- cal activity were merely introduced for the sake of physical activity. In either of the illustrative exercises presented if the teacher were to say, "John, you may spin this red top. Helen, you may toss this red ball," there is a strong likeli- hood that these permissions would pave the way for dis- order. On the other hand choosing the children upon whom red is found leads the pupil closer to the thought of the lesson, emphasizes the impression of the color upon the mind of the pupil choosing and makes it equally prominent in the mind of every other pupil because each examines his cloth- ing to see if he is likely to be one of the pupils who are wearing the color. The permission to toss the red ball or to spin the red top leads the mind of the pupil aAvay from the thought of the lesson and presents a more attractive activity to take its place. In these notes attention will be called repeatedly to the beneficial effect of the pupil's activity in choice, in self- direction and in active participation, under the teacher's direction, in the work of the schoolroom. The gain in dis- cipline, in the pupil's mental vigor, in his school progress, the increase in his power to take the initiative, in self-con- fidenee, and in happiness are impelling reasons for conduct- 30 ing the recitation in a way to secure this participation to its fullest extent. To secure this development of pupil-power certain ad- justments must be made in prevailing methods of procedure. For many years the accepted method has been to secure first an attitude of passive receptivity on the pupil's part, to practically devitalize the pupils before attempting to teach them. The teacher whose equipment in subject-matter or methods or power to discipline is meagre finds her only safe- ty in shutting off pupil-power before she attempts to direct the recitation. It is as if the chauffeur should shut off the power and then try to pull and push the automobile along. The class is an automotor and the teacher's work is to guide it, using the power with which nature has equipped it. The teacher's grasp upon the wheel must be firm and skillful, the pupil-power must be under her control, and when these con- ditions are met progress is rapid and easy. The teacher who allows the pupils no initiative in the recitation is like the captain of a tug which tows a line of barges, each obedient to the pull of the hawser, though with swerves which leave a very zigzag wake. The teacher who directs the work through pupil-activity is like the pilot on board a ship propelled by its own steam and directed through its own helm, controlled by the pilot through the initial stages of the voj-age but in command of its own captain who will take charge when these dangers are passed. Teach- er-power tugging at the hawser may seem to save time, but pupil-power guided through the helm makes far greater progress. 5. Vocabulary. Neglect of the pupil's vocabulary and neglect of the asso- ciation of word and thought are responsible for much of the retardation of foreign-speaking children in school. The human mind unconsciously assumes that the spoken word will by itself convey its idea, the truth of this assertion being illus- trated by the proneness of people to raise the voice when 31 speaking to a foreigner who has difficulty in comprehend- ing them. The speaker's subconscious inference is that the difficulty is because the listener did not hear the word; he fails to recognize the fact that however clearly heard no word can convey an idea unless the word and the idea are associated in the mind of the hearer. In the same way the teacher sometimes unconsciously infers that the pupil is lacking in intelligence when he fails to respond to her clearly spoken and plainly heard words. If she would resort to gestures, to drawings or sketches of even the most hasty kind, or to other forms of illustration easily at hand she would often meet with a ready response in the pupil's understanding though the spoken word would lag somewhat behind till it had become familiar to him. Constant association of word and idea till the word has become familiar and the association has become fixed is the natural road to take with the non-English speaking pupil. The names of his teacher and of some of his playmates, the objects in the schoolroom, the act expected of him, the responses required by courtesy, should all receive this asso- ciation of word and idea. The terms used to express color, form, size, dimensions, etc., the words which express common actions, the names of common animals, toys, tools, etc., should have the idea, the object, presented with the word. The teacher who requires her foreign-speaking pupils to commit the rhyme to memory before allowing them to dramatize it is doing her best (or worst) to prevent this association so important to her pupils' improvement in English. More important than the question, "How many words have your first grade pupils learned in reading?" are the questions, "How many English words can your foreign pupils illustrate?" and, "How many English words can they use?" This is a side of the work almost wholly neglected in many classes to the serious loss of the children. Long before such children can use English words in sentences they may illustrate them through pictures, objects, dramatization, drawing, and cutting, in these ways proving that they have 32 gained the correct association of word and idea. The next step is the correct pronunciation of the word. Tlie pupil's first attempts at oral spelling sometimes show faulty habits of pronunciation that have passed unnoted by the teacher's ear, ''rad" for ''red," "min" for "men," "the" for "they," "then" for "than," and similar alterations of vowel sounds are not infrequent even among children of American parentage, while the clipping of final consonants is specially in favor with them. Hand in hand with the teaching of the w^ords which express the names of objects, actions, qualities, etc., should go the teaching of the phrases which enable the pupils to use the newly acquired words in sentences. "I have," "This is," "That is," "I can," are some of the phrases most easily understood and acquired and these should be used freely by the pupils before the end of a few weeks of school train- ing. Equal practice in asking questions beginning with phrases, "Who is," "What is," and making requests. "Please give me," "Please bring me," "Please show me," "Point to," etc. An oral exercise might be conducted entirely by foreign pupils who had learned to use the expressions "That is," and "This is", and the names of several objects. Grouped about a table upon which the objects are placed the first child might ask, pointing to some object, "What is this, Antone?" Ant one replies. "That is a top," and in his turn pointing to some object he asks, "What is this, Isaac?" Isaac replies and then becomes the questioner, and the exercise continues till each child has given answers and questions. 6. Ear-training. The workman in the factory becomes so accustomed to the noise of the machinery that he ceases to notice it. The horses and men employed in the fire department become so practiced in prompt obedience to the fire signals that the response becomes almost automatic. In each ease the train- 33 iiig of ear and brain has been responsible for the result, in one case to disregard the message received from the nerves of the ear, and in the other case to respond promptly to the call. The habit of disregarding certain oft-repeated messages received through the ear is more common among children than is generally recognized. While some children are intensely curious concerning all conversations carried on by adults, in every large group of children there are usually some who have become so accustomed to disregard the instructions and commands of their elders as to be practically deaf to them. This is specially likely to occur when a child has been subjected to constant and petty nagging, to the control of several people each of whom indulges in many commands and restrictions, and to children suffering from a discipline which attempts to control without firmness. This inattention is sometimes seen in well-intentioned children who are unconscious of evasion of duty or responsibility in the matter. It is found frequently among children wdiose as- sociation with adults does not furnish them pleasure or in- terest and whose chief source of these is found among their playmates. The first step in correcting this inattention is to arouse in the child a sense of the reasonableness and the necessity for some person who shall be in command in any undertaking involving a number of people, and also the reasonableness and necessity for prompt obedience. Quite young children may be led to perceive the retarding effects upon mental progress when inattention and failure to obey are the rule, and also the injustice of requiring many pupils to repeat an act because one pupil did not respond to the order, A sense of personal responsibility must be awakened in each child before habits of attention and response to the teacher's directions can be established. Requiring all the pupils to perform an act till the last laggard has fallen into line is not only an injustice to those who have given prompt obedience, but it fails to place the responsibility where it 34 belongs, upon the child whose inattention or indifference is hindering the others. Compulsory attention and obedience may be necessary at first, but this is only preparatory, — the right training has begun only when the child is giving voluntary attention and willing obedience. Here, again, individual work on the teacher's part is demanded. Her eye should be quick to note which pupils are slow to respond to her directions or commands and instead of making all the children repeat the act till all have responded satisfac- torily she should direct her personal influence upon the few who need improvement in this respect and should continue to give them this attention until their reaction becomes as prompt and as spontaneous as that of the other pupils. It is more than likely that in some cases the teacher's eye will need to receive training to enable her to detect the pupils whose ears are being closed to her instruction through this passive inattention. The conditions needed for mental growth are found in the schoolroom only when the pupils are looking to but not leaning upon the teacher for the direction of the work, when their minds are alert for suggestions from her, are working along the lines indicated by her, but are producing individual work along these lines. Much of the well-bred person's purity of tone and clear- ness of enunciation is due to the training received through familiarity with the correct form gained through constant hearing of the correct form. This familiarity is the surest way to secure accuracy not only in pronunciation and enun- ciation but in grammar. For this reason the efforts of teacher and pupils should be given to making the correct form prominent, securing as much repetition as possible for it, at the same time avoiding oral repetition of the error while discussing its correction. The following illustration will serve to show how unconsciously we furnish drill in the repetition of the error through this ear-training while we are striving to correct it. Teacher. Wliat incorrect expression was used by the pupil who recited last? 35 Pupil. She said, ' ' He done it. ' ' Teacher. Yes, and what should she have said instead of ''He done it?" Pupil. She should have said, "He did it." Teacher. Don't forget, children, that "He done it" is Wrong. "We should not say, "He done it," but, "He did it." Here we have four repetitions of the incorrect form and only two repetitions of the correct form, and in spite of the instruction the teacher has given in the use of the latter the children have been receiving at the same time an exercise in ear-training which wdll make it twice as easy for them to use the incorrect form as to use the form she has commended. The route from ear to tongue via the brain is not a long one and sometimes the current appears to become short cir- cuited and the Avords familiar to the ear seem to slip from the tongue without the speaker's conscious volition. This is the kind of ear-training that we are endeavoring to cviltivate in school, such familiarity Avith the word or phrase that the pupil will use it unconsciously. But this implies the oppor- tunity to speak the word as well as to hear it, and since this unconscious choice of the word springs from interest and the impulse for expression, it is through arousing this interest and impulse that we can best gain this voluntary expression. We can make the foreign child say but little, but we can interest him so deeply that the English words we are using will be given back by him unconsciously if we have already trained his ear to familiarity with them. In addition to the caution to avoid correction wdiich results in an increased familiarity with an incorrect form and the consequent increased tendency to use it, we should not forget that any manner of correction which abates the interest or lessens the impulse toward speech retards the pupil's progress. For this reason a teacher's unsympathetic, unfriendly, sarcastic, or impatient correction may be a suffi- cient cause for her pupil's unwillingness to speak freely, may in fact render the child so self-conscious or so antago- 36 nistic that it is only with difficulty that he can bring himself to the most meagre response. In the lower grades familiarity with the correct form in its proper setting, i. e., a sentence conveying thought, will do more to secure correct expression than can be gained through the pupil's conscious effort to make the correction after he has committed the error, consequently much practice in using the expression which is likely to be in- correctly used should be given, care being taken that the correct form shall be made far more prominent than the error. 7. Thought. Subjects of thought. In classes above the low^est primary grades the subject of thought in the oral work will develop naturally through the need for discussion and illustration of the work of the grade. In the first grade the teacher must select a line of thought as a basis for the oral work. These subjects of thought, which should be interesting to the children and should furnish some- thing to say, may be objects which the pupils may see and handle, actions which the pupils can perform, or relations with which they are familiar. The objects may be children, toys, animals, flowers and other forms of nature, food, clothing, family, home, etc. This will call for a vocabulary w^hich will include terms expressing length, size, form, color, place, position, number, etc. When action is the subject of thought the children may talk about what children can do, games children can play, how children can help at home, at school, on the street, what children can do to help themselves at home, at school, or on the street. This will call for a vocabulary in which verbs are prominent, run, play, jump, walk, bring, take, give, etc., and will call for much practice in using the different forms of the same verb, e. g., give, gave, giving, given. The relations observed when com- paring objects will call for the terms used in describing them with the addition of the comparative phrases larger than, 37 longer than, etc. The children in even this grade are not too young to recognize moral relations, the duties of teacher and pupils, parents and children, brothers and sisters, the value of work, the pupil's attitude toward work at school and at home, the dignity of labor, etc. Moral relations, conduct, responsibility, courtesy, habits, civic duties of children, and many other subjects of thought suggested by the teacher's perception of the pupil's needs will furnish ample material for the oral lessons. The teacher who thinks that the purpose of these lessons is to impart information and that didatic instruction is the most direct road, may succeed in imparting the knowledge she wishes her pupils to acquire but the lessons will be a failure as far as oral language is concerned. When her aim is to give the children practice in talking and to give them a knowledge of the subject by leading them to talk about it, telling their own individual observations or impressions and gaining power for closer observation and clearer impression from their classmates' comments, the knowledge gained in this way will usually be lodged more firmly in the mind than if it were gained through the passive attitude demanded by direct instruction by the teacher. In the introductory chapter of the Aldine First Lan- guage Book, the author's illustration of the slave at the empty well points out very aptly and clearly the sources which may be drawn upon for language work. She speaks of "the reservoirs on the hill — the reservoirs of fable, fairy tale, legend, myth, story, poem — literature," and "the re- sources of the child's own experiences, the springs deep down in the child's reactions to the world about him — his ideas, his ambitions, his feelings and emotions," and sug- gests that "We must see that from these two inexhaustible sources the material of thought and feeling flow together to make up the abundant stream of the child's mental life; when we do this we may draw deeply and without disap- pointment. ' ' Parallel with this stream produced by the mingling of imagination and emotion there runs a lively and often tur- 38 bulent little rivulet which we cannot afford to ignore — the stream of action, the child's vital interest in living his own life, what he can do, what he can make, what he has seen accomplished, in fact, his daily interests outside of school. "Beware of running water" is an axiom of construct- ive engineering and in building railway or viaduct every little stream of running water, no matter hoAV small, is provided with culvert and outlet that the destructive force produced by damming its current may be avoided and equal care is taken that its incessant action does not undermine the structure which it underflows. Too often we are content to convey the waters of litera- ture along the placid level curves of the aqueduct of repro- duction or to carve out channels for the flow of the stream of imagination when if we would but widen and deepen the channel of this living stream of action, of individual, vital, constant interest, till it was wide enough and deep enough to hold imagination and emotion as well as action we would find that the force and the vivacity of this rivulet would vitalize and propel the waters of all, and these combined would form a stream adequate to furnish refreshment to satisfy the thirst for beauty, would furnish irrigation for the arid soil of knowledge, power which may be transmitted into efficiency, and the current which propels in the direction of deeper waters and wider shores. For this reason it is suggested that many of the first les- sons in oral lang-uage shall be based upon the subjects dis- cussed in these pages and that these lessons should be con- tinued until the child has no difficulty in describing any object he can see or handle, in telling what he can do, in explaining how to play a simple game, and in expressing simple judgments upon comparisons of objects, upon conduct, and upon other subjects of thought suited to his intelligence and his interests. Since the purpose of the language exercise in the lowest grades is primarily not instruction, but expression, the child should be allowed to express the thought as he sees it, not necessarily as it is in fact or truth. Discussion should lead the pupil 39 through further observation or experience to correct any error in thought, still bearing in mind the purpose of the lesson, i. e., to lead the pupil to express his own thought, whatever it may he. In all this work we must make sure that the motive power is furnished by the stream of the child's interest, the impulse to express, and that the act of expression is a spon- taneous offering of the child's own thought. 8. Spontaneous expression. It has already been noted that spontaneous expression is dependent upon sympathetic environment, acquaintance, in- terest, and freedom from prohibitions. YVhen these conditions have been fulfilled it is quite likely that the pupil's spontaneous expression may become too exuberant, and not infrequently the fear of this causes teachers to check the child's impulse before it reaches the point of spontaneous expression. This exuberance is to be expected, may even be welcomed as af- fording an opportunity for training in courtesy and a neces- sary preparation for social intercourse. The rights of others should be observed through a fair distribution of opportunity to speak and checking of selfishness in monopolizing the con- versation cannot be begun too early. The discourtesy of dis- turbing others by loud or clamorous tones, interruptions, in- sistence in being heard, and other forms of discourtesy may be tactfully inhibited and in their place may be substituted an acquaintance with the courteous forms of address and accepted standards of thought and speech. 9. Jnclividual expression. This can be easily secured if each pupil is given a subject of thought differing somewhat from his neighbor's. In giving a description of a fruit it would be difficult to secure individ- uality of thought and expression if each child was required to describe the same red apple. But if apples of different colors are provided, if peaches, pears, plums, and grapes are includ- ed among the fruits to be described by different children in 40 the same exercise, each pupil will be required to use his eyes and his judgment in describing the fruit assigned to him. Too frequently the purpose of an exercise in description is con- ceived to be to obtain a good description of the object studied, the teacher directing all her energies toward the excellence of the completed description of this one object, and sometimes resorting to dictation or to memory drill to secure it, when the really vital thing in such an exercise is to give the training which will develop in the pupils the ability to give a good description of any object. Pictures and other reproductions may be used with the real objects if it is difficult to supply a sufficient number of the latter to allow each child to have some object different enough from his neighbor's to furnish this desired individuality. The pupils should be trained to offer a new thought in each sentence. These may be different thoughts about the same object or the same thought about different objects. They should also be trained to express the same thought in different ways. As an illustration of the work in the lowest grades the pupils might give sentences like, "Mary has a rose," ''She has a rose," "This girl has a rose," "You have a rose, Mary." In the higher grades we find the following variety in expressing the same thought, "This morning we learned how to punctuate a divided quotation," "Today we are studying broken quotations and how to Avrite them." If too much prominence is given to the form of expres- sion an artificial style may be developed. The attempt to secure individuality of expression may result in the mechani- cal adoption of a group of suggested forms or in wordy, self-conscious, high-flown efforts. 10. Reproduction — tableau, dramatization, oral repro- duction (literal version, free version), written reproduction (literal version, free version). In ignoring the value of the tableau and pantomime as means of expression for non-English speaking children we have denied them a means unusually well adapted to sur- 41 mount the difficulties which they meet in oral expression. Through pose, gesture, picture they may speak in a language universally understood, a language which to many of our foreign-bom pupils is as familiar as oral speech. The teacher who makes use of this form of expression will find that through it her pupils reflect not only their comprehen- sion of the ideas she has tried to present but also misappre- hensions which they would not be likely to disclose in words, even if these were at their command. 11. Picture-reading. Pictures furnish an open road to the child's comprehen- sion when he has learned to read pictures, that is, to grasp the story they tell. It has been well said that, "To stimu- late and at the same time to direct the constructive imagina- tion, to loose the individual powers of invention, to encourage real and orderly thought in every young pupil, nothing sur- passes a well chosen picture rightly used. To use a picture effectively for this purpose requires teaching skill and in- sight of the highest order, especially in the beginning. Here the teacher's task is that of teaching children to read picture stories, not to describe pictures. Naming the objects in a picture, or telling what one sees in it, or describing it, is not reading the story it tells any more than the naming at random of the words in a written narrative or describing the way the narrative looks on the page, is reading the story that the narrative contains."* An exercise which quickly sets the pupils to reading the picture for its story is the attempt to present the story in a tableau. Mrs. Hurll's "How to Show Pictures to ChiL dren" illustrates how this may be done in the schoolroom. In much the same way some pictures may be illustrated in pantomime, and bath these means are available long before the pupil's command of unfamiliar English will permit him to tell the story in words. (Teachers are referred to the *Aldine First Language Book. 42 outlines for Grade IB for an illustration of this form of picture reading). 12. Dramatization. Since each exercise in dramatization furnishes the oppor- tunity for training so much wider than can be included in the terms reading or language we must make sure that these im- portant by-products of the exercise are not ignored. So often the teacher fails to realize that the development of initiative, poise, self-confidence, and self-expression are the main purposes of this exercise in the schoolroom and that the desire to present a finished product, to entertain by the excellence of the performance, is not only a secondary aim but that it may even become a menace to the progress of the class and to the mental and social development of the in- dividuals who are called upon to take part too frequently in the exercise. To secure really vital results the pupils should not be drilled in their parts and no one part should be assigned to the same pupil many times. Since dramatizing a picture differs so little from dramatizing a story, the following suggestions will apply to both. Dramatizing a story. The story should first be told by the teacher w4th as much dramatic effect as she can master. (In dramatizing a picture, the story should be discovered by the pupils through a study of the picture). Several repetitions of the story may be needed before the pupils grasp the idea contained in the story sufficiently clearly to reproduce it in dramatic form. Composite story-telling is helpful in making the pupils more familiar wdth the incidents and the dialogue of the tale. This composite work consists in having the teacher tell the story till the pupils have become somewhat familiar with the action and the conversation (sometimes one telling is enough), then the teacher commences to retell it, pausing at the dramatic points to let the pupils supply the remainder of the sentence. 43 The children should not interrupt the teacher's narrative before she makes the pause, and neither should she interrupt the flow of the story by spoken directions to the pupils while she is telling it, her expression and her gestures may prompt the pupils if they are not quick to take up the cue, but the oral telling should be as continuous as if it were carried on by one person. This will necessitate a few words of introduction and explanation when the composite exercise is first introduced, but, once having grasped the idea, the pupils' attention and interest is much quickened by this form of recitation. The mistake of interrupting a story for the sake of discipline should be too well recognized to need mention here. Wlien the teacher pauses in telling the composite story each child who can finish the sentence speaks it aloud. The pupils' contribution to this composite narrative should be class work but it need not be given in concert, i. e., verbatim, though generally the pupils' reflection of the teacher's rendering will result in uniformity. Since this exercise is for the purpose of conveying the idea, rendering the children familiar with the story (though not necessarily with its form), a child's change in the phraseology may be welcomed if it expresses the idea presented in the teacher's version. Each pupil's share in telling the story should be voluntary and should serve to show the teacher to what extent the children have grasped the details and to indicate which children are ready to undertake to dramatize it. During the pupils' first efi'orts to dramatize a story the teacher may assign the parts and by a timely but not obtru- sive question or suggestion keep the action running fairly smoothly. When the more precocious children can enact the parts fairly well (which will generally be after the story has been dramatized a few times) the assignment of parts should be distributed till every pupil has had the opportunity to play at least one part in each story dramatized. "But it spoils the effect!" is the usual protest when this suggestion is made to teachers. And this protest points 44 out one of the mistakes and one of the dangers so frequently seen in school dramatization. Our mistake is in thinking that our energies are to be directed toward producing a pleasing effect. A similar mistake would be to drill our brightest pupils, and only our brightest pupils, over and over upon the words of the reading lesson, and not permit the poor readers to read at all because ''It will spoil the effect!" Just as the aim of the reading lesson is to teach every child to read and to teach each child to read as Avell as he can, so the aim of the exercises in dramatization is to teach every child to express the story through dramatization and to express it as well as he can. Dramatization is a method designed to give skill in re- production and every child should receive this training whenever he is ready for it. This means that he should not be forced to take a part if ability, inclination, or self- confidence are lacking, but the child who sees the oppor- tunity to play the story distributed as the opportunity to read is distributed will soon recover from the shyness which made him shrink when it was first proposed to him. The class which has been carefully prepared for dramatizing the story through the composite work will contain but few individuals without the ability or the self-confidence needed for the work. It is true that the pleasure experienced by pupils, teach- er, and visitors furnishes what seems to be a sufficient reason for employing only the best talent the class affords. But this is only one of the gains to be reaped from the exercise and in itself is not sufficiently important to warrant the sacrifice of the other still more valuable results which may be secured without loss of this pleasure. Some visiting teachers were being entertained by a class which was dramatizing a story new to the visitors. At the beginning of the recitation the teacher said, "Those who had parts in this story when we played it before may take their places," and children from different parts of the class arose and stationed themselves about the room. The teacher 45 questioned each child, "What part do you take?" and then she withdrew to the rear of the room and the children car- ried on the exercise without any help from her. The play ran on vers' smoothly, almost too smoothly, some of the pupils' replies being given so glibly as to seem mechanical. One of the school officials was also present and after the children had returned to their seats this visitor requested all pupils who had never played this story to stand. They were asked how many of them would like to play this story and the visiting teachers were invited to select actors from these pupils to play the different parts. The results sur- prised the visitors for the story was presented as accurately as before but with a freshness, a spontaneity, a verve, which had been lacking in the pupils who had enacted their parts too often. One of the unfortunate results of inviting the same child to act a part every time is this inevitable loss of spontaneity which is not infrequently replaced by vanity and self-assur- ance. It is well to guard against this even at the loss of some finish in the dramatic effect. One good way to insure a wide distribution of the opportunity to take part in dramatization is to invite some pupil to take charge of the exercise and give the invitations to any children he may choose. This also gives training in courteous request and invitation and in returning thanks. Such an exercise would proceed somewhat as follows : Teacher. Who would like to choose a story for us to dramatize? Charles may choose one. Charles. I choose Little Red Riding Hood. Teacher. Helen, you may assign the parts. Helen comes before the class. Eden. Margaret, would you like to be Little Red Riding Hood? JIargaret. Yes, thank you, Helen. Helen. John, would you like to be the wolf? John. Yes, I would, thank you. Helen. Sarah, you may be the grandmother, if you like. Sarah. Thank you, Helen. 