lb i-y-^if SPELLING RESULTS OF AN INVESTIGATION OF PUPILS' ABILITY TO SPELL By J. W. STUDEBAKER Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Des Moines» Iowa NEWSON & COMPANY NEW YORK :: BOSTON :: CHICAGO Published 1916 THE ALDINE SPELLER In offering this new Speller for the consideration of those who are concerned with the teaching of this important subject, the publishers desire to call attention to the following distinguishing features: 1. Carefully prepared instructions to the teacher. 2. Phonetic lists on which words in com- mon use are based. 3. A systematic and comprehensive pre- sentation of the words and spelling facts that every pupil must learn. 4. A progressively expanding vocabulary fitted to the pupil's present and future needs. 5. A large number of dictation exercises based on the words found in the spelling lesson. 6. Special stress laid on the most difficult words. 7. Oft-repeated drills on the real trouble- makers. 8. Omission of words seldom used in speaking and writing. Four-Book Edition THE ALDINE SPELLER, Part I, Grades 1 and 2 THE ALDINE SPELLER, Part II, Grades 3 and 4 THE ALDINE SPELLER, Part III, Grades 5 and 6 THE ALDINE SPELLER, Part IV, Grades 7 and 8 ''y.Two-Book Edition THE* ALDINE SPELLER, Grades 1-4 THE ALDINE SPELLER, Grades 5-8 NEWSON & COMPANY PUBLISHERS New York Boston Chicago SPELLING RESULTS OF AN INVESTIGATION OF PUPILS' ABILITY TO SPELL jfw. By STUDEBAKER Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Des Moines, Iowa NEWSON & COMPANY NEW YORK :: BOSTON :: CHICAGO Copyright, 191 6, BY NEWSON y COMPANY [1] A: nT ©CI.A433875 JUL 27 1916 INTRODUCTION Despite the efforts of teachers and educators during past years to evolve efficient methods of teaching spelling, the criticism is still heard that the subject is poorly taught. The lack of spelling ability on the part of pupils is one of the most frequent topics of discussion among teachers. Not only in the elementary school, but in high school and college, hundreds of misspelled words occur almost daily in the written work of students. These are not found to be among the comparatively difficult and unusual words, but are confined very largely to simple and necessary ones. In the light of these facts it seemed wise to undertake some investigations and to make some measurements of the spelling ability of the pupils in the Des Moines schools. Answers were sought to the following questions: 1. Are the pupils in Des Moines as efficient in spelhng as the children of other cities? 2. If so, why? If not, what grades are below the standard of other cities? 3. In what particular spelling abilities are the pupils weak? 4. Does the textbook in use contain suitable material, and is this material properly graded and arranged? 5. Can all of the words in the text be taught in the time assigned to spelling? 6. Have our methods of teaching spelling seemed to be poor only because they were burdened with the presentation of too much material? 7. Are some words more frequently used and misspelled than others? 8. If so, have these words been designated and emphasized? After careful consideration of the answers to these questions, the following conclusions were reached with regard to the work in spelling in the schools of Des Moines. 1. Adequate provision for teaching spelling in the primary grades had not been made. 2. In general, during the first part of the year, the pupils in Des Moines were a little less efficient than the children in other cities. 3. The material and methods used during the year resulted in making the efficiency of each grade higher at the close of the year than the same grades in fifteen other cities. 3 4 INTRODUCTION 4. The spelling book in use requires the teach'ng of so many- words that pupils are decidedly inefficient in the spelling of the most necessary ones. In this respect Des Moines pupils are not unhke the pupils in many other cities. 5. Comparatively few words are commonly used and misspelled. These should constitute a minimum list and sufficient opportunity should be provided to teach and review them so that pupils will be one hundred per cent efficient in their spelling and use. 6. The absence of graded minimum lists* has led to a great dif- ference in the abilities of pupils in the same grades in different schools to spell certain lists of necessaiy words. For example: One fifth grade spelled eighty-four per cent of the " One Hundred Demons," while another was able to spell only fifty-nine per cent. The average for the city was eighty per cent. 7. To teach the spelling of the excessive number of words in the spelling course, teachers have been forced to neglect the teaching of their proper use. *It is interesting to note that the vocabulary of the Aldine Readers supphes the words required for the " Minimum Lists " to be taught in the lower grades, in accordance v/ith the conclusions herein shown. See pages 31 to 37 of this monograph for the lists taken from the Aldine Primer, First, and Second Readers. SPELLING TEST WITH WORDS FROM DR. AYRES' LIST (November, 1915) The following lists of words were selected bj^ Dr. Leonard P. AjTes, of the Russell Sage Foundation, who has been conducting investi- gations in spelling throughout the country during the past few years. From among hundreds of words pronounced to the pupils in many cities in the United States, these particular ones were spelled correctly by approximately seventy per cent of the pupils in the respective grades of one hundred school systems. It might, therefore, be expected that if the pupils in Des Moines were as efficient in spelling as the pupils in other cities, they would also spell seventy per cent of the words correctly. "VVTiile the words do not constitute a final test of pupils' ability in spelling, they do furnish a fairly comprehensive measurement, especially when large groups of pupils are tested. List of Words Second Grade Third Grade Focrth Grade ; Fifth Grade foot fill forty several get point rate leaving for state children publish horse ready prison o'clock out almost title running well high getting known name event need secure room done throw wait left pass feel manner with Tuesday speak flight Sixth Grade Seventh Grade Eighth Grade decide district organization general. consideration tariff manner athletic emergency too distinguish corporation automobile evidence receipt victim amendment cordially hospital liquor discussion neither experience appreciation toward receive decision business conference 5 convenience SPELLING TABLE No. 1 RESULT, IN PERCENTAGES, OF TEST ON THE AYRES' WORDS Grades Schools 2 3 4 5 6 ■ 7 § Average 35 10 11 9 66 56 48 39 45 65 55 69 63 61 54 70 86 69 69 80 78 81 76 76 70 74 60 70 71 61 62 80 68 67 74 40 68 72 63 63 83 70 68 i 12 13 14 44 15 16 42 48 72 75 72 7 1 66 62 20 44 39 66 69 73 68 79 64 08 77 00 57 75 71 68 69 75 72 22 57 14 55 38 59 40 77 85 73 58 45 37 78 70 68 17 56 34 58 67 59 7 9 65 1 i»y 18 21 07 54 54 67 70 73 75 72 SO 75 7 7 8 7 8 7 5 (Z 2 69 20 54 36 44 71 65 77 80 b6 19 22 51 27 70 52 73 68 75 75 76 72 63 69 68 73 64 62 6 51 34 69 60 61 3 58 52 8 40 53 77 87 74 7 7 63 67 23 38 64 74 87 74 S 4 6 9 7U 24 57 51 51 60 61 6 4 b 2 58 1 63 58 72 79 SO 7 8 7 3 70 2 44 49 65 66 65 6 6 e 1 58 5 34 52 70 77 78 G 5 € 1 50 26 32 53 69 75 64 C 9 C 3 50 25 60 50 76 73 69 8 1 C 9 66 3 43 57 73 75 65 7 7 t 3 63 4 43 44 52 73 57 6 C .8 58 36 69 53 68 64 27 53 74 68 84 60 67 46 55 62 56 28 67 85 S3 88 80 82 37 44 46 65 62 CO 54 29 44 64 64 80 66 63 38 31 63 53 39 26 56 72 84 56 40 42 56 81 73 77 65 30 54 55 56 67 69 60 31 39 41 66 70 66 57 32 30 52 71 72 71 59 33 66 54 71 77 78 70 41 31 36 74 92 '5 60 42 60 69 65 8 ( 57 68 34 42 65 71 75 74 66 43 45 65 70 65 Average 48 56 68 74 70 74 35 64.2 MEANING AND SPELLING OF WORDS AN INVESTIGATION TO ASCERTAIN EFFICIENCY IN TEACHING THE MEANING AND SPELLING OF WORDS Purpose and Method Used The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine the pupils' abihty to use and spell the words taught in grades four to eight, inclusive. The test was made in two parts. The first part was given at the close of the third school month of the first semester, and the second part in the same rooms at the close of the third school month of the second semester. The pupils of thirty teachers in representative schools were tested, but six records were not included in the final tabulation because of a lack of uniformity in various details. The tests were made as follows: A random selection of twenty or twenty-five words was made from all words taught up to the time of giving the test. The principals selected the words, con- ducted the tests, checked all papers and recorded all results. The words were pronounced to the pupils and these directions were given: " Number each word." " Use each one in a sentence in such a way as to make its mean- ing clear." " If you can't use the word, spell it." " If you are sure you can't spell it, leave the space blank." The results, as shown in Table No. 2 which follows, were reported by the principals, together with five samples each of items 9, 10 and 11. These samples were requested in order to check the manner in which the use of words had been interpreted by the various examiners. SPELLING I— ( O o CO o O ^ Q (^ O W <1 o 15 O H CD * .2 sa 3SB3J0UJ OOt--l>OCOiCiOT}t^'*«OO^Cl— ICIXCOCO ■^j^,:,' (M,HTtC?XCOt^l--^C0000001>COCOOh-'-iCeJX iOiO»0 lO ICO lOiOiCiO lO ioio»o o XO-^CIOCICI'-H-*!— iClX0500>OGOOOCOOr^iCt^ OOOOC0iCO-j:>tDOO'+'O>-0Tfi»0^'*^C0C0C0^^ lO lO 8SB3J08Q lOO'OO'O'Ot^O'O'OiOO'OLOiOOOOOOOOO'O C^ CO lO lO C? X CO CI CI lO C? CI CI ^ d CO lO O CI 1 1 111-^ (CI aa^sauiag c^oooi-^ooooooi^ocococcocooo c o ja^samag o o ic o o >o t^ o lo lo lo o »o ic o o o c c C' o o c: 'O lO t^ lO O X CI X O CO CI CI CI CI CI I^ C O O C^ CI I-- lO O CI lO CJ >— 1 -# 5 O aexjaioaQ OCO^OOCO'-iOt>^OC-lC(Ort— 1 T3 0) go o e4 CD CO ■jsax 1 »0^t^OXOOO.-iClOC0Cr:c:i0Or^C3ClO:r:C1C0O puooag X C3 1^ C5 X O l^ X O C2 lO O I^ O X O lO (^ X O w t^ ^ 1--5 X *Bax cOOOiOCO^XCMl>CO'-i i-Ot^ 0:^^'*iO^CO'*-*CI^TrCICOCICl'-i X X GO pa^draawv — iXX^CI-HXC50CDCOCOXCH^.-iCi^iOOTft^r^O OXr^'-iOXC3G>0^'*cDXC1Clt^CO-HO'-'*l>-*COI>t^'*iOCO^iOiOiOCICI o cf 1— 1 o p3nadssTi\[ aaquin^ O'^t^b-ClXOCir^LOCOcDOOXCO^HX'— iiOCO'-DOTfi t^XXiOOX'OC3COCDClCOCOCOCO'*COt^C10-*-«*<'^iO 1 C0C0C0C0'*C0OICJC5r-iCl^'-HClCT^ .. CI lO O 23 C^J X O C^J lO (M (M ^ X lO O lO lO CO t^ CI lO CI t^ o SP-lO_\^ XOC5 0Clt^XOC:OCiX^OC--OOt-X05t^XOX JO -OiSI IB^OX r-n"^"^" rt" lO C5 c5 -* BpJOAi. }2,°N C<1 CI CI CI CI CI CI CI CI CI CI CI CI C5 CI CI M CI CI CJ C4 C5 C5 CI CO siidnj JO o^ S22S52'~'^^^^2Ci-^t^ci^xxoxx'0^-ocococi cocoTtOi-'3'-DCD^-^00'-OiOiO»OTfi|>.'^cDOcDXCO'*iO - raoo^ '-ic Decrease. 25 Increase. 13 INTERESTING FACTS 1. The amount of time was of little importance as a determining factor in the resulting efficiencies. 2. The pupils of the teacher using the most time the first semester (two hundred minutes a week) were the lowest in efficiency (15%). 3. The pupils of the teacher using sixty-five minutes per week, which was next to the lowest time, ranked third in efficiency (64%). 4. The great range in the percentages showing the proper use of words the first semester, from four to eighty-two per cent, indicates the entire absence of a standard in this phase of the work. 5. A comparison of the difference between the use and the spelling of words the first semester (19%) with the difference in the second semester (3%) indicates an effort to equalize these two abilities. 