1:) VVitl^ ^ 
 
 PUMPHREY. 
 
 
m^ 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Shelf ..-^.3 ^ 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 L'-f'i, 
 
Plain Talks 
 
 -.SJilDEflJ Jfp<?[IEI^S*. 
 
 ■BY- 
 
 / 
 
 MARGUERITE PUMPHREY, 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF TRAINING DEPARTMENT, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 
 KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI. 
 
 
 They ivhotn truth anff tviscloni lead, / cXu / / / 
 Van gather /'"»i^«' *t'n^it « n't^otT." 
 
 (Jan gather honey from a iveeil. 
 
 — Cotvpet 
 
 \^^ K^ 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1893, 
 
 MARGUERITE PUMPHREY. 
 
 u 
 
G0XTEXT5, 
 
 CHAPTER. • PAGE. 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION, .... 9 
 
 II. TRAINING DEPARTMENT, . . i6 
 
 Hints on Entering, . • .16 
 
 Directions to Observers, . • 17 
 
 Directions tr Teachers, . . .20 
 
 1. Neatness, ... 22 
 
 2. Examination Papers, . . 23 
 
 3. Relation to Observers, . . 23 
 
 4. Journals, Professional Books, . 24 
 
 5. Government, . ■ . • 24 
 
 6. Records, Outlines, . . 25 
 
 7. Teachers' Meetings, . . 27 
 
 8. Substitutes, . . -27 
 
 III. READING, .... 29 
 
 1. Methods, . . • -29 
 
 2. Order, .... 31 
 
 IV. READING, ABOVE THE SECOND GRADE, 35 
 
 Causes of Poor Reading, . 35 
 
 Advanced Reading, . . -3^ 
 
 V. LANGUAGE, .... 41 
 
 Three Steps in Language Culture, . .41 
 
 Character of the Work, ... 42 
 
Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Chapter. 
 
 Page. 
 
 VI. 
 
 LANGUAGE, CONTINUED, 
 
 45 
 
 
 I. Correct Form, 
 
 45 
 
 
 2. Possessives, 
 
 . 46 
 
 
 3. Irregular Verbs, 
 
 49 
 
 VII. 
 
 COMPOSITION, 
 
 52 
 
 
 I. Combining Sentences, 
 
 52 
 
 
 2. Correction of Written Work, 
 
 53 
 
 
 3. Pictures, 
 
 53 
 
 
 4. Reproduction Stories, 
 
 54 
 
 
 5. Plan, 
 
 55 
 
 
 6 Letters, 
 
 55 
 
 
 6. Outlines, . . . . 
 
 56 
 
 
 8. Ten Hints, 
 
 59 
 
 V^III. 
 
 PRIMARY BOTANY. 
 
 60 
 
 
 Conversational Lessons, 
 
 61 
 
 
 Description of Parts, 
 
 61 
 
 
 The Stem, 
 
 62 
 
 
 The Root, . . . . 
 
 63 
 
 
 Parts of a Flower, 
 
 .' 64 
 
 
 Fruits, . . . . 
 
 65 
 
 
 Seeds, .... 
 
 . 67 
 
 
 Simple Questions Concerning Plants, 
 
 67 
 
 IX. 
 
 NUMBER, .... 
 
 . 69 
 
 
 From I to 10, 
 
 69 
 
 
 Exercise, 
 
 72 
 
 
 Grouping, . , . . 
 
 73 
 
 
 Drills, .... 
 
 . 76 
 
 X. 
 
 NUMBER, . . . . 
 
 81 
 
 
 From I to 20, 
 
 81 
 
 
 Combinations in Addition, 
 
 82 
 
Contents. 5 
 
 Chaptep. Paor. 
 
 
 Combinations in Multiplication, 
 
 83 
 
 
 Yankee Multiplication Table, 
 
 85 
 
 
 The Ten Facts, 
 
 86 
 
 XI. 
 
 ARITHMETIC, . . . . 
 
 88 
 
 
 Division, 
 
 88 
 
 
 Common Fractions, 
 
 90 
 
 
 Practical Measurements, 
 
 93 
 
 
 Percentage, 
 
 95 
 
 
 General Observations. 
 
 • 96 
 
 XII. 
 
 GEOGRAPHY, 
 
 98 
 
 
 Methods, 
 
 99 
 
 
 Oral Geography, 
 
 JOG 
 
 XIII. 
 
 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY, 
 
 112 
 
 
 Outline on North America, 
 
 112 
 
 
 General Suggestions, 
 
 117 
 
 
 Map Drawing, 
 
 119 
 
 
 Test Questions for General Review, 
 
 121 
 
 XIV. 
 
 HISTORY, . . . , 
 
 123 
 
 
 Divisions, Stories, 
 
 • 123 
 
 
 Details, — Geography, 
 
 124 
 
 
 Reference Books, Biography, 
 
 125 
 
 
 Outlines, 
 
 126 
 
 
 Dates, 
 
 128 
 
 
 General Suggestions, 
 
 129 
 
 XV. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGES TIONS, 
 
 • 131 
 
 XVI. 
 
 GEMS, . . . . 
 
 138 
 
PREF.tIGE 
 
 This book, as its title indicates, was written in 
 response to the constantly recurring demands for 
 "something to give my class to-day." 
 
 It is for the student teachers of Missouri that the 
 "notes" and "experiences" herein embodied are in- 
 tended — not for those who have grown gray in the 
 school room and are text-books in themselves. 
 
 The material has been slowly accumulating and 
 has its various sources in educational journals, in 
 hints and notes taken from observation of those whf> 
 are acknowledged leaders of the ])rofessi()n — but 
 more especially in promiscuous mingling with teach- 
 ers during my eight years' institute work, and in the 
 observation and guidance of the work of mj' own 
 department, (Practice Dept. State Normal School.) 
 
 The reader will probably find much that he knew 
 before, but as a brief topical outline unifies and sim- 
 plifies a mass of seemingly unrelated facts, so have 
 I by this arrangement of school room technique en- 
 deavored to make the young teacher more self-reli- 
 ant and his work more systematic. 
 
8 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 The following subjects are discussed with various 
 degrees o, completeness: Arithmetic, Reading La 
 
 on Lessons, Du-ections to Teachers and Critics in 
 he Praet,ce Department and other items of in e 
 to teachers in general. 
 
 r acknowledge my deep indebtedness to my fel- 
 ow eaehers; to educational journals, to our rapi^ y 
 
 a 3:L" f""' "'"•^'"'•«' -^ »« -"who 
 
 oZ:tLlT ""'•'"''•-'' '^^'^ ^-^^^^^^^^ 
 
 MARGUERITE PUMPHREY 
 State Normal School, Kirksville, Mo 
 March 25, 1893. 
 
CHAPTER L 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In these ''plain talks with student teachers," which 
 were written before this article, but for convenience 
 come cifter, I have tried to give to my readers not a 
 single method, but many, as well as a great variety 
 of "ways and means." 
 
 There has always been considerable complaint on 
 the part of country teachers that books of this kind 
 are not practical in their work and that there is '^not 
 time enough" to apply their principles. In the 
 school room the best method is ver}- often the crea- 
 ture of conditions. A knowledge of methods, or sug- 
 gestions, however pertinent, will not of itself 
 be sufficient to make the instructor's work success- 
 ful. The teacher must be back of the method. 
 
 It is not all of life to live nor all of teaching to 
 ask questions, grade answers and draw salaries. 
 
 It takes no more time to use a good method than 
 it does a bad one and often times the method is con- 
 demned because it is used by a mere imitator who has 
 no creative power of his own. There is an innate 
 something in the true teacher that no normal 
 school or college can manufacture, or offer any sub- 
 stitute for. 2 
 
10 Plain Talks with STur3ENT Teachers. 
 
 The great difficulty in the way \s—?iof lack of 
 time— like the mantle of charity— a multitude of sins 
 take refuge under the folds of that everlasting excuse 
 — but an unwillingness in teachers to pay the price of 
 success— untiring study, liard work and the cultiva- 
 tion of that ringing desire to seize hold of what floats 
 above them and appropriate what shreds they can. 
 
 Ideals are a necessity and are so closely related 
 to the real that a teacher without an ideal is a teach- 
 er without a purpose. 
 
 To the young teachers who this year, for the first 
 time, have assumed the responsibility of teaching and 
 who are eager, esivuest students this "talk" is intend- 
 ed—not /o you norrtfyou, but icith you. My heart 
 goes out to those 'prentice hands who are learning 
 for the first time that nobility of soul depends upon 
 the treatment given to the infant ideas born into it 
 and the thoughts which come out through the doors 
 of our mouths and hands. 
 
 "Well begun is half done," so runs the proverb. 1 
 believe firmly in the refining and governing influ- 
 ence of good clothes. Some of you have very slen- 
 der purses and have so many ways for your money 
 you don't feel like spending it for dress, and yet so 
 much depends upon your personal appearance. 
 Children are very observant. Personal neatness is 
 one of the absolute requisites for every teacher. 
 
 Of course time will show the ability and real worth 
 of the teacher, but there is much in first impressions. 
 
Introduction. ii 
 
 and I believe in all reasonable efforts to make iUem 
 pleasing. Girls, dress your hair becomingly, and tr}^ 
 to wear dainty white aprons if your gown is old and 
 worn. Wear the flowers the children bring you and 
 see if you do not govern more easily when you give 
 your dress a little attention and know that you look 
 well. Young men, you cannot afford to be sting}^ in 
 the use of clean collars because you teach in the 
 country and see "nobody but the children." You 
 can not afford to come before your pupils with a 
 week's growth of stubble on your face simply be- 
 cause it "hurts" to shave it off\ 
 
 Have you ever talked with that boy who insists 
 in lounging in his shirt sleeves, with collar thrown 
 back? Have you spoken to that girl whose dress is 
 so untidy you have blushed at her appearance? 
 Don't make any fatal blunders here. Do it gently, 
 kindly, tactfully. 
 
 Gain in thinking power and methodical habits 
 measures the value of school life. Teaching children 
 to be neat is a matter of vital importance in a "prac- 
 tical education." Instill if possible, a wholesome 
 horror of scattering scraps of waste paper, apple 
 cores and other refuse on the floor and pla3'-grounds. 
 