46 Helen proceeds to select the mother, the wood-choppers, and any other actors the story may call for, and then takes her seat. The actors find places about the room and the play begins. It is sometimes found that the pupils are inclined to take more time in making this selection than the teacher would use. The same argument holds good here that was presented when the pupil's activity was considered in earlier pages. The child-actor's grasp upon the story and his effort to express his thought are the elements of most value in dramatiz- ing. Since the story should be simple enough to be within the grasp of every pupil, and since expression through action is far more easy and far more natural to the little child than oral expression has yet become to him, the exercise presents no serious difficulty in finding children capable of taking any part, and even the most tongue-tied or clumsy children can be "sheep in the meadow" or "cows in the corn." The development of initiative, efficiency, self-confidence, and poise are some of the important results to be secured from the work in dramatization, but these wall not be gained unless the teacher's handling of the exercise definitely pre- pares for and demands them. If she sets the stage, instructs each child where to stand and what to do, goes herself to cloakroom and closet for the properties used, and drills her pupils upon the w^ords they are to utter, the exercise has been robbed of its chief value as a means of development. Chil- dren have vivid imaginations wdiich they delight to use. They do not need a big bowl, a middle sized bowl and a little bowl or the incongruous substitutes we sometimes supply for the bowls and spoons when playing The Three Bears. The action is the thing, and it is doubtful if the use of lead pencils for spoons makes the play more real to the children than it is when they wield imaginary spoons, letting the action of eating porridge tell the story. It is safer to use no accessories than to use too many. No axe is needed by the wood-choppers, the children show by their actions that they are chopping wood. No basket 47 is needed to hold the flowers Little Red Riding Hood picks on her way to her grandmother's house, the imaginary one which hangs upon her bent arm will hold them all, and instead of being the somewhat battered, commonplace, familiar schoolroom object, this imaginary basket is the most beautiful one the child has ever seen. The little girl dressed in a "truly real" red cloak and actually picking up artificial flowers to put in her visible basket is much inclined to depend upon these accessories to represent the part she takes, and not infrequently a child so equipped walks through her part with no attempt at dramatic expression through gesture and voice. Strip her of these "properties," ask her to "play" she has them all and to play it so that the other children can see them in their minds and play it with her, and the gain in dramatic expression is seen at once. 13. Oral reproduction — literal version. The value of verbatim reproduction as a test of knowl- edge has long been recognized. Much less attention has been given it as an influence in training for oral expression. Not infrequently pupils are allowed to recite the memory selec- tions with an almost utter disregard for phrasing, emphasis, and other means of making the thought prominent. In some cases teachers have taught the rhymes with such sing-song rhythm that the thought is well-nigh obscured. The class which recites "Now the I days are I full of I music. All the I birds are | back a | gain," fails to show whether the pupils understand the poem or not. Another frequent error in failing to give good oral expres- sion to the thought of a memory selection is a disregard of the niceties of enunciation and pronunciation. The child who recited, "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean," rendering it, "Columbia the Jim of the Ocean," may have grasped a thought from the line, but when she recited, "Thy manders 48 make tea-roses sember," in place of, "Thy mandates make heroes assemble," it was plainly to be seen that her mind was not even being stored with the words of a thought which later would be vitalized by experience or other illustration. The child who recited parts of ''The Children's Hour" as follows also failed to express a thought or to store in memory lines which would be understood later. These Avords were taken down as the child recited them, in some places she was asked to repeat the line again and again to make sure that her pronunciation was intentional. "By three doors left in the garden (unguarded) They enter my castle wall." ************ "In the roun-town of my heart, And there I will keep you forever, Yes, forever and a day. Till the walls shall crummer-to-ruie And moder in dust away. ' ' The pupil's vocabulary is unconsciously influenced by the memory selections he learns to recite. While concert- work gives each child an opportunity to recite aloud, arouses interest, and makes a refreshing exercise to break the ten- sion of the long school day, yet it permits and develops so many undesirable habits that it should be used with much care. Every recitation in memory selections should be an exercise in oral expression, correct and pleasing expression of the thought contained in the selection. Since this can best be gained through having the individual pupil recite alone, concert-work should be postponed till each child has shown by oral recitation that he can give a good rendering from memory. Many teachers have not learned how to teach a poem through individual recitation. The plan often adopted is 49 to dictate the poem, line by line, calling upon the class to repeat in concert each line as it is dictated; then the dicta- tion is lengthened to include two or more lines and the pupils repeat in concert as before. This is continued till the pupils are able to repeat each stanza, and finally the entire poem without dictation. In grades where the pupils can read, the poem is written upon the blackboard and the pupils read in concert from the board in place of reciting from the teacher's dictation. To secure the oral expression of thought as well as to fix the poem in memory the following plan is sug- gested. In this illustration the teacher plans to teach the rhyme Rain, rain, go away! Come again some other day. The teacher may well introduce this rhyme upon the first rainy day of the term. She may tell the story used in the reading method in which this rhyme is found, or she may tell about the little boy who asked his mother to "Turn off the rain." He was such a little boy that he thought the rain could be turned off just as the water in the sink is turned off at the faucet or as the shower-bath in the bath-room is turned off. The children are asked to make believe or to "play" that they can make the rain go away by telling it to, just as they could drive a dog or a kitten away by speaking forcibly to it. The teacher passes to the window and looking out at the rain addresses it, "Rain, go aAvay. " Several children are called upon, one after the other, to go to the window and do the same thing while the other pupils listen to see if the child's voice makes the words sound as if he really wished the rain to go. No criticism of the failures is called for but the successes are commended. If the children do not succeed in making their direction to the rain sound as if they were in earnest the teacher repeats her command to the rain, that the pupils may learn by imitation. 50 When each child called upon can give the command with good expression the teacher calls attention to the fact that the rain has not gone as it was asked to do and suggests that the class make believe that the rain did not hear and to play that by calling to it more emphatically they might succeed in making it go away. Accordingly she goes to the window again and calls, "Rain, rain, go away!" in a manner to convey the impression that she expects to be obeyed. The children have not been slow to catch the idea and many of them will give the line with an earnest manner and good inflections though possibly with a little too much severity for a pleasing effect, but the natural drop in later repetitions will usually correct this distortion without suggestion from the teacher. Every pupil in the room will have committed the line to mem- ory some time before the teacher has become satisfied with their rendering and before they are tired of giving the direc- tion to the rain. The next line is introduced by referring to the natural effect which would be produced if we could send the rain away never to return. Thoughts of tbe drooping flowers and grass, the thirsty birds, the dying fishes, the hungry people if no more rain fell lead to the invitation, "Come again." The pause here is prolonged sufficiently to break up the unconscious tendency to scan and to place the pause after "Come again some. " " When do we want the rain to come ? ' ' The answer will give the desired phrasing, "Some other day." The teacher goes to the window and in pleasant tones proffers the invitation, "Come again, — some other day." Children who had not been given an opportunity to speak to the rain in the words of the first line may go to the window, singly, and give the invitation, "Come again, — some other day." The teacher's ears* are quick to note the slurring of some syllables or running them together, "Come-a", and "some- mother" will be found frequently. When each line has been drilled upon, the teacher may repeat both lines, raising her hand, palm outward, in a 51 gesture of dismissal as she says, "Go away!" and beckoning in invitation as she says, "Come again." In much the same way the poem, "Is it raining, little flower?" may be introduced upon a rainy day, or even by force of contrast in a season when the gardens are suffering from a lack of rain. The entire poem should be recited by the teacher before breaking it up into parts. Some child may be selected to represent the flower or a drooping flower in the schoolroom may be apostrophized. Is it raining, little flower? asks the teacher. The little flower nods in reply and droops lower. What shall I tell the flower about the rain? Wliat does the poem tell the flower? It tells the flower to be glad of the rain. "Wlio wants to ask the flower the question and then tell it to be glad ? Notice that the poem does not say, "Be glad of the rain," it says, "Be glad of rain. ' ' Several pupils come in turn and ask the question and give the advice. Why should the flower be glad of rain? Tell in your own words. After a short discussion which brings out the thought in the next line, the teacher remarks, Let me repeat the poem again and you may notice how the thought is expressed there. Is it raining, little floiverf Be glad of rain. Too much sun would wither thee. Find a withered flower. What word do we ordinarily use instead of theef Who would like to say those three lines to this flower? Who else wishes to? But still the little flower remains discouraged. It likes the sun so much and perhaps it has bloomed since the last rain-storm and doesn't under- stand tliat the sunshine will come back after the rain is over. I will say the poem again, while you notice what it says to encourage the little flower. "Is it raining," etc. Now let us find the important words in each line. Mollie may repeat the first line. What are the important words in this line? In the next line? Name to yourselves the im- portant words in each line as I recite these four lines again. 52 Whisper the lines to yourselves as I repeat the stanza once more. Is it rawing, little flower? Be glad of rain. Too much sun would wither thee; 'Twill shine again. Shall we try it once more, you in a whisper and I reciting aloud ? Now whisper it again to yourselves without any help from me. As soon as you are sure you can say all of it you may stand and I will call upon one of you to recite. Mary may choose a child to play she is the flower and then I will choose some one to say the poem to her. Others are subjected to the test in turn. If the pupil fails to recall a line the teacher may call upon the class to give the one most important word in that line (in concert now to save time). In the same way the remaining four lines of the stanza are discussed. If the teacher repeats frequently the line or section of the poem under discussion she will find that even the slower pupils will have committed these lines to memory without effort more quickly than they did when taught it through concert repetition of the lines from the teacher's dictation. To secure the best results from the training in oral expression through the oral recitations in literature, the pupil reciting should not forget his audience but should attempt to speak to them so clearly and with such a render- ing of the thought of the selection that their interest and enjoyment will be secured. It is not enough that the pupil has committed the selection to memory, he should be trained to give good oral expression to the thought it contains. 14. Oral reproduction — individual version. While the literal version helps to make the child familiar with words and phrases not previously contained in his vocabulary, yet it fails to test the child's comprehension of 53 the story or fable he recites. The pupils will be very ready to repeat the story in their own words, sometimes with curi- ous variations of the incidents and conversations. One rule should hold good here, that is strict fidelity to the thought of the original. A teacher who allows her pupils to substi- tute a fox for the wolf in the fable of "The Wolf and the Kid" because ''the children can see the large picture of the fox on the schoolroom wall and so are more familiar with that animal than with the wolf," is unconsciously but potent- ly undermining the literary veracity of her pupils. This does not apply to the imaginative compositions based upon familiar fables which teachers sometimes call for and which the children recognize as adaptations rather than reproduc- tions. A reproduction should be true to the original not only in fact but in character though not necessarily in dic- tion. No fox would enact the part played by the wolf in the story of Little Red Ridinghood and in the fable of The Boy and the Wolf since the character of the fox lacks the ferocity which would devour the grandmother or attack the flock in the presence of its guardian. Allowing different pupils to elaborate the details of the story in different ways, each of them possibly in accord with the nature of the story but no two of them possible at the same time if either is true, is an attempt at adaptation which should not be intro- duced into reproductions. For example, if the original ver- sion mentions fruit, it is not a good plan to have one child substitute apples, another pears, another peaches, etc., in their versions merely to secure individuality. Much variety may be found among the individual versions of a repro- duction but it is variety of expression with unity of fact. The pupils may be shown that most narrations or stories answer four questions, i. e., when? who? where? and what? though not necessarily in this order. "When did the story happen?" is answered by, "Once upon a time," "Once there was," "Long, long ago," "A long time ago," "Many, many years ago," etc. Both when? and who? are answered by the words "Once there was a wan who ." 54 And the answers to three questions are found in, ' ' Once upon a time a rich king lived in a country far away across the ocean." Then follows what happened, this being the im- portant part of the story. Each pupil's attempt at oral reproduction should be tested on these tw^o points, — the pu- pil's individual version should show fidelity to the original in fact and in spirit and it should contain the kernel of the story. In oral reproduction the child's individual version will be more nearly his own expression of the thought if the reproduction is based upon his memory of the dramatiza- tion of the story rather than upon his memory of the origi- nal version. When introducing a reproduction in the lower grades dramatization should alwaj^s precede the pupil's oral expression whether the aim is to secure the child's comprehension of the thought or to secure good oral ex- pression. A teacher sometimes gives as an excuse for vio- lating this principle, "I usually do it that way but this time I thought I would have a change and not let the chil- dren dramatize until they had committed the poem to mem- ory, " not realizing that she has secured variety by violat- ing a method which follows a natural psychological process of learning. 15. Oral adaptation. An excellent oral exercise may be based upon a short descriptive narration to be read from the board. After the entire selection has been read the pupils study the first sen- tence and then compose an imaginative sentence similar in thought but varying in details. The children's sentences are then discussed with the other pupils and accepted if they meet the requirements the children have been taught to look for. This is a good preparation for the purely original imaginative work wliich comes later. It is found that when children first begin to compose original stories they recog- nize but few, if any, of the limitations set by experience. The 55 incongruous and the improbable vie with the impossible in these flights of fancy.. The children should be taught that their compositions should be true to fact or true to life, that if an incident really happened the recital is true to fact, that if in the ordinary course of events it might have hap- pened it is true to life whether it really happened or not. An illustration of a child's violation of this rule is found in the description of a little girl who was accredited with ' ' bright blue hair, ' ' which was not likely to be true to fact ; another illustration is found in the narration which pictures a small child who went out in the evening to pick flowers for her sick mother and faithfully continued picking flowers till midnight, an episode that is not likely to occur in a latitude which would have necessitated picking floAvers in the dark for three or four hours, — a narrative clearly not true to life. 16. Oral composition — description. Composite work. In composite work the finished product is the result of the efforts of the class rather than of any one individual pupil. This form of exercise may be begun in the reading lessons of the first term and can be continued with advantage whenever a new form of composition is introduced, — narration, descrip- tion, personification, etc. In the first grade it may be used as a review of the read- ing vocabulary and as an exercise in composition. After a subject has been selected the pupils are asked to give a sen- tence about this subject. Several volunteers are called upon to give their sentences and as each sentence is given the teacher writes it upon the board. When the pupils have given all tlie sentences they can easily furnish, they should be called upon to read as they would in a reading lesson. As the pupils become more skillful in composing such sentences they may be called upon to choose from several given by the pupils and to tell why they like one better than another. The teacher should guide this choice so that the 56 children unconsciously receive a lesson in the use of good English and in a pleasing style of composition. The ideas should include the subjects of thought suggested for other oral lessons, i. e., objects, actions, and relations, the color, food, home, family, hopes and fears of a bird, the material, shape, color, and use of some garment worn by a child, a de- scription of a fruit, a toy, a game, a stormy day, a class walk around the block, — the list of subjects suited to even the low- est grade is long enough to furnish a fresh subject for each day of the term. In grades advanced enough for written work the pupils may dictate any number of sentences bear- ing upon the subject chosen for the exercise and the teacher may write each one as given. After the pupils have read these sentences aloud the teacher and the class may discuss some good forms for the introductory sentence and also for the closing sentence. The pupils are then required to select several sentences from those written upon the board (not too many, usually three or four are enough for the earlier attempts at written composite work) and to unite these sentences into a written composition. Each pupil should select whichever he pleases and arrange them in the order which he thinks will sound well when read aloud. It adds to the interest of the written M^ork if each pupil is encouraged to make the closing sentence of his paper an expression of some thought or wish or opinion or question of his own. In still higher grades the pupils instead of the teacher may write on the board the sentences dictated by other pupils. After the subject has been selected half-a-dozen or more pupils may go to the board, where each waits until some pupil has dictated to him a good title for the written work. Each title should differ from the others, it should be short enough to be read at a glance, it should be appro- priate to the subject and should be written with the proper punctuation and use of capitals. It will be seen that this oral work has a broader aim than the production of a good written paper on the subject assigned. The discussion of 57 the different titles offered and finally accepted, of the intro- ductory sentences with their attempts to secure a variety of expression which shall not sacrifice the thought, the scrutiny of each succeeding sentence offered to see which of the many writers at the board could most fittingly use it in the com- position he is building, the final reading aloud of the com- position liked best by the reader — all these furnish a train- ing in oral expression which at the same time not only pre- pares the pupil for unassisted written work by showing him how written compositions are thought out, but secures for this later written work an individuality which is of much value. 17. Description and exposition — individual work. The step from composite w^ork to individual work is easy, the only difference being that each pupil tells all he can about the subject instead of sharing the pleasure with others. Some form of topics may well be used for these oral descriptions and frequently the pupil should select from the list the topics he finds suited to his subject. For instance, the pupil might use the topic color when describing a fruit, a flower, his sled, or his dog, while the topic material would apply to but one of these. In describing how to play games he may use the following topics : — how many children are needed for playing the game, how to choose the one to he ''it," tvhat is done hy the other players, how the next one to he "it" is caught, etc. The sentence should be used as the unit of thought and but few if any connectives will be called for. Conversational tones and idioms should be used and much care should be taken that the exercise does not become a mechanical use of topics requiring little or no exercise of judgment or thought. Fresh material for description should be constantly sought and the children may be encouraged to bring from home to loan to the class for this exercise interesting objects, toys, etc., (when their parents' permission has been obtained). The teacher should see that these objects are carefully handled at school and promptly returned to the home. 58 The pupils' ability to describe readily the objects they can see and feel, the knowledge that this requires no unusual powers from them, and the fact that every child — the most unimaginative, the least familiar with the language, the shyest, and the most dull — tinds this an easy and interesting way of learning to use his voice to express his own thought in school makes it an exercise of too much value to be neglected. The training in self-confidence and in self-directed speech gained from these exercises in description and exposition indicate clearly that the teacher's aim should not be to secure the best description that the best pupil can offer but to secure from each child the best description that he can give. 18. Oral composition — imaginative narrations. These may be based upon pictures, upon imaginary ex- periences, journeys, entertainments, vacations, outings and similiar experiences, or they may complete a story of which the opening paragraph is given by the teacher or by the text- book. The teacher's manual of the Aldine First Language Book is so rich in suggestion for this work that it need not be elaborated here. The natural tendency in language work is to place the emphasis upon written work since that furnishes visible evi- dence of the results of the efforts of teacher and class. Even if good written work were the sole aim better results would still be secured if teachers could realize what an enriching effect is produced by a wider application of oral work in language training. If each phase of the work, reproduction, adaptation, original composition could receive much practice for the sake of oral expression without any reference to later written work, the pupil's skill in written composition would be greatly increased through his wider skill in expression gained through the oral discussions upon the choice of words, the formation of style, the charm of individuality, and the fundamental fact that the basis of expression must be the pupil's own thought, though it may also have been the thought of others before him. 59 The distinction between inventive thought and reproduc- tive thought is sometimes ignored and individuality in repro- duction is not sought because the teacher supposes it to demand an inventive ability beyond the capacity of most. The question has been asked, "Wliy require the pupils to give in his own words the thoughts which are so much better ex- pressed in his books, expressed in a vocabulary and a style far superior to anj^thing at his command for individual ex- pression?" But the difficulty is that when the teacher rests content with a class set of papers in which each child has expressed the same thought in the same words she is ignoring the fact that she has no evidence that any child has really grasped the thought, that the ability to repeat words does not insure a grasp upon the thought, and that only by re- quiring the pupil to repeat the thought in his own words can she know that he thinks tJiis tJiought himself. His stumbling attempts to express it in his own words may dis- close tlie fact that he has grasped it, but has he received the best training we can give if he is deprived of sufficient practice in individual expression and must always be ham- pered when trying to state his ideas? Individuality does not mean inventiveness, it means the ability to express an idea as it exists in the pupil's own mind. Thought as a basis of expression does not mean that each thought ex- pressed must be a new and an entirely original thought never heard before by the pupil. Individuality of expres- sion tests the pupil's state of mind, whether he is thinking the thought we are trying to lead him to think or whether he is merely repeating the words we have provided for the expression of a thought which he may or may not have grasped. The wide gulf between saying and telling can be bridged only by individual expression. The teacher w^ho never leads her pupils across this bridge fails to distinguish between the scanty sustenance furnished by the arid tracts of knowd- edge and the rich nutriment found in the fertile pasture of perception and experience. 60 19. Narration. It has been said by more than one writer that the child's craving for the story, his delight in it, and his ready response to its appeal to his mind and spirit show that it has a definite place in the education of the child, and that stories and again stories, and still more stories, told or read by the teacher, furnish one of the most valuable means for language training in the primary grades. This is the recep- tive period when the child's power to receive impressions is far greater than his power of oral expression. Many teachers think that a reproduction exercise should follow the telling of each story and in their classes much time is spent in fruitless endeavor to secure good oral repro- ductions. The child's mind has been likened to a reservoir; if we can only remember that the reservoir of the child's mind is so arranged that the outlet is near the top and when the basin has been filled till this outlet is reached the outward flow will come without resorting to pumping. In so much of our teaching we pour a little into the reservoir and then proceed at once to pump it out as if pouring in and pumping out were our sole purpose in education. When we have placed the reservoir high and have filled it so full that the outlet is submerged we shall find oral expression coming without effort. That we send our pupils from grade to grade and into life with empty reservoirs is a charge that may be truly made concerning many of us. While in theory we de- mand that the mind shall be stored for the needs of adult life, in practice we pour in facts and then immediately pump them out again in recitation and examination and conclude that the child's mind is being stored. Wlien we can secure spontaneous oral expression from the child without effort we may infer that the reservoir is full, not until then should we conclude that the facts we are trying to impart are really stored and are available for future use. One of the remedies for the halting reproduction of stories is retelling by the teacher till the story fairly tells itself for the child. This does not mean making the pupil 61 commit the story to memory before reproducing it, it means making story-telling a natural, delightful and thoroughly familiar exercise through hearing stories well told ; and since pleasure in the story is the first requisite demanded in a good story-teller, story-telling by the child should be made to rest upon his spontaneous impulse to tell the story rather than making the exercise, as we so often do, a forced and difficult effort under compulsion. Observation tells us that at this stage of his development the child learns more by hearing than by telling. Then why not be content to let the teacher take the larger share of this exercise and tell her stories, one after another, again and again until the child is ready for reproduction, all the time bearing in mind that filling the child's mind with impressions is the aim of the story-telling and that in the lowest grades his skill in oral reproduction is of but little value compared with this aim. "But some of my pupils would never tell stories if I did not make them do it. When shall I have the poor story- tellers begin to try ? What shall I do for the child that falters, repeats, stammers, forgets the story, doesn 't seem to try to tell it at all, to say nothing of not trying to tell it well? Some of the children seem perfectly hopeless when it comes to story- telling. Shall I neglect these pupils and excuse them from the exercise? Wliat shall I do when every child in the class seems incapable of telling a story well?" The following counter-questions may help to point out the difficulty : — What about the atmosphere in your class ? I saw you struggling \\Ai\\ the boy who seemed so luiresponsive to your efforts to help him tell the story you had demanded, not only unresponsive but unwilling. As he stood before the class you were absorbed in teaching him but he saw what you did not, the disorder in some parts of the room, the listlessness of all, the grins and gestures of some of the boys who were making fun of him. The story and the desire to tell it were miles away from him. If delight in the story and a desire to tell it are the first essentials for the success of a story- 62 teller, how can you expect him to succeed under the condi- tions you have supplied? Wlien these and the others of the many causes of lack of success outlined earlier in this chapter have been remedied, the next questions may be : — Does the pupil know the story well enough to tell it well ? Has the teacher told her stories well? Has she held the interest of the pupils and made them enjoy it or has she let it appear as a perfunctory exercise on her part? Are the stories selected for oral reproduction stories which children delight to hear and to tell ? Has the pupil been led to forget himself and to think only of the story and of his audience? By the time these questions can all be answered in ac- cord with the suggestions for securing oral expression the teacher will have little fault to find with her pupils' lack of skill in story-telling. She will also need to spend but little time in testing that skill. Oral reproduction of the reading lesson is a practice far too common in classes where but little fresh reading matter can be provided. While these reading lessons furnish stories well adapted for reproduction the practice results in render- ing the selections so familiar that they cease to have value as reading matter. In some schoolrooms where much use has been made of this exercise many of the children in the lower section of the class were found to be letter-perfect in memory reproduction of a selection before they had read it at all be- cause the pupils in the A section of the class had repro- duced it so often and so faithfully in reading and language exercises before the C section had reached it in their read- ing recitations. Some teachers do not hesitate to borrow from the grades above the stories assigned to that grade for read- ing and tell them to their classes for reproduction. This robbing Peter to pay Paul can be avoided by confining the exercise of oral reproduction to the language period and by using material not scheduled for reading in the grade or in grades above. The oral reproduction of stories read earlier in the grade or in grades below will give equally good training in oral reproduction and will bring no unfortunate results. 63 This need not exclude the occasional oral reproduction of a paragraph in the reading recitation to test the pupil's grasp upon what he has just read, but here the end sought is skill in reading rather than in oral reproduction. 