6. Along with a reduction in time of twenty-five minutes a week, the efficiency increased twenty-five per cent. 7. The improvement explained in No. 6 above was without doubt the result of three causes: (a) A decrease in the number of words taught daily; (6) discussion of important points in teaching spelling with nearly all of the teachers in groups; (c) all teachers from the second through the eighth grades had worked through an excellent experiment * on the method of conducting the spelling exercise. * A slight modification of one originated by H. C. Pearson, Principal of the Horace Mann School, New York City. 10 SPELLING COMMENTS In order to " cover " the established course outlined in the spelling book, teachers were attempting to teach during the first semester an average of ten new words each day, although some teachers were presenting twenty new words. The lesults are what might be expected under this cramming process, wuth which the teachers as a whole have been quite dissatisfied. Only forty-two per cent of the words were used properly in sentences and only sixty-one per cent spelled correctly. The spelling of words had been emphasized, while their meaning had been neglected. This is qui e natural. In the rush to complete the large number of words required in the book, teachers were forced to give their attention to only one phase of the teaching of spelling, namely, the order of letters. The difference in the pupils' ability to spell and to use the w'ords is nineteen per cent. This means that the 898 pupils men- tioned in Table No. 2 were unable to use nineteen per cent of the 12,225 words, the order of letters in which they had been required to memorize. The pupils in room 21 could spell seventy per cent of the words taught, but could use only nine per cent. In other words, sixty- one per cent of their effort had been expended on material which was useless to them. In hfe outside and beyond the school pupils will not misspell words the meaning of which thej^ do not know. This is true because people do not usually attempt to write words which have no meaning to them. This confines their chances to mis- spell entirely to familiar words. Therefore, since pupils will be marked as poor spellers only to the extent that they misspell words already in their writing vocabularies, however meager, and since pupils cannot make intelligent use in waiting of meaningless words, it is highly important that an effort be made to EQUALIZE THE ABILITIES OF PUPILS IN THE SPELLING AND USE OF WORDS The development of a high degree of efficiency in the proper use of words is a comparatively slow process because it necessitates the thoughtful establishment of many associations. The teaching of the mere spelling of words can be much more readily done because it is largely a matter of memory and can be accomplished through drill, which is the quickest way to get mechanical results in any field. To equahze the abiUties of pupils in the spelling and use of words will, therefore, require that only a few new words, perhaps not more than five or six in any grade, be presented each day. This will provide an opportunity during a fifteen- or twenty-minute period SPELLING AND USE OF WORDS 11 for teachers to do the kind of work necessary in teaching pupils to make intelHgent use of words. It will be noticed that the median efficiency attained at the time of the last test was 76.5 per cent. Just what degree of efficiency might reasonably be expected can be determined only by further experimentation, but teachers should set as their standard an efficiency of at least eighty-five per cent. It is very probable that with more suitable spelling material and a normal improvement in methods this standard might be made ninety or ninety-five per cent. In connection with this matter of tentative standards, it must not be forgotten that an efficiency of one hundred per cent is prob- ably not even theoretically possible under practical conditions. This is because all pupils are not present every day to profit by the instruc- tion on all of the material which constitutes the final test. The ten- tative standard of eighty-five per cent takes these practical con- ditions into consideration. It is recommended that teachers make this sort of test from time to time in order to ascertain the efficiency. If many words have been taught previous to the time of giving the test it would be advisable to make a random selection in order to minimize the amount of tabulating. To make a random selection arrange the words alpha- betically and select every other word, every third word, every fourth word, etc., according to the total number in the list. The writer fully realizes that an investigation conducted as ex- plained above will result in a slight lack of uniformity among the several investigators in the interpretation of the use of words, but these differences are not sufficient to vitiate results. SENTENCES SELECTED FROM CHILDREN'S PAPERS Words Used with Meaning Partially Clear 1. Gymnasium is a good exercise. 2. Who will voluntary to carry this message? 3. It is on exposition at the Y. M. C. A. 4. She was haggard clear out. 5. A lady in the town where I lived was ignorance. Words Used Showing No Knowledge of Meaning 1. I shall have to premeditate unto her. 2. He is an adhesive boy. 3. The boy is very medley. 4. I will convene you. 5. It makes no difference where I squander, there is no place like home. 12 spelli>;g The " One Hundred Demons " The following list of words was made up bj^ Dr. W. F. Jones, of South Dakota University, who conducted a rather comprehensive and very careful investigation of the material of English spelling. He named these words the " One Hundred Spelling Demons of the English Language " because he found them to be frequently and persistently misspelled in all grades of the elementary school. (This list was used as a test in February, 1915. See page 13.) With the exception of the nine words indicated below, all of these words were used very often, that is, by at least two per cent of the children in the second grade in their written compositions. The " Demons " (The words not followed by figures were used in the second grade. The others came into the vocabularies in the grades indicated.) always coming heard raise though among cough here road through any don't hear straight they again does instead sugar tonight ache done just shoes truly— 3 answer dear knew said used business — 4 doctor know says vciy been every laid sure which built easy lose since w^here busy early loose some women believe enough many seems — 4 write beginning friend meant separate writing blue February making their would break forty— 3 minute there Wednesday buy grammar — 4 much Tuesday— 6 wear can't guess none two whether country hoarse— 3 often too whole could half once trouble — 4 won't color having piece tear wrote choose— 3 hour ready tired week THE ONE HUNDRED DEMONS" 13 TABLE NO. 3 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RECORD MADE ON THE "ONE HUNDRED DEMONS." (FEBRUARY, 1915) Distributions According to the Number pF Words Missed Grades Grades Number Number Pupils Who Missed Pupils Who fc Missed 1 ! 3 j 4 5 6 7 8 3 4 5 6 7 1 8 words •• ^ 9 38 6 7 51 words 9 19 13 2 1 1 6 19 37 7 I 52 " 13 16 7 6 2 ' 1 13 28 59 8 3 53 •' 11 18 8 3 ' 4 18 26 60 7 ? 54 " 10 13 4 4 ' 2 6 19 47 66 6 3 55 " 16 23 6 5 ' 1 4 21 44 79 7 5 56 " 9 18 6 1 6 ' 1 7 31 55 75 6 1 57 " 13 15 6 1 1 7 ' 1 15 45 57 73 5 3 58 " 10 14 3 1 8 ' 2 19 43 45 64 4 5 59 " 10 15 4 1 1 9 ■ 1 15 48 55 57 3 2 60 " 19 16 3 10 ' 1 20 51 63 50 2 S 61 " 6 6 4 11 ' 2 20 46 50 53 2 S 62 " 10 10 4 12 ' 5 22 59 45 £0 2 9 63 " 11 6 1 3 13 ' 2 23 41 32 34 1 4 64 " 5 7 2 14 ' 2 19 52 36 37 1 7 65 " 14 8 2 15 ' 8 15 53 40 31 2 3 (6 " 12 11 16 ' 5 33 41 38 21 1 5 67 " 12 3 4 17 ' 5 29 46 39 21 1 1 68 " 9 13 2 18 ■ 6 31 47 35 19 1 4 69 " 2 10 3 19 ' 8 32 35 25 24 1 3 70 " 8 4 20 • 32 51 30 16 1 4 71 " 12 11 2 1 21 ' 3 28 41 33 10 4 72 " 8 4 22 ' 3 32 42 27 9 1 1 73 " 7 8 1 23 ' 9 25 42 23 11 6 74 " 11 11 2 24 • 66 24 43 26 11 7 75 " 10 6 1 25 ' 62 32 48 17 13 5 76 " 1 5 1 1 26 ' 23 26 29 17 9 2 77 " 11 1 27 ' 33 38 30 18 2 4 78 " 11 2 2 28 ' 3 27 36 18 16 5 79 " 8 4 1 29 * 10 33 26 12 3 1 SO " 8 4 1 30 ' 14 28 34 21 5 1 81 " 9 4 i 31 ' 9 35 27 11 6 2 82 " 5 3 32 ' 6 19 20 11 11 3 S3 " 11 1 1 33 ' 9 24 18 11 1 1 84 " 8 2 34 ' 8 47 26 12 3 2 85 " 7 35 ' 5 18 20 5 9 4 86 " 4 2 36 ' 6 28 19 7 3 . 87 " 10 4 1 37 ' 7 27 22 6 3 . 88 " 4 4 38 ' 8 29 19 11 2 . 89 " 5 2 1 39 ■ 8 23 15 7 2 90 " 4 1 40 ' 9 29 25 7 91 " 5 41 ' t 4 34 17 9 92 " 2 3 42 ' 9 19 16 4 93 " 5 1 43 ' 11 24 23 8 94 " 6 1 44 ' 8 22 15 5 i 95 " 6 1 45 ' 8 17 13 2 1 96 " 46 ' 10 20 13 3 1 97 " 1 1 47 ' 9 20 11 8 98 " 48 ' 10 24 6 2 i ; 99 " 49 ' 13 22 7 3 2 . 100 " 60 * 10 34 8 1 i GRADES 3 4 5 6 7 8 Number of pupils in grade taking test 833 1,488 1,571 1,183 1,101 906 Total number words for each grade 83,300 148,800 157,100 118,300 1 10,100 90,600 Nv.n ber of words missed in each grade 39,298 54,061 30,145 19,528 11.880 6,996 Nun bcr of words correctly spelled 44,002 94,739 126,955 98,772 98,220 83,704 Per cent cnrrertlv sne led 52.8 63.8 80.8 82 6 88.3 92.3 1 14 SPELLING TABLE NO. 4 HIGH SCHOOL RECORD OF TEST ON THE "ONE HUNDRED DEMONS" (FEBRUARY, 1915) Distributions According to the Numjier of Words Missed Number Pupils Who Missed Freshman Class Sophomore Class Junior Class Senior Class Total words 90 81 91 113 375 1 " 109 72 88 57 326 2 " 85 70 62 55 272 3 " 87 51 43 47 228 4 " 73 68 49 26 216 5 " 54 48 34 18 154 6 " 02 39 24 15 140 7 " 48 29 32 12 121 8 " 48 2] 17 8 94 9 " 40 18 16 6 80 10 " 32 15 11 6 64 11 " 26 10 7 7 50 12 " 6 9 8 1 24 13 " 19 7 9 3 38 14 " 23 15 7 45 15 " 15 9 1 25 16 " 8 3 2 "2 15 17 " 3 6 2 17 18 " 3 5 1 9 19 " 4 2 7 ?0 " 5 3 1 10 21 " 6 1 8 22 " 1 2 3 23 " 3 3 24 " 2 3 5 25 " 6 i 8 26 " 2 2 27 " 5 "i 6 28 " 4 4 29 " 1 1 30 " 2 2 31 " "i 1 32 " i "i 2 33 " 1 1 34 " 35 " 1 1 36 " 3 3 37 " 38 " 1 1 39 " 1 1 40 " 41 " 42 " 43 " 44 " 45 " 46 " 47 " 48 " 49 " 50 " No. pupils 881 586 515 380 2.362 Total No. words 88,100 58,600 51,500 38,000 236,200 No. missed 5,525 82,575 2,955 55,645 2,182 998 11,660 No. correct 49,318 37,002 224,540 Per cent correct .... 93.7 94.9 95.7 97.3 95. THE ONE HUNDRED DEMONS" 15 TABLE No. 5 CITY RECORD BY SCHOOLS OF SPELLING TEST ON THE HUNDRED DEMONS" (FEBRUARY, 1915) Grades 3 to S Inclusive 'ONE No. of School 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total 1 56.9 61.7 76.2 85.4 88.5 94.0 75.2 2 47.1 75.2 80.5 80.6 87.5 92.5 74.8 3 35.6 63.8 75.1 81.9 88.8 85.9 68.5 4 44.7 64.0 67.0 78.7 89.1 88.7 71.3 6 54.6 60.6 75.8 87.0 87.7 94.1 73.7 6 40.4 56.6 75.0 75.1 79.7 97.9 70.8 7 57.3 65.8 81.5 80.3 89.9 96.2 78.9 8 56.9 66.9 79.3 84.5 91.2 92.6 78.7 9 55.4 60.4 81.3 82.6 88.8 93.9 74.6 10 43.3 63.7 74.8 86.2 91.5 91.1 71.4 11 45.6 63.4 82.5 68.0 89.2 85.0 72.3 Average 52.8 63.8 80.8 82.6 88.3 92.3 77.1 Grades 4 to 8 Inclusive Grades 3 to 6 Inclusive Miscellaneous Grades 4 5 6 7 8 Total 12 77.7 82.2 78.6 91.2 92.3 81.7 13 53.3 70.8 80.1 88.6 92.3 75.2 14 77.2 81.8 80.8 87.6 93.6 83.6 15 52.0 72.0 82.0 92.0 90.0 74.0 16 57.7 69,6 84.6 93.5 93.7 80.4 17 51.5 68.8 77.1 89.4 91.8 75.4 18 67.0 82.0 82.0 86.0 92.0 83.0 19 74.3 80.4 89.2 91.2 92.3 83.9 20 46.8 74.4 83.1 88.2 92.2 69.9 21 73.7 77.5 85.6 86.7 95.1 82.9 22 57.3 78.3 79.6 88.3 91.3 78.2 23 65.8 83.0 83.4 91.6 91.1 80.7 24 50.5 59.9 72.2 81.1 89.8 70.4 25 69.2 84.3 88 8 90.6 95.9 85.2 26 77.5 80.5 90.6 87.8 94.2 86.0 Average 63.8 80.8 82.6 88.3 92.3 80.3 3 4 5 6 Total 27 59.5 72.9 74.5 82.6 73.6 28 58.1 81.9 84.5 93.9 83.3 29 58.1 65. 5 85.0 83.2 72.2 30 32.8 72.7 80.6 88.9 68.8 31 31. a 52.9 77.8 76.6 64.8 32 35.7 51.8 72.6 80.0 61.7 33 38.4 62.4 68.9 84.4 63.5 34 48.5 71.0 77.2 83.7 69.6 Average 52.8 63.8 80.8 82.6 71.9 3 4 5 6 7 8 35 45.7 84.6 86.0 90.8 36 57.6 37 62.9 75.3 84.4 38 48 6 57.0 39 71 2 70.8 76.6 40 60.2 80.3 80.4 41 20 6 53.0 71.0 85.0 89.0 42 80.2 80.6 87.8 92.8 43 67.7 75.6 44 96.1 92.8 Average 52.8 63.8 80.8 82.6 88.3 92.3 16 SPELLING TABLE NO. G RECORD OF TEST ON THE " ONE HUNDRED DEMONS" GIVEN IN NINETEEN CITIES (FEBRUARY, 1915) Gr.vde No. of 3 4 5 G 7 8 Total 1* 52.8 63.8 80.8 82.6 88.3 92.3 77.1 2 [il.S 75.4 82.5 87.6 89. 5 93.6 79.6 3 «.6 65.5 79.4 91.4 94.4 96.9 79. G 4 11.8 68.3 81.6 85.5 90.8 95.1 74.5 5 16.3 61. 3 82.1 88.0 87.1 91.2 74.6 G 50.7 66.9 82.1 85.1 90.5 94.1 78.0 States. Represented 7 77.2 81.5 84.4 91.5 94.6 84.5 Cities 8 86.2 87.3 87.8 90.2 95.3 89.0 Iowa ...9 9 75.5 80.0 83.3 89.8 92.3 82.5 New York. . . . ...3 10 64.2 69.1 80.5 84.8 90.1 75.9 Michigan . . .1 11 86.9 87.1 90.5 94.6 96.9 91.5 Indiana . ..1 12 67.8 79.5 85.9 90.1 92.7 81.5 Kansas ...2 13 75.4 75.6 73.4 86.7 89.4 78.3 North Dakota . .1 14 71.5 74.6 90.1 91.9 91.4 82.0 South Dakota. . ..1 15 68. 4 73.9 85.2 81.9 89.0 81.3 New Jersey. . . ...1 16 68.5 85.0 85.8 87.5 96.5 82.7 17 59.6 77.4 85.3 89.3 92.4 82.6 18 66.4 79.5 81.0 82.3 88.4 79.6 19 73.0 90.0 86.3 89.4 89. G 86.0 Total t .1.2 67.2 80.3 84.3 89.1 93.0 Total avera ge for grades 3 to 8 nclusive 78.1 Total avera ge for grades 4 to 8 nelusive 81.6 Number pupils [ ] ,778 4,359 4,334 3,770 3,486 ! 2,825 : J0,552 tested ^ High School Record 1st Yr. 2d Yr. 3d Yr. 4th Yr. Total 1* 91.2 92.6 93.9 95.3 92.8 2* 94.0 95.8 G6.4 97.8 95.6 « 3* 96.1 96.9 97.1 98.8 96.8 4 93.2 95.4 94.5 97.3 94.7 5 92.4 96.3 96.6 96.5 94.8 Five States 6 7 95.0 95.6 97.1 95.8 95.8 96.9 99. 1 97.8 97.1 96.1 Represented 8 94.5 96.4 97.0 97.5 96.1 Total 94.0 95.3 96.0 97.2 95.3 - Number pupils 1481 962 810 639 3892 tested *Des Moiaes Schools. THE ONE HUNDRED DEMONS" 17 REPORT ON THE " ONE HUNDRED DEMONS " By Forty-five Second Grade Teachers The number following each word indicates the number of teachers who voted in favor of teaching the word in the second grade. Seventy- nine of these words are among the 1000 commonest words in English writing. The thirty-eight words receiving more than twentj'-six votes, that is, the votes of sixty per cent or more of the forty-five teachers, are to be taught in the second grade. They will be found listed in the second grade outline on page 42. always 33 among 26 any 44 again 34 ache 1 answer 9 business 1 been 40 built 16 busy 30 believe 3 beginning 6 blue 43 break 15 buy 38 can't 22 country 11 could 23 color 10 choose 5 coming 33 cough 3 don't 22 does 35 done 34 dear 41 doctor 16 every 35 easy 24 early 12 enough 12 friend 22 February 8 forty 17 grammar 1 guess 14 hoarse 1 half 20 having 31 hour 23 heard 15 here 38 l.ear 36 instead 3 just 30 i.new 30 1 now 41 laid 20 lose 4 loose 4 many 30 meant 2 making 37 minute 4 much 37 none 22 often 24 once 35 piece 5 ready 12 raise 2 read 30 straight 4 sugar 14 shoes 16 said 36 says 27 sure 21 since 9 some 39 seems 30 separate 1 their 25 there . 