 The first two rules Miss Willard, when she began 
 to teach, laid down for herself were: 
 
 I. Never let 3'our pupils feel that they under- 
 stand you, or know what to expect from you. Ee- 
 sort to expedients they least expect. 
 
12 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 2. Demand implicit obedience in smi^ll matters, 
 and never yield a point. 
 
 I can scarcely think of anything I should wish to 
 impress upon the begir}ner more earnestly than the 
 value of reserve force — particnlai-Iy in the matter of 
 ])nnishments. The teacher imperils her reputation 
 for fairness when she punishes the whole class be- 
 cause one pupil has done wrong. Don't be afraid of 
 being "taken in." Better let the guilty one escape 
 than to punish the twenty who are innocent. It is 
 the certainty of punishment when the offender is de- 
 tected, that deters from wrong doing rather than se- 
 vere or indiscriminate punishments. 
 
 Keep a check upon your words and upon your 
 actions. Impress your pupils that you have reserve 
 forces enough to carry your point. As a governing 
 agent use your e^^es more and your tongue less. An 
 ounce of prevention is worth ten pounds of cure. 
 
 To Miss Willard's second rule I should like to add 
 three of Anna C. Braekett's, viz.: 
 
 1. Be sure you carr}^ out exactly all the direc- 
 tions you give. Think well before giving them-, but then 
 carry them out. 
 
 2. No matter w^hat happens, be sure you keep 
 3'our temper. 
 
 3. If j'ou have made a false statement about any- 
 thing in the lesson, don't be afraid to acknowledge it. 
 
 But try to guard against the occasion for an "ac- 
 knowledgement" by making thorough preparation 
 
Introduction. 13 
 
 of every lesson, no matter how simple — that 5' 011 are 
 to give the next day. "Too many classes," says the 
 country teacher. Have 5^011 more than sixty-five pu- 
 pils? If not, I am not asking you to do more than 
 I have done myself — for which I received the sum of 
 thirty-five dollars per month. If you want promo- 
 tion, work for it, and you'll get it in the course of 
 human events and the evolutions of the Honorable 
 Board. 
 
 Double your skill and then if possible double your 
 salary. 'Tis the little annoyances that eat away the 
 soul. Fight the little battles as conscientiously and 
 vigorously as you do the greater engagements. 
 
 Conquer the little spirit of indolence that tempts 
 you to rely on the spur of the moment for an idea, 
 but be sure to use an inspiration if you have it. Save 
 the minutes, but not at the expense of the child's 
 thinking power. The function of the school is to 
 teach children to think — and not to secure certain 
 memoriter results — or to secure the greatest number of 
 ready made answers in the smallest number of min- 
 utes. 
 
 The character of the mechanical work in the lower 
 grades is more important than in the higher since it 
 is there that habits are formed which make students 
 or idlers for life. 
 
 After all, teaching is reduced to inspiration and 
 influence of ideals. The more we can influence the 
 better we can teach. 
 
14 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 In the Yosemite Valley there is a perpendicular 
 cliff more than three thousand feet high. From one 
 of the peaks of this cliff floats a white flag which 
 marks Eagle Point, one of the highest observatories 
 that overlook the Yosemite. 
 
 This flag is both a challenge and a guide to trav- 
 elers who are in the valley beneath. Accepting the 
 challenge, tourists pick their way along the dizzy 
 ledges of the precipice and after a four hours' climb, 
 reach the tiptop point and find all the glories of the 
 Sierra Nevada spread out beneath them. Even so in 
 the educational world, signal flags flung out by 
 some teacher whom we loved still send down the 
 double invitation to look higher and live higher — for 
 more accurate scholarship and better method. 
 
 Method is the parent ol habit and habit is self. 
 Every time a boy is required to stand erect, to as- 
 sume a manly attitude and to look you honestly in 
 the eye he becomes stronger and better developed 
 morally as well as physically. There is no need of 
 contemptuous noses rising heavenward at the idea of 
 giving the children of our schools a certain amount 
 of polish as well as the required amount of instruc- 
 tion in the "three K's." ''The proof of the pudding 
 is the eating" and something is certainly rotten in 
 Denmark when it becomes necessary to call in the 
 police to quell riots among school children on the 
 street. All good teaching comes from ample knowl- 
 edge. True politeness, springing from an inward 
 
Introduction. 15 
 
 grace of spirit can be thoroughly taught only by 
 those who are trained in the civilities and courtesies 
 of polite social intercourse. This last is not gleaned 
 from any author, but is the result of my own school 
 life and observation of student teachers under me. 
 
 I do not know that I can prescribe for a single 
 individual, or advance many new methods but I do 
 know that too many of our schools are in the hands of 
 young people who fail to see that the essence of cour- 
 tesy and decision of character can be united in one 
 ])erson and who are themselves desperateh" ignorant 
 of the laws of culture, right methods of teaching and 
 true school managemnet. 
 
 "Education may help a man to form his mind; it 
 cannot make it for him, though it may twist or crush 
 it." Books on "Methods" help the young teacher 
 but they do not make him. The power to teach a 
 little depends upon the wish to know a great deal. It 
 is conscious power that feeds itself wMth purpose and 
 success. Tr}' to succeed, w^ork to succeed and thor- 
 oughly^ believe in your own ability to succeed. 
 
CHAPTER 11, 
 TRAINING DEPAETMENT. 
 
 HINTS ON ENTERING. 
 
 All who desire to work in this department must 
 have taken at least one of the professional subjects 
 indicated in the Methods Department and must pre- 
 sent permit for enrollment as in any other class. 
 Mention to training teacher all vacant hours you 
 may happen to have and state which you prefer. The 
 Principal will be glad to consult the preference of 
 members of the class and note their choice as to 
 work, but she can not promise to conform to these 
 suggestions even so far as to make special arrange- 
 ment to give observation all the time, as some re- 
 quest, or teaching all the time as others desire. 
 
 Members who have had no experience wnll be re- 
 quired to observe before taking charge of a class. 
 
 It is not convenient to allow students to take 
 work in the training class for part of a recitation 
 hour, nor to make out an hour's work by taking part 
 of two recitation hours. Not only must the entire 
 hour be spent in the room of the Model School to 
 w^hich the student is assigned but all the time must be 
 occupied in attention to the proper work of the 
 hour. 
 
Training Department. 17 
 
 Students will not offer themselves for work in the 
 training department unless they are able and willino; 
 to give as much time and thought to preparation for 
 this hour's work as to the work of any other class in 
 which they are enrolled. Aside from the general 
 preparation which they have been making all the 
 years of their school life, they are expected to make 
 special study of each lesson and to conduct the reci- 
 tation as far as possible without the use of the book. 
 To secure this, students must provide themselves 
 wnth text book in which class recites. 
 
 DIRECTIONS TO OBSERVERS. 
 
 Learn from teacher whom you observe what is 
 the work ahead of class. Kemain in room to which 
 you have been assigned, one week, taking such notes 
 during that time as are most pertinent. These notes 
 must be elaborated and expanded into a neatly writ- 
 ten report and handed in every Monday morning. 
 Such report will remain with the Principal until the 
 time of teachers' meeting, when the observer may, at 
 the discretion of the Principal, or desire of those 
 present, be called upon to read it in the presence of 
 the teachers assembled. 
 
 In preparing report, try to remember that mis- 
 takes are much more easily detected in others, than 
 in one's self. You will understand, however, that 
 those whose work you observe, want the plain facts 
 and you can temper the harshness of your criticisms 
 
iS Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 by such explanations as you consider necessary. Do 
 not hesitate to refer to pupils by name in giving ex- 
 planations and suggestions. Be definite in what you 
 say, and to that end base your remarks on the fol- 
 lowing points: 1st. Preparation. 2nd. Recitation. 
 8rd. Neatness. 4th. Government. 5th. Manner. 
 
 Let your comments be patient and courteous, and 
 do not feel obliged to explain everything, nor to ar- 
 gue at length all debatable questions. In making up 
 your report, observe the following form: 
 
 Room, Grade, Hour, . . Date, 
 
 Presented by . Observer. 
 
 Examined by Training Teacher. 
 
 Inspected by Student Teacher. 
 
 A careful study of questions given below will be 
 helpful and suggestive: 
 
 I. — SUBJECT. 
 
 1. What subject was taught? 
 
 2. What was the object of the exercise? 
 
 3. Did the pupils clearly understand the object? 
 
 4. Did the teacher have a w^ell defined idea of 
 the object? 
 
 5. Was the object fully accomplished? 
 
Introduction. 19 
 
 IT. — MATTER. 
 
 1. Was the lesson of proper length? 
 
 2. Was it adapted to the class? 
 
 3. Did the recitation include all the matter as- 
 signed for the lesson? 
 
 4. Did the teacher introduce proper preparatory, 
 collateral and supplementary matter? 
 
 5. Did the teacher and pupils exercise care in 
 the use of language, in pronunciation, in spelling, in 
 writing? 
 
 III. — METHOD. 
 
 1. Was the method logical and good? 
 
 2. Did the questions excite proper thought and 
 lead the pupils from the known to the related un- 
 known? 
 
 3. Did the method tend to develop perception, 
 memory, imagination, or reason? 
 
 4. Did the teacher talk too much? Was he en- 
 thusiastic? 
 
 5. Was there sufficient drill, and proper material 
 introduced for illustrations? 
 
 IV. — DEPORTMENT. 
 
 1. Was the teacher prompt, self-possessed and 
 pleasant? 
 
 2. Was the order good, and were the relations 
 between teacher and pupils proper as shown in 
 speech and manner? 
 
20 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 3. Are the pupils deepl}^ interested in the sub- 
 ject? 
 
 4. Did the distribution of material, the move- 
 ments about the room, the position of the pupils, 
 show order, neatness and system? 
 
 5. Did the teacher exercise proper care in as- 
 signing the next lesson? 
 
 (a) Did he assign it before or after the reci- 
 tation? 
 
 (b) Did he state clearlj- what the next lesson 
 would be? 
 
 (c) Did he give proper suggestions as to its 
 preparation? 
 
 (d) Did he wisely refer points of to-day's les- 
 son to next recitation? 
 
 (e) Did he impress upon the class the points 
 to be reviewed? 
 
 DIRECTIONS TO TEACHERS. 
 