20. Picture story. The topics upon which a picture story may be based resolve themselves into the questions : — ^Who ? When ? Where 'I What? The order in which these will be used will usually be determined by the picture which furnishes the theme of the composition. In some pictures the actors and what they are doing form the prominent features and will suggest phrases like the following for the opening words of the first sen- tence : — ' ' This little girl is , " " Two little dogs are , ' ' "Peter was ," "A little boy and his sister . " Again, the time may occupy so prominent a place in the picture that the first sentence which comes to the child's mind may be, "It was Christmas morning," or "One stormy day in winter . " Sometimes two topics may be included in the opening sentence : — ' ' Olga lived in the country, " " One day in sununer IMartha found . " Oral work in this picture reading based upon the topics is very valuable as it allows the teacher to become acquainted with the child's diffi- culties as well as with his interests and abilities. ]\Iuch prac- tice should be given in oral picture reading before attempting written work with picture stories. The unimaginative, un- gifted child, and the child whose English vocabulary is limited will be specially helped by the exercise. IV. The play impulse. Personification and dramatization are closely connected with the play impulse and much of the drill upon technical in- struction may be secured through games. In these days it is no longer necessary to present arguments in favor of the child's right to play and to show the disastrous results to the efficiency of the adult if the opportunity to play has been 64 denied in his childhood. So popular has this appeal to the play instinct become that methods and text-books sometimes use this as a "bush" with which to secure trade. But while the conservative teachers who cling to the adage, "Work while you work and play while you play, ' ' are content to use this saying as an excuse for making drudgery of work, yet the more sympathetic attitude of some teachers who are try- ing to turn w/)rk into play may be almost as unfortunate in its effects. In discussing this subject we should bear in mind the two separate but equally legitimate functions of play when used in the schoolroom. The first is to furnish the physical activity and mental relaxation so necessary to counteract the tension produced by long periods of close mental application and physical inactivity. It is now generally accepted that not only should this relaxation period have a definite and regularly recurring place on the program, but in the lowest grades the teacher should introduce additional exercises of this nature whenever in her judgment this relaxation is needed. She should also be on the watch for evidences of the needs of individual pupils. Many opportunities for physical activity of some sort may be given a child without in any way disturbing the work of the others. The comments which follow and which are directed to another function of chil- dren's play are not intended to reflect in any way upon the advisability of using play for recreation in the school room in good measure and as often as it is needed. The beneficial effect produced upon the child's physical being by play is easily seen but its educative effects, mental, social, industrial, and moral, have but recently received recog- nition and we are only beginning to realize that play, any play, all play, will not produce the results which the child reaps in such large measure from his spontaneous play. This spontaneous play is directed and controlled by some vital impulse, whether it be the impulse for mere physical activity or for companionship, — two impulses which awaken very early in life, — or the more intellectual impulse of imita- 65 tion and the rapidly developing impulses of a like nature. As we study the spontaneous play of childhood, the sports of youth, and the athletic contests of adolescence we find that each is prompted by some impulse which furnishes a vital interest to the participant. These may be termed vital in- terests because each of them is an essential agent in the child's development. This may be illustrated by the impulse to imitate. Children play house, play horse, play dolls, play school, in response to this impulse to repeat in their own ex- perience the experiences of adult life as they see it presented about them. This impulse to imitate may be interpreted as "an appetite for living life" and its exercise in play is educa- tive in the same way that reading is educative in adult life, it acquaints the individual, through imagination, with ideas and emotions which he has not yet experienced in actual life, and it is educative to the extent to which the player and the reader enter into the emotions and experiences presented by the imagination. This impulse to imitate, this appetite for living each phase of life as it is presented, subsides with growth and is lacking in the play of adult life. We miss the point when we look upon the play of childhood with the half -deprecatory, half-apologetic regard we accord it as the permissible self- indulgence of adult life. The adult lives to work, work is the main thing and his play is but an incident. Childhood lives to play, that is the work assigned to the child by his Creator, to learn to live by repeating in his play the incidents he sees enacted in the lives of others. It follows that to use this play instinct profitably in the schoolroom we must know something about its controlling impulses and the forces which prompt their activity and we must give to the term play a wider interpretation than merely sport, recreation, activity for amusement, and learn to look upon it as activity in response to an impulse prompted hy a vital interest. While physical activity and companionship are vital in- terests very prominent in early years, a glance at what is 66 termed sport will show how the vital interest changes as the child advances. Who has not observed the little child's pleasure in walking or running along a stone curbing? The mere physical accomplishment seems to satisfy him. A year or two later he is happier when running with a group of chil- dren and those who bring up the rear are as joyous and contented as the leaders. Physical activity and companion- ship are all that each asks at this stage. Later they run a race and the impulse to emulate has been added to the forces which prompt to activity. When the impulse to w^in becomes dominant the earlier appeal of physical pleasure in activity is exchanged for physical pain if winning demands it, com- panionship becomes opposition, and the vital interest is of sterner stuff than pleasure or recreation, as is amply proved by the sobs which defeated competitors are sometimes unable to control even though they may have reached manhood's stature. To what extent can the spontaneous impulses of child- liood l)e utilized in the schoolroom, or rather, to what extent is it well to use them ? Only a few generations ago it was con- sidered legitimate to arouse the impulses of competition to as great an extent in study and recitation as is now shown in athletics. Are the vital interests the same in all children though possibly varying in degree 1 May they be counted upon to give the same reaction in every child? Are they the same in all stages of his development? While recognizing that the force of an appeal varies with the individual yet we find certain vital interests active in all children. Many of these impulses prompted by this vital interest change with the changing phases of development, and so closely do they follow the phases noted in the theory of recapitulation of the ex- perience of the race that we may safely count upon the usual reactions under similar conditions. Some of these changing phases are marked by the succes- sive awakening and later subsidence of such impulses as the impulse to imitate, to investigate (curiosity in the young child), to exercise every muscle, to exercise each of the senses 67 in connection with any new object, to accept adult standards, to construct, to attain skill, to make collections, to emulate, to conquer or to win, to explore, hero worship, and in middle adolescence the impulse to discard old standards and to strike out into new paths. The following extract will show that this view has been recognized for years in primary grade work : — ''What propensities or powers does the little child bring to school? One of the first of the answers usually received is, 'He brings a love for play,' and to many it would seem that this love for play must be suppressed before the child can do good work in school. In what light does the little child look upon his play? Does he distinguish between mamma's feeling when she washes and cuddles the baby and sister's feeling when she imitates these motions with her doll? Per- haps he does, but does the little five-year-old who loves horses think it anything but unmixed delight to drive a grocery wagon for a living? Play is the child's natural occupation, and to him it has the importance and the dignity which the bread-winner's toil has in maturer minds. Play is work, business, occupation, to the child, and the teacher who recog- nizes this may occupy the child in school in such a way that 'play' at his lessons shall be but another name for work and educational advancement. In other words, make him inter- ested in his work, for all work becomes play, even in maturer minds, in proportion to the interest and delight which the worker takes in it. The child must be taught to recognize also the work side of school life, but that will not come with his first lessons. Later let him recognize it as work, but give to it the attractions which make work bearable, some object to be attained through the work, and the exercise of the skill possessed by the worker. "What characteristics of the child's play may be applied to his work at school? His play is characterized by constant physical activity (he is quiet only when intensely interested) and by a desire to use all of his powers and to receive im- pressions through each of his senses. He shouts or sings as 68 he runs, one form of activity is not enough. His new toy is subjected to the test of each sense before he is ready to play with it, at least he must take it in his own hands, must feel as Avell as see, before he is content. "His mental activity is also marked by strong traits. Among these we find an active imagination. 'Let's play this , ' is the open sesame to the storehouse of the child's treasures. With these words he can enter at will into the possession of all that he knows of human experience or acquisi- tion. It is his natural method of recalling his knowledge. Let some new experience come into his life, a visit, perhaps: he tells of it once or twice, but he repeats it in his play again and again. "Another trait is his desire for frequent change. The mind of the child is capable of close attention to a subject for but a little while at a time, though he will return to it again and again with interest if sufficient time has elapsed in the intervals between. "Still another characteristic is his interest in the occupa- tions of older people and his desire to imitate his elders in these occupations. Perhaps the most marked characteristic is his desire to execute, to do things for himself. 'Let me do it, ' ' Let me show you how it goes, ' ' I want to do it, ' are very frequently heard in the child's home and at his play. This desire is so strong that not infrequently tears follow when it is thwarted. "A study of the child's toys and the attractions which they have for him may help us in deciding upon objects to be used in the number lesson and may also show us that certain objects should not be used. The first toys that attract the baby are those having motion and sound. Color may be used as an added attraction, but that it is subordinate to sound and motion may be proved by letting children choose between two toys, one which is gaily colored but 'won't go,' and another which may be very plain in itself but which the child can make 'go' or with which he can make a noise. The top, 69 the kite, the ball are attractive to the child in proportion to his power to 'make them go.' "His building blocks appeal to him because he can make something with them. The imagination transforms them into soldiers, steam cars, anything he wishes. Let us recognize this impulse and habit, and not insist that the blocks shall be used in school merely as counters. "But the child's imagination is chiefly busy in imitating the occupations of his elders, and many of his toys are de- signed to assist him in this play. The child plays doll, plays horse, plays house, plays school, plays soldier because he has seen his elders do these things. He must be taught to play his games, but these he plays instinctively and with never failing interest. "Even more attractive than these plays are the occupa- tions which admit of the exercise of constructive energy. Give a little child a lead pencil and watch the results. You w^ould better watch closely if you value your walls and furni- ture. Give him a pair of scissors and note his attempts to make something. Long before the little girl enters school she has made with her needle and thread more than one of those puckered wads of cloth which she gravely assures you are dresses for her doll, though she reluctantly admits that 'they don't fit pretty good.' Dolly has dresses enough, but the little mother wishes to make something with her needle, the constructive impulse is awake. "Which of these activities can be used in school? The child's desire for physical activity, his desire to do the thing for himself, his desire to do what older people can do, and his desire to construct are impulses which should be seized upon by the teacher and utilized "* The impulses to construct, to make collections, to count, to classify, to explore, to win approval, to conquer, and the impulses toward self -direction which result in efficiency may be regarded as work impulses rather than play impulses. *Stuart's Teaching of Arithmetic, 1898. 70 though the pleasure which is produced by gratifying these impulses is often regarded as play and often introduced into play. The association between this pleasure and work is easily established in the child's mind, and the earlier this is accomplished the more rapid his mental progress and growth in character. To look upon the activity prompted by these impulses as mere play tends to slacken the mental and moral fibre of the player, to produce loafers instead of learners. This is one of the dangers which has attended the introduc- tion of play as a means of motivation in school. Perceiving the efficiency gained through applying the adage, "Learn to do by doing," some have adapted the phrasing and have ex- pected their pupils to "Learn to learn by playing." Work is activity for some object, play is activity prompted by a vital interest, work connected with a vital interest becomes play for adults as well as for children. If the child's school work is connected with some vital interest — if the connection exists for him — if he plays for work and not for play, then he gains all the advantages to be derived from both work and play. When we have the child "play store" in the number exercise the activity is futile unless he gains from it the same kind of experience (though not necessarily to the same de- gree) which is gained from actual transactions in stores. When he "plays soldier" we miss an opportunity if obedi- ence, promptness, precision, and loyalty are not entwined with his associations with flag and uniform and military evolutions. "Let's play we are soldiers and he what a soldier must be as well as do the things which soldiers do." Let the child hear the calls of life and train him to respond aright to these calls through his play. To accomplish this the child should be given some idea of the importance of work, the dignity of work, and the pleasure of work, he should be shown that the schoolroom exercises are work intended to advance his progress in learn- ing, he should be taught to recognize his progress or lack of it, and the approval the teacher bestows upon his efforts should tend to develop his judgment regarding his degree of 71 success in reaching the standards set before him. Instead of bribing him with the pleasures of idleness and the delights of recreation his play can lay for him the foundations of the lasting happiness and contentment of that most fortunate lot in life, the lot of the worker profitably engaged in work wliich he loves and respects, — loves because his nature craves it and body and mind and heart and soul can find expression through the work he has chosen, and respects because when he looks upon it he finds it good. V. The correction of errors in tvritten ivork. Sometimes teachers make no distinction between the cor- rection of errors and the daily correction of written papers. But merely correcting the pupil's papers is not correcting his errors, these have not been corrected till he gives cor- rect work on these points in all subsequent papers. Hence it follows that the pupil's correction of the error before he makes it should be the point of attack. To accomplish this teacher and pupil should recognize the errors toward which the individual pupil or the class have a tendency and should vigorously attack the most prominent ones. For this the teacher's examination of the daily work of the class must not be confined to the practice of mark- ing each paper to show how nearly correct it is or to in- dicate errors which must be correctly rewritten by the pu- pil/" The pupil's work should be examined as a map to show the teacher the low areas in her own work and should serve to guide her in preparing the next lesson in that subject. These papers will disclose many of the causes which have ^ contributed to the poor results presented, whether indiffer- ence, inattention, lack of knowledge and incorrect or dis- torted impression of the facts the teacher has presented, or some individual lapse on the part of the pupil which mars his work. Whenever the pupils' work is examined for correction the teacher may well note the kind and the number of 72 errors which have been made, whether she intends to de- duct for these errors or not. A teacher may say, "I mark the pupils' spelling papers every day and the penmanship papers once a week and I don't deduct anything for spell- ing or penmanship in the language papers." But since the rmson d'etre of the spelling lesson and the penmanship exercise is correct spelling and good penmanship in written composition some note should be taken of the child's effi- ciency or lack of efficiency in these lines in his written work. If the teacher will compile a list of the words misspelled by the pupils in the written exercise in language, noting how many times each word is misspelled, she will find a hint concerning the subject-matter for future spelling-les- sons. When seventeen out of forty pupils misspell "which" in a single exercise, or when "Jhon", "Mable", "Henery" and "mary" are frequently met in the written work, it is not enough to indicate these errors, to have the pupils rewrite the work, or to deduct a small percent for what is usually inter- preted as "sheer carelessness on the pupil's part, for of course he knows better." The number of each of such errors will indicate the strength or the weakness of the teaching in that classroom and will point out as nothing else will the lines along which drill is needed. This is also true of what may be termed the other mechanics of written work. If the teacher makes note of each paragraph not properly indented, of each capital omitted or misplaced, of margins and marks of punctuation ignored she will discover wheth- er her pupils are fairly correct in these matters or whether an undue proportion of the class fail to measure up to a reasonable standard along these lines. When she has assured herself on these points the teach- er should scrutinize the subject-matter of the exercise in the same way. How many pupils made the same error? Which errors were most common? Which facts were mis- apprehended or misunderstood? What caused these errors, something misleading in the instruction or in the direc- tions given the pupils, some failure of preparation by the 73 individual, ineffective oral presentation or insufficient re- view, or some other cause? This examination of the teach- ing as reflected in the pupils' work is far more important than the discovery and marking of each pupil's errors. One good method of impressing upon a pupil his ten- dency toward some error is to return an uncorrected set of papers to the class and let each pupil search for and mark his errors along some line pointed out by the teach- er. Even in lower grades many of the mistakes found in the written work are well within the pupil's ability to dis- cover and to correct and this is increasingly in evidence as the work advances. In the higher grades the correct use of the marks of punctuation, the rules governing the use of capital letters, the minor details of title, margin, inden- tation for paragraph, and the use or misuse of certain words or phrases are well known to every member of the class and the pupils may well be held responsible for the discovery of these errors before the teacher begins her work of correction. When this has been done by the pupils the points on which she will need to give correction will be few in comparison with the errors which may be pointed out by the pupil who made them. The plea that requiring the pupils to correct their own papers as far as they can takes much valuable school time which can be saved by having the teacher correct the pa- pers out of school hours may be met by the argument that having the pupils correct their own mistakes is teaching and having papers corrected by the teacher is only a prep- aration for teaching. No correction by the teacher has the force of the pupil's own discovery of his mistakes, and each such discovery and correction by the pupil furnishes the individual review and drill needed by that pupil along the lines of his special weakness. Instead of being a mis- use of time, this practice of having each correct his own work saves much of the time otherwise spent in instruct- ing the class in the correction of mistakes made by only a 74 part of the class, mistakes often due more to carelessness than to lack of knowledge. Another gain which comes from having a pupil cor- rect his error when he can is the more accurate estimate of his work which he secures in this way. Children some- times harbor surprising misapprehensions, among them be- ing the impression that accuracy, the correctness of a writ- ten paper, is dependent upon the teacher 's opinion rather than upon actual fact untouched by and independent of her grad- ing of the work. "Look what she done to my paper!" said a high school boy as he joined a group on their way home, and the laugh of bravado with which he waved the care- fully written but liberally blue-pencilled paper failed to hide his disappointment and resentment. If his spoken English fairly represented his written work there can be little question that the censoring blue-pencil was needed, but if after the papers had been read by the teacher and had been handed back to the class untouched by her with the requirement that they should correct the mistakes due to carelessness rather than to ignorance, and if then the work had been returned to the teacher and she had indi- cated the corrections still needed, her suggestions would be less likely to be swamped by the discouragingly large num- ber of corrections. "But I should never get a set of language papers cor- rected and copied if I went through all that with each written exercise ! ' ' protests some teacher. ' ' I can get along much faster, I can get a great deal more work done by fol- lowing the usual plan of having a paper written one day, and then handing back the corrected papers the next morning to be copied with the mistakes corrected." Do we get along faster? Do we get more work done? Progress should be measured by the pupil's power to do better independent work from day to day and from week to week; work accomplished should be measured by the pupil's increased knowledge and ability to do good work, not by tlie growing pile of corrected and copied papers. The increasing excellence of a child's 75 first-draft work furnishes an accurate and reliable test of his progress and of the work accomplished. Nor should we suppose that it makes no difference how the child regards the teacher 's correction of his errors. Her correction should not be withheld after the pupil has done his best to improve his work, but the spirit in which she makes the correction and the spirit in which he receives it have a vital influence upon the quality of the work of the succeeding exercises. In giving her corrections does the teacher have more prominently in mind the correctness of the written exercises or the mental growth of the child? Does she make clear to the child that her criticism is prompt- ed by her interest in his growth, in his ability to do accurate work, rather than by her desire "to get a good set of papers"? Does she hold his progress and his improvement of more importance than the praise she will receive for fine written work? Have her methods or her manner furnished any foundation for the child's impression that she likes to find fault, that she is specially given to finding fault with certain members of her class, and that she cares little for the pupil and everything for the work? Does she say to herself, "What difference does it make what my pupils think? They are to do as I say, whatever they may think. If they do as I tell them to they will make progress, and that is all that any one can ask." But we must recognize that motivation plays an active part in leading the pupils to follow the directions and to gain the impressions in re- sponse to the teacher's efforts, and the teacher's methods and manner of making corrections have a very definite in- fluence upon this motivation. What effect upon the pupil's effort may be expected when the teacher's corrections of a carefully written paper are indicated by slashing strokes which proclaim impatience and disgust as plainly as words could do. If we require the pupil to perform his work neatly and carefully why should we" permit ourselves to mar the appearance of the paper in which he has tried for neatness, carefulness, and 76 accuracy and has failed in securing one of these three? Be- cause his work is inaccurate shall we he untidy and dis- courteous in our part of the work ? Any candid observer will admit that not infrequently a teacher's marks of comment or correction are untidy. "But I wish to show my displeas- ure with this work!" said a teacher in defense of the cor- rections which so marred the appearance of a neatly writ- ten paper. But are impatience and antagonism the best means of arousing the pupil to efforts toward improvement? Shall we say that these are trifles too unimportant for the consideration of the earnest teacher or the busy teach- er? Trifling though they may be they show the child all too plainly the unsympathetic attitude of the teacher and this is a matter of much magnitude. In an unsympathetic atmosphere children either "freeze" like the young of wild animals in the presence of danger, or they become antag- onistic. Either attitude is inimical to the child's growth in education. A sympathetic approach to the child's work will guard it from a thoughtless or disapproving defacement in correction, and even from the sprawling, disfiguring marks with which some teachers indicate the correctness of the pupil's work. Another practice which serves to indicate that the teach- er has in mind the correctness of the work presented rather than the progress of the pupil is the prevalent practice of refusing to let a pupil correct his own mistakes in oral rec- itation. If the recitation is for the purpose of finding out how much each pupil knows or for the purpose of securing the deepening of the impressions already gained, how can either of these purposes be served if the teacher meets each mistake with the question, "Who can recite this correctly?" and to the pupil who made the error, "No, you have lost your chance. Someone else may correct your mistake," even when she has reason to think that the child who made the error is able to correct it. The teacher's plea that she is trying to train this child not to be careless does not justify her in depriving him of the more valuable training in 77 correcting the mistakes he knows he has made. The teach- er's point of view has a direct influence upon the child's progress, an influence which aids or retards the success of her work in teaching and discipline, however faithful and energetic her efforts may be. VI. The point of view. More than one teacher has said, "Give me a course of study that states definitely and clearly what facts are to be taught and I will guarantee that my pupils will have these facts well committed to memory by the end of the year." This view loses sight of the truth well expressed by the compilers of one course of study, "A course of study is not a list of facts to be committed to memory, it is an outline of experiences to be lived by the children." Teachers who are content with facts committed to memory are mainly responsible for the current criticisms upon the public schools, i. e., that they send out pupils who are inefficient, unpre- pared to begin the struggle of life and unready to take the initiative in the simplest matters though well grounded in book knowledge. It is useless to complain that the home formerly furnished this training in efficiency and that the one great aim of the school is to impart book knowledge, and equally useless to argue that the home is solely to blame for the youth's lack of efficiency. Under the changing so- cial and industrial conditions the home, the public library, and the moving picture theatres would now give the child, without any aid from the schools, more information than it was possible for the best schools to give fifty years ago ; but these same changing conditions have deprived the home of the opportunity for other training which was once theirs. For years the schools, blind to the trend of conditions, con- tinued to make the imparting of book knowledge their sole great aim and as the home, the library and other agencies helped to accelerate the child's progress, the enrichment of the course of study strove to keep pace with the child's rapidl}^ increasing facility in acquiring knowledge. Mean- 78 time the older generations, amazed at the information their children had acquired, joined in unstinted praise of the won- derful work of the public schools. It is not to be wondered at that when the voice of criticism was raised it should have excited astonishment and indignation in the ranks of these much lauded teachers who were conscious that the work, their special work of impart- ing knowledge, was being done each year better than ever. When the rank and file of the teaching force come to see that the schools are no longer the only source of information and that their si:)ecial function is not merely to supply knowledge but to supply the knowledge or training or skill which cannot he so tvell provided by any other agency, the present reproach will no longer be deserved by us. Our pupils do read and write and spell better than their fathers did. The reproach which may be justly laid at our doors is that we do not teach our pupils these things in ways which will enable them to make use of this knowledge in adult life. We fail to perceive that information alone does not prepare for life. Instead of being content when our pupils have acquired a certain amount of information we should build upon the surer foundation of information com- bined with experience and should not be content till we have assured ourselves that the knowledge our pupils are gain- ing is fitting them for adult life. In the past few years the discussions regarding stand- ardization and efficiency have disclosed a tendency which cannot fail to narrow the scope of the teacher's work and to lead directly away from the kind of efficiency most needed. This is the tendency to test efficiency by time tests and memory tests alone. Pupils with perfect records in these tests, if such there be, may leave our schools mere helpless book-worms so lacking in real efficiency that they are in- capable of holding their places in the adult world and of supporting themselves. The effective test is the one which tests the pupil's power of self-direction, of taking the initia- tive, of depending upon himself. 