35 Tuesday 9 two 40 too 32 trouble 2 tear 19 tired 15 though 6 through 6 they 39 tonight 17 truly 6 used 12 very 40 which 29 where 32 women 4 write 37 writing 17 would 25 Wednesday 9 wear 15 v.-eek 39 whether 2 whole 14 won't 14 wrote 32 This little record shows what always happens when a long list of words is furnished and teachers are requested to " teach the ones which seem most practical." There is not one word which some teacher 18 SPELLING would not teach in the second grade, even such words as grammar, separate, hoarse, etc. This is further evidence that mere personal opinion cannot successfully select words. The '' Demons " were discovered by Dr. Jones, who conducted his investigation as follows: He collected the original compositions written by 1050 children in grades two to eight, inclusive, in four states. He examined more than 75,000 themes, which averaged a little less than 190 words each. The total number of words in these themes, counting the repetitions of each word, was about 15,000,000, but the total number of different words was only 4532. These words were arranged into graded lists bj^ assigning each word to the lowest grade in which at least two per cent of the pupils used it. Some Significant Results of the Investigation Of the 4532 different words used in all grades, the number used by two per cent of the pupils in the respective grades was as follows Second grade 1927 Third grade — new words added to second grade list .... 469 Fourth grade — new words added to previous lists 442 Fifth grade — new words added to previous lists 432 Sixth grade — new words added to previous lists 425 Seventh grade — new words added to previous lists 419 Eighth grade — nev/ words added to previous lists 418 Total 4532 Dr. Jones says, " The number of words listed per student ranged from 421 for the most meager vocabulary of the student in the second grade to 2812 for the largest vocabulary of the eighth grade students. The largest vocabulaiy of the second grade students was 924, and the smallest vocabulary of the eighth grade students was 1409. The average number of different words in the writing vocabularies of the students, grade by grade, was as follows: Average Vocabularies by Grades Grade Number of Words 2 521 3 908 4 1235 5 1489 6 1710 7 1926 8 2135 THE "one hundred DEMONS" 19 " There were no significant variations in the number of words from the students of the various states." With reference to the number of words misspelled by pupils, he says, " Practically every word in the list of 4532 was mispelled by some one or more students, yet the highest number of words misspelled by any one student was 87, the smallest number 18. The average number of words misspelled by the 1050 students was 48." Regard- ing the very simple w^ords that are misspelled, he adds: " Indeed, the very words that give most trouble in spelling are almost invariably found in the writing vocabularies of second and third grade pupils, and they faithfully reappear throughout subsequent grades. Over nine-tenths of all words misspelled by the 1050 grade students are found in these two Hsts." While this investigation could have been made much more valuable if the frequencies in the use and misspelling of each word had been shown, it does, however, help to dispel some of the traditional notions regarding the character and amount of spelling material to be em- phasized in the elementary school. Perhaps the most important facts revealed are that time is wasted in attempting to teach pupils all of the words found in spelling books which contain from eight to fifteen thousand, and that in the teaching of spelling our chief con- cern should be in writing, not reading vocabularies. These conclusions seem reasonable when we consider the fact that 1050 children used only 4532 different words in writing 75,000 themes, and that the largest single vocabulary was 2812 words. Further support is furnished by the investigations of the Rev. J. Knowles, of London, in 1904; ]Mr. R. C. Eldridge, of Niagara Falls, in 1911; Dr. Leonard Ayres, of the Russell Sage Foundation, in 1913; Messrs. W. A. Cook and M. V. O'Shea in 1914; and finally by a consolida- tion of all of these studies by Df. Ayres in 1915. (For a description of the last named see page 34.) i Knowles found by " Taking passages from the English Bible and from various authors, containing 100,000 words, a list of 353 words which occurred most frequently, and the number of times each occurred," Eldridge analyzed the vocabularies of 250 different articles which appeared in four issues of the Sunday papers of Buffalo and found that they contained an aggregate of 43,989 words, counting all repeti- tions, but only 6003 different words. Ayres tabulated an aggregate of 23,629 words from 2000 letters written by 2000 people and found only 2001 different words. Cook and O'Shea studied the family corre- spondence of thirteen adults containing 200,000 words and found the vocabulary to consist of 5200 different words. In 1915 Ayres combined all of these investigations in an effort to determine the 1000 common- est words in English writing. If 1050 pupils use but 4532 different words in writing 75,000 themes 20 SPELLING containing 15,000,000 running words, and if approximately 2500 adults use a vocabulary limited to about 6000 different words in writing newspaper articles and correspondence containing over 300,000 running words, it seems unreasonable to expect pupils to learn the meaning and spelling of many thousands of words arbitrarily selected. All of these facts strongly suggest that pupils may be careless in the spelling of simple w^ords because they have been required to spread their energies more or less equally over thousands of words without having their attention turned particularly and with frequent repeti- tions to the words most necessary in English writing. The scientific studies mentioned above, together with others made during recent years, give us convincing evidence that personal opinion cannot successfully select, grade and limit the number of words to be taught. The records of the test on the " One Hundred Demons " shown in the preceding tables certainly substantiate the fact that proper attention has not been given to some of the very simple but necessary words. INTERESTING FACTS (The author gives these facts, realizing that the word " grammar " and perhaps two or three others should not be taught until the fifth or sixth grade.) With one exception all of the words w^ere found in the writing vocabularies of fourth gi'ade pupils. Among the 6249 pupils in grades four to eight, inclusive, 2648, or forty-one per cent, misspelled twenty or more words. Among 2362 high school pupils, sixty-two, or three per cent, mis- spelled twenty or more words. Three Juniors and one Senior misspelled twenty-five or more. 1171 fourth grade pupils (79%) misspelled more than 20 words. 50 20 50 20 50 20 50 20 Eighteen other cities made about the same record. In the light of these facts it certainly is not advisable, for the present at least and probably never, to use time in an effort to teach 331 " (22%) 856 fifth (54%) 94 " ( 6%) 395 sixth (33%) 20 " ( 2%) 153 seventh (14%) 2 " (.2%) 73 eighth ( 8%) FUTILITY OF THE SPELLING GRIND 21 children in the respective grades the spelling of such words as the fol- lowing, selected from the spelling book in use: Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Grade Grade Grade Gr.ade Grade sighing" salubrious potential rendezvous phthisicky cherub infectious ptarmigan chapeau magisterial hyena concertina scullion ancestral ichthyology barbarous ludicrous avaricious intercessor convalesce luscious spectral predecessor obeisance abstemious damask plenteous bituminous dulcimer calligraphy verdure intrigue apologetic antithesis demoniacal cyhnder calumet dissyllable diaeresis saccharin THE FUTILITY OF SOME OF THE SPELLING GRIND (Further evidence that simple and necessary words are neglected.) (Attempting to learn these, spectacle halo legacy gossamer sluice luiid l^uoyant linear aggrieve superlative romantic obstinate while misspelling these.) Fig. 1 At the close of the third month of school a certain teacher had given her pupils four hundred different words in forty lessons. Below are twenty-five words selected at random from among these four hundred. They were pronounced to the pupils after the follow- ing diiections had been given: 1. " Number each word." 2. " Use each word in a sentence." 3. " If you are sure that you do not know its meaning, spell it." 4. ''If you are sure that you do not know how to spell the word, leave the space blank." 22 SPELLING h 1. demon 2. spectacle 3. halo 4. studio 5. fugitive 6. eddy 7. legacy 8. prophecy 9. decoy 10. medley 11. association 12. attorney 13. gossamer 14. sluice 15. lurid 16. juniper 17. buoyant 18. linear 19. aggrieve 20. declension 21. antecedent 22. superlative 23. romantic 24. patriot 25. obstinate One boj' in the sixth grade made this record. He was regular in attendance, and is normal physically, mentally, and in age for his grade. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 9. demond 10. The man has spectle 11. hallo 12. studio 13. fewgetive 14. 15. 16. prov — 17. decoy med 18. The teachers assea 19. agrieve aterny 20. 21. 22. lurid 23. romanic 24. apatrio boyount 25. He could not spell twenty -two of the words. He could not use any. A short time after the above test had been given the *' One Hundred Demons " were pronounced to the same class. All of these words are in the writing vocabulary of every sixth grade pupil. The boy repre- sented above made the record shown on the next page. RECORD ON THE 'DEMONS" Record Made by a Sixth Grade Boy on the "Demons." Words, ronounced. Boy's Record Words Pronounced. Boy's Record always allways many among meant any making again minute ache ack much answer none noun business buisness once wanst been often offen built buildt piece pease busy ready believe beleive raise rase beginning begining read blue straight strata break brake sugar buy shoes shose can't cann't said could counld says si country sure shur color since senese choose some coming seems cough separate spert don't donen't their thier done there does dose Tuesday dear two doctor Doctor too every trouble easy esy tear early tired enough though friend through February Feburary they forty tonight grammar grammer truly used guess gess hoarse herse very half halfe which whitch having where hour women wemen heard write here heir writing writ ting hear would instead Wednesday just knew knw wear whether know now whole hole laid won't lose los wrote loose lose week 23 24 SPELLING While the record shown above is rather extreme, it is by no means unusual. Notice the following table which shows the records made on the same test by two different classes. Record on the " Demons/' and Twenty-five Words Selected from the Spelling Book in Use TABLE NO. S Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Misspelled Could Misspelled Could Not Use Not Use No. of No. of Pupil Pupil Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the 100 2o Words 2o Words 100 25 Words 25 Word3 Demons Taught Taught Demons Taught Taught 1 38 24 23 1 3 4 16 2 29 17 23 2 12 16 22 3 31 16 25 3 18 11 20 4 34 19 25 4 20 13 24 5 57 21 24 5 20 15 23 6 37 19 23 6 . 33 24 24 7 41 22 21 7 39 19 24 8 45 19 24 1 8 30 13 25 9 42 18 20 1 9 37 16 25 10 44 18 17 10 24 22 25 11 45 19 21 11 31 16 2"' 12 4-3 12 19 12 39 21 25 lo 48 17 10 13 25 21 25 14 50 19 22 14 20 13 25 15 50 24 23 15 36 21 23 16 50 19 . .> 16 44 24 23 17 49 oo 25 17 25 14 24 IS 51 22 25 18 21 12 21 19 52 22 24 1 19 31 21 22 20 53 24 ' o 1 20 40 22 25 21 30 16 17 21 35 17 20 22 55 !.2 23 •->2 25 IS 23 23 30 21 24 23 28 20 24 24 28 18 23 24 38 15 24 25 26 6 23 25 40 22 25 26 28 IS 23 26 49 23 23 27 25 20 24 27 51 21 22 28 22 13 17 28 29 13 25 29 21 14 19 29 17 10 25 30 21 IS 23 30 21 17 25 31 20 13 23 31 55 23 . 25 32 17 10 17 32 34 17 25 33 17 15 24 34 54 23 23 35 59 22 23 36 60 22 24 37 59 25 23 38 61 25 25 39 74 23 25 Med. 45 19 23 Med. 30 17 24 THE BUCKIJ^GHAM TESTS 25 THE TWENTY-FIVE WORDS USED IN THE FOURTH GRADE autumn century vineyard compass quake singular leisure whinny awning echo scuttle gingham somber despair arid endure errand listen furry glisten beacon merely intemperate accurate mimic THE BUCKINGHAM TESTS (Given April, 1915) The words used in this test were selected from a partially standard- ized series of spelling tests worked out by Dr. B. H. Buckingham, Chief Statistician cf the Department of Education of the City of New York. I he tests have been given in many cities in the United States- under the same conditions as those indicated below. Nature of the Tests There are three tests in this series. Test No. 1 is composed of fifty words which most of the pupils in the third and fourth grades should be able to spell correct l5^ Test No. 2 is composed of fifty words which most pupils in the fifth and sixth grades should be able to spell correctly. Test No. 3 is composed of fifty words which most pupils in the seventh and eighth grades should be able to spell cor- rectly. The Directions for Giving the Tests 1. The fifty words for each grade are combined into sentences as given in dictations I, II, and III, which follow. 