 When your recitation hour arrives, you should 
 be inside the room read}^ to receive your pupils, and 
 should go with them to their class room if they re- 
 cite elsewhere. Your predecessor should not leave 
 the class till you come, but should report your delay 
 if he is thereb}^ made late. If your class is to pass 
 from the room, the teacher remaining in the room 
 may be considered in charge of the room and should 
 give the signals for passing. 
 
 Do not call class roll, Eegular plans of sitting 
 
Training Department. 21 
 
 can be given to your pupils and a plan ofseating laid 
 out as early as the roll can be made. Pupils are 
 passed from the i-oom or to the board by the follovv- 
 ing signals: Eeady, Rise, Pass. The pupils will 
 pass toward the back part of the room (i. e. from the 
 exit) along all aisles except that nearest the door. 
 When the weather is fair require all pupils to pass 
 out into the yard and allow no one to return to the 
 room until the entire line has passed out. When the 
 weather is at all unpleasant, let such as wish remain 
 orderly in seats until the line has passed out and 
 then announce recess and allow them to converse 
 quietly. At the ringing of the bell, all pupils must 
 be sent from the rooms and formed in lines ready for 
 marching. 
 
 When the hour of your teaching is occupied by 
 rhetoricals you will attend rhetoricals in the Normal 
 department. 
 
 Do not allow pupils to communicate without your 
 permission either in classrooms or corridors while 
 under your charge. Do not allow pupils to speak- 
 out in recitation without your permission. To pre- 
 vent this tendency, make concert recitations a very 
 orderly exercise, if used at all. If, at any time, pu- 
 pils become noisy and restless, stop the recitation at 
 once. Do not make the mistake of trying to hear 
 explanations or give instruction in the midst of dis- 
 order. 
 
 Grant pupils permission to leave the room, but 
 
22 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 take care to know that they do not stay out long. If 
 one is out when you finish your recitation, report him 
 to the next teacher. If you have reason at any time 
 to suspect that any pupil too frequently asks to leave 
 the room, confer with the training teacher. 
 
 If, for any reason, you wish to take the responsi- 
 bility of stopping a pupil from his J'ecitation, write a 
 note to that effect to be presented to the succeeding 
 teacher of the same class and he will recognize your 
 authority and send the pupil out if he should present 
 himself. 
 
 Do not allow pu])ils to interrupt one M'ho is re- 
 citing, by holding up hands or other demonstrations. 
 The raising of the hand is a convenient signal to 
 show who are ready to respond to the teacher's ques- 
 tion, or who desire attention, but it should not be- 
 come an offensive habit. 
 
 Do not fail to know whether 3'our class are all 
 provided with the material which thej^ have been di- 
 rected to obtain and report any long continued neg- 
 lect. 
 
 Do not direct class to purchase any books or sup- 
 plies of any kind without the advice of the Principal. 
 
 Neatness. — Leave room in good condition — 
 teacher's desk neat, floor free from papers or other 
 litter, board clear of anything except what is mark- 
 ed for preservation. Eequire all board work to be 
 neatly and compactly arranged. Crayon and erasers 
 must be collected at the close of each recitation, by 
 
Training Department. 
 
 23 
 
 monitors appointed for that purpose. Both teachers 
 and pupils are expected to givecarefnl attention to 
 their personal appearance as well as to the machiu- 
 erj' of the class room. 
 
 Examination Papers. — All exercise papers which 
 you wish to return to pupils should be brought to 
 the room arranged in the most convenient order for 
 distribution duiing the recitation hour and under 
 your supervision. On the monthly examination pa- 
 pers, the grade of each topic should appearand the 
 total grade should appear b}' the writer's name. 
 This enables pupils to see the value of their answers. 
 If many mistakes occur require pupils to rewrite, 
 correcting errors. The pupil should fold by turning 
 right hand margin over the left as the paper lies 
 when he has finished the page, letting the paper 
 crease down the center. Across the top of the paper 
 as it now lies before him, let him write his name 
 only. 
 
 Any work 3'ou wish to put on the board while 
 3'ou have charge of the class, as examination ques- 
 tions, should be written for you by an observer or 
 one ot the pupils. 
 
 Relation to Observers. — It is expected that the 
 teacher and his observer will be mutuallj^ benefited 
 by their work together and that none but the most 
 cordial relations will exist. The Principal will not 
 expect to grade the teacher's work nor to form her 
 opinion upon the statements of observer's reports. 
 
24 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 It is desired that teachers frequently refer to crit- 
 ic's report and apply remedies therein suggested for 
 faults observed. 
 
 Journals, Professional Books, etc. — It is better 
 to keep in your notes, copy of all outlines, etc., that 
 you need to consult in your work, and leave in train- 
 ing teacher's desk the papers, books and private ap- 
 paratus that belong there. Suggestions by training 
 teacher that are put in case for you to see are not. to 
 be taken from the room under any circumstance. 
 You may find it wise to take a copy. 
 
 Teachers desiring information relative to school 
 work will confer a favor upon the Principal by re- 
 porting to her room during regular school hours and 
 not at the noon intermission or after dismissal. Af- 
 ter Principal has visited your room, see her for pri- 
 vate conference in the same way. 
 
 Government. — Corporal punishment at the hands 
 of student teachers is absolutely forbidden for ob- 
 vious reasons. Cut and dried rules cannot be laid 
 down for the government of your class. Make the 
 most of what nature has given you- -a strong eye, 
 firm, low tone of voice, decisive, j^et deliberate ac- 
 tion. Use public reproof sparingly — never until yon 
 have tried to reach the pupil privateI3^ If the case 
 is a grave one and one in which you do not care to 
 assume the responsibility, report it at once to the 
 Principal. 
 
Training Department. 25 
 
 Records, Oltlines. — Before you take charge of a 
 class, 
 
 1. Decide what is to be done in to-da^^'s reci- 
 tation. 
 
 2. Decide what should be given for to-morrow's 
 recitation, 
 
 3. Copy from card in class room, the names, 
 writing them in order. Study names and faces so as 
 to call pupils at sight, but use the enrollment card if 
 necessary to do so in recitation. If a teacher does 
 not master the names of his class at a rate as rapid as 
 ten per day, he should make it a matter for special 
 study. In making up the monthly reports of pupils, 
 teachers will consider the following points: 
 
 1. Scholarship. 
 
 2. Attendance. 
 
 3. Tardies. 
 
 4. Deportment. 
 
 When your hour is omitted, see other teachers 
 of your section and get the "attendance" and "tar- 
 dies" from them. Carelessness in attending to any 
 of these details is unpardonable. When pupil first 
 presents himself after absence from the class, call for 
 his excuse but do not send him from the room in de- 
 fault of its presentation until he has come a second 
 time without it. 
 
 Pupils ai'e required to prepare missed or excused 
 lessons and report to teacher when they have done 
 so. If tlie failure to have the lesson on time is con- 
 
26 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 sidered oxciiBable, the teacher will, at the earliest 
 opportunity, satisfy himself that the pupil knows the 
 lesson. The teacher will use his own discretion as 
 to the number of grades to give each })upil dnrins; a 
 month. The month's standing, unless otherwise di- 
 rected, will be made up of the two grades, one of 
 which is the grade on a special review and is worth 
 one-third — the other the average of all grades given 
 on advance work given during tlie month — value 
 two-thirds. 
 
 By 3:00 P. M. the last Thursday of each month 
 the pupils' report for the month should be made out 
 and left on Principal's desk. 
 
 Teachers will outline a week's work in advance 
 and leave outline with the training teacher, reserv- 
 ing a copy for his own use. In the preparation of 
 these outlines it is expected that something will be 
 done in the matter of method. Indicate brieflj^with 
 each daj-'s lesson, anything special planned for con- 
 ducting the recitation for the time. 
 
 The lesson for the n^xt recitation should be as- 
 signed at the beginning of the hour and be modified 
 at the close of the hour as events require. For 
 schools in general, the wisdom of this plan may be 
 questioned, but the peculiar circumstances in our 
 training school make it advisable here. The teacher 
 who will let pupils find on board, when they come to 
 school, the announcement of lesson for next day, may 
 be allowed to keep the work on the board through 
 
Tkaininc] Departmknt. 27 
 
 the lesson for wliich it is assigned if he will m;ii-k it 
 "Do not Erase" and will erase when ready. 
 
 Teachers' Meetings. — The general ineetinii; con- 
 venes at 8:00 P. M. each Thursday and must be at- 
 tende<l by all who are on the roll of the training- 
 class. The grade meeting of each section is attended 
 by all who (io any teaching or observing with that 
 class, and all ai-e expected to join in discussion as to 
 what may be done for the good of the class as a 
 whole or for individual members. Should any be 
 absent or tardy at the time of either grade or gener- 
 al meeting, he will report at earliest opportunity to 
 Principal for explanation and for conference con- 
 cerning work missed. If excuse is considered vali(l 
 it will be accepted, otherwise two demerits will stand 
 against him. 
 
 The afternoon of grade meeting is the most con- 
 venient lime for appointments for personal confer- 
 ence with training teacher, and those who wish to 
 consult about their work should arrange before hand 
 as to what hour they will come. 
 
 Substitutes. — In case of absence it is important 
 that the traim'ng teacher know in advance that such 
 jtbsence is likely to occur;she is thus enabled to make 
 her plans accordingly. One who is to be absent 
 should, if possible, send in all written work, records, 
 etc., so that the least possible confusion may result 
 from the absence. The absentee should not engage 
 a substitute without consulting the training teacher. 
 
28 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 The absentee, whether teacher or observer, will 
 attend to his excuse in the same manner as in case of 
 absence from an hour's work in the other Normal 
 classes, and will be expected to makeup the lost time 
 before finishing his teaching. 
 
CHAPTER Mi. 
 READING. 
 
 In the topic which is uow pi^esented, the reader 
 is given the privilege of forming his own definition 
 of the subject. I shall also concede to him the liber- 
 ty of distinguishing between oral and silent reading, 
 as well as all psychical observations on the child's 
 mental outfit when he first enters school. 
 
 Good reading implies two distinct processes car- 
 ried on at the same moment, viz.: comprehension of 
 the author's meaning, and power to convey to others 
 an intelligent idea of it. There is little that can be 
 said in regard to teaching primarj^ reading, that is 
 new, but since so many inexperienced teachers start 
 in the primary room, and since two-tbirds of the 
 evils found in the upper grades are laid at the doors 
 of the lower, a repetition of these "twice told tales" 
 will be forgiven. 
 