79 Because our methods of teaching, as a general thing, have not fostered this efficiency, because we have aimed for memory work and have tested for that alone, because we have used the forms of procedure which will most readily elicit the desired response in recitation, our pupils are sure of their knowledge only when it is presented in a familiar guise and they are easily upset with each change from ac- customed conditions. Watch the teacher in almost any class when the pupils are questioned by principal or supervisor. The examiner asks a question. The children gaze at him blankly, he repeats his question. Still there is no response. Then the teacher comes to the rescue. "Children, he asks you if you" etc. and the children waken to life and give the desired answer. When the teacher is asked, "Why did you need to repeat the question? Don't the pupils under- stand English?" she replies, "Oh, yes, but they are not ac- customed to your voice." Sometimes she varies the form of the question asked her pupils, with the explanation, "I always ask that question in this way. They don't know what 3^ou mean when you put it that way." Our proneness to excuse our pupils' lack of ability to adapt their knowledge to the circumstances or the needs of the occasion shows how far we are from feeling our re- sponsibility in this matter. From the first grade teacher to the grammar grade principal we find the same readiness to depend upon routine and the same failure to recognize that our pupils do not know a fact sufficiently well unless they know it whenever they need it. A group of first grade pupils seated at their desks was tested to find how well they knew the work in phonics assigned to the earlier weeks of the term. Although their progress in reading was de- pendent upon the daily use of this knowledge the pupils failed to show that they had received any instruction in associating the sounds with the letters representing them. Greatly chagrined the teacher sought to discover the rea- son for this failure to do the work which she supposed had been well taught, but they responded no better to her efforts 80 than they had to those of the examiner. Soon it dawned upon the teacher that the element of unaccustomedness was responsible for their poor showing and she requested that she might let each section of the class stand in the corner of the room in front of the blackboard where the lesson in phonics was usually conducted and there submit them to the test. The result proved that she had discovered the cause of the pupils' failure for in the accustomed corner they were letter-perfect in their review of phonics and the teach- er's peace of mind returned as she presented this proof that her pupils had been well taught and "knew their phonic sounds perfectly." But had they been well taught and did they know these sounds perfectly if they were unable to recognize them twenty feet away from the accustomed place of recitation? Have we given our pupils sufficient training if, after they have learned to use the knowledge under routine conditions, we fail to give the training that will insure their ability to use it under other conditions which will of necessity arise and in which need of the knowledge will be equally imperative? An illustration from a higher grade shows this same tendency. The pupils of a sixth grade class were being tested upon their ability to write a short letter in answer to personal inquiries about themselves. An inspection of the completed papers showed that while the inquiries were answered correctly the class with but few exceptions made a discouraging exhibition of indifference or of confusion in the matter of letter-form, i. e., heading, salutation, con- clusion, etc. Both teacher and principal were unable to ac- count for such poor work and were much disturbed until the principal noticed that the pupils had been requested to write upon the single sheets of letter head paper, and to him this accounted for the whole difficulty, for, he explained, "they had never before been required to write upon that size of paper, as note paper was provided for the practice in letter- writing." A further unfortunate feature was that here, too, teacher and principal felt that this fact removed 81 from their shoulders any blame which the pupils' poor work might have called forth. These are not isolated cases. Again and again when classes are being tested for efficiency teachers will suggest changes which will insure better papers "because that is the way the class has been accustomed to do it. ' ' Ought we to be content to limit our pupils' ability in letter-writing to 5"x 8'' or 6"x 9" sheets of paper, and to permit their knowledge of facts to be limited to one part of the room or to one form of recitation? Is it too much to expect that we shall teach each fact so thoroughly that, in addition to know- ing it well in one place, the child shall know it whenever and Avherever he needs it, whether the time be ]\Ionday morning or. Friday night, and not only on these days but on every day between, and all day, and on Saturday and Sunday and holidaj^s, if the need arises? Admitting that children are easily disturbed by any in- terruption of routine and that they may, and probably will, fail to do justice to the training imparted by a faithful teacher if the method of approach be changed, yet is not this tendency fostered by our methods of teaching and are not the results unfortunate for the child? Why not de- liberately^ set ourselves to train our pupils to adjust them- selves to somewhat altered conditions in order that we may give training in efficiency and in initiative and thus equip them to use the knowledge we have imparted? Instead of furnishing this training we strive to remove every factor that would impair our success in ' ' getting good work from the children," meaning by this the bit of work involved in the day's recitation without regard to the habits of work and thought which we are forming. It is this low standard of good work that prevents the development of efficiency in our pupils. We are content if the child can state a fact and we remain blind and deaf to our duty and our responsibility to train him to use this fact under as many varying conditions as we can introduce into the school- room. What we do we do well, but when we rest content 82 with knowledge only we set our limits far short of the demands which the community has a right to make and does make upon us. It must be admitted that this new demand upon the schools finds many teachers unprepared by training or by experience to meet its requirements, it finds some unwilling to admit its claims, some unable to grasp its purposes, and others who mistakenly look upon it as an escape from the rigorous requirements of the older standards. These last will soon find that the older standards must still be met, that their pupils must be as well equipped in knowledge as the pupils of an earlier day, but that the methods of im- parting that knowledge must develop efficiency and self- direction on the pupil's part in addition to the required knowledge. Without this knowledge efficiency cannot be generated, knowledge is the force which furnishes this power. For those who have difficulty in grasping the purpose of these new demands or who fail to see how this purpose can be applied to the daily work of the pupil the following illustration may serve to indicate the difference between knoivledge and efficiency. The illustration uses two of the most mechanical and technical of the facts taught in school, "A question mark should be placed after every question," and "A period should be placed after every statement." Usually the pupil is required to commit these to memory, to illustrate their use in written statements and to apply them in his written work. When he fails to apply this knowledge in written work the teacher patiently corrects his paper and indicates his error, and repeats this practice to the end of his school course whenever she finds the error.. To test her teaching she gives an examination upon the rules of punctuation and if the pupil states the rule correctly and applies it in an illustration she gives him credit and feels that her work has been well done. Her work has been well done as far as it has gone but her work is not sufficiently well done unless the ptipil uses question mark and period 83 correctly in questions and statements, not only in the work dictated by her or outlined and supervised by her but in the original composition which she is careful to demand, and under as many of the conditions of real life as she can reproduce in the schoolroom. It is not in what her pupil knows but in what he does that the value of her teaching is reflected. When she expects and demands efficiency in using these rules her pupils' work will not be faulty on this point. In the same way her skill in teaching letter-writing is not tested in a carefully prepared set of letters but in the letter the pupil writes when his mind is directed not to the letter form but to the purpose he intends or hopes to execute through the letter. He has not been well enough trained in letter-writing until whenever he writes a letter his mind automatically uses the forms he has been trained to accept as good letter forms. This cannot be done in one term or in one grade, and it can be accomplished only when each teacher is aiming for the same thing— the habit of using the correct form without preliminary hint or caution or sugges- tion from her. A grammar grade class was being tested as to their skill in following simple written directions. Each pupil was provided with a type-written copy of the directions used. The first page of the pupil's paper was to be given to the answers to questions, answers which would leave fully half of the sheet unused. The next direction was, ' ' On the other side of your paper write a letter to" etc. When one girl reached this point she raised her hand to ask, "Shall I turn the paper over?" The reply was, "What do the directions tell you to do?" "To write on the other side of the paper." "Can you write on the other side of the paper without turning it over?" "No, Miss ." "Then your question is answered." And then the girl wrote the letter on the first page of the paper, she didn't turn her paper over "because the teacher hadn't told her to." In some classes the teacher's impulse is not only to tell the child to turn her paper over but to call to the other 84 pupils, "Be sure to turn your papers over before you begin to write the letter." When asked why she gives this di- rection she replies, "I told them because if I did not many of the children would write the letter on the first side of the sheet and the class set of papers would be spoiled." This hiatus between the child's unaided ability and the written papers which are presented as his work measures the lack of efficiency in the teaching and is the cause of the criticism to which the schools are being subjected. We take the pupil 's ability too much for granted, we are unconscious of how much we guard and control and suggest, (all legiti- mate activities in imparting knowledge, but enfeebling when the aim is to secure efficiency). We all too easily fall into the evil of demanding too much of our pupils in acquiring knowledge, but we have yet to err in the matter of requir- ing too much "gumption," which is but an old-fashioned name for efficiency. The very qualities which fit a woman for the task of teaching little children, infinite patience, lov- ing sympathy, the desire to help and to encourage, the un- selfish impulse to spend her entire self for the children en- trusted to her care, help to bring about the conditions found in many schoolrooms where the pupils are being deprived of their right to the training which will force them to use their own wits and will serve to prepare them for life. The old adage, "Unselfish mothers make selfish daughters" contains a thought which may well be considered hy the loving teacher. The ambitious teacher is even more culpable when she directs her energies to securing the so-called good work re- gardless of the means by which it is attained. Her instruc- tions, illustrations, cautions, and restrictions may be so well calculated that "good work" will almost inevitably result, but when her pupils leave her class their state is pitiable. Weakened in judgment and will, dependent, uncertain, un- read}^, sometimes driven to cheating and other forms of deception to meet the new requirements, these children have 85 become trained as machines to produce certain results in- stead of having been trained to become thinking beings. This training for efficiency does not mean that the lov- ing teacher should be more severe with her pupils, — she may be just as loving but she will love with a broader vision. Nor does it imply that the ambitious teacher need lower her standards of good work, on the contrary it will be far more easy for her pupils to reach the standards she desires if she develops in them the ability to think for themselves. Train- ing the pupils to think for themselves does not mean that they must be thrown upon their own resources while they are still resourceless. It does not expect us to disregard our knowledge of the natural limitations of childhood and to require the unattainable. It means watching every little incident of the day's work to secure the development of the child's resources for self-direction. It can be secured by first giving clear and definite directions concerning the work required, directions not too minute in detail, not too many in number, not beyond the child's comprehension, not unfamiliar in his experience, and well within his power to perform. It is advisable to explain to the pupils the object sought through these di- rections, how they will serve to further or to fulfill this aim to help the child to depend upon himself. When these con- ditions have been fulfilled the pupils should be held, sym- pathetically but firmly, to carrying out the teacher's di- rections without further assistance. The child's queries and appeals "Where shall we write our names?" "Do we omit a line?" "Shall we begin this word with a capital?" "Do we multiply or add?" "I've made a mistake!" "I need another piece of paper." "I haven't any crayon!" "I don't knoAV Avhat to do," are all opportunities to furnish this training which may be pre- sented by counter queries like, "What have I just told the class to do in this exercise?" "What are you expected to do when you need paper or crayon, to ask me for it or to get it for yourself?" "Why should this word be begun with 86 a capital letter? There is always a reason for the use of a capital letter. Can you find a reason for it in this case ? ' ' thus forcing the child to think for himself. The realization that he is expected to think for himself, that the answer to his question lies within the limits of his knowledge or ex- perience will furnish an impulse which not infrequently carries him over a difficulty that he had regarded as insur- mountable without help. At first timidity and mental in- ertia will render his progress slow, but once let him swing into the current of the child's natural delight in activity, in doing things for himself, in exercising choice, and in dis- playing skill, then the ease with which he will accomplish results that the teacher had considered beyond his powers will show her how the child has been wronged when this training has been withheld. The development of this power is no new thing in teaching. Really good teachers have always, consciously or unconsciously, aimed for it. The only new feature about it is the long-delayed demand that it be included as one of the indispensable essentials of good teaching. The vital reason which gives force to this demand is not that much-worn argument which is presented whenever a new duty is saddled upon the patient public schools, — whether it be school lunches, postal savings banks, the teach- ing of thrift or other virtues which can best be inculcated in the home, — the plea that, "The home doesn't do it, hence the schools must." Wliether the home does or does not give training in efficiency, the schools should give it because it so vitally influences the work of the school itself. With this training the child's progress in his school work is greatly quickened, the drudgery of teaching is lessened, discipline is improved, in fact this is an investment which pays large dividends from the beginning. The increased insistence of this demand that the schools shall train for efficiency, that our pupils shall be "not only good but good for something" when they leave our influence, need not discourage even the teachers who feel that their earlier training and experience have not made them familiar with methods of furnishing this training. The requirements are so simple, the means so readily at hand, the results so easily tested by common-sense, that no one may excuse her- self if she fails to meet this demand. The only difficult thing about this work is the difficulty the teacher experiences in breaking up her own habits of years of training pupils to be dependent imitators instead of requiring them to be workers using their own brains as far as they are able. The teacher who for years has assumed the role of tug con- trolling through the hawser may find it hard at first to oc- cupy the post of pilot controlling through the helm. The course of study in language is sometimes looked upon as a forest and the teacher's chief aim as that of getting her pupils through the woods by promotion time. Instead of confining the pupils to the main-traveled road of repro- duction, — bridged by hints, topics, and questions provided by the teacher and fenced with the line of "Don'ts" indica- ted by her corrections, — the course should furnish for the child a land of exploration and discovery. He should be taught to read the signs of trail and tree, of bird and flower, which he finds in this domain, should learn to perceive its beauty, to love its influences, to joy in the activity it stimu- lates, and to gain growth and development from his journeys Avithin its borders. At the end of the year our rejoicings should not be based upon the fact that the child is through the woods at last, but upon the amount of wood-craft he has acquired. From each path in the wood, — dramatization, personifi- cation, reproduction, description, narration, literature, draw- ing, construction, — he should gain some power in expression, the expression of his own thought or feeling. In each path he should learn to read the trail-signs of the mechanics of expression, oral and Avritten. And in each grade to some slight degree his perception of beauty, fitness, charm, and to a greater degree his accuracy and facility of expression should have attained a higher reach and a wider span as a result of his training in language. Chapter II. ORAL LANGUAGE IN GRADE IB. (First Term's Work.) No attempt has been made to outline all the oral reci- tations needed in this grade or to follow a chronological sequence in developing the exercises. Logical sequence and adaptation to the immediate needs of the pupils should guide in selecting the time for introducing each exercise. The aim has been to furnish a variety of recitations sufficient to show the purpose and the inethods recommended. The teacher is expected to supply many correlating exercises for review and application. The following exercises with non-English speaking pupils are suggested to develop acquaintance, vocabulary, and oral expression. While planned to meet the needs of the children unacquainted with the English tongue, they are equally adapted to secure acquaintance and oral expression in classes of English speaking pupils. /. Acquaintance. A fairly small section of the class is grouped about the teacher who sits or stands where the children may approach near to her and where she can overlook the remainder of the class busy with their seat-work. The teacher first shows by example and gestures as well as by words where and how she wishes the pupils to stand. Those who fail to comprehend her should not be pushed or shoved into place as one would move a block of wood — though that is what these pupils may most re- semble and at this time that may be the quickest way to get them into place. For weeks to come these pupils will prob- ably fail to understand the teacher's directions and will be more or less gently pushed and shoved about by her unless 89 she imparts in these first lessons the impression that she expects every child to attempt to understand her directions and to follow them upon his own initiative. Time taken now to make each child comprehend her request before she requires him to act upon it and to act upon it as soon as he has comprehended it will be time gained before many recitations have passed, and time saved in future recitations will not be the only or the greatest gain. If in these first exercises the pupil finds that when he remains passive long enough the teacher will perform the work she has demanded of him, that she soon appears to take for granted that he will not understand or comply with her requests, then the habit of making no attempt to under- stand or to execute her directions will increase the appear- ance of failure to understand. This will augment the teach- er's tendency to doubt his ability to comprehend and will help to confirm her in the belief that she can teach her pupils nothing because they do not understand English. Even after the pupil has learned to comprehend the usual directions to the class the habit of remaining passive will sometimes linger, partly because the earlier inability to understand will have built up a wall of exclusion which practically has mentally ostracized him from the teacher and the rest of the class. One of the natural results of this condition is that the excluded child, lacking the intimacy and the interest which would quicken comprehension, ex- pends his mental activity in other directions and the teacher comes to think he is bad as well as ignorant, while her resulting severity drives him still farther away. In trying to secure the inclusion of each child in the activities of the recitation and the consequent comprehen- sion and interest, from the first recitations the teacher should direct her energies toward making the pupil comprehend the direction she gives and the questions she asks. AVhen this comprehension has been secured the pupil's response usually follows promptly. The greater number of non-English speaking pupils are as well developed mentally as the 90 English speaking pupils of the same social and industrial groups and there is no reason why these six-year-old chil- dren should not understand any directions which the teacher will take time to illustrate and teach. We have failed to meet our responsibilities when we say in explanation of a pupil's failure to follow some direction which he has heard daily for weeks or months, "He doesn't do it because he doesn't understand a word of English." It is our responsi- bility if he has not learned English under our tuition, or at least it is our fault if we have not furnished tuition aimed to develop an acquaintance with the language. Recognizing this as the fundamental thought of these early exercises, the first recitation may be devoted to ac- quaintance. 1. Learning names. ■ The teacher states to the pupils gathered about her, "My name is Miss . What is your name?" turning to tlie child who seems most likely to respond readily or to the child whose attention needs to be recalled. A list of the pupils' names is at hand and if the question fails to elicit a response from any child to whom it has been addressed the question may be changed to, "Who is i\Iary Machado!" or, "Which one of you is Pierre Lapointe?" etc. When the child has responded by gesture or words he may be taught to say, "My name is Pierre Lapointe, " and each child in turn may repeat, "My name is ," in response to the teacher's, "My name is Miss . What is your name?" If shyness or failure to comprehend prevents a pu- pil's response the teacher turns to the others and asks in a natural manner as if she expected a prompt response, "Wliat is her name ?" Not infrequently the response comes as prompt- ly, "Her name is IMary ]\Iachado," though the pupils may not have used the pronoun before. Sometimes it takes an entire recitation period to reach the point of having secured a response from each child, and again some groups will have accomplished much more than 91 this. If the teacher has repeated her own name every time she has questioned a pupil about his name it will not be long before the jDupils will respond to the question, "What is my name ? ' ' with, ' ' Your name is Miss . ' ' The next step may be to throw the initiative upon the pupils and allow a child to ask of each of the pupils, "What is your name?" It sometimes happens that the little questioner grows impatient if the answer is delayed and nudging the reluctant child de- mands, "What is your nameV and even resorts to repeating the question in his native tongue if the other is a compatriot. There can be no doubt of the pupil's comprehension of the exercise. The questions may then be varied to, "What is her name? Wliat is his name ? What is my name ? ' ' This may be followed by statements, ' ' I am INIiss . You are Joseph Swartz. You are Stanislaw Ziebinski," or if preferred, only the pupils' first names may be given. The pupils may then in turn repeat the statement to each child they can name. The children 's interest in this naming exercise is unfailing and it is sometimes surprising to see how it appeals to their sense of importance, of dignity ; they regard it as a recitation that is decidedly sensible and worth while. This exercise may be used till each child responds readily when asked his name and until with but few exceptions, the pupils can ask and answer the following questions : What is your name? Wliat is her name? What is my name ? What is his name ? The results reached through this exercise should be a feel- ing of acquaintance with teacher and other pupils, some growth of the habit of responding in English, and the ac- quisition of the following words and phrases of an English vocabularj^: my, your, her, Ms, name, ivhat is. It should not be necessary to urge that the teacher's man- ner should contain no hint of mechanical instruction. Every inquiry should be presented as to a social equal, as one would approach the child of an acquaintance or friend, and ges- tures should help to convey the meaning of the words. 92 //. Vocabulary. 1. Woman, hoy, girl. The following statements and questions will indicate the plan of this exercise : I am a woman. This is a boy. This is a girl. What are you? Boy. The pupil is taught to say, "I am a boy." Wliat are you? I am a girl. Each pupil is questioned and answers, "I am a boy," or, "I am a girl." A pupil is called upon to ask the question, "What are you?" selecting any child he pleases, or he may ask each in turn, or one child may question any one he pleases and when that child has responded he may then become the questioner, each child in turn giving his response and then ask- ing the question of another child. The teacher then asks, "What am I? What is she? What is he? Wliat is Mary? Wliat is Joseph?" This exercise should result in the following additions to each child's English A'ocabiilary : I, you. she, he, hoy, girl, ivomaii, am, are. 2. Review. Who is this boy? Who is this girl? Who is that boy? AVho is that girl ? Who is this ? What is her name ? What is that boy's name? What is my name? AVhat is 3'our name? Who are you? A'^ocabulary : wJio, this, that. 3. Pictures. See this picture. Look at this picture. See this pic- ture. Find a boy in the picture. Find another boy in the picture. Find a picture of a girl. What is Mary? Mary is a girl. What is that? That is the picture of a girl. Find the picture of another boy. Another girl. What is that? That is the picture of a boy. Find the picture of 93 a woman. Here is the picture of a woman. Here is the picture of a man. Find another picture of a man. What is that? That is the picture of a man. Continue the exercise till each pupil is able to point out in the picture and to make a statement concerning boy, girl, woman, man. Vocabulary : picture, another. The words see, look, find, keep are used but not em- phasized here and no effort is made to put them in the child's vocabulary. 4. Making a picture. I will make a picture of a boy. This is the blackboard. This is chalk. First I make a round ■ (head). The pupils are encouraged to name each part as the teacher draws. Then I make his , (sometimes the children will show an unexpected acquaintance with the English words for some parts of the body) and his , and his . Here is his neck. Next I make his body. Then his arms and and his legs and . What is that a picture of? Now see what I make. First a round head, etc. (a girl, a woman). Point to your head, your eyes, your nose, etc. You may go to the blackboard and make a picture of a boy. Gestures may be needed to help the children to comprehend what the teacher wishes them to do. Vocabulary: Make, blackboard, go, head, eyes, nose, mouth, neck, body, arms, hands, legs, feet, point to. Review boy, girl, tvoman, his, her, you, /, ivhat, that, this. 5. A cutting lesson at the number table. What have I ? You have the picture of a boy. What have you? I have the picture of a girl (or a boy). I will cut out the picture I have. You may cut out the picture you have. (Cut around the printed picture.) What have you cut? I have cut the picture of a girl. 94 6. A pasting lesson at the mmiher table {to follow the lesson in cutting) . This is paste. This is paper. Here are the pictures we have cut out. Find a picture of a boy. Find a picture of a girl. I take a picture. You may tahe a picture. I have a picture of a boy. What have you? And you? And you? T will take this piece of paper for my picture. You may take a piece of paper for your picture, you may take, etc., and you, and you, (till all are supplied). In the same way let each child supply himself with tooth- pick and paste as the teacher calls upon him and gives the direction (to insure familiarity through ear-training). There is no need for haste. The aim is not merely to have the pic- tures pasted but to give training in English through this exercise, and to give training in efficiency. I will place my picture in the center of my paper and then I will take some paste and paste the picture on the paper, (illustrating each word as it is spoken). You may paste your pictures on your papers. You may take them to your desks and take them home when you go. Vocabulary : paste, paper, take. ' 7 . Seat work. Cutting out pictures of bo3^s and girls. Fasliion maga- zines and catalogues of garment stores or of clothing stores will furnish plenty of material for this exercise. The pupils may also be taught to cut strings of paper dolls which may be made by folding the paper many times before cutting, being sure that the folded edge is left intact where the hands of the dolls join. Some of the best of the pupils' work may be dipped in water and then pressed against the blackboard where it will cling for a while after it dries. This gives activity to those pupils who have been unwill- ing or unable to speak freelj' in the class exercises, and the training it affords is worth while if the child is allowed 95 to depend upon himself and to take the initiative to the extent of his ability. 8. 31 an. What are you? I am a boy. What are you? I am a girl. What am I? You are a woman. What is this? This is the picture of a woman. What is this? This is the pic- ture of a man. Find other pictures of a man. Look at these pictures. Each of you find the picture of a man. Is that the picture of a man? No. Tell me of what it is a pic- ture. It is a picture of a bo}'. Find the picture of a man. You may cut out your picture of a man. 9. Girls, hoys. What are you? And you? And you? These three children are what? Girls. Let us count these girls. One, two, three. Again, and you may say the words with me. What are you? And jon'I And j^ou? These three children are what? Boys. Count these boys with me. One, two, three. Find other boys in the class. What are they? They are boj^s. The boys may stand here by me. What are you? Boys. You may say, "We are boys." Children, what are they? They are boys. What are you? Girls. You may say, "We are girls." Boys, what are these children? They are girls. Girls, what are these children? They are boys. Vocabulary: hoys, girls, we, they, one, iivo, three, etc. 10. Men, women. Follow the plan of the preceding exercise, using pic- tures of men and women. 11. Review. Have the pupils arrange the cut-out pictures into groups of boys, girls, men, women, each pupil in turn stating as he selects his picture, "This is the picture of a (girl). I put it with the (girls). 96 Each pupil in turn may then select a picture from one of the groups and ask, "What is this?" following his ques- tion with the name of the pupil he calls upon. After answering the question this pupil selects a picture and asks the question, using the name of the pupil called upon. See that the name always follows rather than precedes the ques- , tion, an observance which should mark the teacher's ques- tion also. A pasting exercise may follow. In this each child se- lects some picture and makes a statement about it, "This is a man," etc. The child then puts a little paste upon the back of the picture and pastes it upon the large sheet of paper or cardboard which the teacher has hung on the wall low enough to be easily reached by the pupils. No impatience should be felt by the teacher however clumsy and inefficient the children appear to be. An atmosphere of friendly encouragement, of plenty of time to do the work well, of unhurried, self-directed activity on the part of the child should characterize the exercise. Each pupil should help himself to whatever he needs and should do the work himself. At first it may be necessary to have each pupil work under the direction of the teacher, while the others observe, but as soon as possible this solo should be exchanged for the activity of the bee-hive where each is intent upon his own Avork, performing it in such a manner that he inter- feres with none of his neighbors. When the children com- prehend the teacher's plan the number of pupils working at the same time may be increased till as many of the chil- dren as can work together to advantage may be busy mak- ing the pictured chart. Several sheets might be provided and the teacher might work at one of them with the small group of pupils who need her special attention while she keeps an oversight of the work of the others. The less this is made to seem like a schoolroom exercise and the more it seems like a work-shop project the more readily will the 97 pupils loosen the bonds of speech and break into unconscious or unselfconscious expression. The teacher should be on the lookout for this moment which indicates the budding success of her instruction in oral language and she should be very careful that no hasty admonition of hers checks its development. This is the moment when she may do most to encourage her pupils in oral expression and she should be quick to seize this* occasion for spontaneous interchange of conversation, though she should direct it and keep it well in hand. If the children's activity is marked by attention to the work in which they are engaged, by courteous intercourse with and considera- tion for others, by attention to the teacher's directions and an attempt to carry them out, then free conversation be- tween pupil and teacher and pupil and pupil may be al- lowed and encouraged. If this freedom is misunderstood by the pupils and results in whispering and talking to each other after they return to their seats they can easily be made to understand that it is not permitted there but only in the language exercise. The charts produced by this exercise will serve as a means of review of the vocabulary already gained and will furnish material for future increase of this vocabulary. The frequency with which the child selects his own work when the chart IS used in later exercises indicates the interest and pleasure the exercise had aroused. It not infrequently happens that exercises like this one surprise the teacher by showing that the pupil whom she may have considered one of the dullest and most hopeless of the group will prove to be one of the most efficient in this line. Too often the eye-minded or the motor-minded child has been regarded as somewhat lacking in mentality because the exercise which was adapted to only the ear-minded child has failed to reach these others. The eye-minded child is also more often furnished work which meets his special type than is the motor-minded child. The early exercises in oral lan- guage give many opportunities to serve this neglected group 98 of pupils and may be the means of altering a child's whole school course by showing him and his teacher where his strength lies. It is in these first exercises that the child gains or loses the self-confidence which is an indispensable element of liis progress in every grade of school and in adult life. The loss of this element in his work serves to close many of the gates leading into the avenues of success, usefulness or happiness, and liours, if needed, are M^ell spent during the early days of school to insure in each pupil this foundation for success in life. In the majority of cases no special attention will be re- quired, but with the shy, the dull, the backward, and the defi- cient great pains must be taken by the teacher to furnish the opportunity for these pupils to reach some form of success that may serve as a foundation for the self-confidence which is the spring-board of effort. 