2. The teacher should dictate each of the sentences to all the pupils in the grade. Have each pupil write each sentence, spelling as many words as he can. 3. Each sentence should be dictated, either in whole or in part, as many times as may seem necessary to secure its complete under- standing. The exercise is purely a test in spelling to see how this grade compares with other grades in this and other cities. It is not intended that pupils should be subjected to the added difficulty of an effort to recall the words dictated. 4. Do not drill upon these sentences or words in the sentences before finishing the dictation. Offer no explanation of words or sentences. If the meaning is not clear, repeat the sentence as a whole or in part. 5. After the pupils have written a sentence read it again and allow them to insert words or make corrections. 6. Do not ask the pupils to underline words or otherwise call their attention to the significant words of the sentences. 26 SPELLING 7. In correcting the papers, score as wrong any variation in spell- ing from the dictated form, however slight. Fut a circle around each misspelled word to aid in counting errors. 8. Carefully estimate the number of times each word was tried, and the number of times it was spelled correctly, by the pupils in each grade represented in your room. Do not separate classes. 9. Send the papers and records to the principal. The principal should make up a consolidated record by his building on the form supplied and send the same to the main office not later than May 8th. THE WORDS AND SENTENCES Spelling Test No. I (For Third and Fourth Grades) 1. The doctor made much money. There was a water basin in his large office. 2. We buy coffee, sugar, and jncct at the store. 3. The monkey ate a peach, an crange and some corn. 4. Birds come to the iron fence near the garden at supper time. 5. I was once afraid of the thunder and noise. 6. I found I could read letters. 7. She has written a story this week. 8. In crithmeiic we subtract. Many of us are wrong and none right. 9. I laid the soap in the window near the board. I put the pencil in my pocket. 10. The bridge is already full of hclcs. Spelling Test No. II (For Fifth and Sixth Grades) 1. I found a handkerchief in the parlor, Wednesday, February first. 2. I had a chance to buy a banana for a nickel from the brave old captain. 3. According to the story the bicycle caught up with the sleigh before one o'clock. 4. When he was nineteen he was so hoarse that his voice was a whisper. 5. The pistol and scissors are excellent but cheap. 6. Nobody knew in what manner the dessert was made. 7. The umbrella I decided to accept already has many holes. 8. We heard the cough of the elephant from the engine. 9. If your ankle aches ycu can get medicine at little expense from the store on the avenue. 10. We can get a cabbage and a tomcto apiece from out fertile fields. THE BUCKINGHAM TESTS 27 Test No. Ill (For Seventh and Eighth Grades) 1. The mosquito is guilty of carrying contagious disease. 2. The consequences of ignorance and error are disaster. 3. It is impossible to prepare the difficult lesson in grammar. 4. The attorney for the innocent man recommended that he be granted a license. 5. The address by the principal was extraordinary. Q. The emperor Uves in a palace. He is an independent sovereign. 7. The colonel, the lieutenant, the secretary and the chauffeur de- clared the physician was a villain. 8. The committee apologized for the occurrence in the ancient ceme- tery. 9. The c/io*> sang a favorite hymn at the marriage. 10. In my judgment we should separate the millinery shop from the stationery store. 11. Let us proceed with our journey. 12. I shall explain the difference to my associates at the first con- venient opportunity. 28 SPELLING TABLE NO. 7 CITY RECORD OF BUCKINGHAM TEST ON 50 WORDS (APRIL, 1915) Grades 3 to 8 Inclusive No. of School 3 4 5 6 7 8 T0T.\L 10 69.3 84.0 72.1 78.4 62.1 66.1 72.0 9 71.0 84.0 75.0 85.1 61.8 74.6 75.3 7 87. 4 83.7 74.2 75.5 71.0 75.4 77.9 12 69 . 7 84.7 79.3 71.5 67.2 71.5 73.9 13 01. C 74.2 71.4 76.0 58.4 67.5 68.1 14 78. 92.8 74.7 93.7 68.8 78.8 81.1 1.5 44.4 75.4 49.2 73.0 68.0 67.0 02.8 16 02.0 80.9 04.4 78.0 70.0 79.1 72.4 17 00.6 67.6 03.8 74.0 59.8 67.7 65.5 18 72.0 85.4 82.8 83.9 63.4 79.3 77.8 21 73.8 88.1 78.6 84.0 73.7 82.5 80.2 20 50. 5 71.1 61.0 80.6 09.3 71.2 68.3 19 08.4 82.7 06.9 84.3 53 . 5 70.4 71.0 22 01.3 86.8 71.1 80.1 06.5 78.0 73.9 6 53.0 60.8 53.0 09.6 61.0 59.1 60.4 8 68.3 82.2 74.4 83.7 55.3 75.3 73.2 23 70.1 80.4 85.5 88.5 65.6 71.2 77.8 24 55.0 80.4 67.0 68.0 54.6 76.6 67.0 1 79.0 80.0 77.8 84.5 03.3 81.1 78.6 2 62.4 84.0 74.7 77.3 55.1 60 . 4 09.9 07.7 79.5 65.0 90.8 63.7 80.0 74.4 2C 68.3 89.7 77.5 78.3 72.7 79.8 77.7 2.5 63.9 88.1 78.0 85.4 64.7 78.5 70.4 3 60.7 81.9 06.2 78.7 60.3 63.5 68 . 5 4 06.7 80.8 64.3 75.8 61.2 73.0 70.3 Average 03.3 82.8 71.7 80.4 63.5 73.2 72.4 Grades 3 to 6 Inclusive 3 4 5 6 TOT.\L 27 77.7 81.5 73.5 85.2 79.4 28 02.3 92.5 77.7 90.6 fO.7 37 51.8 82.2 68.6 74.5 69.2 29 57.2 85.3 72.6 78.2 73.3 39 59.7 82.5 64.1 76.7 70.7 40 23.6 84.9 80.6 87.1 69.0 30 67.8 85.5 79.3 84.3 79.2 31 59.3 79.4 71.2 79.7 72.4 32 72.9 77.4 82.0 72.4 76 . 1 33 88.3 88.3 68.9 76.2 80.4 34 73.1 88.9 71.6 85.4 79.7 Average 03.3 82.8 71.7 80.4 74.3 j\IlSCELL.\NEOUS Gr.UJES 3 4 5 7 8 35 82. 4 89.4 83.0 92.1 79.0 36 74.3 84.8 44 01.1 72.4 38 71.1 83.4 41 49.2 72.2 68.6 72.5 53.1 42 09.0 82.1 58.7 70.9 43 77.9 90.0 09.3 Average 63.3 82.8 71.7 80.4 03.5 73.2 Results in 15 Cities GRADES 3 4 5 7 8 54.5 77.5 63.8 75.9 57.7 70.1 06.2 THE BUCKINGHAM TESTS 29 Figure No. 2 SHOWING RESULTS OF THREE SPELLING TESTS THE AYRES TEST GIVEN NOV, 1914 100 90 80 a o u 70 CO 50 OtherCitics ^^-' ~-~--^__ _ — — — ^^^ _^-<=^ Des Moines 40 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Grades THE ONE HUNDRED DEMONS FEB. 1915 » I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 100 90 80 10 fl 60 o U 50 I 40 30 20 10 LJ THE BUCKINGHAM TEST APRIL 1915 , I I Other Cities 9^H| Des M.oines Grades 30 SPELLING METHOD Many different- and rather distinct methods of teaching spelling have been used by teachers, but it cannot be said that any one method is absolutely the best.* In fact, some investigators declare that the amount of time and the particular method used have comparatively little to do with the results; that the teacher's ability to make the pupils realize the great importance of correct spelling and her per- sistence in developing a " spelling consciousness that will make the pupil more awake to orthographical errors, and a conscience that will not permit him to leave a word until he is sure that it is correct," have a much larger influence. The statements in the paragraph above should not lead to the conclusion that any method is a good one as long as the teacher ardently seeks to develop '' a spelling consciousness." The desirability of becoming a good speller might be emphasized repeatedly during morn- ing talks and at other times, but if the pupils are not taught how to study spelling and from the beginning are allowed to prepare in their own crude ways their spelling lessons either in school or at home, it is certain that the necessary ability will not be developed. Pupils must be taught hoiv to study spelling. They must be trained into self-helpfulness. Any first gTade teacher realizes the futility of allowing pupils to " study " their spelling lessons alone. But the evils of this method are by no means confined to the first grade. They continue in varying degrees throughout all subsequent grades and the frequent misspellings of older children, and even adults, result very largely from a failure to carefully scrutinize the con- stituent elements of new words, and to work out associations of various sorts that will help to impress accurate images. The excellent state- ment of John Ruskin emphasizes this fact. He writes, " I tell you earnestly, you must get into the habit of looking intensely at words, assuring yourself of their meaning, syllable by syllable, nay 'etter by letter. Let the accent of words be watched, and closely; let their meaning be watched more closely still." The writer once noticed a group of third grade pupils studying their spelling lesson by writing each word a certain number of times. He asked the following questions and received the answers indicated. " How do you children study spelling? " Children, " We write each word ten times." " If you know how to spell one of the words in the lesson, do you write it ten times also? " Children, " Yes." " Then you study just as much on easy words as you do on hard ones? " Children, "Yes." This is clearly a case where the children had not learned to weigh values and were not studjang intelligently. They were doubtless * This was written before the publication of the Aldine Speller. A GOOD METHOD 31 writing the words mechanically, not thoughtfully. The situation reminds one of the boy whose teacher required him to write the expression, " I have gone," on the blackboard 500 times. After writ- ing it 300 times he noticed that his teacher had gone home. He decided to leave also and wrote the following parting message: " I have went." A GOOD METHOD * (Experimentation Proves This Method Superior to One "Where Children Study Independently) 1. Write one of the words on the blackboard and teach it in accord- ance with the following plan. Then write the next word, teaching it in Lhe same way, and so on with the rest of the words. (a) "While writing the word, 'pronounce it distinctly. (6) Develop the meaning orally by using the word in a sentence and by defining it. (c) Divide the word into syllables. Call on pupils to spell orally by syllables. Have the word spelled in concert, and individually by poor spellers. (d) Have pupils indicate the parts of the word that present dif- ficulties, or whether the word contains parts they already know. Teacher should also call attention to peculiarities, such as silent letters, ei and ie combinations, etc. (e) Have pupils write the word once, twice, or three times, pronouncing it softly or spelling silently as they write it. It would be well to have them use the word in a new sentence before they do this. This is done to emphasize strongly the meaning of the word just before W'riting it. (/) Allow the class a moment in which to look at the word and then have them close their eyes and try to visualize it, or use any other device of a similar nature. 2, After the various words of the day's lesson have been studied in this way, allow a few minutes for studying the whole lesson, sug- gesting that each pupil emphasize the words he thinks he doesn't know. This time should be limited so that each pupil will study vigorously and attentively. (a) Next have the whole column reviewed orally. This may be done either by the class as a whole or by individual pupils or by both. If the first, have the pupils first spell each word from the board and then, turning from the board, spell it again silently. Then let them verify results by consulting the board. If the other methods are used, have pupils work on the words that are most difficult for them. * Taken from the experiment mentioned on page 5. 