 The principal methods pursued in teaching chil- 
 dren to read are: 
 
 1. The ABC method. 
 
 2. The w^ord method. 
 
 3. The phonic method. 
 
 The first method, which in former times was nsed 
 
30 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 almost cxclnsivelj', and is still used in many rural 
 districts, f;nled--not because of inherent viciousness, 
 but because it was used exchisiirhj, until the child, by 
 countless repetitions, learned to associate with each 
 character its appropriate sound, and through many 
 tribulations, came into possession of a key to the lan- 
 guage, which might have been put into his hands at 
 tirst. 
 
 The word metliod \i> advocated on the ground of its 
 "affording more interest to the pupil, and so exciting 
 his powers to more rapid acquisition. But the fact 
 that the analysis of words into their elementary 
 sounds is onlj^ postponed, and must be achieved soon- 
 er or later, is frequently lost sight of by the teacher, 
 in consequence of the satisfaction he derives from the 
 rapid progress of the child in the knowledge of a 
 certain number of words." 
 
 The chief objection to the exclusive use of the 
 phonic method lies in the fact that neither letters 
 nor their sounds are the elements of ideas. The true 
 starting point in teaching beginners to read, is the 
 idea, followed, first, by its sound symbol — the spoken 
 word — then by its corresponding foi'/n symbol as a 
 whole — the written or printed word. All educat9rs 
 are not yet agreed as to the best method, but the most 
 natural and the most practicable method <'onsists in 
 a union of all three, ^yord drill must precede sentence 
 reading. 
 
Reading. 3* 
 
 In sele'^'ting words to be learned, observe the fol- 
 lowing order: 
 
 1. Xames of familiar objects, as, cat, doll, ball, 
 etc. 
 
 2. Familiar quality words, as, goo<l, white, bad, 
 etc. 
 
 3. Familiar action words, as, run, jump, play, 
 etc. 
 
 4. Other words as required in forming phrases 
 and sentences. 
 
 For the first few lessons, the word method alone 
 is needed, till the pupils gain some idea of the man- 
 ner in which objects may be represented. Whether 
 the word shall appear in print or script, depends up- 
 on the judgment of the teacher, her surroundings, 
 and her skill in presenting the work in hand. 
 
 Present isolated words as wholes, making the as- 
 sociation between the written or printed word, and 
 the idea direct. Thus, the teacher having provided 
 herself with a number of c(^mnion objects, such as 
 ball, top, book, box, etc., engages the children in 
 conversation. After each pupil has had a chance to 
 talk, the teacher writes what the children say, and 
 on the blackboard, sentences similar to the following, 
 appear: 
 
 I have a doll. 
 
 I have a top. 
 
 T have a box. 
 
 I have a ball, etc. 
 
32 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 After all have read, the object words may be 
 erased and others written in their places. If, at any 
 time, children fail to recognize a wor(!, the object is 
 shown and the word again written. Teachers should 
 see to it that pupils do not contract the habit of read- 
 ing in a questioning tone — closing the sentence with 
 the rising inflection. Many little devices may be in- 
 troduced by the thoughtful teacher, to sustain the 
 interest and stimulate the laggards. The "word 
 game" is always interesting and is certain to secure 
 attention, particularly on reviews. It is a game of 
 hide and seek, in which the teacher writes the 
 word while the pupils have their faces turned from 
 the board: at the signal, '^now," all turn and see 
 who can recognize it first. As soon as a number of 
 common words have been thoroughly learned, form 
 them into sentences. At the same time, begin to an- 
 alyze words into sounds. This may be done by tak- 
 ing some sample word and pronouncing it slowly, 
 and still more slowly until the sounds are widely 
 separated. As each sound is given, teacher places 
 her finger on the letter that stands for it. Children 
 readily catch this slow pronunciation, provided the 
 teacher uses perfectly natural tones, and are soon 
 ready for the delightful and profitable exercise of 
 word-building. Phonic analysis enables the children 
 to feel, and to act upon, though unconsciously, the 
 analogies pervading the words of the language. For 
 example, having learned several words like cat, fat, 
 
Reading. 33 
 
 hat, mat — the child will have no difficulty in pro- 
 nouncing for himself such words as rat, sat, pat, bat, 
 etc. Pupils will soon learn to rely on the analogies, 
 and if the teacher is careful in her choice of lists, 
 they mny do so sufely. 
 
 I do not advocate the teaching of phonetics by 
 means of diacritical marks, to children in the first 
 grade; but I do believe iti teaching a child the sounds 
 of certain letters which enter largely into the com- 
 position of words. Gradually the names of the let- 
 ters may be given, and, as in most cases, the name is 
 similar to the sound, this will be no difficult task. 
 There is much danger here that the child may form 
 the habit of mere word pronunciation which lies at 
 the foundation ot expressionless reading. A word is 
 learned only by associating it with its idea; its mas- 
 tery includes: (1) ability to recognize it at sight; 
 (2) to utter it with accuracy and ease; (3) to spell it 
 b}^ sound and letter; (4) to use it in a sentence. 
 
 Id teaching new words, observe the following or- 
 der: 
 
 1. The idea represented by the word. 
 
 2. The whole word as a sound, and its correct ut- 
 terance by the pupil. 
 
 3. The whole word as a form— its recognition at 
 sight. 
 
 3. The analj'sis of a word into its elementary 
 sounds. 
 
34 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 5. The analysis of the written form into the let- 
 ters which compose it. 
 
 6. Grouping words into phrases and sentences, 
 and their natural and correct utterance by the pupil. 
 
 Not until all the words in a sentence are thus 
 mastered by the pupil is he prepared to give expres- 
 sion to the thought. 
 
 Train pupils to look ahead and take in a group of 
 words at a glance. 
 
 In primary grades, where so many appeals are 
 made directly to the eye, a bit of colored crayon is a 
 wonderful help in teaching pupils to group the ideas 
 w^hen passing the eye over the words, their visible 
 signs, and aids in bringing out the strong words as 
 distinguished from the weak words. Let pupils vol- 
 unteer to tell the strong words and underscore words 
 selected, with a colored crayon, and allow pupil who 
 volunteered, to read the sentence as indicated by the 
 marking: Permitting pupils to read aloud what they 
 do not understand is the cause of those set tones so 
 common among children, and which, w^hen the habit 
 is once contracted, we find so difficult to correct. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 READING, ABOVE THE SECOND GRADE. 
 
 CAUSES OF POOR READING. 
 
 1. SentimeDt and difficultness not adapted to the 
 class. 
 
 2. Lack of appreciation. 
 
 Fluency in the utterance of sentences, without ap- 
 preciation of their meaning, is a useless accomplish- 
 ment. Repeatedly imitating the teacher in her read- 
 ing, and listening to her rendering of many sen- 
 tences, pupils can readily approximate an artistic 
 style, but the}- have developed no power that they 
 can utilize in learning the next lesson. 
 
 It is better for a pupil to express the idea, even if 
 he miscalls a word now and then, than to read all 
 the words and have no idea. Pronunciation and ar- 
 ticulation are important elemenls, but not chief. 
 
 The following hints are suggestive: 
 
 1. The elementary sounds of the language must 
 be carefully taught. Teach pupils to pronounce dis- 
 tinctly the last sound in every word. 
 
 2. Question pupils concerni-ng the meaning of 
 words, historical and other references. 
 
 3. Constant attention should be given to bodily 
 position. 
 
36 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 4. Pupils should write new words us a means of 
 learning them. 
 
 5. Do not find fault with a child's reading, nor 
 tell him it is bad, unless you cdearly show where the 
 fault is, and point out a better way. 
 
 6. Require class to listen to itidividual readers, 
 and tell what is well done, rather than to pick flaws. 
 
 7. Require pupils to give purposes the author 
 had in writing the piece. Lessons learned, virtues 
 taught — kindness, patience, obedience, etc. 
 
 8. It is time and labor saved in all other studies 
 if pupils are taught to read intelligently as well as in- 
 telligibly. 
 
 9. Phonic drills and breathing exercises are ne- 
 cessities in all grades. 
 
 10. The pupil should be helped by means of ju- 
 dicious questions, to discover for himself what in- 
 flections to use and what words to emphasize. 
 
 11. i^ewiem^er f/iaf, that pupil who takes an atti- 
 tude of dignity and self-respect will make an honest 
 and earnest efl'ort that insures progress and improve- 
 ment. Moral—ljook out for the bent spines and con- 
 tracted chests. The influence of physical conditions 
 extend even to the mental and moral habits. 
 
 ADVANCED READING. 
 
 Enthusiasm is essential to good teaching in all 
 branches, but especially when good reading is to be 
 taught. No other class tests the culture and i^ood 
 
Reading, Above the Second Grade. 37 
 
 breeding of the teacher as does the reading class. It 
 is here that the enthusiastic, judicious teacher, fond 
 of literature and conversant with its attributes, does 
 her best work when she interests her pupils in the 
 right way of using the reading art, shov;s them the 
 value of reading ijood books, helps them in selecting 
 books suited to their age and capacities, and aids 
 them in discovering the best w^ay to read a book. 
 
 While Longfellow and Whittier are essentially 
 the children's poets, we can not hope to introduce 
 our pupils to the gems of all writers; the most we 
 can do is to use the selections given in our readers 
 to the best advantage, and help our pupils to get 
 hold of the thought and beauty for themselves. No 
 one can choose for Another the exact selection which 
 will be of most special benefit to that other's class. T 
 have selected the "Elegy" because of its literary 
 beaut}'^ and vivid word pictures. General help can 
 be only faintly indicated— the crown of all good work 
 is in its individuality. 
 
 ^^The curfew tolls the Imell of parting day, 
 The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea, 
 The jjloivman horn eivard plods his weary icay 
 And leaves the world to darkness and to me." 
 
 Preface the recitation with a short biographj' of 
 the author. 1. Who was he? 2. Where and when 
 did he live? 3. Principal works, prose and poetr}-. 
 4. Things of special interest. In this connection 
 
3^ 
 
 Plaix Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 mention the quotation so often use(i, yet so rarely 
 ascribed to Crray — "Where ignorance is bliss," etc. 
 
 In study i no the tir.st line, give history of the 
 "curfew." What is the force of "tolls the knell?" 
 Compare "parting <laj" and close of life — tolling 
 bells in both instances. Time of dny in which poetn 
 is supposed to have been written. 
 