12. Composing a picture. Show pictures of family life. Let us make a picture of a family. What shall we need? First, a father. He is a man. You may choose the picture of a man for a father. What next? A mother. What will she be? A woman. Choose a picture for the mother. What next? Children, boys, girls, a baby. Choose pictures for these. Let us paste our picture of the family. The pupils proceed to paste a class picture, the teacher taking pains that much conversation is carried on by the pupils and that the words father, vxother, children, haby, occur frequently. Millet's The First Step and other pictures illustrating family life should be studied by the children, not only to serve as material calling for and allowing the use of the words being introduced into the child's vocabulary, but for the pleasure and culture which the studj^ of these pictures will furnish, and for the unconscious response to the impulse to express wdiich will give further freedom in speech and a closer acquaintance with the pupil's mind and heart. Vocabulary: father, mother, children, hahy, loves, and other words which the exercise may suggest.' 99 13. A home. This exercise follows the plan outlined under A family. Food, dress, furniture, the farm yard, the garden, and other topics will be developed by cutting out pictures and arrang- ing them. The discussion and arrangement of composite pic- tures of a dining table, a bedroom, a kitchen, a girl's outer clothing, a boy's clothing, etc., will furnish plenty of activity for tongues and hands. 14. Courtesies. From the first days of school the teacher has been care- ful to make prominent in her intercourse with the pupils the usual courtesies of greeting, request and thanks. When she thinks her pupils are ready for or need definite training in these she may teach the use of courteous forms of address, request, thanks, etc. Many attractive objects, toys, etc., may be placed before the class and the form, "Please let me take this," "Please hand me that," "Please bring me," etc., may be used by the teacher and by the pupils, and may be fol- lowed by the appropriate form of thanks. Didactic instruc- tion will not be needed if daily practice is given in these forms. Vocabulary: Good morning, please, thank you, etc. 15. Action words. The vocabulary of action may be introduced as soon as the pupils can make sentences using their own names and the pronouns which represent them. Wliat can I do? Wliat can you do? Show^ me how you do it? Come, go, run, walk, tell, sing, jump, bring, take, give, make, draw, cut, point, find, show, put, paste, touch should be introduced into the child's vocabulary through action and should be given drill and jreview through action. No attempt need be made to correlate with the reading vocabulary though this action work cannot fail to prove a valuable foundation for the work in reading and the action words in the reading vocabulary should be introduced through action. 100 A good review on these action words is furnished by ask- ing a child to take the part of teacher and give the class directions like, "Show me your hands, show me a book, show me a pencil, show me your shoes," etc., using as many of his newly acquired words as he can. Again he may direct a child to "bring me," "point to," touch," etc. 16. Names of objects. Having placed upon the child 's tongue the phrases, ' ' This is," "That is," "I have," "What is," we need only to add an extensive group of objects to furnish names and we have the material and the ability for making a large number of sentences. For many years teachers have made as large a collection of objects, toys, etc., as practicable for this lan- guage work. In place of the familiar "I have a top," "This" is a marble," "That is a cup," given singly by individuals, a child may take a box or small basket and place in it as many objects as he can name aloud. He may then call upon some other child who tries to name each object as he empties the basket. 17. S form of verbs. What do you do at night? I sleep. What do you do when you play horse? I run. What do I do when I go to dinner? You eat. Tell me what Manuel does at night. He sleep. We say, He sleeps. I sleep, you sleep, he sleeps, she sleeps. What does Miss do at night? She sleeps. What does Minnie do at night ? She sleeps. See what I do now ? Tell me. You walk. You may do it. What do you do? I walk. Helen and Grace may do it. Tell me what you do. We walk. John may tell me what they do. They walk. Henry may do it. What does he do? He tvalks. The exercises are repeated till the child's ear is trained to accept the correct form and the tongue is trained to give it. A little practice each day after the form has been intro- 101 duced is better than an attempt to teach it once for all when it is first approached. Walked and lualking should be intro- duced in the teacher's conversation and made somewhat prominent for several days before she takes up these forms with the class. Each form, s, ed, and ing, should be applied to many action -words in the child 's vocabulary when the form is presented through the first illustration. The action should be illustrated by the child before he uses the word in a sen- tence. 18. Exercise upon can, cannot, can't. When the pupils can use the s form of action words freely and fairly correctly the work with can and cannot may be introduced. Two contrasting animals may be chosen as the subjects, a child and a lower animal furnish good contrasts. A boy and a fish would furnish an extreme of contrast. The teacher asks, What can a boy do? A boy can run. Can a fish run? A fish cannot run. What can a fish do ? A fish can swim. Can a boy swim? Yes, a boy can swim. What else can a boy do? A boy can talk. Can a fish talk? A fish cannot talk. Let us find as many as we can of the things which a boy can do and a fish cannot do. If the pupils do not give the form can't the teacher may supply it at any point in the exercise and after that it may be used interchangeably with cannot. Care should be taken that the an in can't is not pronouced like the an in can. Other contrasting animals are discussed till the pupils use freely and correctly can, cannot, can't. Pictures or ob- jects should be used to furnish a basis for the discussion. 19. Exercise upon do, does, does not, doesn't. What does the dog do? The dog barks. Name an animal which does not bark. Tell something which you do. Name an animal which 102 does not do this. What doesn't a horse do? What does a cat do? What doesn't a cat do? Name some things children do not do. Name some things which fishes do not do. Pupils mention other animals and tell what they do and what they do not do. Pupils ask each other questions like, Does a cow talk? Does a cow give milk? Does a cow eat? Does a cow fly? The affirmative answer will not contain do or does, the negative answer will. A cow eats. A cow does not fly. Doesn't will be accepted for does not, and the terms may be used interchangeably, an equal amount of drill being given to each if neither seems to need greater emphasis than the other. While the children may be encouraged to look upon these lessons as exercises in word mastery neither teacher nor pupils should consider them merely exercises in word drill. Close association of word and idea, through action when these are action words, should be the chief characteristic of each exer- cise for this ear-training, in order that we may avoid the too common error of making a pupil letter-perfect in the abstract use of the word without in any way influencing his incorrect use of it in common speech. The exercise must be and must seem common speech to him before we can insure his adoption of it in thinking his daily thoughts. Not drill upon certain ii'ords but the groivth of the child's vocabulary in common use should be our objective point, and unless we watch his common speech in his oral recitation, his seat-work sentences, and his playground conversation to find evidences of the result of our training, and above all unless we do find evidences of growth we cannot be sure that we have made these exercises what they are intended to be. The teacher of non-English speaking children is fortunate here. She does not have to break up the ear-training of five or six years of faulty English but can plant her seed in newly broken ground. To be sure others may be sowing weeds at the same time that she is sowing the good seed but she can pull up these weeds before their roots have gained much hold and her insistent reiterated training can override the casual training 103 the child is reeeiviug out of school, provided she is taking the same psychological path the out-of-school training is taking, thought, impulse to express, expression. 20. Size, shape, color, ynaterial, etc. We teach the vocabulary of size, shape, color, etc. not because these words usually find a place in every carefully planned course of study, not because they are a needed preparation for the seat-work composition — tliough both these are facts even if we do not look upon tliem as reasons — we teach these words, {large, small, round, square, red, yellow, etc.) because the child needs these terms for thinking ahout the objects. Suggestive exercises for teaching other words of the first grade vocabulary will be found on pp. 43-50 in the 1912 Course of Study. Children who have not had the advantages of attendance in the sub-primary grades should receive this instruction in Grade I B. Long before the pupils approach a definite lesson on any of these words the teacher should have introduced many of them incidentally in conversations with the children. The normal process by which ideas are grasped is through frequent presentation in connection with the interests and activities associated with the idea. Each repetition prepares the way for the conscious grasp upon the idea which must be gained before the mind is ready to use the word which expresses it. When the idea is met and the word is pre- sented in conversation the context does much to establish the association of idea and "word; hence this use in conversation is specially needed in classes in which the home fails to supply opportunity for gaining this association. 21. Beading vocabulary. The words of the reading lesson should be placed in the child's vocabulary when tlie story is told, the rhyme is dramatized, before the word is written upon the board for reading. The oral language work has been neglected when 104 the pupils cannot illustrate such words as away, spring, joy, song, glad news, look around, jump and run for joy, before they meet these in the reading lesson. No course of study, no list of words, no suggested plans can equip the teacher for this work in oral language. She must bring to it an insight which helps her to read the pupil 's thought even though he lacks words to express it. She must create such an atmosphere in her school room that expression will come easily in response to interest, unchecked by fear of lack of sympathy or of understanding. This is a work in which a mechanical attempt to follow outlines of work will defeat its own aim. The child's growth in freedom and accuracy in speech is the evidence of success. III. Oral expression. 1. Picture reading. The exercises in composite picture making will pave the Avay for exercises in picture reading. Picture reading does not mean spelling the picture by such inanities as "I see a man," "I see a woman," "There is a baby in the picture," "I can see some grass and a gate." The essential elements in oral reading are grasping and expressing thought and in the same way the pupil has not read the picture unless he has grasped the thought presented there. Millet's "The First Step" is suggested for study when the pupils are building their composite picture of the family and are adding to their vocabulary the words the theme sug- gests. Even if at this time the pupils have not sufficient command of English to give an oral reading of the picture this need not discourage us, for dramatization furnishes an ample means for the expression of the thought they read there. A brief discussion of whether the story permits of con- versation may suggest the mother's encouraging, "Run to father, baby," and the father's proud and joyous. "Come to father." Suitable ]Mipils having been selected to enact the 105 parts of the father, the mother and the baby, the scene may be presented as a tableau, reproducing the pose of the figures in the painting, or it may be elaborated to include the mother's watch at the gate with the baby, the father's return from work and the baby's stumbling imsh to greet him. The teacher is cautioned against using this picture-reading merely as a means of drill upon the vocabulary the pupils hiave been gaining. By this time the children are somewhat familiar with the English words, iiian, ivoman, hahy, father, mother, run, ivalk, and can follow the teacher's thought as she talks simply about the story the picture tells, and they may even be able to answer the questions she may ask to bring out this story instead of telling it. As far as possible she should lead the children into the unconscious use of English as the medium of expressing their thoughts about the story told by the picture. 2. Dramatizing a story. (See Chapter I). 3. Reproduction, literal version, composite version. (See Chapter I). These three exercises, reproduction through dramatization, literal memory reproduction of poems and the composite re- production of stories in which teacher and class share in turn, should occupy a large place in the oral language work of this grade. Not only the stories employed in the reading method in use, but the classic stories loved by children of this grade should be retold again and again in this way. It should be noted that this term's work calls for no individual oral repro- duction of stories by the pupils. Tlie composite exercise gives the child self-confidence through practice in speaking aloud in the schoolroom without the embarrassment and confusion of thought which the demand for individual reproduction often produces. It makes familiar to ear and tongue many words and phrases which would other wise escape his notice, words and phrases which are a helpful addition to his vocabulary. 106 The chief work of the oral language exercises in Grade I B is to develop the following : — acquaintance and a friendly atmosphere, physical activity which through construction and tlirough dramatization will test the pupil's grasp upon an idea which his limited vocabulary may not permit him to express in words, interest and a willingness to talk, and training in the use of the polite phrases customary in daily intercourse. The work should have aroused in the child the impulse to think for himself, to act for himself, to speak for himself ; it should have aroused pleasure in pictures, poems and stories ; and it should have implanted standards of obedience, of self-direction, of social relations, of mental effort and of accomplishment. If the pupils do not answer, simply and naturally, ques- tions within their grasp, if they do not intelligently follow clear and simple directions, if they are discourteous and un- friendly in their intercourse with others, if they have not acquired a vocabulary adequate for their needs in the grade, and if they have not gained an acquaintance with some good pictures and some good literature, the oral language M^ork of the grade has not been accomplished. Chapter III. WRITTEN LANGUAGE IN GRADE I B. (First Term's Work). The lessons suggested in this chapter are intended for the first term's worlc in written language in Grade I and are arranged to accompany any method of teaching reading, but they are specially adapted to the method which is based upon the use of rhymes or other literature committed to mem- ory as a foundation for the pupil's reading vocabulary. The material used in these language lessons consists of the printed seat-work cards which accompany the reading books and the printed letters usually furnished the pupils for word building at theii" desks. No written language work with paper and pencil is asked for in this year's work and no unsupervised written work is desired, the greater part of the penmanship practice being secured at the blackboard. The printed words and letters provide a means of expression far more flexible and speedy than could be secured through penmanship in this grade, they make much less demand upon the nervous and muscular energy of the pupil and hence can be used for more frequent or longer periods. Their adoption as a medium for expression also tends toward better penmanship since it pro- vides a substitute for the unsupervised writing which is so detrimental to good penmanship in this grade. The aim of these seat-work exercises in language is to furnish the pupil an opportunity for individual thought and expression and incidentally to furnish the technical training which will insure correct written work from the first. The chief results will be a mental awakening which will furnish the impetus for much self-directed activity along all lines of school work; a freedom in expression which will enable the teacher not only to judge of the child's mental progress but which will guide her in giving instruction that will be neither 108 beyond the pupil's reach nor below his attainments; an un- conscious but definite grasp upon the sentence as a unit of thought wliich later has a perceptiljle influence upon his style in composition ; an acquaintance with the mechanics of written language gained through a medium so flexible that errors can be corrected at once without marring the appearance of the completed work or resorting to a second draft ; and, lastly, independence and initiative which not only allow each pupil to reach his maximum without hindrance or limitation set by his less capable classmate, but wliich will also allow the teacher to detect any copying or other help which might mislead her in her estimate of the work of each pupil. Some of the by- products are an increase in skill in reading and in spelling and a noticeable gain in discipline. Each exercise by itself is easily within the reach of the pupils of this grade yet each step is dependent upon the pupil 's accomplishment of the previous exercises, an accomplishment to be gained not through practice alone, not through habit, not through insistent repetition by the teacher but through the pupil's intelligent choice and intelligent execution of the ex- pression of his own thought. It is admitted that the intelli- gence of such young children is limited and immature but it is adequate for the demands of this Avork and it grows with exercise. The teacher Avho fails to scrutinize the intelligence of each pupil as shown in the desk work which she inspects, who allows her class to depend upon her corrections instead of training them to recognize and correct the errors which they can find for themselves, or who allows the work to be performed day after day without inspection and correction will inevitably fail to secure the progress of which her pupils are capable. /. Becognition of words of rhyme. Wlien the words of the first rhyme have been taught from the blackboard and the sight-word cards, the pupils should be given a test for recognition of these words as a preparation for seat-work which will come later. When the 109 test shows that the pupil thoroughly knows a word he places the printed seat-work copy of it in a large manilla envelope or pasteboard box which he is to keep in his desk and use in the seat-work exercises of each day. The following steps will provide this test: — When the pupils readily recognize all the sight-Avord cards of a rhyme a small section of the class may be grouped about the number table. The printed seat-work cards of that rhyme are placed on the table within eas}^ reach of each pupil, with enough copies of each word to provide several for every child. The teacher names a word of the rhyme and directs each pupil to select the word from the pile and show it to her before placing it upon the table in front of him. She should see that each child has the right word and that he places it right side up. This is continued till all the words of the rhyme have been called for by the teacher and found and placed by the child. Each may then select and place before him as many of the words of the rhyme as he can find in the time allowed, placing the word with the same word which he has already recognized and named. Before the close of the exercise each child 's group of cards should be examined and his ability to recognize any word tested. The children who have found but few words may then draw upon their more successful neighbors, recogni- tion being tested in each case, till the words are evenly dis- tributed. The cards are then placed in the envelopes which will be kept in the pupils' desks for the daily seat- work. This exercise should be repeated with each new rhyme after the words have been thoroughly taught and these should be added to the envelopes. Frequent tests upon all the words in the envelopes should be given if needed. It goes without saying that other ways of testing the pu- pil's recognition of words may be used in place of the exercise suggested. The main point is that the pupil should master each word he uses in his seat-work before he attempts to build with it and that his envelope should contain no word which he cannot recognize at sight. 1.10 II. Building the rhymes from memory. The same section of the class is grouped about the number- table, each child bringing from his desk the envelope con- taining the words he has selected in the previous exercises. The pupils' attention is called to the capital letter at the beginning of the word on one side of the card and the small letters on the other side of the card. The pupils find capital letters on the chart, then note where capital letters are used, i. e., the first word of a sentence begins with a capital letter. Attention is then called to the margins on the pages of the chart and of books. Placing his large manilla envelope before him like the page of a book each pupil selects the first word of the rhyme and places it on the envelope, taking care to place the word right side up, far enough away from the edge to leave a good margin and with a capital letter at the beginning of the word. The remainder of the rl^yme should then be built upon the envelope from memory without reference to book or chart. Much help in grasping what is required may be needed by the pupils at this point, but once understood the work is easy, for the child knows the rhyme and he can recognize the words. To introduce the idea it may be well to have a pupil build the rhyme upon the chalk tray or ledge of the blackboard, using the large sight-word cards. The class may then correct any errors and build with seat-word cards at the table. In this and in the folloAving exercises the more precocious pupils who build more rapidly than the others iiiay improve the remaining time by working wnih the printed letters purchased from school supply houses, building with letters the rhymes they have just built with cards. In this way the slower pupils may do the minimum amount of work Avhile the more mature or quicker ones are doing the maximum amount. No pupil should be required to build Avith letters in this term's work, and no pupil should be allowed to build with letters till he is able to build easily and correctly mth the printed words. III. Building the rhymes, conti^iued. Exercise II is repeated with the pupils seated at their Ill desks. The teacher takes but one section of the class at a time, passing about among them, questioning, suggesting, but at this time not correcting the errors she finds. The pupils build from memory, observing margins, capitals, and words properly placed. Before the close of the exercise she should present the following questions to the class: — Have you left a good margin? Look at your words and if you find you have not made a good margin move the work and make a margin. Did you begin each sentence with a capital letter? (speak- ing of them as "sentences" not "stories"). If you did not use a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence, correct your mistake before I come to look at your work. Are the words right side up ? Correct any mistakes before I see them. By the use of the above questions the child may be led to find many of his errors for himself liefore the teacher begins her inspection and correction of his work. The same questions should be repeated for the individual child Avhen the teacher finds errors, the only help required from her being to point out the sentence in which the error occurs. It is not well to try to correct too many errors at one time, ])ut this exercise should be repeated as a regular language lesson each day till the pupils are able to correct their own errors on these three points. Not many lessons will be needed by a large proportion of the class and as an increasing number become skillful the teacher can concentrate her attention upon those who need the individual instruction. As soon as a pupil has learned how to arrange his work and to correct his errors he may be allowed to repeat the exercise for seat-work at other periods during the day, to be followed in each case by the teacher's inspection of his work. These lessons should be continued with eaeli new rhyme or reading lesson. The rhyme should be taught through dramatization or story-telling and not from blackboard or chart. To have the pupils copy the rh.yme from blackboard or chart interrupts the development these exercises are aiming 112 for and presents no gain in its place. This copying will not teach the rhyme, for the words are strangers to the child and convey no idea unless he already knows the rhyme. If he knows the rhjmie and can recognize the words he does not need the copy for he can build it from memory, an exercise far more strengthening than copying would be. If he can repeat the rhyme but does not recognize the words the teacher has no evidence that in copying he makes the mental associa- tion between rhyme and w^ord which might make this copying profitable. We must insure this association during the recita- tion period since copying does not secure it. IV. Building the rhymes ivith letters. This exercise is introduced here to provide additional work for the brighter pupil while the more backward child is occupied with learning to build the rhyme with seat-work cards. As each pupil becomes able to build the rhyme with the cards he may take up the more difficult work with letters but this should not be required. The pupils will be more ambitious to build with letters if they know that a pupil is allowed to take it up only after he has proved his ability to build the rhyme correctly from memory with the cards. When a pupil is ready for work with the letters he is provided with a box of printed letters to be kept at his desk. The pupil builds the rhyme with Avord-cards and then below builds the rhyme with letters. He should not be expected to build the rhyme from memory with letters as he does not know how to spell the words, but it will be found that before long many of the children have become so familiar with the words that they can spell many of them from memory. It is not necessary for the teacher to write the rhyme on the board for the pupil to copy or to ask him to copy it from the rhyme- chart. He knows the rhyme, he knows the individual words, and he has these words at his desk; he should be required to use them, building from memory with the seat-word cards and then copying from the cards with letters as he becomes more skillful. 113 V. Dictated sentences. When the pupils are able to build the rhyme correctly the teacher may dictate a short sentence, taking care to use only the words of the seat-work cards. The pupils then select the words and arrange them in the sentence. After several sen- tences have been built in this way they should be read by different pupils. This exercise may be introduced in small groups at the number table or given to sections of the class seated at their desks, the teacher furnishing suggestions and corrections as she perceives the need. It prepares the way for the work of written sentence-making and for this reason special attention should be given to the mechanics of this form of expression, i. e., margin, capital, j)lacing words right side up, spacing of words, straight lines, etc. It furnishes a good foundation for the work outlined in the next exercise and serves as an easy step from building the rhymes to building individual sentences. VI. Building individual sentences ivith seat-word cards. This exercise should be preceded by much oral drill in having pupils place a given word in individual sentences. This oral drill need not be confined to the words of the reading vocabulary but may include any of the words used in the drills for practice in the choice of words or for the correction of common errors. Wlien the pupil understands what is meant by "individ- ual sentence," i. e., one he has thought of himself, he may build individual sentences on his desk with the word cards. The first exercises in this work should be given in the lan- guage time and the thought expressed in the sentence should receive as much attention as the correction of mistakes in capitals, margin, etc. Each of these phases of the written language work is very important at this time and the teacher should feel her responsibility in giving a good standard in this composition, however simple the work may be. ]14 The teacher may write upon the board several words which the pupils are to place in sentences or each child may build the sentences that suggest themselves to him. Care should be taken to see that no child copies his neighbor's sentence. These individual sentences should always be read aloud by the pupils before the close of the language exercise. When the pupils become somewhat skilled in building individual sentences the exercise may be used for seat-work. The pupils' work should be carefully inspected at the close of the period. The fact that the seat-work material is kept at the pupil's desk and the teacher need spend no time in collecting and distributing it gives ample time for this cor- rection. Before beginning to inspect the work the usual questions should be asked, "Have you left a margin? Does every sentence begin Avith a capital letter?" and as far as he can, each pupil should try to make any needed corrections before the teacher reaches his desk. Some of the pupils should be called upon to read their sentences aloud, and as the sentences become longer and more thoughtful the succeeding period may be used as a reading period and each child may read his own or another pupil's sentences. This reading exercise furnishes many suggestions to the child of few ideas. Since correct spelling is secured through the printed words of the seat-work cards tlie only technical points which need emphasis in these exercises are the margin and the use of the capital letter at the beginning of every sentence. Much watchfulness will be needed to insure correct seat-work but from the first the pupils should be required to name the points on which correction is likely to be needed, i. e., margin, capital letters, and words and letters right side up, and they should inspect their work for mistakes along these lines. At tlie outset of this work with individual sentences we should recognize that securing correct irorl- is not a prominent aim, it is an incident in training for expression. If correct work were the chief aim the easiest way to secure it might be to require the pupils to copy from books, a practice which is 115 of but little value in training for expression, and which on the other hand provides a maximum amount of occupation with a minimum amount of mental activity. It is popularly supposed that copying from books is one of the most profitable of the exercises in which first grade pupils can engage and it is considered one of the easiest for teachers to assign. Obser- vation and comparison of many classes have led to the belief that neither of these opinions is founded on fact, and in some eases this has been so evident that it has been noticed by ob- servers unfamiliar wath the details of school work. Some years ago a newly elected member of the school board (herself the mother of several children in the schools) v/as invited to accompany the supervisor of primary grades of the city on her visits to the classrooms with a view to becom- ing acquainted with the aims and methods of the work in these grades. For some weeks the board member made fre- quent visits for this purpose, studying the work with keen interest and invariably examining the seat-work of the pupils not engaged in recitation. In Grade I this work sometimes consisted of sentences copied from the readers or charts or from work placed upon the blackboard for this purpose, but in a large majority of classes the work consisted of individual sentences composed by the pupils, individual spelling lists or phonic lists, or individual statements of number facts, each pupil following the general directions furnished by the teacher but being left free to choose his own form of expres- sion within the clearly defined limits. One morning as the visitors entered a classroom the super- visor was surprised when the board member turned to her and, instead of asking the usual question, "And what are the children at their seats doing?" asserted wdth conviction, "These children are copying something, they are not doing independent work!" The supervisor's counter questions, ' ' How^ do you knoAv ? What makes you think so ? " brought the reply, "I have noticed that when the class is copying instead of composing there is a certain listlessness and aim- lessness, the children are much more restless and noisy 116 though not any more disorderly. Some of the children seem weary and the absence of that absorption in work, that in- tentness which marks the class doing individual work, is very noticeable." Since then this difference has been com- mented on by other visitors before they had perceived the cause. The distinction between securing the thought from the book and copying from the book should be clear in the teacher's mind, as well as the fact that copying from the open book is a mental activity very different from the child's conscious or subconscious reproduction of a sentence from memory and his expression of it in the form found in the book but without referring to the book for a copy. Attention has already been called to the fact that written work in any form with paper and pencil makes far more demands upon the muscles of the eye and the hand and arm than does the work with the printed material, and far greater demands upon the nervous energy in general. In addition to this conservation of energj^ the individual seat-work has as definite an influence upon the child's progress as the recitation does and in some cases appears to give the child a grasp upon the work which the recitation has failed to secure for him. Pupils doing individual work with the printed letters seem never to tire of it. They not infrequently