32 SPELLING REVIEWS There is probably nothing which contributes more to spelling ability than systematic reviews. Texts and teachers always provide reviews, some of which are open to criticism. While pupils should be taught to weigh values and to give more attention to the study of difficult words than they do to easier ones, it is a mistake for a text or teacher to neglect frequent reviews of the inost necessary words. IS'aturallj^ extra emphasis should be given to the most dif- ficult of the necessary words. It is quite customary to require pupils to review words misspelled in the regular daily spelling lesson, while a review of the words spelled correctly is seldom required. The partial futility of this procedure is shown in the following record made by an eighth grade girl in an experiment tried during the past year. This is an exceptional case, but differs from hundreds of others only in degree, not in kind. The following thirtj'-two words which the pupils had not studied were pronounced to the class on IMarch 1st. The girl misspelled twenty-one cf them: engineer proceeded crevasse levee colonel persistence sagacious resistance equipped discipline admirable serenade surgeon Cincinnati martyr session hostile fertile capa ble counselor accepted except detestable opponent lieutenant garrison admiral capacious discussion counterfeit preceded austere On March 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th, columns 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively, W'Cre taught according to the method given on page 31 At the close of the period on each day the pupils were asked to write from dictation the eight words in the column. The papers were then col- lected and checked by the teacher. This girl made a perfect record each of the four days. After INIarch 5th nothing more was said about the words until IVIarch 25th, when the teacher dictated all thirty- two again. This time the girl misspelled twenty-three words. She had been in regular attendance from the beginning of the experiment. These results certainly indicate the necessity of providing reviews of words which pupils spell correctly each day, as well as those which are misspelled. If the teacher cf this class had, in the customary way, required the pupils to review only the misspellings cf each day this girl would have escaped entirely, whereas after twentj'' daj^s had elapsed since the study of the words, she showed her utter lack of ability to retain the correct spelling of more than half of them. Numerous records of this sort point to the fact that it is a compara- tively easy task for any pupil with even ordinary intelligence to mem- PERTINENT QUESTIONS TO THE TEACHER OF SPELLING 33 orize the order of letters in a short list of words and spell all of them correctly a few minutes later. But since the purpose of the teaching of spelling is to enable pupils to come into permanent possession of the proper spelling and use of words, the problem becomes more complex and calls for a series of systematic repetitions, which occur weekly, monthly and yearly. These repetitions should include all words with more frequent reviews of the most necessary and difficult ones. PERTINENT QUESTIONS TO THE TEACHER OF SPELLING 1. Are you in any persistent and systematic way following up the words taught by investigations of various kinds to test the ability of the pupils to spell these words? This question might be analyzed and stated more specifically, as: (a) How many different words have you taught this semester? (b) Do you have the words already taught checked or listed so that you can make use of any or all of them at any time? (c) Do you ever give the pupils a test including all or a random selection of the words taught up to date? (d) How do you use the result of this test in order that the pupils may derive the most possible benefit? (e) Is the nature of the test such as to prove the pupils' knowledge of the meaning of the words as well as their ability to remember the order of the letters merely? 2. In dictating words, whether daily, weekly or monthly, to what extent do you require their use in sentences? 3. Do you agree that the real and final test of ability to spell is found in spontaneous written composition? If so, to what extent do you use this test systematically? In other words, how many of the words taught are the pupils using intelligently in their original composi- tions, when the expression of thought is uppermost in their minds? Can you devise some means of applying such a test without consum- ing an undue amount of time and energy? Would it be practicable for the teacher or pupils to keep an alphabetic list of all words taught for the purpose of checking up all of the misspelled words in a set of compositions occasionally? If this idea, or some modification of it, could be employed to test the use of all words taught, would it not show (a) the words not used at all, and (6) the words accurately and intelUgently used? 4. Do you quite frequently inspect the personal lists of the pupils to ascertain whether or not they are actually being used? Do you ever compare the personal lists of individual pupils with their composi- tions for the purpose of learning (a) has the pupil studied his list? (b) how many words accurately used in the composition and included in the list? (c) how many inaccurately used and in the list? (d) to 34 SPELLING what extent is the pupil recording misspelled words? Would not a custom of this kind be very helpful, especially with poor spellers? 5. Is most of the time spent on this subject used for teaching or testing? Do the pupils feel that it is a time for thought or for drill? MINIMUM LISTS FOR THE GRADES Material The ordinary spelling book contains from eight to fifteen thou- sand words and has been " desk made," that is, the amount of mate- rial, its selection and arrangement have been very largely a matter of personal opinion. It is, therefore, thought advisable to present at this time a minimum Ust for each grade. It is probable that future experience will demonstrate the need of some changes in the grading of the words as now submitted. Included in the lists will be found the 1000 commonest words in English waiting as selected by Dr. Leonard P. Ajres in 1915, when he combined the results of the four investigations described on page 19. In doing this he analyzed about 360,000 words written by approximately 2500 different persons. He was able to determine the relative frequency in the use of each word and in this way discovered the 1000 commonest words. Regarding this list Dr. Ayres says, " At first the purpose was to identify the 2000 most commonly used words, but this project was abandoned because it was soon found to be impossible of realization. It is easily possible to identify the ten commonest words in written EngUsh. These are probably the, and, of, to, I, as, in, that, you, for. With their repetitions thej^ constitute more than one-fourth of all the words we write. Save for the personal pronouns, they are essential in writing about any subject, whatever its nature, from Aaron through zynthum. It is likewise possible to identify the fifty commonest words, for, like the ten, they are true construction words and necessary, no matter what the nature of the subject under consideration. With progressively decreasing reliability the list may be extended to include the 500 commonest words and possibly the 1000 commonest, but not the 2000 commonest, for long before this point is reached the identity of the frequently used words varies according to the subject under consideration. For this reason it was decided to limit the foun- dation vocabulary to 1000 words, which constitute, with their repe- titions, more than nine-tenths of all the words we write." The teaching of the listed words and the suggested re\4ews will probably not require the use of more than half the time devoted to spelling. Teachers should use the remainder of the time for the pur- pose of teaching other suitable words selected from the spelling book, class and personal lists. MINIMUM LISTS FOR THE GRADES 35 1 Class lists should be prepared by the teacher and should include words commonly misspelled in the written work of the pupils. The personal list is prepared by the pupil himself. Each pupil in grades three to eight, inclusive, should be required to place in a Hst all words taken from two sources: (a) Words misspelled by the pupil in any regular written work; (6) words which the pupil wants to use, but must refer to the dictionary to ascertain their correct spelling. It is well to have this list made in a small book used for no other purpose. The booklet might be given the title, " Words in My Vocabulary Which I Misspell." No other words should be placed in this book. It should not include misspelled words taken from the regular speUing li ts. The idea of the personal hst is to have each pupi constantly gathering together and studying the " weak spots " in his own writing vocabulary. The words should be arranged alphabetically in the third grade. This will furnish preparation for the use of the dictionary in the fourth grade. The second important step in the use of personal lists is to provide opportunity from time to time, say every two or three weeks, for the children to be tested on their words. This can be done by having children in opposite seats pronounce the words to each other. The teacher can then collect and check the papers or this can be done by the children themselves. The personal list is perhaps the best way to recognize individual differences among pupils. A pupil is entitled to the opportunity to learn to spell the words which he already knows how to use. We cannot rely entirely upon mass instruction to accomplish this end. The proper preparation of these lists will require some supervision by the teacher. Some children will neglect to make the list. When reminded of their negligence they are liable to record many words which should not be listed. These are exceptional cases, however and simply require a little attent on from the teacher. Another matter of importance is to see that pupils spell the words correctly as they record them. Frequent mention of this by the teacher and the exam- ination at intervals of the lists of exceptionally careless pupils will obviate many difficulties. One pupil in the sixth grade made this personal list during the year 1914-1915. It is interesting to note that very few of these words are included in the sixth grade list in the spelling book. This shows the futility of depending entirely upon any one list to meet all of the needs of every pupil. tiger Greek insane quotation mineral vegetables prevent Wales correcting tobacco giant kingdom Christians supplying exports basin realm sixteen series leather receive executed bade paragraph always 36 SPELLING possible Latin ■ England vivid products nickel accident artist recognize copper pistol cakes relief selection concerned medicine general tightly chapter sympathy dragged harp period bridge agent amuse situated thickness capital walnut dwellers visions heavier comparisons insurance rope fiercely Florida tread tallest imagined enemies gravel example sailors fancied spoil layers jewels block forge hundred manual trolley language pincers district memorizing permission supplement elder loaned poetrj'- spaces sponge struggle value memory college scissors MINIMUM SPELLING LISTS First Grade The following list of words is presented as a minimum requirement for the first grade. The words are based entirely upon the vocabu- laries of the Aldine Primer and First Reader. No spelling should be attempted until the Primer has been thor- oughly read. At this time the pupils should be perfectly familiar with the following initial consonant sounds. The names of the letters should not be taught until the Primer has been read and these basic sounds mastered. However, all pupils ought to be able to name all of the letters when the first forty-five pages of the First Reader have been completed. The words followed by the letter " m " are included among the 1000 commonest words in English writing: INITIAL CONSONANTS FROM KEY WORDS IN PRIMER c. come™ J- joy r. run d. day"" I. little" s. sing f. for"" m. me"" t. tell" g. girr n. news" w. wind" h. he-" P- play" y. your" At the completion of the forty-fifth page in the First Reader the pupils should know the following three initial and twenty-four blended consonants plus the fifteen shown above. A quick recognition and easy application of these sounds are absolutely necessary if pupils are to possess the proper degree of independence in the working out of new- words in reading. Furthermore, this phonetic accomplishment will furnish the ear training, without which spelling can never be learned. MINIMUM SPELLING LISTS— FIRST GRADE 37 THREE INITIAL AND TWENTY-FOUR BLENDED CONSONANTS k. kilP pl. play "^ tr. tree™ qu. quill si. sleep sh. sheep V. vest br. bring™ sk. sky bl. blue"" cr. cry sm. smile cl. clay dr. dry sn. snow fl. fly fr. from'" squ. squirrel gl. glacr gr. ground™ St. stay™ ch. chest pr. pry svv. sway thr. through" wh. when" spr. spray THE LIST OF WORDS Of the ninety-two words in the Primer, eighty-five have been selected for part of the spelling work. Two hundred eighty-six of the 609 words in the first fifty-six families of Aldine phonics complete the hst, maldng 371 words for the first grade. It will be noticed that twenty-nine of the words from which the initial consonants and blends are learned have been repeated in the groups listed below. The entire hst, therefore, includes but 342 different words. Thirty-two of the eighty-five words from the Primer are not to be found in the fifty-six families mentioned and must, therefore, be taught separately. If a pupil has been taught the " ay " family and is thoroughly trained in the recognition and use of the initial and blended consonants shown above, he ought to spell " say," " day," " may," " play," etc., without much effort. The difficulties, then, in this list of words are to be found largely in the teaching of the initial and blended consonants, the fifty-six key words, and the thirty-two w^ords in the Primer that cannot be grouped. It is strongly recommended that the spelling start with the words in series and that several of these series be taught before any of the words in a list of thirty-two are presented. THE 286 WORDS THAT CAN BE GROUPED 1 2 3 4 hay see™ fly old™ nest lay™ be™ sky hold™ best™ play' bee