 In the second line, get pupils to imagine and de- 
 scribe scenes of country life as indicated in the words 
 "herd" and "lea." 
 
 The third line will appeal strongly to country 
 boys and girls. 
 
 In the fourth lirip, speaU of the beautiful peace 
 and rest of a summer twilight. 
 
 Work on the imagination of your pupils. Re- 
 member your own childhood, and the times you have 
 guided the "lowing" cows up from "the far pasture." 
 Now that the pupils are thoroughly familiar with the 
 words and their significance, the}^ are ready for the 
 reading — not in a perfunctorj- manner, but with a 
 hearty appreciation of the poet's thought. 
 
 ''Noiv fades the (jUmmeriny hoidscape on the si(jht," 
 
 Change of time — what is it? Have pupils close 
 their eyes and imagine the picture. What emotions 
 they feel! The sun has gone down and the stars are 
 coming out. All around there seem to be creatures 
 of intelligence, although unable to utter a word of 
 what we call language, but capable of communicating 
 
Rkading, Ahovk the Skcond Gradp:. 39 
 
 with tnMD. Force of the vvor<i "glimmering." Chang- 
 it g light — ohjects nt first bright and then faint — ad- 
 vancing and then i-eceding. 
 
 ^'And all the air a solemn stdlneiis hohJs^" 
 
 (':in we think of the air as being filled with si- 
 letK'e as a sponge is saturated with water? 
 
 Save w/ien t/ie beetle wheels his /Ironing flight, 
 And drowsy t inklings lull the distant folds.'' 
 
 Put aside the rougher work of the day and give 
 the authoi- an oj)i)ortunity. Ask pupils how the bee- 
 tle "wheels his droning flight." Explain the next 
 line by asking some bov what is meant by the ''bell 
 wether." What is the force of the word "folds" in 
 this line as distinguished from the word "herd" in 
 the second line of the first stanza. Speak of the 
 faint, sw(^et sounds of night. 
 
 Do not attempt the reading until the word pic- 
 tures have been vividl}^ brought out. Of the four or 
 five so-called reading lessons ])er week, at least half 
 of the time ought to be sacred to the introduction of 
 good literature. Reserve the other balffor giving 
 information, a direct drill in word calling, voice cul- 
 ture or what yoK will — the first half vvill be the re.al 
 reading lesson — and will live long after your ears are 
 stilled to earth's noises. 
 
 Don't belittle the rainbows and sunsets, the 
 mountain })eaks and oeeati tempests of literature by a 
 
40 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 vuli^ar anal} si? into a collection ot metnphoi's and 
 si miles. 
 
 Teach pupils that while we^'cad to ij;ain informa- 
 tion and to impart it, we also read for pleasure. The 
 great mass of pupils need to be taught how to read 
 common litei'ature lodl more than how to read a few 
 pieces admirably. Of course the fl wer the pieces 
 that may be read, the less the probability of acquir- 
 ing a taste for good reading. In leaching elocution, 
 concert reading is almost an indispensable helper, 
 but in simple class reading, the results are usually 
 deleterious, rather than otherwise. 
 
 Eequire your pupils to memorize selections that 
 are models of description or ?iarration — finally^ grati- 
 fy your own hunger and thirst after the ideal — only 
 he, whose own soul is luminous with the love of good 
 literature, is worthy to interpose between the soul of 
 an author and that of a child. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 LANGUAGE. 
 
 In DO department of school work is there allowed 
 a broader scope or wider range for the inventive 
 power of the teacher than that upon which we are 
 just entering — "Language woi'k" — terms suggestive 
 of wordy battles in which it is finally declared that 
 "nine-tenths of ttie time devoted to this preparatory 
 work is wasted in deadening routine." We turn our 
 eyes in the opposite direction for the solution of the 
 problem and are assured that "accuracy of statement 
 and effectiveness of style can never be acquired by 
 parsing and analyzing the productions of others." 
 
 For every month in the year we can show a new 
 language book or grammar, hence among such a 
 multitude of text books there is but a small chance 
 for the display of originality, and yet we have no ac- 
 cepted method of teaching English. All, however, 
 agree that ready expression is the thing desired. 
 
 Expression presupposes thought, and this, in turn, 
 implies previous observation. The three steps in 
 language culture then are: 1. Perception. 2. Con- 
 ception. 3. Expression. 
 
42 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Carelessness in the first produces imperfect 
 thought and is followed by little or no expression. " 
 Accuracy is not a characteristic of the young begin- 
 ner: as, for exanaple, he is called upon to describe 
 the long suifering cat, he begins by saying, "x\ cat 
 has two ears," and in the same breath closes his 
 brief description by adding "and a tail." A rapid 
 sketch of such a cat will show pupil's mistake and 
 aid in getting the natural order of head, neck, body, 
 legs, feet and tail. 
 
 Don't try to make the child see everything in the 
 object that you see after having spent a half hour in 
 studying it, and remember it is easier for a pupil to 
 tell how a thing acts or what it does than to describe it. 
 
 To insist upon absolute precision, at first, then, 
 would be a mistake, particularly when we recall that 
 the stimulus of interest, o^ continued interest, is a posi- 
 tive necessity in all mental activity and that it is sure 
 to be destroyed by a pedantic and tiresome insist- 
 ance on accuracy in early stages; and yet the necessi- 
 ty of careful training in this direction is evinced in 
 the following: "People are prone to mingle wild 
 conjectures and hasty inferences with their observa- 
 tions in such a confused manner as to be almost hope- 
 less. They have not the habit of confining them- 
 selves to what the}' actually observe, but imagination 
 is used to supplement, to a very large degree, the use 
 of their five senses. Hence, people who have a sin- 
 cere desire to tell the truth, sometimes make sorry 
 
Language. 43 
 
 work of it, even when under oath on the witness 
 btand " 
 
 Apropos of pupil's '-desire to tell the truth" — I 
 do not think it is strengthened by writing sentences 
 that are in themselves untruths. To illustrate- — pu- 
 pils are asked to write sentences using the different 
 forms of the verb hreak^ and in the process write, "my 
 arm is broken'' — a lie in a thousand cases where it 
 happens to be the truth in, perhaps, the fractional 
 part of one. I cannot decry too strongly the prac- 
 tice of indiscriminate sentence making, simply for 
 the sake of illustration. The sentence should be the 
 outgrowth of the illustration — not as a means to it. 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 LANGUAGE, CONTINUED. 
 
 The pupil's work the first school year is of neces- 
 sity largely oral. Indeed the oral expression should 
 precede the written all along the line. He first be- 
 gins by observing and naming things intelligently' — 
 a first step is to point out things and name them and 
 to point out things named by the teacher. 
 
 Insist upon correct pronunciation and good ar- 
 ticulation. ''The consecrated cross-eyed bear" prob- 
 ably had his origin in some remote language class. 
 
 Pupils, as soon as practicable, should be taught 
 the formation of complete sentences, thus teaching 
 by induction the difference between the sentence and 
 the phrase. 
 
 The first step in written work is copying a sen- 
 tence in which pupil's own Dame is probably the first 
 word recognized. Other names are then written and 
 attention called to capital letters. Right here, while 
 the child turns to the board to write his first sen- 
 tence, is the time to begin the formation of those 
 habits of attention and neatness so essential to prog- 
 ress. Teach the pupils to use the eraser only when 
 his work is completed, and he will proceed more de- 
 
Language, Continued. 45 
 
 Hberately and make fewer false strokes. Allowing 
 constant erasure of work is also the source of much 
 carelessness. How often have I seen pupils at the 
 black board, eraser in one hand, crayon in the other, 
 and both working with equal rapidity. If a child is 
 taught from the beginning to work as carefully upon 
 the board as if erasure were impossible, far better 
 results would be obtained in "blank block" written 
 lessons. 
 
 In all copying from the board or reader, careful 
 attention must be given to capitalization, spelling, 
 and punctuation. Dictation exercises, comprising 
 written work previously copied, or combinations of 
 familiar words may be profitably introduced here. 
 
 Insist on correct /o?'//i in written work. The fol- 
 lowing points are commonly used: 
 
 1. Pupil's name on upper right hand corner. 
 
 2. Teacher's name on upper left hand corner. 
 
 3. Title in center of page. 
 
 4. A hyphen at the right to show the division of 
 a word, when the line is not long enough to contain 
 the whole of it. 
 
 6. A capital letter at the beginning of each sen- 
 tence. 
 
 7. An interrogation mark at the close of each 
 question. 
 
 8. A period at the close of a declarative or im- 
 perative sentence. 
 
 Much time should be spent upon the correct use 
 
46 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 ofspecia] words and forms of expression commonly 
 misused. Children are close imitators, and in no 
 other line of work is the teacher's influence more 
 potent. Is your language pure, strong, truthful? 
 Watch yourself carefully through one entire day and 
 cast up your accounts. You will be startled at the 
 result, and perhaps discouraged. Of what use is it 
 that you have a whole library of "Language Helps" 
 at your elbow if your directions are given in lan- 
 guage like the following: "Each pupil may take 
 their slate," etc.? 
 
 In nothing is the life of a nation more plainly re- 
 vealed than its language and in nothing is the innate 
 culture of a teacher more clearly demonstrated than 
 in the pure, clean-cut words that fall from her lips. 
 
 As the pupil passes from grade to grade, written 
 work comes more and more into use. Especial at- 
 tention will be required in sentences beginning with 
 the word "there." Example: — "There is a box on 
 the table." Then when the noun is plural as, "There 
 are boxes on the table." 
 
 When the children have learned to readily dis- 
 tinguish names that mean "one" and "more than 
 one," teach the rule for the possessive singular and 
 plural of nouns. 
 
 I. The possessive of singular nouns is fcrmed by adding 
 the apostrophe and s. 
 
 1. The crow's feather's are black. 
 
 2. The bird's nest is in the tree, etc. 
 
Language, Continued. 47 
 
 The apostrophe and s are joined to bird to .show 
 that the bird has, or possesses, a nest. 
 
 Teach difference between chief word, jiest, and the 
 helping word, bmVs. Notice that the nest is in the 
 tree — bird's tells whose nest and so helps the subject. 
 
 DrdI, drill, drill until you have thoroughly im- 
 pressed the fact that each of these possessivcs means 
 but one, and that the apostrophe precedes the s. 
 