put it away with rehictance and take it out without waiting for instructions when they know it is to be used in the coming exercise. The seat-work outlined here requires that the child, in- dividually and independently of others, should think the sen- tence he is to make and should then build it with words which he recognizes. Since these words form a vocabulary which he uses chiefly in his reading lessons the law of association will influence both his thought and his expression and the sen- tences he builds will be in the main but echoes of those he has read. The important point is that by thinking the sentence for himself it becomes the expression of his own thought and the self-directed arrangement of the words upon his desk is an initial step in written composition. He should be trained 117 to read the sentence to himself when he has finished building it to see if it has expressed his thought. If this is begun with his first simple sentences like, "Come and play," "Run and jump," his gain in reading power will be noticeable and his training in composition will be based upon the sure foundation of thought. After he has read his sentence to be sure he has not made such mistakes as "Play and me" when he intended to build "Play with me," he should scrutinize it for the errors he has been taught to correct. The seat-work should not be put away till it has been inspected by the teacher. If the pupils have been trained to build carefully, to inspect closely, and are held responsible for the correction of errors they have been taught to avoid, in other w^ords, if teaching and learning have been made vital elements of each phase of schoolroom activity, the work of inspection will take a surprisingly short time, provided the teacher is content to make it an exercise in inspection without attempting to correct the work on each desk, merely noting which pupils need further instruction. This additional in- struction should be given in small groups in the language recitation period. If many corrections are needed by the ma- jority of the class this seat-work should be deferred till suffi- cient instruction and practice have been given in the recita- tion period to insure good seat-work. An occasional comment like, "There's something wrong in that sentence." "What do you think about the first letter of this sentence ? " " Are all your w^ords right side up ? " will enable the child to find and correct the mistake before the work is put away, but good work should be the topic held before the class while the inspection is in progress and the teacher should direct her attention chiefly to the pupil's suc- cess rather than to his failure. Each child may be allowed to stand as soon as the teacher has approved his work and those who are standing when the work has all been inspected may receive some expression of approval or pleasure from the teacher and the class. Other devices for making good work prominent wnll be found helpful but every such device should 118 be guarded from two grave mistakes. No plan should be used which takes an appreciable amount of the time needed for other exercises (the giving of individual stars is frequently conducted in a manner that makes the loss of time more than offset the gain in motivation). And no plan should be used which places the emphasis upon the commendation as an end in itself to be worked for, the pupil should be taught to recognize that the power and efficiency which the good work indicates is a sufficient reward in itself and its increase is the main purpose of each day's work. The following sentences were composed by a group of first grade pupils during their third month of school. These sentences had been built with seat-word cards during a study period and were found by the supervisor on one of her usual visits and were copied by her verhatim as fair speci- mens of the average w^ork of a class, taking the desks in order up the aisles that a comparison of each child's w^ork with his neighbor's might be made to see to what extent the work was individual. It wnll be noticed that no attempt is made to teach punctuation with the seat-work cards; this is introduced when the printed letters and printed punctuation marks are used. These sentences show the extreme simplicity of the work required, and also show^ its dependence upon the read- ing lesson for the thought content and the limitations im- posed by the printed vocabulary. A comparison of the work upon the eleventh and twelfth desks show^s how^ this exercise serves the varied abilities of pupils sitting side by side. Readier flow' of thought and quicker recognition of the printed words enabled one to accomplish much more than the other could do in the same time; yet each was using the rate of speed suited to his ability. Slowness of thought may be helped by giving the child a larger share in the oral w^ork and by al- lowing him to read orally, at the close of the exercise, the w^ork on some of the w^ell filled desks of other pupils, in order to raise his standard of w'ork. 119 First desk. Second desk. Run away and play with me The little squirrel is in the boys Jump and run away The little bird is in the nest Sing a song- of joy Run around little s(iuirrel Sine: bluebird tree Jump boys and girls Run away boys and girls Look little squirrel around Run to me Come again rain When the child at the second desk M'as asked to read his sentences he read, "Look around, little squirrel," without noticing that he had transposed the words in the sentence. Third desk. Run to the tree Come and play Little bluebird sing a song for joy Play with me little girls Run to the tree little girls Away away come away Fifth desk. The little bird is in the nest Run to the tree little squirrel Run and play boys to me Come little bluebird Rain go away The boys play with me Seventh desk. Come and play girls Jump girls jump Run to the tree boys and girls Boys and girls want to jump Sing again little girls Fourth desk. Girls run to me Run away boys Come to the tree girls Jump boys Come with me girls Sixth desk. Come to the tree Jump and run girls Away away come away Run away and play Come with me Come and play Eighth desk. Run and play with me Boys jump Run away and play Run to the tree Come and play with me 120 Ninth desk. Away away with me Girls and boys run and play Eleventh desk. Sing little boys in the tree See the bluebird in the tree See me fly Thirteenth desk. Look for some acorns See the corn Girls play with me Blow your horn boys Run in to the nest Tenth desk. Come to the tree girls Come with me boys Run away and play Come jump Tivelfth desk. Come little girls come and play Run little boys pla^^ with the rain Come little boys over the meadow Run little sheep Run boys and girls Sing in the tree little blue- bird Run to the tree boys Little boy come to me Play again come blow the liorn VII. Individnal sentences hiiilt ivith letters. In this term's work the sentences built with letters usually employ to a great extent the vocabulary of the seat- Avork cards and will present but few difficulties in the way of spelling. The practice of having the pupils build a sentence with word-cards and immediatel.y repeat it with letters may help to fix the spelling of the words in the child's memory, but this necessitates the repetition of many words he already knows how to spell, and more ability will be developed if he is encouraged to use these words in other sentences built with letters, rather than to build again with letters the same sentence that he built with \\ords as he did with the rhymes. If he learns to refer to the word-cards as a guide in spelling 121 his progress in learning to spell will be even more rapid than if he spends much of his time repeating the entire sentence he had built with words. The vocabulary need not be con- fined to the word-card vocabulary if the pupil is able to spell other words. But this form of seat-work is more definitely assigned to Grade I A and has but little place in Grade I B work except as it serves the needs of the more precocious pupils who find the work with seat-work cards too easy or too limited as they grow more skillful in its use. A child too proficient to profit by some work with the cards each day before building with letters may well be considered a suitable candidate for out-of-course promotion to Grade I A if his work in other lines shows a corresponding ability. The following statements express some of the impres- sions which may be conveyed to the pupil through the teacher's comments upon his seat-work and which may serve to guide and motivate his work and influence his character. Good work means the best work one can do. If one does his best every time, each time his work will be a little better than it was before. Each person should do his own work and take care of his behavior and of his material while he is doing his work. This shows how strong and capable he is. Doing good individual language work means thinking one's own sentences and building them for one's self. The sentences should not be the same that others build. Good individual language work calls for new sentences every day, not for the same ones that were built the day before, though a fine sentence may be re- peated occasionally. Good language work calls for sentences that others would be likely to enjoy hearing. Good language work calls for sentences that are true — true to life or true to fact. 122 Good language work should be correct in margin, use of capital letters, and the placing of words and letters. Children in this grade can appreciate the distinction between truth to life and truth to fact. When some pupils build sentences like the following: "I have a baby sister. Her hair is green. She can fly." (and even more imaginative ones can be found) the children will quickly see that this would not be true in any case. But they recognize that as we frequently play that we are something we are not we may make sentences like, "I am a bird. I have wings. I can sing and fly," because that is true to life, birds can do these things. Nor would we correct the expression, "I can fly," when we have just asked the class to play they are birds and fly about the room. This point should not be dwelt upon to any extent, merely contenting ourselves with the non- acceptance of the many wildly impossible statements we shall frequently find if we give the pupil's imagination un- trammelled play. It is not likely that too much emphasis will be given to the technical points outlined for this work in written ex- pression. On the contrary teachers of this grade are in- clined to look upon this technical work as something which may be deferred till the pupils enter the grammar grades or at least till they reach the higher primary grades. Yet it is true that during one week of the child's first month of school the use of the margin can be taught more easily and more thoroughly than can be done in months of effort at correction after the habit of ignoring a margin has been firmly fixed by years of practice in the primary grades. To teach it easily and thoroughly the pupil should be required to leave a margin at the left side of his desk in every sort of seat-work, whether it be mere stick-laying and other forms of hand-work or the work more nearly related to written work on paper. The dullest and most immature child can grasp what is required in observing a margin, the most recently arrived non-English speaking immigrant child 123 can see at a glance what the teacher means though he may not understand a word she says, and the ease with which the teacher can pass up and down the aisles to inspect the work without inadvertently brushing oft' the first word of each sentence would be a sufficient reason for introducing margins in this grade even if the more important reasons were lacking. The appearance of the work in other respects may well receive attention. When the words are built with the printed letters the lines should be straight, the words separated by spaces, the use of capital letters in the middle of the word specially guarded against, and letters and words should not be allowed to strew the Hoor. If the child is copying work he will be inclined to spend much time picking up letters from the floor; the child composing sentences of his own thinking is more careful to prevent this unwelcome inter- ruption. The suggestion that the child shall glance at the floor for dropped letters after the completion of each sentence will usually keep it clear of letters. Some teachers detain after school pupils who scatter the material for occupation work, some teachers ignore the littered floor and allow the janitor to sweep up and discard much material in this way. The seat-work material is usually quite inexpensive and after having been upon the floor is sometimes unfit for further use, but the question of expense — though it might amount to quite a little in the aggregate — fades into insignificance when com- pared with the importance of the training inculcated through the pupil's attitude toward this material and his responsi- bility for it. In training children one of the mistakes into which we fall is to measure each act of the child by arbitrary standards of right and wrong and often by our statements of what he should do or should not do. If we tell him not to do a thing we consider him a culprit if he does it, no matter how natural his act may be under the circumstances which prompt it. Obedience is an imperative element in training, but the wrong may lie in our command and not in his disobedience. If we 124 order the pupil not to drop letters upon the floor we are im- posing too great a demand, for letters will occasionally fall in spite of careful handling. If we require him to remain after school to pick up the dropped letters near his desk we find him tempted to evade this penalty by seeking an oppor- tunity to brush them under another pupil's desk. In any case it is hard to determine which of two or three pupils may be responsible for the dropped letters unless we use the letters printed upon colored cardboard and give each pupil a color which differs from that of any of his neighbors. Or instead of demanding too strict obedience we may fall into the error of thinking that while these children are small it can make but little difference whether we correct their faults or not, that the act of a little child may be more safely overlooked than if he were many years older. This is so true in so many eases that we look about for some guiding principle which will help us to decide what acts we may safely ignore and which should be checked. This principle may be found in tJie tendency of any act in question. Apply- ing this i)rinciple here we may ask ourselves these questions: Does careless wasting or soiling of occupation material tend to teach the individual pupil neatness, care of material, care in handling, thrift, responsibility, or does it have a definite tendency in the opposite direction? How may we use the written language exercise to inculcate the habits we desire? We may do this by showing the pupils that while it is natural that the letters should fall to the floor yet a little care will keep most of them upon the desk, and prompt attention to those which fall will prevent their becoming soiled and will prove but little interruption to the work. "But I don't like to see children picking up things in school ! ' ' some one protests. Wlio does ? And who likes to see the floor littered with wasted material? Which sight shows that training is being given? Which should guide us in directing our work, the thing we like to see or the thing the pupils need? If many or frequent resorts are made by the children to this practice of picking up are our pupils 125 careful enough, and should we direct our efforts toward check- ing the picking up or toward greater care in handling? In any case what bearing does our discussion of these minor mat- ters have upon the important subject of teaching language and why is it permitted so much space here? The answer to the last question lies in the fact that we are not teaching language but teaching the child through the language exercises. Every exercise we give is a teaching exercise, positi^^e or negative, whether it be the most inane of occupation work or the most brilliant of recitation activity. We are either teaching him to think, to apply the knowledge already gained, to practice self-direction, self-control, to rely upon his own initiative, to conquer the problem set for him (if it be only the attempt to remember a new word or fact), or we are teaching him to shirk, to rely upon others, to present work which he does not understand, to be a mental loafer instead of a thinker. The teachers who have secured good results in language through the method suggested here, i. e., teachers who have taught the child to grow through these exercises, are teachers who recognize that we wrong our pupils by allowing them to waste their time and energy over futile busy- work; these teachers realize the downward drag exerted by the inatten- tion, carelessness, and other unfortunate mental habits en- couraged by failure to inspect seat-work ; they are alive to the fact that the child enters school with some power to think and that this power should be aroused and developed from the beginning of his course; they are keen to note how the relation and co-ordination of reading and language may be made to serve as means of providing material for thinking in the language exercise; and they find that the self -directed and independent nature of the work not only prevents the danger of making too great demands upon the more immature mind or frailer physique of the handicapped child, but al- lows the precocious child to travel as far and as fast as he will without parting company with his slower neighbor. Per- haps the most helpful element of this method is found in its 126 adaptation to the needs of the non-English speaking child, who is often so much more mature in mind and larger in body that he can feel little or no fellowship with his classmates, and he finds still less inspiration in the occupations which may serve to keep them busy. With each language exercise outlined here his scanty knowledge of English grows surer and more vital; his reading vocabulary gains a drill which makes it not only more familiar but more alive, and while for the dullest pupil, doubly hampered by a language new to him, this drill brings more rapid progress, to the keen-witted Mary Antins this work allows the teacher to give each day the hint which is needed at that time but which, thanks to the ambition and the brains of the little foreigner, once given is never needed in just that place again. Chapter IV. LANGUAGE WORK IN GRADE I A. (Second Term's Work.) In this chapter the oral and written work will not be treated separately as this will not be needed by the teacher who is thoroug-hly familiar with the preceding pages — as every teacher of this grade should be if she is to teach pupils who have been receiving the instruction outlined here for the grade below. Teachers sometimes say of some topic under discussion, "But that is not my work, that is scheduled for the grade below and the children have covered that ground before they come to me." But knowledge is not stored in the mind as money may be deposited in a bank, to remain on deposit subject to call. Ideas more nearly resemble seeds which germinate in suitable soil, but which will wither and die if they do not receive nurture. As well might a gardener say, "I don't need 'to prune and cultivate this young tree, because it was planted last year!" This lack of continuity in the successive grades is one great cause of the pupil's feeble mental grasp upon the knowl- edge we attempt to instill as a part of his equipment for adult life. We ignore the processes by which children learn when we assume that the time spent in one grade is adequate for a thorough teaching of the knowledge assigned to that grade. It is adequate for the presentation of that knowledge, for its comprehension by the pupil and for its lodgment in his memory, but that is not sufficient for retention. The knowl- edge must be reviewed and applied in the following grades for several years before the permanent impression can be accomplished. One of the safeguards thrown about the development of the individual and the progress of the race is found in the fact that the child easily forgets. If every impression made 128 upon the plastic mind of the child were indelible no one could free himself from the effects of early environment. If the mind of the child were not so suggestible, so ready to allow new impressions to replace earlier ones, there would be small hope of correcting bad habits or counteracting vicious influences. This impressionability to new influences and ideas is of value when we teach the child, yet it may lead us astray. He so readily grasps the facts we present that we have no doubt we have "accomplished the work of the grade." But we should recognize that the child's mind is built to forget wdth equal readiness unless the impression is very strong, and that it is only by repeating the impression of the fact month after month and year after year that this impression becomes a lasting one. The imperative necessity of reviewing the work of earlier grades, as a definite part of the work of each grade, is seldom realized by the teacher of the higher grades. Let us correct this mistake at the start and under- stand the reason why each Grade I A teacher may legiti- mately be held responsible for her pupils' knowledge of the work of Grade I B as well as for the work assigned to Grade I A. In the work in oral expression the aim should be to secure an increase in ease and fluency in expression and an increase in the pupil's vocabulary along each of the lines outlined for Grade I B. In addition to this, the oral language exercises in Grade I A should develop some power to make several sen- tences about one subject, some power to discriminate in the choice of words to vary the beginnings of sentences, some skill in selecting topics suited to a subject, and the ability to compose a short original oral composition of three or four sentences. While this work in oral composition is an essential pre- liminary to the seat-work required in this grade it should not be used for this purpose alone. Oral descriptions from topics should be a recognized part of the required work in oral language, — not drilled descriptions of objects previously 129 studied, but impromptu descriptions of any suitable object at hand or brought into the class for this purpose. The child's first description of the object, — fruit, flower, toy, animal, tool, etc., — is the only description of any value in this exercise. This does not mean that the same object may not be described several times during the term by different pupils or by the same pupil, but the descriptions should not be based upon his memory of the former efforts to describe this object. We may show him ways in which his description may be im- proved, then ask him to make these improvements in a similar description of some other object. Our purpose is not merely to secure good description but to secure power to describe. In the seat-work in grade I A the aim should be to secure for each individual in the class the opportunity and the ability for the daily expression of fresh thought which shall be based upon the child's own judgments and opinions, an expression which shall be directed to a great extent by the pupil's choice of topic, choice of words, choice of the form of the sentence, and which shall be subject to his scrutiny and correction before the teacher comes to his assistance. This aim demands upon the teacher's part ample and careful provision of subject-matter, thorough oral recitation so far in advance of the written work that it shall serve as a preparation for the written work but will not permit of memory reproduction, such restraint and self-control during the composition period that the pupils will not be helped to do work they should develop the power to do themselves, and such rigid inspection and correction following the pupils' best effort that errors shall not be allowed to become habits. Not only should the teacher of Grade I A be familiar \vith the work outlined for Grade I B but her class should have a full supply of the I B seat-work material for use during the first weeks of the term. It naturally follows that whenever a pupil enters the class from a city where this seat-work is. not required the teacher should give him the instruction 130 needed to enable him to do the work. The directions for the inspection and correction of the seat-work should be faith- fully observed and even greater care should be exercised in this inspection in Grade I A for the advanced nature of the work gives greater opportunity for errors and for cumula- tive emphasis of the error if it is not promptly corrected. While in technical points the only advance is the use of the period at the end of the sentence, yet in the important points of vocabulary and form the advance is great and requires careful instruction. Under the topic vocabulary the course of study provides for instruction along several lines: — the idea, the word, rec- ognition of the written and printed form, recognition of the phonic elements of the spoken word, practice in spelling the word from the sound, and ability to use the word in indi- vidual sentences, oral sentences and sentences built with printed letters. The work of Grade I B has provided a limited vocabulary of about one hundred words with which the child is familiar along all the lines mentioned above. The aim of Grade I A is to increase this vocabulary as rapidly as the child's intelli- gence will lead the way, the main thought in all this work being that the idea should always accompany the word, and that, in general, spelling should be based upon the pupil's knowledge of phonics. The lessons in oral spelling in this grade have been based upon the child's recognition of the phonic elements found in the word he is called upon to spell and the chief work in this study is to awaken a "spelling consciousness" in the pupil's mind, the habit of pausing to note mentally the spell- ing of a word before he tries to reproduce it. His previous training has given him a working spelling vocabulary, his knowledge of phonics will give him reliable help in many words, his reading book may serve as a dictionary for many others, and it is only the unusual word that will be likely to lead him into an error in spelling. If the pupil is commended for the use of the unusual word, is shown how to spell it 131 correctly the first time he uses it and is encouraged to put it into his individual list of "Hard Words I Know How to Spell," and if the work in phonics and in oral spelling has not been neglected, the habit of correct spelling will be started and in some cases will be fairly well established in this grade. The ability to spell correctly is not an aim in itself, the only use and value it has will be found in the written work in school and in later life. This connection between correct spelling and written work should be made with the first seat-work exercises and insisted upon throughout school work. Though the English language is far from phonetic in its entirety, yet fundamentally it rests upon the "families" which control its spelling and a knowledge of these families will make the words which escape this classification more easily learned simply because of their prominence as ex- ceptions. Exercises in language for Grade I A. (The first seven exercises of this course are found in the notes for written work in Grade IB.) VJII. Word-hnildivg Since spelling is an important factor in correct written work the pupils should have much practice in building words with printed letters to direct the attention to the correct spelling of the words. This should be preceded by the oral work suggested on pp. 33, 34 of the Course of Study (1912). Word building based upon the phonic work of the reading chart will furnish good individual seat-work. The best re- sults are obtained when pupils sitting near each other are given difi'erent groups or families to build, in this way in- suring individual work from each pupil. The caution found in paragraph three, p. 35, of the Course of Study, referring to Grade 11 B work in building words of a series is equally ap- plicable to the work in word-building in Grade I A. The main points in this exercise to be noticed by the teacher are: — (1) The pupil should recognize that he is 132 building words which mean something, and (2) he should hold himself ready to place each word in an oral sentence whenever the teacher may call for it. Too frequently the teacher is content to let the pupil string letters together and is satisfied if each group contains the combination which spells the "family" the pupil is illustrating. The voluntary selection of w^ords to spell called for in the oral work, Course of Study, p. 38, may be applied to the seat-work in word-building. The pupil may be provided with a slip of paper upon which the teacher has written "Hard Words" and he may place this at the head of the list he builds upon his desk. He will be quite likely to copy this heading for himself and in time will reproduce it from memory, thus increasing his list by two words. The sugge.s- tions for Grade II A on p. 37 of the Course of Study are in- tended to guide the work in each grade where individual lists of hard words are attempted. This work depends wholly upon the interest in oral spelling which the teacher has been able to arouse. The interest of the home is easily secured and this is the source from which the pupil receives the instruction in this voluntary' spelling. The child should look upon the exercise as an oppor- tunity to show his progress and power in spelling and he should be held rigidly to the production of only those words which he has learned how to spell and knows that he can spell correctly. No guess work and no incorrect work should be tolerated in this exercise in voluntary spelling of difficult words. The purpose of this exercise is frequently misun- derstood. The aim is a deeper and a broader one than the mere acquisition of an increased number of Avords which the child is able to spell. If this were the sole or the chief aim the piling up of these unrelated, difficult words which he might never need would be a misfortune to the child, and forcing him to acquire them would be an educational crime. But this exercise calls for no forcing of the child's effort, his interest and enthusiasm are the only channels through which these words should enter his mind and find a perma- 133 nent lodgment there. The aim is to arouse and to deepen the spelling consciousness, the knowledge that absolute accuracy is an essential in all spelling exercises, that an effort is needed to fix the correct spelling in mind, that no one can make this effort for the speller, that he must make it himself, and that effort results in power. Any word sufficiently difficult to require eft'ort will serve to secure these results. If the word is selected by the pupil and learned outside the school it will usually relate to his environment and will enter his mind at the point of contact with liis other interests and so become a real part of his vocabulary. It occasionally happens that brothers or sisters in the higher grades will become so interested in the child's progress in learning to spell that unusual or unfamiliar words will be suggested by them and the first grade pupil proudly brings to the teacher the ability to spell a word which he cannot understand and for which it is doubtful if he will have any future use. To refuse to accept this word would puzzle and discourage the child whose thought has been to find "Hard words I can spell." This difficulty may be met by requesting the pupils to bring in only words which they can use intelligently in sen- tences, at the same time calling attention to the fact that we learn to spell words in order to spell them correctly when we write them in sentences, and showing the children the futility of loading the memory with a word they cannot use now and will not need to know how to spell for years to come, if ever. The first grade child who spells geography correctly and gives the sentence, "My brother studies geography in the grammar grades," has used the word ac- ceptably though he may be ignorant of the subject of geography and unable to define it; but he would better ex- pend his energies upon some word more nearly related to his present needs in spelling. Let it be repeated that the knowledge of how to spell such a word as geography is of negligible value to a child in this grade. The main elements of value to be looked for 134 are the child's interest in learning to sjoell, the effort he makes (and no child should be urged to a degree of activity in this exercise beyond that prompted by genuine interest and vol- untary effort), his consciousness of achievement and the re- sulting self-confidence. The attempt to teach him a recogni- tion of values in the choice of words should not be allowed to overshadow these. These desirable results will not be secured unless the child selects the word he wishes to learn, commits it to memory, and then spells it accurately without hesitation. No second attempt, no pause for thought after the word has been begun, no hint from the teacher or from another pupil should be allowed, for only in this way can we emphasize the fact that power, ability, is the end sought. Volunteers only should be called upon in this exercise and the act of volun- teering should be accepted as tantamount to saying, "I know I can spell this hard word." No reproof need be ad- ministered for failure, the teacher evinces only disappoint- ment as she comments, "You didn't know! You would better have studied it more. Don't try to spell it in school till you are sure you can spell it." Proper names are favorite hard words with the children and though they sometimes choose those which will not be used frequently in later years, yet the child's delight in difficult geographical names may point to some impulse or awakening interest which has not yet been recognized by us. The children may be encouraged to learn to spell the Chris- tian names of their associates and family, an accomplishment well worth the effort. If the child governs his selection of any word by the test of whether he can place it in a sentence or not, and if the teacher enforces this rule there will be little danger that our pupils will waste any time and energy in the acquisition of mental lumber which they cannot use. "When this exercise with "Hard words I know how to spell" does not result in a decided quickening of the pupil's power to spell, the teacher should question whether she is conducting the exercise in the correct way and should search for the causes of this lack of success. 