by™ cold™ west™ pay"^ me™ my™ bold rest™ pray he™ try™ fold way'' she™ why™ gold™ 5 stay' we™ cry mold say™ tree™ dry sold™ day™ 6 three™ buy™ told™ may™ all™ 38 fair hall call™ tall ball™ wall small™ 7 flew blew new™ knew™ grew grow blow™ snow low™ show™ know ™ throw™ 10 let™ get™ yet™ met pet set™ net 11 will™ till fill™ hill mill kill™ still™ quill ill 12 sing ring ™ bring™ spring™ string king thing™ swing 13 made™ shade grade 14 glad™ had™ bad™ mad sad 15 can™ ran™ man ™ fan pan Dan than™ an™ 16 look™ took™ cook book™ hook brook shook 17 back™ crack Jack black™ rack stack quack 18 found™ round ™ ground ™ pound ™ sound 19 tell™ well™ fell™ bell sell spell™ smell SPELLING 20 rake night™ sake right™ take™ bright flake fight™ snake fight™ 28 21 near™ last™ hear™ fast dear™ past™ year™ ear 22 hide 29 side™ feed ride™ need ™ wide deed shde™' seed 23 30 at™ rain ™ nat™ grain cat train™ bat fat 31 that™ soon™ mat moon pat noon ™ rat spoon sat flat 32 and™ 24 sand long™ stand™ song™ hand™ strong 33 25 must™ feet just™ meet™ trust™ sweet street™ 34 saw™ 26 paw kite™ draw white™ write m 35 bite star far™ 27 car™ wake make™ 36 bake bed™ cake red™ Fred sled Ned fed 37 did™ hid kid fid slid 38 top™ stop™ drop hop shop 30 morn horn corn 40 up™ cup pup 41 sun fun run™ gun 42 blue™ 43 peep deep ™ keep™ sweep sheep sleep 44 it™ sit™ hit qait 45 head ™ lead™ MINIMUM SPI :lling lists- -FIRST GRADE 39 read™ cent™ skin bone 54 bread tent spent™ thin cone him™ swim 46 50 52 fair™ 48 down™ big™ 55 air™ came™ town™ dig over™ hair name™ gown pig clover pan- game™ clown twig Rover pair™ same™ brown chair crown 53 56 49 seen™ eat™ 47 in™ 51 green meat went™ pm shone queen neat sent™ chin stone™ seat THE THIRTY-TWO WORDS THAT CANNOT BE GROUPED after™ does™ jump there™ when™ are™ for™ little™ they™ where ™ bird girls™ now™ to™ who™ boys™ good™ of™ under ™ with™ come ™ go™ on™ want™ you™ cover™ is™ some™ what™ your™ cows joy Second Grade (Review first-grade work at the beginning of the year.) The words in series were selected by twenty second-grade teachers from among those listed in the various families of words taught in con- nection with the Aldine Second Reader. Those not in series were taken from the sources indicated. A word was not included unless it was reported by fifty per cent of the teachers. The number of the series is shown above the words. The figure following each word shows the number of teachers reporting it and the words followed by the letter " m " are included among the 1000 commonest words in English writing. First Semester 57 59 feather . . . 17 64 hang 10 swam .... 18 rock 14 sang 20 62 lock 13 rang 19 60 luck 13 knock. . . . 16 sprang. . . 13 ought .... 13™ cluck 15 clock 18 thought. . 17™ duck 20 58 brought. . ]3,„ clap 16 bought. . . 15™ 63 65 cap 15 cool 19 loud 17 trap 12 61 spool 15 proud .... 14 wrap 12 weather . . . 18™ school 20™ cloud. . . . 17 40 SPELLING 66 not 13' got 12' hot 11' trot 13 67 dark 19" bark 16 park 16 lark 13 68 hive 19 five 18' alive 11 drive 19 69 thank 20' bank 11 70 find 19^ kind 20' mind 12" blind 12 71 rose 18 those 20° nose 13 close 17° 72 chick 13 quick 19 sick 12° 73 then 20"^ hen 12 men 13^^ when 20"" 74 deer 15 cheer 14 queer 19 75 care 20™ bare 11 share 11 76 east 19' feast 13 77 speak 20' weak 13 78 ice 16' mice 16 nice 19' twice 12 79 age 14' cage 20 page 17' 80 jump 20 pump 10 81 think 14^ drink 17 pink 13 ink 17 82 skip 18 ship 19° 83 sail 18° mail 11° 84 gate 14 ate 12 late 16° plate 10 skate 18 85 plant 19" can't 16 ant 11 86 cried 19 tried 17 87 out 14 *" about 19°° shout 14 88 flies 16 skies 13 tries 13 cries 13 89 rob 17 knob 13 90 reach 19' peach 19 bleach 19 each 17' 91 dash 15 "^ 92 love 20" dove 15 glove 11 93 this 20° miss 17° kiss 19 94 fine 20 ° mine 16° nine 15° shine 16° 95 grass 21 pass 14° glass 13° class 16° 96 lift 16 sv\'ift 14 drift 11 gift 14 97 coat 20 goat 19 boat 18°* 98 moss 10 toss 15 cross 18 99 whence. ... 19 thence 11 pence 19 100 how 20' cow 16 now 18"^ plow 18 101 skirt 19 shirt 12 dirt 17 102 dream 20 team 11 cream 19 steam 12 103 leap 20 cheap 16 104 log 11 frog 20 dog 20 105 pea 11 sea 19° tea 17 106 roll 14 troll 16 107 stove 20 drove 19 grove 10 108 dress 20"" guess 18™ MINIMUM SPELLING LISTS— SECOND GRADE 41 walk, talk. . chalk pale, tale, sale. 109 110 111 seek. . creek . cheek , week. . lost . cost. frost 112 113 gave, brave . 114 soft. loft. 115 taste. 14' 14' 15 13 11 16 14 12 12 20' 19' 16' 17 20' 19 20' 15 20 paste, haste. 116 wear bear, tear. neck, peck dull. . June, tune. snug . dug. . bug., rug. . 117 118 119 120 121 hole. . , whole , 122 meal . steal, 14 15 17' 17' 10 20 15 10 20' 20 17 15 13 10 18 20' 20 16 123 good . stood , wood. 124 awoke, spoke . broke . smoke. 125 life. . knife. 126 single . jingle . 127 curL hurl 128 owl. . growl . 129 enough. . . 20' 17' 16 17 17 16' 14 20' 20 16 14 20 16 18 19 20' rough tough bud., mud yawn , dawn. 130 131 end , send. , mend . spend , 132 133 cliff, stiff. leave. dome, home. 134 135 136 note. , wrote , 19 10 20 20 19 16 13' 19' 11 16' 18 17 20' 20 20' 19 20' Second Semester 137 142 fist. . 10 151 boot 17 eight. 20"" girl . . 20 root 18 weight . . . . 17 147 whirl. 19 138 roof hoof 20 19 blaze, graze. 143 20 16 bean . mean clean. 16 14 m 20"^ cane, lane. . 152 20 13 139 never ever 20"' 18"" roar. . oar. . 144 19 15 fern. . stern. 148 20 15 ask. . task.. 153 20 20 140 oak 19 maid, paid, laid. . 145 14 18'" hard, yard. 149 19"^ 19 "> hush, brush 154 19 14 cloak • 19 13 150 thrush . . . . 10 141 146 arm. . 17 155 felt 18"' twist. 19 farm. 19 faint . 17 melt 17 mist . 11 harm. 11 paint. 19 42 SPELLING 156 matter 20' patter 11 chatter 13 scatter .... 13 157 smart 13 start W part ir chart 14 158 boy 20° joy. toy, 15 16 159 pond 20 fond 17 160 bunch 20 lunch 20 161 piace 20' race 20"' face 18" 162 own 16' known. ... 17' grown 14 blown 12 163 but. cut. nut. shut 164 stretch , 16' 14' 10 15' 19 fetch. 12 165 catch 20' scratch. ... 15 match 17 166 feel 19^ wheel 13 167 flag 19 bag 14 tag 12 The thirty-eight words selected from the " One Hundred Demons " are given below (see page 12). The figures following the words indicate the regular grade lists in which the words are pre- sented. The letter " m " indicates that the word is included among the 1000 commonest words in English writing. always' anjr™ again "" been"" busy™ blue^ "" buyi''' could "" commg does! "" done"* deari "^ every™ having here'" heari "" justi™ knew^ ™ know^ ™ many ™ making much''^ once"^ road "" said" says™ some^ "" seems ^ there! "" two™ too™ theyi" very™ which™ where^ ™ write™ wrote! ™ week2™ ^ The following are also selected from the 1000 commonest words. Without study on this particular list at least seventy-nine per cent of them were spelled correctly by second grade pupils in eighty-four cities in the United States. do ago live yes her a time mother law them can into land house other the so today like child lot I as baby was no SIX box one his ten have belong has led us had door if lay am hand Third Grade Review the thirty-eight "Demons" in the second Teach these also. They are included in the original list of among '^ answer' built™ beginning' break can't country™ color don't™ doctor™ easy™ early™ gi'ade hst. ' Demons." enough™ friend ™ February™ MINIMUM S FELLING LIS1 rs— THIRD GRADE 4 forty"" meant™ sugar tired writing guess™ minute™ shoes though™ would™ half°^ none™ sure™ through™ Wednesday hour"" often™ since™ tonight™ wear™ heard "* piece™ their™ truly™ whole™ laid ready™ Tuesday™ used won't lose"" straight tear women™ Carefully review the words followed by " m " in the lists for grades one and two. Teach the following, which ai-e among the 1000 com- monest words. Without special study at least seventy-nine per cent of them were spelled correctly by tne tnird grade pupils in eignty- four cities in the United States. The figures following the words indicate the grades in which they are taught for the first time. The words are arranged in three groups. Those in each group are equally diflficult, but the ones in Group C are more difficult than those in Group B, and those in Group B than those in Group A. The figure 2c means that the word was introduced among the " Demons " in the second grade. Group A nine 2 cut 2 each 2 than 1 race 2 song 1 soon 1 its miss 2 winter came 1 very 2c ride 1 stone 1 Sunday or tree 1 free show 1 thank 2 sick 2 lake Monday dear 1- got 2 page 2 yet 1 west north nice 2 find 2 sold white 1 end 2 give told spent 1 fall 1 new 1 best foot feet letter form blow 1 went 1 take 1 far 1 block back 1 IVIr. gave 2 spring 1 away after 1 alike river paper thing 1 add plant 2 put what 1 Group B seven rest 1 near 1 made 1 forget east 2 down 1 said 2c happy son why 1 work noon 1 help bill our think 2 hard 2 want 1 more sister race 2 girl 1-2 when 2- cast cover 1 part 2 from 1 card fire still 1 wind 1 south age 2 place 2 print deep 1 gold 1 report air 1 inside read 1 never 2 fill 1 -2c 44 SPELLING Group B — Continued blue l-2c fine 2 found 1 along post cannot side 1 lost 2 town 1 May kind 2 name 1 stay 1 line life 2 room grand left here 2c hope outside ship 2 car 1 same 1 dark 2 train 1 word glad 1 band saw 1 every 2c with 1 game pay 1 under 1 mine 2 boat 2 large most Group C became sent 1 cost 2 hurt brother mile price maybe rain 1 seem 2c become across keep 1 even class 2 tonight start 2 without horse tenth mail 2 afternoon care 2 sir eye Friday try 1 these glass 2 hour move club party wife delay seen 1 upon state pound 1 felt 2 two 2c July behind full they l-2c head 1 around fail would story barn set 1 any 2c open camp stamp could 2c short bear 2 light I should lady clear coming 2c city reach 2 clean 2 cent 1 only better spell 1 night 1 where l-2c water poor pass 2 week 2-2c round 1 finish shut 2 first Fourth [ Grade easy Teach all of the " One Hundred Demons " except the word grammar. The list will be found on page 12. Review Groups A, B and C in grade three and all words followed by " m " in grades one and two. Teach the following, which are among the 1000 common- est words. Without special study at least seventy-nine per cent of them were spelled correctly by the fourth gi'ade pupils in eighty-four cities in the United States. The figures following the words indicate the grades in which they are taught for the first time. The words are arranged in three groups. Those in each group are equally difficult, but the ones in Group C are more difficult than those in Group B, and those in Group B than those in Group A. MINIMUM SPELLING LISTS— FOURTH GRADE 45 Group A catch 2 vr^.r herself leave 2 black 1 summer power early warm above wish close 2 unless ex; ress because flower clothing turn world nothing began lesson country ground 1 able half meet 1 lead 1 gone father another such suit anything trip many 2 track table list morning watch high people however dash 2 talk 2 ever 2 mind 2 fell 1 J une 2 held shall fight 1 right 1 church alone buy 1-2 date once 2 order stop 1 road 2 own 2 third walk 2 March before push grant next know 1-2 point soap indeed were within news 1 four dead done 2 small 1 Grot jp B body trust 1 income brought 2 also extra bought 2 less return dress 2 paid 2 event those 2 beside enter off office teach railroad true great happen unable took 1 Miss begun ticket again 2 who 1 collect account inform died file driven both change provide real heart wire sight recover month few stood 2 mountain children please fix steamer build picture born speak 2 understand money goes past 1 follow ready hold 1 might charge omit drill begin says 2 anyway army contract member pretty deal case stole almost while Gro UP C except check sure mean 2 aunt prove least vote capture heard sorry court wrote 2 inspect press copy else 1 itself God act 46 ) SPELLING Grade C — Continued bridge always 2 teacher been 2 offer something November yesterday suffer write 1-2 subject among 3c built expect April que-tion center need 2 history doctor front thus cause hear 1-2 rule woman study size can y young himself December chain fair 1 matter 2 dozen death dollar use there -2 learn evening thought 2 tax wonder plan person number tire broke 2 nor October pair 1 feel 2 January reason fifth Fifth Grade Teach all of the " One Hundred Demons," The list will be found on page 12. Review Groups A, B and C in grades three and four and all words followed by " m " in grades one and two. Teach the following, which are among the 1000 commonest words. Without special study at least seventy-nine per cent of them were spelled correctly by the fifth grade pupils in eighty-four cities in the United States. The figures following a word indicates the grade in which it is taught for the first time. The words are arranged in two groups. Those in each group are equally difficult, but the ones m Group B are more difficult than those in Group A. Group A eight 2 population farther public afraid proper duty friend uncle judge intend during rather weather 2 company through comfort worth quite police elect contain none until aboard figure knew 1-2 madam jail sudden remain truly