 By means of sentences, develop the second part 
 of the rule, viz.: 
 
 //. T/ie possessive of plural nouns ending in s is formed bi/ 
 the addition of the apostrophe. 
 
 Again I would emphasize the importance of thor- 
 ough and intelligent repetition until there is no dan- 
 ger of pupils' confusing the two forms. The learn- 
 ing of the rule will amount to nothing without much 
 practice and application. 
 
 
 EXERCISE. 
 
 
 cat 
 
 girl 
 
 bird 
 
 man 
 
 woman 
 
 child 
 
 boy 
 
 horse 
 
 tree 
 
 cow 
 
 doll 
 
 dog 
 
 Make twelve sentences, using each of the words 
 above to show possession. 
 The (jirVs apron is torn, etc. 
 
48 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Change each of your sentences so us to make the 
 helping words mean more than one. Ex. — 
 
 The girls' aprons are torn. 
 
 Eemember 
 
 Names are made to mean more than one by adding s or 
 es. 
 
 When a name has added s or es to denote more than 
 one, The apostrophe alone is added to show possession. 
 
 To all other names the apostrophe and s are joined to 
 shoiv possession. 
 
 Don't hurry. Eeview frequently. 
 
 Teach use of the apostrophe in contractions. Dis- 
 tinguish between contractions and abbreviations. Use 
 of the apostrophe in one, the period in the other. 
 
 Teach children to avoid the use of: 
 
 Don't for doesn't; he don't know his lessons, 
 
 Learn for teach, 
 
 Have got and has got, to denote possession. 
 
 Can instead o{ may, in asking permission, and all 
 local irregularities of speech. 
 
 It is hardly probable that your pupils will sa}^ 
 they is, he were, etc.j but much drill will be required to 
 overcome the use of don't for doesn't, ivas for ivere — 
 especially with yon — and even teachers are not al- 
 ways discriminating in the use of learn and teach. 
 
 Simply correcting the error when it occurs is not 
 enough. Systematic practice upon the right form 
 must follow quickly and surely. Many valuable les- 
 sons are lost for lack of reviews and drills to fix the 
 
Language, Continued. 49 
 
 impreasion — like Burnts' snowflake in the river they 
 are for the moment, only — '^vhite then, lost forever." 
 
 No part of the English language is more produc- 
 tive of blunders than the irregular verbs, and in no 
 exercise can be made Jiiore interesting to children 
 than learning their correct use. Below is given a 
 list of the most difficult verbs, also a sample lesson 
 to illustrate method of presentation. The list will 
 require long and patient drill and may be pleasanth^ 
 varied by incidental exercises on homonyms, for in- 
 stance in teaching the verb "see," the noun sea ma-y 
 be introduced and diiference in use and orthography 
 noted. 
 
 see 
 
 do 
 
 come 
 
 ring 
 
 lie 
 
 lay 
 
 set 
 
 sit 
 
 eat 
 
 sing 
 
 fly 
 
 break 
 
 know 
 
 write 
 
 fall 
 
 beat 
 
 drink 
 
 teach 
 
 learn 
 
 rise 
 
 go 
 
 hear 
 
 find 
 
 lose 
 
 give 
 
 take 
 
 tear 
 
 make 
 
 hurt 
 
 blow 
 
 draw 
 
 begin 
 
 drown 
 
 freeze 
 
 hang 
 
 grow 
 
 bring 
 
 steal 
 
 read 
 
 buy 
 
 Suggestions in teaching the verb see. 
 Pupils take places at the board. Teacher re- 
 quires pupils to name various objects they see in 
 the room. Pupils turn to board and write, under- 
 
50 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 gcoring the word that tells what they do. The same 
 form, see, occurs in all the sentences. 
 
 Pupils are then asked to think of the action as 
 occurring yesterday — thus securing the form of the 
 past tense. Sentences are again written and the ac- 
 tion word underscored. 
 
 To secure the participle^ ask pupils if they can 
 think of a third word similar in meaning to the two 
 already noticed. Among the various answers given, 
 some will be correct and the teacher writes the three: 
 see, saw, seen, children copying. 
 
 Call for sentences like the following: 
 
 1. I see the stove now. 
 
 2. I saw the stove yesterday. 
 
 To use seen for saw in the second sentence would 
 be incorrect. 
 
 Pupils are asked to think how they could nse seen 
 and give a correct sentence. 
 
 By judicious questioning and from pupils' own 
 answers, the following forms can be secured: 
 
 have'^ 
 
 SEE, SAW, has y SEEN. 
 
 had ) 
 
 Write five sentences using saiv correctl}^ 
 Write three sentences using have seen; three using 
 has seen; three using had seen. Read these sentences 
 until the verbs sound natural. Have pupils copy, 
 and drill until they remember that 
 
Language, Continued. 51 
 
 ^'Seen must never be used by itself as the chief part that 
 tells r 
 
 To correct "I seen," ask, several mornings in suc- 
 cession, ^'what did you see on your wa}^ to school 
 this morning?" Write pupils' answers on the board 
 and when a dozen have been given, have a rapid con- 
 cert and individual drill upon them, the children re- 
 peating them a number of times. As the children 
 get used to the recitation and understand the requir- 
 ments of the teacher, the questions may be brief, sim- 
 ply to suggest the idea. For instance, if the recita- 
 tion is to be upon the verb, "to go," ask pupils to use 
 some form of "go" wnth to-morrow, next week, yesterday, 
 have, has, had, etc. If the development work has been 
 well done^ the answers will be correct. 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 COMPOSITION 
 
 Perhaps the greatest danger teachers are likely 
 to encounter in beginning composition work is in the 
 careless arrangement of sentences. Following the 
 simple statements, teach pupils the art of putting 
 sentences together. 
 
 EXERCISE. 
 
 1. My sister has a canary, 
 
 2. He lives in a cage. 
 
 3. The canary has two wings. 
 
 4. The butterfly has four wings. 
 
 5. The bee has four wings. 
 
 My sister has a canary that lives in a cage. 
 
 The canary has two wings, but the butterfly and 
 the bee have four wings. 
 
 Children often write a whole page without the 
 proper separation of sentences one from the other, 
 repeating "and/' "but/' and "then" over and over 
 again. This difficulty occurs, of. course, in picture 
 work, reproduction stories, and in lessons where the 
 line of thought is continuous. 
 
 Be definite yourself in your requirements. Let 
 
Composition. 53 
 
 pupils write answers to a series of related questions 
 you have placed on the board, confining themselves 
 strictly to the questions as they come. Afterwards 
 the w^ork may be re-written, connecting such ansv^-ers 
 as are most closely related. 
 
 And now for the correction of written work. Sup- 
 pose it is board work instead of "blank block" and 
 ])encii. The following method is my own and one I 
 have used with great success. Like the Catholic 
 church, I believe in educating a child negatively un- 
 til he reaches a certain stage of maturit}^ hence, to 
 prevent, as far as possible, all presentation of false 
 syntax. With crayon in hand, I pass rapidly around 
 the class, crossing out a mis-spelled word here, a mis- 
 placed capital there, and indicating other mistakes 
 easily detected. 
 
 Not a word is uttered. Each pupil goes over his 
 own \vork, and in many cases, is able to make his 
 ow^n corrections so that at the close of the recitation 
 the number of mistakes to be brought before the 
 class is much smaller than it otherwise would have 
 been. 
 
 Pictures that exercise both the power of observa- 
 tion and the imagination form fruitful themes for 
 composition writing. Use care in selecting. The 
 subject of the picture should be. very prominent and 
 easily understood. Begin with oral work. Best re- 
 sults are obtained by oral class study the first daj- 
 followed by written work the next. Teach pupils to 
 
54 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 observe systematically. Some see far more than 
 others. Some see a cjreat deal by the force of imag- 
 ination^ others see but little and need help. Put up 
 a picture and talk about it, making a long story. 
 
 1. Notice objects in the foreground and see what 
 relation they bear to each other. 
 
 2. Notice objects in the background and note 
 nearness or remoteness to objects previously men- 
 tioned. 
 
 3. Position of principal figure or figures and ef- 
 feet of same. 
 
 After all is gotten that can be secured in the way 
 of observation and simple inferences from what is 
 seen, cultivate pupils' power of imagination. In the 
 same way the work of the Geography hour n»ay be 
 
 utilized Let pupils take imaginary journeys, relate 
 
 incidents of the trip, describe appearance and cus- 
 toms of people visited. Young teachers are caution- 
 ed here to guard against the too frequent use of pic- 
 tures, since in the constant recurrence of even a good 
 thit)g, the story writing loses the all important ele- 
 ment of freshness and surprise. 
 
 Asa means of getting thought, as well as of ex- 
 pressing thought, Reproduction stories are peculiarly 
 valuable. They furnish an excellent opportunity^ for 
 conversation, secure attention and, as a written ex- 
 ercise, are a means of teaching punctuation, capitali- 
 zation and spelling. 
 
 ^I^sop's Fables are always fresh and delightful. 
 
Composition. 55 
 
 Where the story is a classic one, as is generally 
 the case, it is a ^ood plan to 
 
 1. Have the story read aloud to the class in its 
 original form hy the teacher or h}" one of the pupils 
 who is a good reader. 
 
 2. Teacher should question ])iipils ab(tut the 
 story. 
 
 3. Several pupils may ihen repeat the story or- 
 ally from memory. 
 
 4. An outline should then be placed on the board 
 to serve as a guide, to suggest ideas and to assist ])u- 
 pils to arrange their ideas in an orderly manner. 
 
 5. The story is reproduced in writing. 
 
 How few pupils, even in the rhetoi'ic class, after 
 listening attentively to a lecture, can remember, and 
 reproduce in writing, its salient features. 
 
 As power to think is developed, a wider range is 
 given: numerous written exercises that give excel- 
 lent drill in composition are required of pupils in 
 their various studies. Written reviews and written 
 lessons are of this character. 
 
 Letters of business, of friendship, of introduction, 
 etc., should be frequently written. Eegular "compo- 
 sitions'* on fjimiliar concrete subjects should be given 
 in such a way as to discipline the mind to arrange 
 methodically the material it uses. 
 
 The analysis of objects into parts on the basis of 
 material, then of use or design may be taught, and 
 
56 
 
 PiAiN Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 the pupils required to analyze other objects in thf^ 
 same manner. 
 
 ANALYST*^ GUIDE FOR COMPOSITION. 
 