135 The following- are some of the words spelled by the pupils in three first grade rooms. The lists are arranged in parallel columns that a comparison may be made of the words common to all the classes. "WORDS I CAN SPELL" Grade I A Grade I A Grade I A Entire Class, Entire Class, One section, 45 pupils, 45 pupils. 10 pupils 384 different 436 different 318 different words. words. words. again Ada after Alice after again all again all am Albert along among all am and always and another am ant apple American apple are an are Arthur Duckworth and asleep as answered at asleep apple away away are around at away awoke baby baby babies ball" babies back basket back bag bat ball ball be band bare beautiful bang be bed basket bear bee bat bee 136 been be been Bella Noguiera Beatrice bell bells bear bed below bed best best bees birds big bell birdies bird beside black birdie best blew black big blow blossom bill blue blue bird bluebirds bluebird birds boat boat blaok book book Blackburn books boss blossoms Boston Boston blow box bound blowing Boy Blue box blue boy boys bluebird boys brand boat bring bring books bright brook bounding brother brown bough but brother bound by brush bow bull dog boy busy boys bvittercup bright butterfly brightly bring brook burn busy butterfly buzz bv 137 cake candy can came car cart carry carpenter cat caterpillar catch cent chair cherry children clay clover clock cluck coats coffee cold come coming cow crying cry cup curl curly Daisy dark day dear call came can can candy cap candle cat came cocoa captain cold cards come eat coming catcher corn cent cherry child' city clap clear cling close closing clover coats cocoa cold color come coming comes company cook cow crack cup cut daisy day dandelion dear Dan did darting dinner 138 deep desk Dick did dig dime dandelion do dog' doll done door dresses duck eat ears eggs elephant Enos every express eves fairy fall Fall River faster father fat feed feet fence fire five flat Dash do day does dear doll deep door did down dime duck do does dog doll done down dress dresses east east eastern eat eat Edward eggs egg eight eight Ella Esther ever eye every everywhere eyes fall fall fan fan far fast fast fat fat feet father fell feed fight feet five fell flower fire fly fish four five fox 139 flag flag Frank flower flew from fly flower for fly fold flying found fold fox for Frank S'trojny forest free four Friday found from Fred full from fun full fun gave gang garden get garden get girls Gaudette girl go gave glad goat gay go good get God goose girl going grain give gold Grandpa given good gray glad goose green go grass ground going green gold grow gong gun good Grace grandpa grass green grew ground grow growing 140 hand hand hat happy hang have has hard hay hat has he have hat hen he have her head he hide Henry Goldstein heart high her heavens hold here Helen home Helen her how hill hide horn his high hit hill hold his home home honey hook hood hop hop Horace horse horse house hot how house hungry how in ice ice indeed in in is inch inch inches inches indigo indeed is is it jay Jack Jack John jacks Jill Johanna Pinyminski James joy joy Jan jump jump Joseph 141 joy jump jumping just keep kill keeper kite kite kitty kitty knife knife know know lay land land lily lay lay line laying leaf little lazy let Lizzie leaves light long letter lily look light little low lighthouse long love like longed Lunch Room lily look luck lilies lion listen little long look loves love made made made make makes make mamma man man man many many ]\Iary Maurice mamma mamma marbles Mary Manuel mat may Mary 142 jMax Portnoy May Massachusetts Maxwell me mass may meadow mat me might may meadows milk me melting meow mill meadow milk moon men mill mother met Miss (name of principal) music mice Miss (name of teacher) must milk Monday my Morris moo morning moon moon mother mother moxie my must mustard my nest near name 11 e w nest nest NcAV Bedford news new New York next news nice nice New Bedford no night night nose nine nine now no no Nokomis not not nothing now now oak oak oak of oblong of old of old on often on one ohl one H3 orange other out over papa peep peeping pick picture pieces pig pink pin place plant play playing pony pot Pool Room pray pretty pussy on or one other or our other out out outside over pack page papa peep pat pig pear place peep plant Peter play pig pretty piece place plant playing play pool pretty prettiest pussv rabbit rain rainbow ran rat read red reindeer rest race rain rabbit ran rainbow- rat rain red ran redbreast rang rest rat ride red ring ■ redbreast rock-a-by 144 robin reindeer Rosalie Rollo rest rose rolling ringing run room robin running rose Rover rock roll room rose Roy Rover rushing said said said sale sack saw salt sand say Santa sang see Sawyer saw seeing say Santa seek school Saturday seems searching say sevens see school she seem see shell sharp seed shining she seven shoe shoe shade shy show she sing Silvia Cohen sheep singing sing shoes six singing shoot sky sky shop skyland sleep short sleep sled shout snake small side snow smell sing snow-ball snow singing snow-man so sit some soap six song 145 soda sky soon soft sleigh spoon son small spring some snow stay something so star soon soap stick sparrows sold stop speak some sway spin something sweet spring sometimes swim Stafros Kryriakorokos somewhere Stella Wasoski song stocking soon stove sound store spell string spoon summer spy sun squirrel sway Stanislaus sweet Stankiewieg sweetest stars swim Stella swing stick suits summer sun sweet swing table table take take tall tall tall tell tell talk ten ten tea that the ten the them tell them they that then this 146 the then there they thick think this three time tin tiny tip to told Tom too top town tree true try Tuesday two there they things think this till time tiny to Tom too took top toys tree trimmed two three till time to told Tom too top tree two under up us under up use up used violet verv violet want walk wall way we were what Avas wake way wait we wall well want west was what water whispered we 147 when white will Willie willows wind window wings winter with wolf wonderful woodland woodpecker white week who west wild white will who willow wig wind will wing Willie winter wind with window wood winter woods wood woodland woods woodland yellow yes you your year yes yellow Yolande you your JX. The pupil's name copied ivith printed letters. Each pupil's name may be written by the teacher upon paper stiff enough to endure repeated handling by the child. These should be kept by the pupils at their desks and after the first lessons needed to insure correct copying each pupil should copy his name with the printed letters at the head of his seat work at least once each day. In a short time the pupils will be found building the names from memory but even then frequent inspection will be needed to train the pupil in the habit of spelling his name correctly. X. Using the reader as a dictionary. The pupil's attention is called to the fact that many of the words he wishes to use in sentences will be found in the reading-book, and one or more exercises are given 148 in which the teacher selects a word which may present some difficulty in spelling and shows the pupils how to find it in their books. Haphazard searching should not be allowed at any time. The child should first attempt to associate the word with the rhyme or reading lesson in which it occurs. If breakfast is the word he is searching for he recalls the line, ' ' Come and get your breakfast." In the same way the words, cradle, bough, safe, floivers, leaves, stronger, mother, summer, winter, through, should, eye, bread, violet, coming, etc., and others of equal difficulty can be correctly used in the seat-work if the habit is formed of locating them by association and finding them as needed. This study of the word reacts in turn upon the reading exercise and when the difficult word is first en- countered a deeper impression is made because the child is ambitious to use it in his seat-work sentences and welcomes the increase in his vocabulary. Many reading-books contain a list of words alphabetically arranged and the pupils may learn to use this list after they have learned the alphabet. To prevent mental indolence and a habit of referring to the book whether the help is needed or not, it is well to insist that whenever the book is resorted to the pupil shall study the word and shall then close his book and build the word from memory, looking again if necessary but always building with the book closed. This requirement is not too difficult for the child and is more important than many teach- ers realize because they lose sight of the fact that correct work alone is not what we are aiming for but the power to produce correct work through channels which will increase this power. XI. Building original sentences with the printed letters. It is in this exercise that true composition begins. Pre- vious to this the greater part of the work has been based upon the pupil's unconscious memory reproduction of thoughts suggested by his reading lessons. The sentence has been the unit of composition and till near the end of the Grade I B term 149 each sentence has stood alone without much thought relation to those which preceded or followed it. Because of this ten- dency it is well to introduce topic work early in Grade I A to prevent the formation of a habit of haphazard, scatter- brained thinking. The first requirement of composition is that the sentences shall contain the individual thought of the writer, that they shall express his own judgments and opinions instead of being a mere echo of the thoughts and opinions of another writer. The earlier we present this point of view to the child the more thoughtful his compositions will be. This can be done simply and easily through exercises in silent reading mth oral response and silent reading with seat-work response. XII. Silent reading with oral response. Pages bearing the headings, ' ' Something to Do, " " Some- thing to Tell," and "Silent Reading," are found in the pupils' readers and furnish the suggestion for this exercise. These directions and questions from primers and first readers may be written upon cards, one upon each card, and the pupils may l)e asked to read silently and then follow the direction or answer the question upon the card without oral reading. When this has become a familiar exercise the scope of the work may be enlarged to include questions and directions not encountered in the work in reading. If this work were confined to literal copies of the pages of the text-book which furnish this test of the pupil's ability to read, it would in- crease the pupil's skill in reading and would add to his mental poise, his ability to handle old work under new con- ditions. But valuable as the exercise will prove up to this point, there is so much more to be gained from it that we should not linger here when our pupils have gained this skill. To secure the more important benefits which the exercise will furnish, the scope of the questions and directions should be enlarged to include other subjects of study, nature, litera- ture, hygiene, etc., and the child's observations and experi- 150 ences concerning life itself. What birds have you seen? What fruits do you like? Name some flowers you know. Are there any clouds in the sky now? Is it raining today? Does the wind blow? Is the sun shining? Wliat games can you x>la.y ? What work can you do to help your mother ? Give the name of a child Avho sits near you. Name three things tliat are good for children to eat. What is your name ? How old are you ? What can you do ? What can a dog do ? What can a fish do ? Draw a square. Build an oblong. Tell some- thing about Indian babies. What did little Jack Horner do? What came and sat down beside little Miss ]\Iuffet? Wliat did Tommy Tucker do? What can you sing? What can you write? Name a Avord you can spell. These are not too hard for children in this grade to read or to answer. In many cases the context will enable the child to read a word familiar to his ear although he may not have met it before in reading; with other words phonetic sounding will give the pronunciation. When the teacher finds that a child cannot read the question or cannot answer it she should sub- stitute another card for the one he failed on. The purpose of the exercise is not to test the pupil's knowledge — though this exercise can be used to advantage when a test of knowl- edge is desired — the aim is to furnish an opportunity for individual thought and expression and this cannot be met when the child cannot read the question or when he cannot think the answer. It is evident that to carry out the purpose of the exercise the questions should be w^ell within the scope of the pupil's knowledge and experience and should require no severe men- tal effort to furnish the answer. While they may sometimes appeal to the memory they should be directed mainly to the child's observation and experience and to his ability to execute. Their chief demands will be made upon his "gump- tion" and common-sense. As the children become familiar with the phrasing, new ways of wording the same thought should be sought, and the new subject-matter of the reading lessons should be included. The pupils may also suggest ques- tions and directions to be placed upon the cards. 151 The results to be gained from this exercise are too profit- able to be disregarded. This work insures the needed review in reading script which is likely to be neglected after the pupil can read print. It tests individual skill in reading and the responses furnish practice in individual oral expres- sion based upon observation and judgment as well as upon memory. It gives practice in approaching familiar knowl- edge from a new angle or by a new path and develops self- confidence and poise which render the child less liable to timidity or confusion when faced with unfamiliar or unex- pected conditions. And it takes the schoolroom exercises out of the atmosphere of mechanical, artificial, technical instruc- tion and opens the windows of the mind to the freer air of living. The following report of an exercise introducing this work in a Grade I A class before the end of the first month of the term will illustrate its purpose. The pupils were mainly from homes where little or no English was spoken, hence their English vocabulary was influenced greatly by the reading lessons and language lessons of the preceding months. A section of the class was called to the blackboard as in a reading lesson. The teacher wrote upon the board, What birds have you seenf and allowed the pupils to study the sentence silently for a short time. She then explained the purpose of the exercise, i. e., to have the children read the sentence to themselves, then play that someone had asked them the question. The child called upon was not to read the question aloud, he was to give only the answer. The first pupil called upon started to read the ciuestion orally, but the teacher interrupted him witli the first word and repeated her directions. Seeing that this child had not yet grasped the idea of how the exercise was to be conducted another child was called upon. He too tried to read the question aloud but was not permitted to do so. It did not take the children long, however, to grasp the idea and the answer, "Bluebird," came as the oral response of the first 152 child who understood what was wanted. When she was told that the response should be a sentence she gave, "I have seen bluebirds." Other pupils were called upon to give sen- tences which mentioned other birds and then a pupil w-as asked to give a sentence which would name all the birds he could remember having seen. His reply was, "I have seen sparrows and bluebirds and robins and crows." The plan of the exercise had now been grasped and after that but one response to each sentence was called for. What fiov'ers have you seen? ^Yhat fruits do you likef What can you dol What is your namef How old are you? What can a girl do? What can a hoy do? What can you do to help your mother? brought ready responses after silent reading of the question. Is the wind Mowing today? called forth the reply. * ' The wind is blowing today, ' ' and this in turn prompted the teacher's oral question, "What makes you think so?" Glanc- ing out of the-Avindow as she spoke, she continued, "How do you know when the wind is blowing?" At this the pupils turned to see if they could discover any signs of the wind outside, and a soft murmur of protest began. "The wind isn't blowing." "1 don't see any wind." " 'Tain't blow- ing!" "No," and it was evident that the opinion was fairly general that the wind was not blowing. To the child who had somewhat scornfully exclaimed, " 'Tain't blowing!" the teacher said, "Isn't it blowing or is it blowing? How do we know when the wind is blow- ing?" And then her glance included the other pupils, in- viting responses. ' ' Y'ou can feel it, " " You can see it, " " You can hear it," came in rapid reply. "Wliat can you see when the wind is blowing?" brought several replies, "You can see little pieces of dirt fly up in the air," "You can see paper blowing about," "You can see the trees rock," "You can see the branches move." Then, turning again to the boy who had said, " 'Tain't blowing," the teacher repeated her question, '^ Is n't the wind blowing, or is it lilowing now?" And the hoy, glancing again at the motionless trees, replied, "The wind is n't blowing." 158 With the next questions, Is it raining today? Is the sun shining now? each pupil subjected the thought to the test of an inspection of the weather conditions outside before giving his reply. Is it raining today? was answered correctly by the child who had failed to note whether the wind was blowing when he made his first reply. Though many of tliese pupils were children who heard no English spoken in their homes, their readiness to talk in this exercise was noticeable, as was also the frequent pause to translate their thought into English in giving their replies. When one little boy had read silently, "What are you?" he whispered again to himself, "What are you?" then with nods and shakes of the head, as he approved or discarded the phrases he was testing on his tongue, he whispered, "What are you? Are you, you are. I are, I am," and gave his oral response, "I am a boy." In another class a child who answ^ered this question said, "I am a little boy," and then with a measuring glance at the smaller children near him he hastened to substitute, "No, I am a big boy." In many cases the question furnished the phrasing of the answer but there was no attempt to hold the pupil to this phrasing. He was allowed to use what words he pleased pro- vided his response held closely to the thought of the question. XIII. Silent reading and. seat-work responses. These cards furnish variety for the seat-work exercises in language in the early weeks of the term and Avhile using the vocabulary of the reading lessons lead the child away from the reiteration of the subject-matter of the reading exercise which furnished his chief seat-work in Grade I B. Since this widening of the range of thought calls for an occasional word not in the pupil's spelling vocabulary, it is well to use this as a general exercise in language under the direct super- vision of the teacher instead of assigning it for independent seat-work. The teacher will need to give help in spelling the word which the child does not know how to spell, and during the correction period she may suggest improvement in 154 phrasing or in a choice of word to express the thought which the child has made apparent but which he has not been able to embody in good form. Too often we ignore tlie gain which comes to the slower pupil through seeing or hearing the work of others. This is specially helpful to the child when new work is being at- tempted, and much may be gained by having the pupils read their sentences aloud after the work is completed or by hav- ing a child read the work on another pupil's desk. Interest is increased if the pupils are allowed to call upon those who are to recite. With every seat-work exercise review should be given upon the four points of accuracy insisted upon from the time the child begins to build sentences. After the pupils have become thoroughly familiar with these points variety in the manner of presenting these questions should be sought. The teacher may ask the questions, the children may ask them in concert, some child may be called upon to ask them, or the work may be distributed in other ways. The children should be trained to answer the question in the form in which it is put. even if it is an unexpected form. In an exercise w^hich w-as being corrected a child was called upon to read his w^ork and the class was asked to, question him concerning its correctness. If his work was correct he might come before the class, call upon some pupil to recite and then question him about the sentences he had built. Then this child in turn became the teacher. When it came Constance's turn to assume this part, the following dialogue took place : Constance. Roy, you may read your sentences. Roy reads while the little teacher gives close attention. It is sometimes instructive to see the reflection of the class teacher's manner in her small substitute. Sometimes a child will pause before allowing the exercise to proceed because she does not consider the class in order. "We are waiting for just one little girl who is not paying attention, ' ' the child may remark. Constance does not need to resort to this for her pupils are much interested. 155 Constance. Did you leave a margin? Roy. Yes, Constance. Constance. Did you begin every sentence with a capital letter? Roy. Yes, Constance. Constance. Did you place a period at the end of every sentence ? Roy. Yes, Constance. Constance. Are all your letters upside down? Roy. Yes, Constance. Constance had intended to say "right side up" and Roy had expected her to say this, yet it is not a bad plan to have the wording of the questions changed occasionally. ''Do any of your sentences begin Avith a small letter?" is equally etfective in helping the child to discover his own mistakes, and the need of changing the mechanical phrasing of his reply gives good practice in oral Avork. The main elements in this work are the child's familiarity with the technical points emphasized in this grade and his personal responsi- bility in securing correct work on these points. To secure this there must be insistent daily drill. Another requisite of composition is that successive sen- tences shall refer to the same su])ject. This may be intro- duced through the review work by suggesting that each child choose a subject, the squirrel, the bluebird, Boy Blue, etc., and confine his sentences to that one subject, telling all he can of what the object has or can do, often making the last sentence an expression of his own thought or wish about that subject. The following sentences illustrate the pupil's ability to confine his sentences to one subject. These sentences were built with letters during a seat-work period in the fourth month of a Grade I A term and were the independent work of the pupils, presented here without correction as they were made by the children. Each group of sentences was com- pleted in one seat-work period without oversight or sug- gestion by the teacher. The pupil's name frequently gives a 156 clue as to whether English is a foreign language to him or is his native tongue. In some of the exercises the teacher al- lowed each pupil to choose his subject, in others she passed slips of paper to the pupils each slip bearing a title different from the others; sometimes the pupils described objects in the room, in the home, or in the garden, sometimes they based their sentences upon a picture, and in some cases they selected some word from their individual spelling list and used that as a title. To anyone unfamiliar with the work of beginners these sentences may seem to contain many errors. They are presented here as they were found upon the pupils' desks be- fore any corrections had been made by the teacher, as this is the best way to show the power possessed by the pupils. The sentences upon one subject were taken from the work of one class, but work from more than one class is presented here. The Rain, it is going to rain. Now it is raining. I cannot go out and play because it is raining. The rain is coining on the garden. The Rain. I am getting wet from the rain. Come again rain. The rain came to the garden. The rain fell on the flowers. The Rain. The rain is up in the sky. See the beautiful rain. The rain is falling down. The beautiful flowers love the rain. The Rain. Tlie rain is over to-day little girls and boys. To-day the sun is shineing the rain is over. I dow not want the rain to come to day. 157 The Eain. Yesterday it was raining. It cleared up in the afternoon. But it got damp. The Snowflakes. The snowflakes come round and round. Come little snowflakes. The snowflakes fly in the birds nest. The snowflakes fl.y to the tree. The Wind. I see the wind blowing the leaves away. The north wind blows very fast. Come wind blow all my leaves away. I am the wind and I blow very fast. My Garden. S'ee the blossoms. Can you see the big garden ? 1 am going in the big garden today. I like my pretty garden. Boston. I am going to Boston and you may come with me if you can. Boston is a big city. John is at Boston. Neds brother is going to Boston. The Eggs. The Blue jay has eggs in his nest. Three tiny eggs are in the nest. The eggs are as blue as blue can be. Bluebird has three tiny eggs too. Vealanta Oliveira. 158 Santa Glaus. Santa Clans comes in the night of Christmas. Santa Clans comes in his sleigh. Santa Clans comes with his big sleigh bells. Mary Sylvia. The Snowflakes. The boys like the snowflakes to come. The snowflakes flys round and round in the meadow. The boys like to play in the snowflakes. Come little snowflakes cover the bare ground. Annie Viera. The Tree. Let me fly high over the tree top. Robin made a nest in the old oak tree. I see the nest in the oak tree. The tree is in the meadow. The Kite. Tom has a pretty new kite. Grandpa gave me a new kite. I will fly my kite in the meadow. The Dandelion. One morning Dandelion say summer is come. Dandelion was asleep in the meadows. I get the pretty dandelion. Manuel Netto. The Leaves. All the trees has leaves. They are falling from the trees. They are falling over me. Lillian Fragosa. The Baby. They has a little baby boy. Baby plays with me all day. I will play with baby too. Do you see the baby. Frank Mello. 159 The Nest. The nest is in the tall tree. The nest has eggs in it. They sing when they live in the nest. The birds live in there nest. Harry Bronspiegel. The Moon. The moon travuls all the nights. See the moon it is travuling all around. The moon is behind the clouds. The moon is yellow. John ^Manning. The Stove. I have a stove at home for my mother. The stove is black. It is made of iron. My mother cook on the stove. Yivina Santos. My Shoes. I have two shoes on my feet. My shoes are black. The shoes are made of leather. Some shoes are white and black. Victor Wilcox. Jack in the Pupit. Jack in the pupit grow in the swamp. It is green, white and brown. I see the jack in the pupit. The jack in the pupit is black. Florence Francis. (The pupil refers to the spadix within the sheath), The Lilac. see that violet lilac. The leaves are green. It grows in the yard. 160 The Top. Have you any tops. Yes I have three tops. The tops are made of wood and iron. My three tops are green. John L. Zimbra. The Dandelion. see the beautiful dandelion. It grows in the green feilds. Look it is yellow and green. 1 pick a dandelion. Josephine Dlugosz. The Desk. Do you see m}^ new desk. My desk is made of wood. I put my book in the desk. I put my letter in the desk. The Red Fox. (Picture on the wall), The red fox is looking for a little chicken. The red fox like a little chicken. The red fox wants some breakfast. Oslo Neubauer. The Chart. (The Aldine chart). The chart has spelling leson on it. The chart is a big one you know tis true. The chart is not little it is big. The chart has big righting on the back. Elsie Bland. The Red Fox. The red fox is in the woods. He is looking for breakfast. The fox is looking for some grapes. Thomas Colclouth. 161 The Clock. The clock is brown and white. The clock is telling what time it is. The clock stuck to the wall. John Cockshutt. The Umbrella. I have an umbrella for the rain now. Mother may I take the umbrella to school? Mother it is raining today I am going out with my umbrella. t^ i t^ -n "^ Evelyn Perillo. (The pupils had a talk with their teacher about a May- pole, they drew Maypoles upon the blackboard, then made sentences at their desks with their letters.) The :\lay Pole. They are winding the ribbons around the may pole. Dance little children dance around the may pole. All the children are dancing around the May pole. They are dancing with ribbons. The May Pole. The girls are dancing around the may pole. They are red orange yellow green blue and violet. Do you like to dance around the may pole. The May Pole. The children are dancing around the may pole. They like to dance around the may pole. Some children dont like to dance around a may pole. All the girls has a ribbon. The Elephant. Can you see the elephant in the circus? The elephant is gray he have one horn and ears. The elephant can play ball. John Barijlski. 162 The Plant. The plant as a red rose and a green leaf. Ma as a new plant in the house. Do you see the plant at the window girls. Are you glad to see mj^ new plat. Charles Travers. The Picture. Can you see my picture. The picture is red and white and blue. It is made of pretty paper. The picture is use for see. Alexandrina Espindola. The Lilac. I have a white lilac. The lilac is a big one. It smells sweet. It makes the room look pretty. It has a big green stem. Joseph Bell. The Fern. This is a fern it has green leaves. It has no smell it sit in a flower pot. It has six stems and it has a root. The Buttercup. I have a butter cup. It is yellow. It is a small flower. It smells sweet. It growls in the grass. It has a green stem. The bees get pollen from it. The Kite. I see the kite flying and he has no motor string It is flying up high to the sky. 163 (The drawing- supervisor drew a picture of a barnyard on the blackboard. After having the drawing lesson, the pupils used the picture as material for individual sentences.) The Barnyard. The horse is in the barnyard with his friend. The mother hen hacht one little chicken. The hen is looking at the rooster. The rooster is saying cock a doodl do. I am a turkey and I say goble goble goble. Olga Nosek. The Barnyard. The carpenter made the barn. I saw him make it. The hen and rooster are in the barn yard. I see one little chicken in the barn yard. Adalord Jacques. The Barnyard. I have a little chicken at home. Do you see the pigeon house on the barn. The old hen lives in the barn . The turkey said gobble gobble gobble. Laura Blais. The Barnyard. The rooster is in the barn. Do you see the little chickens Misis trip? (Mrs. Tripp.) Do you see the hen all the time. The big big rooster is on the roost. The duck is in the barnyard eating some corn. Esther Bird. The Barnyard. The chicken said cheep cheep. The rooster said cock a doodel doo. The turkey said goble goble. The hen keeps the chickens. The goose is eating corn. Do you see the brown barn? Robert Wade. 164 The Barnyard. Do you see the hen little girl and boy. Mr. Rooster to away. I do not like you. The rooster is going to eat some grass. My mother has some chickens. Rosemary Fournier. To introduce this work composite oral exercises should be taken at the blackboard. Robin Redbreast might furnish a good subject since it is found in the early pages of the reader. The teacher 's suggestions might be : — Tell what Robin Redbreast is. Wliere is he ? What is he doing? What has he ? A variety of answers might be given to this last question — He has a red breast, feathers, a nest, etc. What does he want? What does Robin Redbreast love? Tell one thing about him that is not told in the book. As each answer is given the teacher writes the statement upon the board, and before the close of the exercise the children read the sentences aloud. The teacher is careful to explain the nature of the exercise, i. e., to learn to make sentences about one thing. At the next recitation the children are grouped about the number table and each pupil builds with the printed letters his answer to the teacher's question. For one or more recita- tions different subjects may be taken and the answers to the teacher's questions may be given orally before the pupils build with the letters, not for the purpose of insuring cor- rect sentences to build but to give each child an idea of the nature of the exercise. Later each pupil should think his answer and then build it without oral repetition before building. Before the close of this exercise many of the pupils should read their pro- ductions, being allowed a few minutes for silent study be- fore reading. At first the teacher may give more attention to the precocious pupils that they may become self-direct- ing as soon as possible, leaving her free to direct the work of the less capable ones. If the pupils in but two rows of seats are taken at a time better work can be accomplished 165 each day and the entire class can be more effieienth" trained in a shorter time than if larger groups are taken at each recitation. As each pupil grasps the idea of independent composi- tion he may be sent to his seat to work with those who have already become independent of the teacher's help, while she continues to instruct those at the table. Some children will need the oral instruction and practice for days before they clearly understand what is required of them and for the C section of the class the work may need to be reduced to a minimum much below the achievements of the more intelli- gent pupils. But it is imperative that the pupils in C section shall learn to do the work assigned (which must be well within their reach) and that they shall gain the power to do that independently even though it be so much below grade that hope of promotion is out of the question. It should not be necessary here to call the teacher's attention to the loss of time, the loss of power, the deplorable training in inat- tention, inefficiency, discouragement, the loss of self-confi- dence and the habit of failure which result when the teacher allows herself to say or to think, "The children in C class are hopeless anyway, so I simply let them do what they can and don't pay much attention to them." When the pupil has grasped the idea of confining each sentence to the subject chosen he should proceed to apply it in his seat-work without any help from the teacher's oral hints or questions. He will be at no loss in selecting sen- tences to tell what he sees or thinks and Avill frequently dis- play much ingenuity in expressing his thought through his limited vocabulary. It is here that the need of inspection grows more imperative than ever, if that were possible, and to furnish the time needed for correction once each day the language exercise may follow the seat-work period and be devoted mainly to this correction. XIV. Working from topics. The following series of lessons may be introduced in the 166 second month of the term 's work in Grade I A, or earlier if desired. The exercises are designed to (1) introduce the use of topics in descriptive work; (2) furnish projects for work in drawing, manners, hygiene, etc.; (3) word study, including spelling, practice in the choice of words to secure variety in successive sentences; and (4) practice in express- ing the pupil's individual thought. The later seat-work is based upon the power gained in these oral exercises in the earlier weeks of the term. 1. Oral exercise. Introduction of topics. The pupils are grouped about the teacher in front of the blackboard. Eeference is made to color,— the girls' dresses, the drawing lesson, the fruit or flowers in the schoolroom, — and the topic color is written on the black- board to stand at the head of a column of words giving the names of colors to be w^ritten by the teacher as the pupils mention them. The children are already familiar with color names and have learned to recognize the colors, so the words come quickly and the main emphasis is placed upon the spelling of the words. i\Iany of these are already in the pupil 's reading vocabulary and the children may dictate the spelling of each word before the teacher writes it. After spending a short time in having the pupils read the color names in the column and in calling upon pupils to point to any color name called for the teacher turns to the next topic, size, and asks the pupils to give words Avhich will describe size as the color names describe the color. These are written in a column under the heading size as the pupils name and spell orally. Words describing shape are then called for and written in the same way in a column under the heading shape. 