shed forty direct whole retire instead appear address refuse throw 1 liberty request district personal enough 2 raise restrain everything fact August roj'^al rate board Tuesday objection chief September struck pleasure perfect station getting navy second attend don't fourth slide between Thursday MINIMUM SPELLING LISTS— SIXTH GRADE 47 Group B spend carried favor enjoy loss Mrs. awful fortune husband usual empire amount complaint mayor human auto wait view vacation beg election beautiful degree clerk flight prison though travel engine o'clock rapid visit support repair guest does trouble department regard entrance obtain escape importance family Sixth since Grade 1-2 which length destroy newspaper daughter answer 3c reply oblige sail 2 cities known 2 several desire nearly Review the " One Hundred Demons." The list will be found on page 12. Also review Groups A, B and C in grades three, four, and five and all words followed by " m " in grades one and two. Teach the following, which are among the 1000 commonest words. Without special study at least seventy-nine per cent of them were spelled correctly by the sixth grade pupils in eighty-four cities in the United States. The figure following a word indicates the grades in which it is taught for the first time. The words are arranged in two groups. Those in each group are equally difficult, but the ones in Group B are more difficult than those in Group A. Group A sometimes crowd include justice declare factory running gentleman engage publish allow enclose final represent position await terrible term field suppose surprise section ledge wonderful period relative claim direction addition progress primary forward employ entire result although property president Saturday prompt select measure appoint attempt connection famous information whose firm serve whom statement region estate arrest perhaps convict rememl:)er themselves their private either special imprison command effort women written debate important present arrange due action 48 SPELLING Group B forenoon drown according service lose adopt already injure combination secure attention effect avenue honor education distribute neighbor promise director general weigh wreck purpose tomorrow wear 2 prepare common consider entertain vessel diamond against salary busy 2 together complete visitor prefer convention search publication illustrate increase treasure machine different manner popular toward object feature Christmas success provision article interest Seventh Grade Review the " One Hundred Demons." The list will be found on page 12. Also review groups indicated by A, B or C in grades three, four, five and six and all words followed by " m " in grades one and two. Teach the following, which are among the 1000 commonest words. Without special study most of these were spelled correctly by seventy-three per cent of the children in the seventh grades of eighty-four cities in the United States. The figures following the words indicate the grades in which they are taught for the first time. The words are arranged in eight groups. Those in each group are equally difficult, but the ones in Group B are more difficult than those in Group A, and those in Group C are more difficult than those in Group B, etc. A B C, D often guess meant principal stopped circular earliest testimony motion argument whether discussion theater volume distinguish arrange mer improvement organize consideration reference century summon colonies evidence total official assure experience mention victim relief ses ion arrive estimate occupy secretary supply accident probably ass Delation assist invitation foreign career difference accept expense examination impossible responsible particular concern beginning affair associate application course automobile difficulty neither various scene local decide finally MINIMUM SPELLING LISTS— EIGHTH GRADE 49 A B C marriage entitle develop further pohtical circumstance serious national issue doubt recent material condition business suggest government refer mere opinion minute senate believe ought 2 receive system absence respectfully possible conference agreement piece Wednesday unfortunate certain really majority witness celebration elaborate investigate folks citizen therefore necessary too 2 divide pleasant E F G H organization immediate decision judgment emergency convenient principle recommend appreciate receipt allege sincerely preliminary athletic disappoint extreme especially practical annual proceed committee cordially character separate February Eighth Grade Review the " One Hundred Demons." Teach the words on page 50 which is the entire list of the 1000 commonest words.* The words are arranged in the descending order of their frequency. The figures indicate the number of occurrences per each hundred thousand run- ning words in written English. The figures inserted after each fifty words are cumulative frequencies from the beginning. * Used in this arrangement with the kind permission of Dr. Ayres of the Russell Sage Foundation, 50 SPELLING the 6393 and 3438 of 3422 to 3217 1 2387 a 1911 in 1904 that 1422 you 1306 for 1241 it 1197 was 991 is 931 will 873 as 854 have 846 not 831 with 822 be 816 your 793 at 6C8 we 695 on 667 he 619 by 611 but 572 my 557 this 551 bis 543 which 540 dear 523 from 488 are 448 all 448 me 444 so 432 one 428 if 408 they 400 had 397 has 391 very 383 were 368 been 370 wouid 362 she 359 or 348 there 341 her 311 an 298 49,615 when. . . . . . 288 time. . . . . . 279 go ... 277 some . . . ... 273 any can. . . . ... 257 ... 250 what . . . ... 244 send. . . . ... 242 out ... 238 them. . . ... 238 him. . . . ... 233 more . . . ... 232 about . . ... 220 no ... 220 please. . ... 211 week . . . ... 211 night. . . their. . . ...206 ... 205 other. . . ... 203 up our ... 201 ... 200 good. . . ... 198 say could. . . ... 198 ... 193 who. . . . ... 192 may letter. . . ... 189 ... 188 make. . . ... 185 write . . . ... 182 thing. . . think. . . ... 181 ... 180 should. . ... 178 truly. . . now. . . . ... 178 ... 177 its ... 175 two . . . . ... 173 take. . . . ... 172 thank. . . .. 170 do ... 169 after. . . ... 168 than. . . ... 167 sir ... 163 last . . . . ... 161 house. . . ... 160 just. . . . over. . . . ... 160 ... 160 then. . . ... 159 work . . . ... 158 day here. . . . ... 157 ... 157 59,591 said 153 only 151 well 151 am 147 these 146 tell 145 even 144 made 144 know 143 year 143 before 138 long 137 sincerely.. . 135 shall 133 sent 131 us 131 give 130 Mr 129 like 128 enclose. ... 126 next 125 want 125 hope 122 love 121 men 121 old 118 every 117 find i:7 most 117 such 117 today 117 must 116 way 116 first 115 new 113 seem 113 morning. . . 112 school 112 great Ill wish 110 home 109 feel 106 glad 106 never 106 three 106 much 105 how 1C3 until 103 many 102 put 102 65,759 get 101 into 99 let 98 yesterday. . 98 come 97 ever 97 girl 97 also 96 where 96 wnile 96 did 95 little 95 look 94 respectfully 94 afternoon . . 93 Miss 93 those 93 too 93 man 92 own 92 receive .... 91 soon 91 once 89 street 88 ask 87 down 87 yet 87 see 86 since 86 cannot .... 85 help 85 away 83 course 83 through.... 83 call 82 meet 82 people 80 another. ... 79 number. ... 78 place 78 Sunday. ... 78 use 78 church 77 nice 77 sure 77 anything. . . 76 hour 76 children. . . 75 don't 75 four 75 70,122 MINIMUM SPELLING LISTS— EIGHTH GRADE 51 kind 75 oblige 75 nothing. ... 74 off 74 believe. ... 73 boy 73 city 73 found 72 pay 72 tomorrow. . 71 doctor 70 five 70 o'clock 70 read 70 back 69 enough .... 69 fine 69 order 69 bed 68 coal 68 live 68 mail 68 few 67 hear 66 child 65 mother. ... 65 return 65 same 65 almost 64 because. ... 64 big 64 Monday ... 64 month 64 start 64 always 63 both 63 cordially. . . 63 expect 63 mean 63 quite 63 Saturday. . . 63 again 62 Friday 62 something. . 62 talk 62 though .... 62 office 61 Tuesday. . . 61 best 60 came 60 73,452 says 60 car 59 ground .... 59 room 59 thought. ... 59 under 59 board 58 far 58 nine 58 without. ... 58 arrest 57 trip 57 cent 56 right 56 side 56 Thursday. . 56 friend 55 bad 54 late 54 money 54 need 54 still 54 book 53 hand 53 mile 53 paper 53 party 53 word 53 madam. ... 52 six 52 ten 52 why 52 perhaps. ... 51 answer. ... 50 half 50 keep 50 life 50 ago 49 business. . . 49 does 49 each 49 eight 49 knew 49 picture .... 49 show 49 build 48 care 48 eye 48 gentleman . 48 head 48 76,111 left 48 whether ... 48 interest. ... 47 January. . . 47 present .... 47 teacher .... 47 tire 47 upon 47 young 47 done 46 high 46 sorry 46 train 46 whom 46 broke 45 during 45 feet 45 itself 45 several .... 45 brought. ... 44 everything . 44 run 44 took 44 better 43 lost 43 possible. ... 43 September . 43 sick 43 visit 43 went 43 act 42 begin 42 desire 42 eat 42 guess 42 hard 42 Hne 42 mind 42 October 42 poor 42 remember. . 42 Wednesday 42 women. ... 42 wonder .... 42 conference . 41 died 41 glass 41 held 41 less 41 understand. 41 78,302 along 40 August .... 40 evening. ... 40 father 40 forenoon. . . 40 large 40 meant 40 seven 40' address .... 39 charge 39 family 39 finish 39 hot 39 known 39 least 39 plan 39 saw 39 seen 39 whole 39 whose 39 action 38 change. ... 38 court 38 follow 38 matter 38 cost 37 February. . 37 lady 37 part 37 reply 37 spend 37 attend 36 case 36 fall 36 however. . . 36 July 36 report 36 speak 36 vote 36 wife 36 bring 35 company. . . 35 cut 35 member. . . 35 November . 35 open 35 reacn 35 regard 35 woman 35 according . . 34 80,175 52 SPELLING between. . . 34 bill 34 certain. ... 34 copy 34 deal 34 director. ... 34 might 34 move 34 rain 34 small 34 summer. ... 34 together ... 34 against .... 33 clean 33 decide 33 issue 33 Mrs 33 near 33 prompt .... 33 question ... 33 ring 33 sit 33 stamp 33 turn 33 winter 33 busy 32 folks 32 happy 32 lake 32 ma^'be 32 obtain 32 pass 32 ran 32 study 32 become. ... 31 December.. 31 dress 31 earty 31 either 31 end 31 except 31 farther. ... 31 heard 31 March 31 person 31 rather 31 water 31 written. ... 31 April 30 Christmas. . 30 81,794 country. ... 30 fact 30 herself 30 immediate . 30 marriage. . . 30 May 30 provision . . 30 reason 30 shde 30 story 30 unfortunate 30 arrange. ... 29 awful 29 complete. . . 29 fire 29 forget 29 gave 29 kill 29 mere 29 nearly 2 J neither 29 noon 29 past 29 service 29 unless 29 aunt 28 ball 28 character. . 28 full 28 further 28 learn 28 often 28 principle. . . 28 ride 28 second 28 sister 28 size 28 state 28 thus 28 yes._. 28 afraid 27 annual 27 automobile 27 coming. ... 27 date 27 year 27 law 27 name 27 running. ... 27 separate. . . 27 83,220 sold 27 told 27 although. . . 26 among 26 association . 26 close 26 club 26 dollar 26 evidence. . . 26 form 26 himself. ... 26 intend 26 June 26 list 26 public 26 station. ... 26 table 26 true 26 already. ... 25 appreciate . 25 body 25 clear 25 cover 25 driven 25 fair 25 getting .... 25 got 25 instead .... 25 pleasant. . . 25 price 25 relative. ... 25 rule 25 son 25 song 25 sudden. ... 25 throw 25 war 25 west 25 world 25 accept 24 alone 24 arrive 24 began 24 carry 24 distribute . . 24 earliest .... 24 effort 24 hat 24 justice 24 lose 24 84,479 lot 24 material ... 24 nor 24 sometimes.. 24 struck 24 unable 24 various .... 24 an^ivay. ... 23 band 23 boat 23 dark 23 difference. . 23 door 23 enter 23 face 23 husband ... 23 importance. 23 lead 23 light 23 otf er 23 pleasure. . . 23 prepare. ... 23 refer 23 represent. . 23 rest 23 river 23 scene 23 special 23 stand 23 stop 23 trust 23 try 23 walk 23 warm 23 weather. ... 23 condition. . 22 different ... 22 else 22 especially. . 22 game 22 grant 22 indeed 22 liberty 22 necessary. . 22 object 22 paid 22 plant 22 popular. ... 22 post 22 pretty 22 85,621 MINIMUM SPELLING LISTS— EIGHTH GRADE 53 prison 22 road 22 section. ... 22 subject .... 22 success .... 22 supply 22 system. ... 22 tax 22 allow- 21 amount. ... 21 appoint. ... 21 expense. ... 21 felt 21 fifth 21 fill 21 front 21 information 21 miss 21 none 21 press 21 red 21 salary 21 secure 21 set 21 tenth 21 ticket 21 usual 21 wait 21 worth 21 beside 20 bought 20 built 20 buy 20 carried .... 20 destroy .... 20 direction. . . 20 fell 20 fourth 20 grand 20 hold 20 inform 20 lay 20 leave 20 length 20 loss 20 mine 20 ought 20 outside .... 20 pair 20 probably. . . 20 86,658 ready real request . . . . spring stay stole themselves . third top toward . . . . watch wrote account. . . . across around . . . . card cause death divide doubt drown easy escape free gone happen . . . . hurt led low mention. . . promise. . . . result select serve soap suggest . . . . teach terrible . . . . therefore. . . uncle absence. . . . article became . . . . behind brother. . . . dead delay drill effect employ .... 87,610 entire entrance. . . extreme. . . . fix forty general .... objection. . . perfect. . . . period rapid region remain. . . . repair sail search short stood suppose. . . . view white able above assure auto baby catch duty education. . extra fail foot forward. . . . goes government impossible . include .... income. . . . increase. . . . inside investigate . judgment. . navy omit opinion. . . . police position. . . . power prefer proper push 88,480 raise 17 really 17 round 17 shut 17 tonight .... 