 The following may serve as a hint to pupils in 
 the preparation of abstracts in the language lesson. 
 
 7. Inanimate Objec's. 
 
 1. General descriplion, of what composed, where 
 found, for what used, shape, size, etc. 
 
 2. Parts — name, number and position. 
 
 3. Qualities and uses. 
 
 Below is given an outline of composition on 
 "Cotton:" 
 
 COTTON. 
 
 fshrub, three to fifteen 
 
 1. The plant 
 
 2. The fruit 
 
 Grows in 
 
 I feet high, 
 
 -\ leaves are dark green 
 I and large, 
 
 1^ flowers yellow or purple. 
 C forms after the flower 
 j falls ofi\ 
 
 made up of cells filled 
 
 with cotton, 
 
 is the size of a walnut, 
 
 seeds are plentiful, 
 fwarm countries, 
 I first found in (-hina and 
 
 India, 
 I South America, 
 I Africa, 
 I Southern States. 
 
Composition. 57 
 
 4. Noted kimls j ?'''''"''' . 
 
 { Sea Island. 
 
 f planted in April, 
 
 I in rows about four feel 
 
 I apart, 
 
 I thinned out several 
 
 5. Cultivation ^ times, 
 
 I blossoms in July, 
 
 I fruit bursts, showing the 
 
 I cotton, 
 
 l^pods picked and dried. 
 
 f cotton separated from 
 I seeds by the cotton gin, 
 
 6. Manufacture ^ packed in bales, 
 
 I spun and woven into 
 [cloth. 
 
 - TT f clothing is made of cot- 
 
 /. Use i . if; 
 
 ton cloth. 
 
 II. Animals. 
 
 1. Foreign or native. 
 
 2. Wild, tame or domesticated. 
 8. Size, parts, covering. 
 
 4. Habits. 
 
 5. Uses, living or dead, of its parts or as a 
 
 whole. 
 
58 
 
 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Outline of composition on "The Frog:" 
 
 THE FROG. 
 
 f four legs, no tail, 
 
 1. Appearance 
 
 2. Classification 
 
 3. Peculiar traits 
 
 Habits 
 
 5, Varieties 
 
 Uses 
 
 large mouth, 
 I small bod}', 
 
 ^ hind legs longer thnn 
 I the others, 
 I webbed feet, 
 l^long tongue. 
 
 vertebrate, 
 
 reptile without scales, 
 
 called a hdtrachian. 
 ["cold blooded, 
 I tongue attached to front 
 I of mouth arid points 
 I backward, 
 ^ young frogs breathe by 
 I means of gills, 
 I old frogs have luui^s, 
 I young frog is called a 
 1^ tadpole, and has a tail, 
 flays eggs in the water, 
 I eats insects and worms, 
 -\ lives near ponds and 
 I streams, 
 I leaps and swims. 
 r Green Frog, Wood Frog, 
 } Leopold Frog, Picker- 
 ( el Frog, Bull Frog, 
 "destroys insects injur- 
 ious to plants, 
 
 eaten as food in France 
 and Germany. 
 
Composition. 59 
 
 ten hints. 
 
 1. Children must think well before they can 
 write well. 
 
 2. The purpose of language lessons is to teach 
 the language by means of the language. 
 
 3. Children talk best about what they see. 
 
 4. The point of difficulty is to stimulate and di- 
 rect thought in the minds of pupils, and this must be 
 done by skillful questioning, an(J suggestions. 
 
 5. A chihi's vocabular}^ will grow as fast as he 
 has any desire to use it. 
 
 6. No mistake should remain incorrected, but all 
 presentation of false syntax should be avoided. 
 
 7. Children use all parts of speech of their own 
 account before they are four years of age. 
 
 8. Care should be taken to have plenty of oral 
 work, as most people have more occasion to talk 
 than to write. 
 
 9. When a child can write easily he likes to 
 write. 
 
 10. Written work should be incidental rather 
 than formal, a luxui'y instead of a task. 
 
CHAPTER Vlil. 
 PRIMARY BOTANY— OUTLINE STUDY. 
 
 As supplementary to the coui-se in language Just 
 given, and as a new and delightful source of interest, 
 after the long winter months' work in arithmetic and 
 history, a few minutes each day, devoted to natural 
 science will be a grateful change. 
 
 The old farmers of your district will insist on 
 reading, writing and arithmetic, and will probably 
 ridi(!ule, or even oppose, the idea of studying plants 
 and insects; nor does the difficulty of introducing 
 such studies lie wholly with the patrons. Many 
 teachers prefer the plain bread and butter lessons, 
 since it is so much easier to go on in the old way, do- 
 ing sums and parsing nouns and verbs. 
 
 Of course the reader will understand that this 
 outline is intended to be only suggestive help where 
 it is not practicable or desirable to place the text- 
 book in the hands of pupils. Whether the attention 
 of the class can be profitably' directed to the consid- 
 eration of more or less than is given in this outline, 
 will depend upon the age of the pupils, time that can 
 be given to the subject, and tact of the instructor. 
 
Primary Botany— Outline Study. 6i 
 
 The following topics indicate the general order 
 of observation work: 
 
 1. CONVERSATIONAL LESSONS ON PLANTS. 
 
 Teach name of parts: root, stem, leaves, flowers, 
 fruit, and seed. Excite interest by having pupils 
 bring in plants of their own selection, root and all. 
 This will inspire confidence and afford abundant ma- 
 terial for individual observation. Pupils tell how, 
 when, and where specimen grew, in short, complete 
 sentences. 
 
 II. DESCRIBE PARTS. 
 
 Teach pupils to name and describe parts of a leaf. 
 1. Petiole, 2. blade, 3. stipules, 4. veins. 
 
 a. The petiole IS narrow. 
 
 b. The blade is broad. 
 
 c. The stipules are like little blades at the end 
 of the petiole. 
 
 d. Veins are in the leaf. They are usually 
 hard. 
 
 Sustain the interest by plenty of out door work. 
 Encourage pupils to bring in leaves of all kinds, but 
 don't load them with technicalities. Leave the de- 
 tails of margins, bases, and apices for the advanced 
 classes. Pupils enjoy tracing- the outlines of leaves 
 on the board. Indeed, a true knowledge of plants 
 cannot be gotten without the daily use of the board. 
 When preparing lesson, think what points can be il- 
 
62 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Instrjite'l to advantage on the black board. Wben 
 you have decided on your sketches, practice them 
 ovei' and over again uritil you can draw the outline 
 unhc-^itatingly, and well enough to insure recogni- 
 tion. 
 
 2. Notice arrangement of leaves on the stem. 
 
 3. Get pupils to see venation by holding up 
 leaves between themselves and the light. Kinds of 
 venation observed. 
 
 Uses of the leaves. 
 
 ri. Beauty. 
 
 a. To the plant ■< 2. Plants breathe through 
 
 (^ their leaves. 
 
 ri. Food. 
 
 b. To man ) 2. Medicines. 
 
 (3. Perfumeries. 
 
 III. THE STEM. 
 
 The stems bear the branches and leaves, hold the 
 plants in position and furnish the canals thi-ough 
 which the sap passes from the roots to the other or- 
 gans of the plant. 
 
 Buds grow on the stems and are full of little 
 leaves. 
 
 Flowers grow on the stems and are bright col- 
 ored. 
 
 The fiuit grows upon the stems and has seed in it. 
 
 HoiV stems grow. In comparing the stems of var- 
 ious plants, it will be seen that the stems of most 
 
Primary Botany— Outline Study. 63 
 
 common plants, grow from the outside. A cross sec- 
 tion of the trunk of one of our common trees will 
 illustrate the point. Other stems have woody threads 
 running lengthwise. These stems increase in size 
 by having new threads added and mixed in with the 
 old. Corn, pinks and lilies have this kind of stems. 
 Pupils have observed that all stems do not grow 
 erect. Some lie prostrate on the ground, others are 
 ascending, some are cUinbing, others twining, etc. 
 
 IV. THE ROOT. 
 
 Describe the root as that part of the plant that 
 grows downward into the earth. 
 
 1. Uses. (1.) To gather up nourishment for the 
 other parts of the plant. (2.) To serve as a support 
 for the plant, holding it firmly in position. 
 
 Pupils compare their plants and notice that roots 
 differ in size, shape, manner of growing, and length 
 of life. 
 
 2. Classification of roots according to length of life. 
 May be taught by referring to seed planting in the 
 spring. The only text-book needed by the pupils, is 
 the garden they have to hoe. They know that many 
 seeds sprout in the spring, grow, and the plants blos- 
 som during the summer, and die at the first appear- 
 ance of winter. Ask them to give examples of such 
 plants — and give the term, annual. Another class of 
 garden plants, such as beets, turnips, cabbage, etc.. 
 do not bloom the first 3'ear, but live two years, 
 
64 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 thouiJ^h they look dry and withered in winter. 
 These roots are biennial. The trees, rose-bushes and 
 shrubs that live from year to year in the yard at 
 home, belong to yet another class — perennial. 
 
 ( annual — one year. 
 Words to remember-] biennial — two years. 
 
 (^ perennial — from year to year. 
 
 V. teach pupils to name and describe parts of a 
 
 FLOWER. 
 
 Sepals, petals, stamens, pistils. 
 
 By pulling to pieces, pupils see the different 
 parts of which it is composed. 
 
 The sepals are the outer parts of a flower. They 
 are usually green, and make a short cup. All the 
 sepals form the calyx. 
 
 The petals 'dve next inside the calyx. They are 
 usually bright colored and are the part we notice 
 first. All the petals form the corolla, which means a 
 crown. 
 
 The stamens are next inside the corolla and have 
 two parts; one is like a thread; this is called the fila- 
 ment, and is crowned with a little yellow head called 
 the anther. 
 
 The pistils are in the middle of the fiower and 
 have a green, sticky covering. They are larger at 
 the bottom than at the top. The large part at the 
 bottom is the ovary. The part at the top is the stig- 
 ma. Between the two is the style. There are some 
 little bodies in the ovary called ovules. 
 
Primary Botany — Outline Study. 65 
 
 The Arrangcmnit of Blossoms. 
 
 In studyirjg the parts of flowers, it has already 
 been seen that the}" vary in color, shape, fragrance, 
 number of parts, etc., but we observe that some 
 plants, as the lily, bear a single flower on a long 
 stem; such flowers are solitary. Again, all have seen 
 the milkweed, geraniums, etc.; flowers like these are 
 clustered. 
 