2. Oral exercise. Application of topics. The next exercise, which may follow immediately ov may be deferred till another recitation period if the pupils' mental energy shows signs of flagging, will be the applica- 167 tion of these topics in describing objects about the room or in the hands of the pupils. An additional topic is given. name. Most children of this age associate the word name with proper names and their attention may need to be called to the fact that all things have names, that names are the words by which we call things, if we call this object "a chair" then chair is the name of this object. Practice is given in naming objects till this use of name becomes fa- miliar to the pupils. The teacher then calls for a sentence using the name of some object within sight. The usual response comes in this form : — ' ' The name of this is , ' ' the pupil thinking that the word name should appear in the sentence. By showing that sentences like, I have a hall, That is an egg, Do you see this flower? contain the names hall, egg, flotver, which is all that was called for, the children will readily give similar sentences when this topic is being drilled upon. The next step is to let the child select one of the other topics {size, shape, or color) and use that topic in another sentence, emphasizing the fact that the topic calls for the thought instead of the word of the topic. In the sentence, "It is black," we convey the thought of the color as well as when we say, "The color is black." Each pupil then com- bines his two sentences. — "I have a ball. It is black." "That is an egg. The egg is white." "Do you see this flower? The color is blue." The pupil may use the topic word to secure variety but this use should be watched closely to prevent a mechanical introduction of it into each sentence. With these first individual sentences variety will be emphasized, and no pupil will be allowed to begin his sen- tence with the phrase or idiom used by the preceding child, e. g., instead of allowing the sentences, I see a dog, I see a rahhit, I see a hook, I see an umhrella, to follow the first sen- tence using I see, we lead the children to give, I have, I can see, This is, Here is. That is. Do you see, Have you, Oh see 168 this, Look at this, Helen lias, We have. There are, etc., in con- nection with the name of the object. Good oral practice here means much greater freedom and originality in written work later. 3. Oral exercise. Studying the sentences to secure va- riety. Practice is given till the pupils can combine two sen- tences with due regard to the choice of the words to show agreement in person and number (of course no reference to "agreement in person and number" would be made to the pupils, the}' would simply be told to say "He has," not "He have." "He doesn't," not "He don't," "You w^ere," not "You was," etc.). Then another topic may be selected by a pupil and a sentence expressing the thought of the topic given by each pupil. By the time a three-sentence oral composition is attempted the teacher may begin to write one pupil's Avork upon the board as he dictates it and the class may make a study of it to see what words should be used to make the sentences sound well together. We do not enjoy sentences using the same w'ords too often. The repe- tition in, "The plum is red. The plum is round. The plum is sweet. The plum is good to eat." grows tiresome, as does also, "It is red. It is round. It is good to eat." We need to use the name, the word which stands for the name, and the topic word to secure the desired variety. This calls for much oral drill upon the pronouns found in the English language. — though again it goes without saying that the term pronoun has no place in the work of this grade. The w^ork of the foreign-born child who built, "Here is six cranberries. He has red. It have sour taste." shows the need of oral drill in making the pupil familiar with English forms; and the larger the number of pupils unfamiliar with good English, the more profitable this oral work will be. Some of the topic words lend themselves to use in sen- tences without alteration, as color and shape, e. g., The color is blue, the shape is round. Others may be easily adapted, smell 169 and taste becoming smells and tastes. The topic words, size, material, use, etc., can rarely he used as they stand, made of being substituted for material, and used for, used to, good for, good to, to express the thought of use. As the work advances the number of topics will be in- creased till the list includes name, shape, color, size, taste, smrll, fr fling {rough, smooth, etc.), material, use, and some others, and each pupil should select the topic adapted to the article he is describing. The same article should not be described by two pupils because the tendency would be that the second description of the same object would lean upon the earlier one instead of being based upon the pupil's indi- vidual observation. Too many topics should not be attempted at tirst and usually three or four would be a satisfactory number, even after the pupil had become familiar with the exercise. The pupil's personal choice of the topics will not only help to secure individuality of expression later in the written work but will greatly strengthen his grasp upon the thought, increasing his judgment and discrimination and making the work seem less mechanical and arbitrar.y to him. These de- mands are not beyond the reach of the average pupil ; if the teacher has faith in the child's ability. and gives him an opportunity to exercise this ability he will surpass her expectations. We should teach the child to express a thought, not merely to use a topic. This is the remedy for the verbal confusion and repetition we sometimes find when we use the topics to suggest to the child what he is to say instead of using them as a guide to what he is to think. The pupil Avho states: — "This is a box. The size of the box is large The shape of the box is square." is following the topic but he is not gaining practice in good composition. By showing him how to combine two topics in one sentence and to use pronouns he can be led without difficulty to pre- sent his thought in the following form: — "This is a large red box. It is square. We use it to hold the pencils." By 170 training his mind to look for the thought suggested, by the topic and training his ear to demand correct English, com- plete sentences, and variety in expression, we are furnishing a good foundation for later work in seat-work composition. In judging of the results of this work too much should not be demanded. Absolute technical accuracy, e. g., "It is a square prism," in place of, "It is square," may so arrest the child's thought that in becoming technically correct the sentence becomes mechanical and ceases to be the spontan- eous expression we are striving for. Individuality of thought and of expression is more desirable than strict ac- curacy. The first-grade pupil who builds, "The grape is like a sphere. I will eat the sphere," need not be corrected, since practice and increased maturity will make him his own critic in a point like this. The pupil who explodes into "Oh! see these cherries red!" need not be required to trans- pose his expression into, "Oh! see these red cherries!" even though that is the more usual form of expression. A few weeks or even days of the teacher's watchful observation will show whether this leaning toward poetic diction is sporadic or constant and whether it is based upon a per- ception of beauty hidden from many or comes from a desire to produce something flashy or startling. In this work in expression, both oral and written, the teacher should keep as much as possible in the background, and should focus her attention upon the child's thought and his ability to express it rather than upon the completed prod- uct, the aim being the correct expression of the child's thought rather than the production of a correct composi- tion. The composition work in school is sometimes taught as if we were laying a stone wall and as if the main object of the exercise were the production of a result which would stand forth in tangible evidence long after the exercise was over. In truth our attitude should be that of one who Avatches a flower bursting into bloom, and our share in the exercise that of furnishing the quickening sunshine of ap- proval and appreciation and the nourishing rain of instruc- 171 tion, with but little use for the pruning shears of correction. If this blossoming results in the production of seed from which later bloom will spring, the flower itself need not be pre- served, — for its work is done. The mental atmosphere that pervades the exercise, the teacher's attitude toward the work and toward the pupil, his confidence in her sympathetic interpretation of his efforts, and his confidence in his own powers, these have an unbounded influence upon the quality of the w^ork he produces, and these must receive even more consideration and preparation on the teacher's part than she gives to the preparation of the plan of the lesson, though the latter should never be neglected. XV. Seat-ivork. Description from topics. When the pupils have become sufficiently familiar with the use of topics to be able to give a short oral description of an object, choosing the topics they will use and giving the recitation without help from the teacher, the exercise may be used as seat-work and the sentences may be built with the printed letters. In this grade all language work at the seats will be built Math these letters since writing with pencil and paper is limited to the w'ork in penmanship. Illustration, of ivork from topics. Description of a fruit. This exercise is preceded by an oral nature lesson in which fruits are named by the pupils. A list of these is made on the blackboard by the teacher under the topic name of fruit and pronunciation and spelling are noted as the words are written while the pupils dictate. If the habit is formed of having the class dictate the spelling of many of the words w^hich the teacher writes upon the board the pupils will be greatly aided in securing the spelling conscious- ness w^iich is the foundation of good spelling. When the children are familiar with the names some of the fruits may be used as a drawing lesson or the pupils may construct a basket or cut a round plate to hold the fruit. 172 The distribution of the material for the seat-work exer- cise may be made a lesson in manners, the fruit being placed in a dish or upon a plate and passed to the pupils, each child observing the tenets of good manners as he helps himself, expresses his thanks, and places the fruit upon the paper plate he has cut in the drawing lesson. There should be sufficient variety in the fruit to allow of enough individual expression to prevent the danger of one pupil's copying an- other's work without detection. Figs, dates, prunes, dried apricots and cranberries used in one lesson will furnish this variety, and similar combinations may be made. After each pupil has selected his fruit he proceeds to build his sentences, selecting tlie topics best adapted to de- scribe that fruit. The teacher passes about among the pupils, spelling the hard words called for, explaining where it is necessary, inspiring and vitalizing the work but keeping her- self in the background till the pupils have expressed their thought as well as they are able. She is also informing her- self concerning their ability to think, the dilSeulties which confront the individual, and the need of further class in- struction or individual instruction. But at this time tlie teacher sJiould be very careful not to tnake suggestions or cor- rections as she walks about observing the work. If she makes suggestions which prompt or guide the pupil's thought by so much is she retarding his independent work, — and inde- pendent work, not good sentences, is the aim of the exercise. To turn these sentences into good w'ork is the aim of the inspection period which follo^vs, and all correction of errors should be deferred till then. The child has no opportunity for consecutive thinking if his grasp upon the sentence he is just evolving is to be interrupted by the teacher's comment upon the error in some sentence already built, wnth a request that he correct the error before going farther. The almost inevitable result of such interruptions is that the work becomes mechanical, the pupils soon look to the teacher for suggestions as well as for corrections and fail to develop the power to do the independent thinking which is 173 easily within reach through training and practice. But some teacher asks, "Isn't it better to correct the error at once? Shouki not an error be corrected as quickly as possible that the impression may not linger in the mind?" The danger lies less in the first impression than in the repetition of the impression and if the error is corrected before the child has the opportunity to repeat it, the danger has been lessened just as surely as would be the result of correcting it at once ; more surely, in fact, if the correction is given in a correction period in which the child's whole attention is given to cor- rection and not divided between that and the composition of sentences. Of course the habit of striving to express each sentence correctly when it has been arranged mentally should be aimed for from the first and no slip-shod, careless work should be condoned because the thought (the most important element of the exercise) is of good quality. It might even be advisable in an extreme case to require a pupil to break up his work and begin it again from the beginning if he had let thought so far out-run expression that many careless errors were creeping in. The teacher's refusal to inspect work characterized by many errors which were due to the pupil's carelessness might prove a spur to produce correct work, but this remedy should not be applied indiscriminately. Good composition depends greatly upon the mental at- mosphere pervading the class at the time of the exercise, and throughout the days and weeks of th^term as well. The effects of work, i. e., mental health, mental progress, a healthy pride in achievement, self-confidence, the approval of teach- er and classmates, the pleasure of exercise — both mental exercise and bodily exercise — ,all these should be a part of the background, w^hile in the foreground should stand prom- inently the special aim of the exercise, in this case, the attempt to think independently along the line suggested to the class at the beginning of the exercise. The teacher need not be a detached spectator, on the contrary she holds herself in readiness to respond to any 174 appeal for help and she will find herself the recipient of many a whispered confidence or low-toned comment or even a bit of humor or a poetic touch which the child feels the impulse to express but finds too difficult for his limited skill in wndtten production. If the teacher is careful to limit her help to a response to the child's appeal for assistance, her share in the work will not interrupt the child's thought or interfere with his independence and individuality. "I don't know how to spell this word," is perhaps the most frequent appeal for help. The teacher's reply must point out to the child the way to self-help. "Have jon asked yourself what family it belongs to?" "Have you looked at the words on the chart or blackboard to see if you can find it?" "Is it in any of the reading lessons?" are questions more suggestive than a statement like, "It belongs to the ow family," but in many cases the latter is a legiti- mate form of help. With some words the teacher may write the word upon the board for the child, or better yet, she may write it upon a slip of paper and place it upon the pupil's desk in response to the request, since the suggestion con- veyed by the sight of the written word upon the board might lead other pupils to depend upon this for thought. In many cases the pupils' work will be a more or less recognizable echo of the reading lessons, in any case it should follow lines of thought outlined or suggested by the teacher before the exercise begins or should be based upon topics familiar to the pupils. The attempt to evolve independent individual expression without furnishing lines of thought to be followed can only result in failure in this grade. Though the teacher has refrained from making sug- gestions and corrections while the pupils are engaged in the work of composition, it is not intended that these shall be wholly omitted from the exercise. The time for them is after the work has been completed and before it is broken up. The main points upon which emphasis has been placed in the technical work will be reviewed and each child will inspect his work to see if he has observed these points, — margin, 175 capitals, periods, etc. The teacher will also pass about in- specting the work, commending good w^ork, and occasionally- calling attention to errors to be corrected. Different pupils are then called upon to read the sentences they have built and these are discussed and corrected when necessary. In this dis- cussion the thought should receive as much attention as the expression and mere prattle should not be accepted when the child is capable of better things. The pupil's choice of top- ics, the closeness with which he has observed, the way in which he has expressed his thought, are as important as correct spelling and use of capital letters and periods. When the pupils have become familiar with descriptions of objects from topics the exercise may be assigned for seat- w^ork and later inspected and corrected. In each case these descriptions should be based upon the pupil's fresh obser- vation rather than upon his memory of an earlier description of the object. The following sentences are selected from the work of a Grade I A class and are presented Avitliout correction. Each composition is the child's individual attempt to de- scribe a fruit in the seat-w^ork exercise with printed letters. The accompanying list includes the fruits w^hich were brought to the schoolroom during the term and used as the subject of these exercises: — banana, peach, orange, apple, plum, pear, grape, date, fig. apricot, cranberry, prune, lemon, nut, cherry. ]\Iany of these were placed in glass jars and used by different children in succeeding lessons. I have some grapes. They are blue. They are good to eat. I will give you some of my little round grapes. My grapes taste sweet. I have a jar of figs. I eat the figs. They are sw^eet. 176 They are brown too. The figs are little and round. Can you see the ■figs? I have some apricots. The apricots are brown. They are small and round. They are to be cooked. See the dates. They are brown. My dates are sweet. They are good to eat now. Can you see that apple The apple is sweet. This apple is good to eat. My apple skin is to hold tlie part you eat. I can see a walnut. The meat is sweet. The walnut is good to eat. The shell is to hold the meat. It is a round walnut. My walnut is small. It is brown and hard. Can you see my cranberries. They are good to eat when they are cooked. They are red and round. Do you lik my cranberries? I have one lemon. The lemon is an ellipse. I like this lemon it is good to eat This lemon is sour and yellow. It is a little lemon. My lemon look pretty. 377 (The term ellipse had been gained from lessons in pen- manship.) X VI. Reproduction. • The work in original composition should precede the work in reproduction recommended for this grade, to insure impressing upon the child's mind that written exercises are thought exercises and not a mechanical arrangement of words and letters or a mere copy of another person's thought. During the latter part of the term reproduction of poems, stories, JMother Goose rhymes, the words of the songs sung in school, the rhymes or jingles used in playing games, free versions of short stories told to the pupils, etc., may be used for these exercises in reproduction. The pupils should be held accountable for margins, capi- tals, and periods, and should depend upon the teacher as little as possible for spelling. If the pupils are inclined to copy each other's work class exercises upon the same selec- tion should be avoided, sufficient variety being provided to permit pupils sitting near each other to have different sub- jects. Frequently the completed work should be used as a reading lesson, sometimes having each pupil read his own work and sometimes allowing him to choose the work of another or to invite another to read his work. These exercises furnish not only a good test of the pupil's power to read but they furnish a good test of his progress in written language ; his ability in composition and accuracy in using the correct forms of written expression should enter into the considerations of his fitness for pro- motion at the end of the term. Many of the Grade I B rhymes should be reproduced from memory with the seat-work cards in Grade I A. Rhymes of the fir.st reader should be built from memory witli the printed letters, the pupil referring to his book for spell- ing and punctuation and verifying the correctness of his completed work by comparing it with the book after he has completed building it. Hektograph copies oif the other 178 poems and stories taught may be prepared, and cut for seat- work, preferably with the words grouped in phrases, and these may be built from memory. No memory reproduction of the pupil's individual compositions should be called for or encouraged and the distinction between reproduction and individual composition should be kept clear. XVII. Picture-reading. Free expression. The skill gained in the exercises in oral picture-reading may be applied in the seat-work language period. Inde- pendent work is more easily gained if each child is given a picture differing from the others, but when the children have learned to depend upon themselves the same picture or topic may be used by all. Picture-reading furnishes an excellent opportunity for free expression and easily arouses the interest that leads to free expression. And even if this freedom does lead to unique and uncouth spelling yet this spontaneity is so valuable, so much to be rejoiced in, that it outweighs all the objections which arise from poor spelling, especially as the medium of expression, the printed seat-work letters, permits of such ready correction of these errors. Individuality in thought and expression should be encour- aged here, in fact it should be demanded, not for the sake of variety in the finished work but for the power which inde- pendent effort produces. Identity of expression will be ac- cepted when the teacher is convinced that it does not arise from copying another pupil's work or that it has been the result of some dominating suggestion from the teacher. Her presentation of the subject chosen should guard against this latter cause of uniformity in class work. The following illustrations of free expression were se- lected from a Grade I A class exercise upon the Eskimo, based upon pictures and oral discussion. 179 The Eskimos live in a cold land. The Eskimo baby is brown. The mother Eskimo is brown too. The father Eskimo get polr bears. The little boy plays with a dog. Edna Butterworth. The Eskimos live in a cold place far away from here. The Eskimos lay on skins at night. The father Eskimo gets an- mals. The baby Eskimo has a sled. The Eskimo houses are made out of ice and snow. Ethel Webster. The Eskimos are brown. We are not brown like the Eskimos. They do not go to bed at night. Some nights they go to bed. They Eskimos sleep on fur skin. We dont sleep on fur skins. We sleep on beds. Bertha Riley. The Eskimos live in the north. Their house is ice and snow. It is cold most all the time. The Eskimos do not feel it. They are warm. Margaret Murray. I see a little Eskimo. The Eskimos live in a cold place. The Eskimo has a coat of skin. Do you see the Eskimo slid- ing on the ice. The Eskimo live under ground. Mildred Marshall. The Eskimos live under the ice. They live far down under the deep snow. They have no beds. They sleep on some skins. Father Eskimo is out shewt- ing animals. The Eskimo boy has a sper. Samuel Cutler. 180 XV III. Obstacles to good \cor1x. The main obstacle to good oral or written work in this grade does not lie in the pupil's lack of knowledge of English nor in his lack of ability to think or to express. It lies chiefly in the teacher's lack of faith in the pupil's ability. Too fre- quently in any grade when some exercise is suggested the teacher exclaims, "Oh, my children cannot do that!" and her surprise Avhen she is shown work of this nature w^hich is being accomplished in the grade below hints at the extent to which she has neglected to acquaint herself with her pupils' previous preparation. This lack of faith produces the next obstacle, the teacher's low standards of achievement for her l)upils. In some eases this low standard is also influenced by the conviction (once common but now more rare) that the seat-work has little or no value apart from the occupation it furnishes, that it merely serves to keep the children busy and out of mischief while the teacher is engaged in recitation. A teacher who has not out-grown this idea gives little or no inspection to the seat-work and consequently has no means of estimating what her pupils are capable of doing and what they have accomplished. It is admitted that when the seat- work of a class is not inspected regularly and frequently the pupils' work will become as futile as the teacher considers it to be, but this does not alter the fact that the seat-work of children in the first grade can be made as effective a means of progress in the work of this grade as the study period in any higher grade is effective for the M'ork of that grade. For effective teaching we must take note not only of the pupil's daily accomplishment but of his growth as well. The sentences which the child builds today will indicate his present achievement but not till Me compare them with the work of last week and last month and last term can we judge of his progress. This comparison might show that the sentences which the child builds today are the identical sentences that he built last month, or that in form and content they are on a par with the work being done by pupils in the grade below, in other words, that no growth has been achieved. 181 XIX. Means of securing good ivork. It needs to be asserted vigorously and often that good work in oral or written language is not measured by good sentences, although sentence making is the chief language work of the grade. While faulty, inaccurate, meagre sen- tences, or no sentences at all, may be evidences of poor teach- ing, yet fine sentences are not conclusive evidence of good teaching. Sentences are merely the tools with which we work, the structure we build with them is groivth in ability to think and to express. Measured by this standard one teacher's work may de- serve high commendation though the sentences which her pupils build seem hardly more than mere heaps of broken English or, at best, specimens of English badly cracked. But these imperfect attempts of each child to express his thought through speech in a tongue foreign to him may be marked by a keenness of observation, a boldness of attempt, and a richness of thought and feeling which show that his mind has been awakened and stimulated by the teacher's instruction, and that her teaching is free from the inhibitions which check confidence and effort.. If the good points of the pupils' daily work are in evidence to some degree in their work when handling a new topic or subject we have found a measure of the pupils' growth and may pronounce the teaching good. Another teacher's pupils may present sentences so mature in thought and so nearly perfect in construction as to raise the question of what means had been taken to secure such power. But when the test of new work is applied these children may show such helplessness and bewilderment that the teacher flies to their defence and asserts that it is n't fair to give them work they have never had before. Herein lies the evidence of our success or lack of success. The well- taught child takes up a new topic easily, the teacher does not have to do all the work, the pupil's mind runs out to meet the idea, to seize upon it ; the thought soon becomes at home in his mind and he can marshall it with the earlier ideas he has acquired. Tlie badly-taught child is helpless until the 182 teacher has given what she terms ''the needed drill." She plants the idea in the pupil's mind, presses the earth down firmly about the roots, shelters it, waters it, and in time per- ceives a puny growth which will bear the infertile flower of "retention in memory," a flower which fades all too quickly. This teacher has lost sight of the distinction between intelligence and memory. The pupil's intelligence is tested by his grasp upon new work, his memory is tested by his success in recalling work learned earlier. Drill is needed to secure retention in memory and practice is needed to train the pupil to grasp new work intelligently. Intelligent grasp greatly reduces the amount of drill required for memorizing. Since a knowledge of facts previously studied or grasped is usually a condition for an intelligent grasp upon new work, drills for memory should not be neglected, but neither should we neglect this other important phase of the process of learn- ing, training in grasping the new idea. XX. Testing for good worh. Growth in ahility to take up new work, the simple work suited to the child's age and mental development; growth of the impulse to express, the natural, spontaneous expression which serves the child 's needs in his out-of -school life ; growth in accuracy in the mechanics of expression, the few technical points assigned to the grade and to the grades below, — these measure the good ^^■ork in language in a cla&s. These are the only measures which can ])e applied with fairness and justice to each teacher and to each class. Measured by these tests of growth no teacher need present the plea that her pupils did not understand English when they entered her class, that they come from homes in which the influence is not helpful, that they were transferred from other schools, or that the children M^ere below grade when they entered her room. Granted all these conditions, are the pupils still where they were when they entered the class or have they made progress? Wliat progress have they made? The teacher's good work is measured by that progress. 183 XXI. Essentials for accomplishing the work outlined. These outlines seek to illustrate our aim in teaching lan- guage. The warp and the woof of these suggestions have been spun from experience, and the pattern may be found, more or less clearly defined, in each Grade I class in the city. It is not intended that these notes shall provide a design to be stencilled upon the teaching in each class. It is hoped that they Avill furnish the motif which will be worked out by each teacher in adapting its units of thought to meet the conditions of her individual pupils. These lines of thought are pre- sented in the following summary: The essentials for the accomplishment of the language work outlined in these pages are: — 1. An oral vocabulary gained through objects, activities, plays, dramatization, read- ing and story-telling. 2. The pupil's comprehension of the aim of each exercise and his ability to judge whether his work has reached the standard set by the teacher. 3. Independent, individual work by each pupil. 4. Holding the pupil re- sponsible for the correction of the errors he has been taught to avoid. 5. Frequent oral reading of the pupil's seat-work sentences. 6. Placing the emphasis upon the thought ex- pressed in each sentence. 7. Insistence upon correct use of margins, capitals, periods, and spelling as an incidental accompaniment of all written work. 8. The child's pleasure in the work. 9. His increasing interest in work, conscious- ness of power, pride in accomplishment, and practice in self- directed activitv. ■ki-. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 021 729 207 4