17 total 17 trouble .... 17 aboard. ... 16 air 16 appear 16 beautiful. . . 16 burn 16 capture. ... 16 career 16 check 16 contain. ... 16 deep. ..... 16 direct 16 dozen 16 east 16 elect 16 election. ... 16 engage 16 express. ... 16 final 16 finally 16 gold 16 horse 16 motion. ... 16 north 16 occupy. ... 16 preliminary 16 principal. . . 16 proceed. ... 16 provide. ... 16 refuse 16 relief 16 retire 16 shed 16 sight 16 south 16 spent 16 stopped. ... 16 vacation. . . 16 weigh 16 wind 16 wonderful. . 16 add 15 affair 15 attempt. . . 15 89,284 54 SPELLING black 15 claim 15 common ... 15 convenient . 15 convention. 15 daughter. . . 15 declare .... 15 estate 15 event 15 factory. ... 15 favor 15 God 15 illustrate ... 15 injure 15 lesson 15 minute. ... 15 news 15 political. . . 15 prove 15 rate 15 soft 15 suffer 15 surprise. ... 15 tree 15 wear 15 within 15 yard 15 age 14 athletic. ... 14 attention . . 14 avenue. ... 14 bear 14 begun 14 belong 14 camp 14 cast 14 circular. ... 14 class 14 clothing. . . 14 collect 14 colonies. ... 14 combination 14 comfort.. . . 14 complaint. . 14 consideration 14 disappoint . 14 distinguish . 14 due 14 feature .... 14 field 14 90,011 firm 14 human. ... 14 manner. ... 14 neighbor. . . 14 progress. . . 14 recent 14 sea 14 session 14 statement. . 14 suit 14 theater .... 14 visitor 14 agreement . 13 alike 13 allege ]3 apphcation 13 argument . 13 arrangement 13 beg 13 chief 13 cities 13 clerk 13 command . . 13 committee . 13 concern. ... 13 consider. . . 13 contract. . . 13 crowd 13 dash 13 debate 13 decision. ... 13 degree 13 department 13 diamond. . . 13 difficulty. . . 13 discussion. . 13 district. ... 13 elaborate . . 13 emergency . 13 empire 13 engine 13 enjoy.. 13 entertain. . . 13 entitle 13 estimate ... 13 experience . 13 fight 13 figure 13 file 13 flight 13 90,673 flower 13 foreign. ... 13 guest 13 history. ... 13 important.. 13 imprison. . . 13 improvement 13 jail 13 newspaper . 13 organization 13 personal ... 13 piece 13 play 13 primary ... 13 receipt 13 responsible. 13 restrain. ... 13 royal 13 secretary. . . 13 spell 13 stone 13 summon ... 13 testimony. . 13 track 13 travel 13 victim 13 accident ... 12 addition. . . 12 adopt 12 army 12 assist 12 associate. . . 12 await 12 beginning. . 12 block 12 blow 12 blue 12 born 12 box 12 bridge 12 celebration. 12 center 12 century. ... 12 chain 12 circumstance 12 citizen 12 connection . 12 convict .... 12 develop. ... 12 examination 12 91,299 famous .... 12 fortune .... 12 height 12 honor 12 ice 12 inspect .... 12 invitation. . 12 juoge 12 land 12 ledge 12 local 12 machine. . . 12 majority. . . 12 mayor 12 measure. . . 12 mountain . . 12 national. . . 12 official 12 organize. . . 12 page 12 particular. . 12 point 12 population . 12 pound 12 practical. . . 12 president . . 12 print 12 private. ... 12 property. . . 12 publication. 12 publish 12 purpose. ... 12 race 12 railroad. ... 12 recommend 12 recover. ... 12 reference. . . 12 senate 12 serious 12 ship 12 steamer. ... 12 support. ... 12 term 12 town 12 treasure. ... 12 vessel 12 volume .... 12 wire 12 witness .... 12 wreck 12 91,899 WORDS COMMONLY MISSPELLED BY HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS 55 WORDS COMMONLY MISSPELLED BY HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS These words were collected by fifteen English teachers in two high schools. The teachers were requested to keep a record of the words commonly misspelled by pupils in written work and make an inde- pendent report on these words at the close of the year. Altogether there were 473 different words reported. Only those which were reported by at least two teachers have been included in the list below. There were 168 of these, sixty-seven of which are found among the 1000 commonest words in English writing. These sixty-seven words are followed by the letter " m." The figures indicate the number of teachers reporting the word. 3 m almost 4 "^ all right lO'^ accommodate ... 2 already 5 ™ accept 5 " affect 2 architecture. ... 2 athletics 3™ appearance 2 advise 2 attacked 2 beginning 5 " business 10 "^ busy 4°^ balance 3 benefit 3 blue 2"^ believe 8°^ beautiful 2™ changeable 2 conscientious. . . 2 crystaUine 2 coming 4 cemetery 2 choose 2 conceive 3 committed 2 convenience. ... 2 clothes 2 course 3 ™ cruel 2 Casar. 2 corporation 2 cried 2 cavalry 2 commission 2 chief 2^ conscience 2 completely 2 deceive 2 disappearance. . . 2 disappoint 6' disappear 5 discuss 2 dissatisfy 2 drowned 2 doesn't 5 definition 3 development. ... 3 disapprove 2 don't 2' didn't 3 different 2' describe 2' except 3 ' effect 3' exaggerate 2 excellent. ...... 2 forty 3' finally 4 ' February 2 ' few 2' grammar 5 generally 2 great 2' height 2' humorous 2 its 4' immediately .... 5 interrogative. ... 2 independent .... 2 imn.igration. ... 2 knew 2 ' know 2 ' leisure 3 lonely 2 loneliness 2 lose 5°" led 2°^ ladies 2 misspell 2 metaphor 3 magazine 2 manual 2 necessary 6°^ nominative 2 neuter 2 principal 13"^ principle 8°^ precede 3 proceed 2™^ professor 8 parallel 3 particular 4"° participle 3 piece 4°^ privilege 4 peaceful 2 presents 2 "^ presence 2°^ planned 2 planning 2 peaceable 2 probably 3 "^ persuade 2 pleasant 2^ quite 2°" quiet 3 receive 13°^ rhetoric 4 recommend 3 "^ relieve 2 receipt 2°* 56 SPELLING respectfully 2^ recommendation. 3 repetition 2 resemblance. ... 2' replied 2 separate 8 ' shoulder 2 successful 3 sure 3 ' singeing 2 simile 2 sophomore 3 sincerely . 3' suspicion 2 straight 2 superintendent . . 2 success 3™ shining 2 ^ shield 2 shepherd 3 secretary 2°* stopped 2"" scene 2™ their 2°' there 13"" to 9"" two 5"^ too 4°^ three 7 thoroughly 3 together 3' until 2' usually 11 usage 6 using 2 valuable 2 village 2 villain 2 view 2' written 4' whether 2' whose 2' woman 2' Wednesday^ .... 2 ' ORTHOEPY The words in the following list are to be used for frequent lessons in Orthoepy. These words were collected by fifteen teachers during two years. Each grade, beginning with the third, except the eighth, is assigned twenty-five words. The respective grades are held respon- sible for the correct pronunciation, spelling and meaning of all words assigned to previous grades. The chief aim is -pronunciation, in- cluding enunciation. Very often, every week or two, place a list of words on the board and have the pupils drill on the pronunciation. Some of the drill may be in concert, but emphasize individual work. Let one pupil pronounce the whole list, then another, until every one can say each word accurately and clearly. Do not neglect this indi- vidual work. Require that the words^be used in sentences also. Start with the words of the lower grades and continue the drill until there is no hesitancy on the part of any pupil in giving the correct pro- nunciation of all words assigned to the grades below as well as those listed for his own class. When pupils are promoted, teachers should immediately test them on all words of previous grades. This is especially necessary at the beginning of the school year. Drill sys- tematically, persistently and regularly until every pupil is abso- lutely sure of his pronunciation. Third Grade again often root poem wish pretty nests eleven chimney geography catch children rather creek February roof been naught hundred library get desk just drowned piano Arctic asked alwaj^s attacked across aunt because burst goal government ORTHOEPY Fourth Grade hearth forehead instead licorice Mary 57 marry mountain poet poetry our smce surprise umbrella muskmelon recess elm picture pitcher where pumpkin grandpa handkerchief for grimy calliope Fifth Grade column theater escape peony vaudeville eraser bouquet kettle cleanly (adj.) matinee newspaper recognize mischievous everybody radish pronounce cranberry engine Paris experiment Danish accept genuine juvenile coffee Sixth Grade gums going guardian granary address height cupola pilgrim Asia Arkansas preface reservoir chauffeur Italian abdomen alternate ally alias aviator aeroplane admirable ay aye belligerent cavalry Seventh Grade Calvary conspiracy culinary Genoa Himalaya mquiry horrible envelope raspberry Louisiana Missouri Iowa perspiration national suite Eighth Grade clematis baritone interesting corps minnow telegrapher irreparable penalize data romance exquisite despicable inventory New Orleans illustrative merchandise accent (verb) incomparable compromise roil yolk apparatus bayou patronize lamentable Latin asparagus impious Teachers should be particularly careful of the words exquisite, interesting, inquiry, granary, alternate, coffee, abdomen, Missouri, address, bouquet, poem, recess, apparatus. Published June 10, 1916 An important contribution on the subject by an expert ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS As Applied in COMMERCIAL, TECHNICAL, AND OTHER SECONDARY SCHOOLS By EDWARD HARLAN WEBSTER Head of the Department of English The Technical High School, Springfield, Mass. Advertising, Writing and Dictating Business Letters, News Writing, Sales Talks, After-Dinner Speak- ing, Conduct of a Business Meeting, Banking Forms, Specification Writing, are all vitalized by relating such business activities to everyday life. 440 Pages, Cloth, Price $1.20 NEWSON & COMPANY PUBLISHERS 73 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 120 BOYLSTON STREET, BOSTON 623 SOUTH WABASH AVENUE, CHICAGO I t LANGUAGE -A.ldine Lang\iage Series By MISS CATHERINE T. BRYCE Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Minneapolis and DR. FRANK E. SPAULDING Superintendent of Schools, Minneapolis Joint Authors of the Aldine System of Teaching Reading ALDINE LANGUAGE METHOD The most important innovation of the Aldine Language Series is the publication of a comprehen- sive Teacher's Manual, offering a distinct and orderiy plan for the teaching of language. Dr. H. E. Bennett, Professor of Education, College of William and Mary, and Division Super- intendent, Williamsburg, Va., referring to the Aldine Language Method — A Manual for Teachers, says: " It affords the teacher more help and wiser guidance without destroying her initiative than any other publication that I know of." The Aldine Language Series is designed to cover the work in Grades Three to Eight, inclusive, of the grammar school. Profiting by their experience in the preparation of the Aldine Readers, Dr. Spauld- ing and Miss Bryce have succeeded in developing the most interesting and logical method of teaching language in the elementary grades that has yet been devised. Results following the use of this method are attracting unusual commendation. NEWSON & COMPANY New York Boston Chicago ALDINE SUPPLEMENTARY READING THE PLAYTIME PRIMER For 'first year work. By Catherine T. Bryce. 128 pp., cloth, 79 illustrations. BUSY BROWNIES AT WORK For first year work. By Isobel Davidson, Supervisor of Primary Schools, Baltimore Co., Md., and Catherine T. Bryce. 128 pp., cloth, 63 illustrations. BUSY BROWNIES AT PLAY For first and second year work. By Isobel Davidson and Catherine T. Bryce. 128 pp., cloth, 60 illustrations. LITTLE PLAYMATES For first year work. By Angelina W. Wray. 148 pp., cloth, 47 illustrations. SEAT WORK TO ACCOMPANY LITTLE PLAY- MATES Directions are given in the teachers' edition of " Little Playmates." SHORT STORIES FOR LITTLE FOLKS For first year work. By Catherine T. Bryce. 136 pp., cloth, 92 illustrations. THAT'S WHY STORIES For second and third year work. By Catherine T. Bryce. 182 pp., cloth, 76 illustrations. FABLES FROM AFAR For third year work. By Catherine T. Bryce. 198 pp., cloth, 41 illustrations. FOLK LORE FROM FOREIGN LANDS For fourth year work. By Catherine T. Bryce. 156 pp., cloth, 44 illustrations. READING Aldine System of TeacKing IVeadin^ By FRANK E. SPAULDING Superintendent of Schools,' Minneapolis and MISS CATHERINE T. BRYCE Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Minneapolis Joint Authors of the Aldine Language Series ALDINE READING METHOD- LEARNING TO READ A Manual for Teachers using the Primer, First, Second and Third Readers The Aldine Readers The Aldine Readers serve a three-fold purpose: First: They offer in conjunction with Learning to Read, and the material referred to below, a method in reading that is considered by many able educators to be unquestionably the best published. Second: They are especially well adapted for use as basal readers independently of the method which they enunciate. Third: They are admirably suited for use as supplementary readers. Aldine CKarts and Cards The Aldine Readers, used as directed in the Manual, have given wonderful results in thousands of schools. To make the teaching of reading even more effective, further auxiliary aids are provided in the form of a reading chart, rhyme charts, phonic, sight word, rhyme cards, etc., and a well-defined and carefully graded series of Supplementary readers. NEWSON & COMPANY New York Boston Chicago Hiln'^'^"^ ^"^ CONGRESS \ 021 720 856 7 ALDINE THE MASTER KEY to the Mo^ Efficient Method of Teaching English by G)nrelating READING SPELLING LANGUAGE I