 Uses of Flowers. 
 
 rr 4.U 1 * (1- Beauty. 
 10 the plant ^ „ rv 1 4.u i- ■* 
 
 ' (2. To produce the fruit. 
 
 a. 
 
 b. To man 
 
 {I 
 
 Perfumeries. 
 2. Medicines. 
 
 VI. FRUITS. TEACH PUPILS TO DISTINGUISH KINDS. 
 
 Begin by asking pupils to bring in a uollectioo of 
 eatable fruits, seed pods of flowering plants, and pic- 
 tures of fruit. 
 
 Fruit includes all kinds of seed holders, whether 
 they are apples, berries, locust pods, or maple keys. 
 
 F()r convenience, fruits are divided into three 
 classes: 
 
 1. Fleshy fruits, such as currants, grapes, oranges, 
 etc. Definition — Fleshy fruits have flesh}- coverings 
 and many seeds. 
 
 2. Stone fruits, such as peaches, plums, cherries. 
 These are fruits whose outer parts are pulpy, but 
 
66 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 within are hard like a nut or stone. Slones are not 
 seeds, but contain the seed. 
 
 3. Dry fruits have no fleshy parts. They look 
 like seeds. Familiar examples — wheat, oats, corn, 
 pods of peas, beans, etc. 
 
 Uses of Fruits. 
 
 rr 4i 1 * i ^- Beauty. 
 
 a. To the plant \ ^ rn . i j ^i a 
 
 ^ ( 2. To hold the seed. 
 
 u rr f 1. Food. 
 
 b. 10 man < ^^ »t j- • 
 
 { 2. Medicine. 
 
 Comparison of Fruits, 
 
 THE APPLE. THE ORANGE. 
 
 Kind — flesh3^ fleshy. 
 
 Shape — somewhat spher- nearly or quite spheri- 
 
 ical. cal. 
 
 Color — vary \i\g, red, yel- orange. 
 
 low and green. 
 
 Size — similar, large and similar, large and small. 
 
 small. 
 
 Outside — thin skin. leathery skin or rind. 
 
 Inside — solid pulp, en- juicy pulp, in sections, 
 
 closing a thin, normal number, ten, va- 
 
 fine parted mem- I'ying from eight to elev- 
 
 ^ brane, in which en or twelve. 
 
 are the seeds. 
 
 Seeds — brown, oval, white, loose in sections, 
 
 number varying varying in number, 
 
 in case. somewhat oval. 
 
Primary Botany — Outline Study. 67 
 
 VII. SEEDS. 
 
 Teach pupils to observe: 
 
 1. Pnrl^; — (ioats, kernel. 
 
 2 . Growth — g e 1' m i 1 1 { » t i n . 
 
 3 Distribution — by wind, water, birds. 
 
 Uses of Seeds. 
 
 a. To the plant — Reproduction of plant. 
 
 r 1. Food. 
 
 b. To man } 2. Medicine. 
 
 (3. Oil. 
 
 Vin. TEACH PUPILS TO GROUP PLANTS INTO: 
 
 1. Food plants, as frnits, grains, vegetables. 
 
 2. Clothing plants, as cotton, flax, hemp. 
 
 3. Building woods, as bamboo, mahogany. 
 
 IX. SIMPLE QUESTIONS CONCERNING PLANTS. 
 
 1. Name five wild flowers found in earl^- spring. 
 
 2. Od what trees do the flower buds open before 
 the leaves? 
 
 3. Name five garden flowers that blossom in the 
 early spring. 
 
 4. Mention three plants whose stems grow from 
 the inside. 
 
 5. Mention some plant grown for its foliage. 
 
 . 6. Mention three plants that liketo live in shady 
 places. 
 
 7. Name ten kinds of plants that grow from the 
 seeds. 
 
68 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 8. Name five kiods of plants that do not grow 
 from the seeds. 
 
 9. What is an evergreen tree? 
 
 10. What are deciduous trees? 
 
 11. Mention five kinds of grasses. 
 
 12. What are grasses good for? 
 
 13 What is sometimes the reason wh}' some 
 plants have an unpleasant odor? 
 
 14. What is needed to make plants grow? 
 
 15. What are the leaves of plants good for? 
 
 16. Name five flowers of pleasant odor. 
 
 17. Name five plants of unpleasant odor. 
 
 18. What are fruits for? 
 
 19. How do spring flowers compare with those 
 that appear later? 
 
 20. What is a weed? 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 NUMBEE. 
 
 The ideal arithmetic is not to be expected from 
 any book. It is in the mind of the living teacher, 
 who has suniied not only books, but children. Diir- 
 \u^ the first two years of school life, number is best 
 taiiij^ht without the pupil's use of the book — children 
 in city schools requirino; more time to do the same 
 amount of work, since they do n(>t have the founda- 
 tion for number work when the}' enter school, that 
 the children in the countrj' have. 
 
 Repetition is so necessary in the first years that 
 it is sometimes very diflScult to keep the woi-k from 
 becomina; monotonous, hence this article will contain 
 many exercises and drills without seeming to cover 
 much ground. In the beginning it is to be hof)ed 
 that the pupils have not learned to count parrot style 
 without knowing what the words one, two, three, 
 etc., meant, so that the}' may, at the first of the 
 school year, be taught to count objects intellii^ertly. 
 Materials for any one lesson should be all alike — any 
 difference iji the objects bandied by the children will 
 distract the attention from the aim of the lesson. 
 
 In the first year the numbers from I to 10 must 
 be learned so as to become known without the slight- 
 
^o Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 est hesitation. In the place of the sign+ use the 
 word and) for the sign — , use Zpss^ for X, use iimes^ or 
 still better, thus, 5 twos are 10; and for -^ use meas- 
 ured by. The pupil should be taught addition and 
 multiplication, then subtraction and division. Begin 
 with 1 marble or some real thing. TTse no abstract 
 numbers. 
 
 Teach numbers as a whole. If pupil has learned 
 6, he has learned the I's, 2's, 3's, etc., he tiods in 6. 
 
 Teach that division is only measuring the equal 
 parts. 
 
 Teach that multiplication is only adding the equal 
 parts. 
 
 Have the child take objects and tell what he can 
 see in them: thus 6 is made of 
 
 fl + l + l + l + l + l 
 12+2+2 
 6^ 3 + 3 
 14+2 
 15 + 1 
 Have the pupils make problems for himself. 
 Teach him to construct tables like the followinir: 
 
 2^1 + 1 
 
 and so on to 10. 
 
 
 fl + l + l + l 
 
 
 13+1 
 
 1 + 1+1 
 
 1 1 + 3 
 
 1 + 2 
 
 4^ 2 + 2 
 
 2+1 + 1 
 
 2 + 1 
 
 
 1 1+2+1 
 
 
 11+1 + 2 
 
NUMKER. 71 
 
 Don't be in a hurry to introduce the sign lan- 
 guage of arithmetic; not until the close of the first 
 twenty weeks of school at any rate; then piesent 
 them one at a time. Keview b}' writing them to- 
 gether. Let the pupil fully understand the techni- 
 cal terms after he has learned what they repi'esent. 
 
 Teach pupils to discover facts in numbers. Tlius, 
 in four balls are seen three balls and one ball. One 
 ball from four balls leaves three balls. 
 
 Who can find another number in four? 
 
 Two is found this time. Two balls from four 
 balls leaves two balls, elc. 
 
 The facts having beeti found, namely, 3+1, 2 — 1, 
 2 + 2, 2x2, 4—2, 4^2, 4--1, 4x1, each fact must be 
 repeated until it is fixed in the mind. 
 
 In the presentation of an^^ fact, the first questions 
 should relate to the objects before the children, af- 
 terwards to the objects without representation. 
 
 One fact at a time, and only one. This is the secret 
 of success in teaching facts. JVot in the prcfuntntion, 
 however clear that may be, but in recalling that fact 
 until the memory ean call it up at any time without 
 effort. 
 
 Pupils should be drilled in the ready recognition 
 of groups of numbers and in making rapid combina- 
 tions and separations. 
 
 It is very important to distinguish between facts 
 of a number that mvst he recognized instantly, as, 6 + 3, 
 
72 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 4x2, ^ of 6, etc., and facts that may be found by cal- 
 culation, as, 3 + 2-|-2=:7, 9+1—5=5, etc. 
 
 Exercises like the followiui^; ma}' be found useful: 
 
 BAF-LS. 
 
 2 and 2 are 4. 
 
 ( ) and 2 are 4. 
 
 4 measured by 2 are 2. 
 
 4 measured b}^ ( ) are 2. 
 
 4 measured bj- ( ) are 4. 
 8 and ( ) are 5. 
 
 ( ) and 4 are 5. 
 
 5 less ( ) are 3. 
 
 4 less ( ) and ( ) are 6. 
 
 ( ) measured by 2 are 8. 
 ( ) and 3 are 5. 
 2 and ( ) are 5. 
 
 5 less ( ) and 3 are 6. 
 
 6 measured by 3 are 2. 
 
 2 is one-half of what number? 
 
 Have pupiis copy, substituting signs for words. 
 Train pupils to make neat figures. Aim to secure 
 neatness and accuracy' first, rapidity afterwards. Ac- 
 cept nothing but the best elforts of your pupils. 
 
 As the work goes on call attention to the i-elative 
 size of units. Thug: 
 
 I ^ I ^ I I 
 
 Place 6 blocks 
 
 CD ^u {m 
 
Number. 
 
 73 
 
 and he will, without being told, recognize 6 by its 
 peculiarity of two threes and three twos. 
 
 \zz\ rD \Z3 nn 
 
 Arrange them thus: 
 
 CZl 
 
 ] C^ EZ] 
 
 and he will recognize that 8 has 4 twos and 2 fours. 
 Teach him that one-fourth of 8 is 2 and one-half 
 
 of 8 is 4, etc. 
 
 EXERCISE FOR REVIEW. 
 
 Name the number of dots as I point. 
 
 ••••• 
 
 • • •• V •/ i: : ••• 
 
 ;> 
 
 • ••• 
 
 • 
 
 ■■.:■:■■■: 
 
 • • 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 • • 
 
 • •••!• •• ••!• • 
 
 • •• ••• 
 
 • •••I • • • • • • 
 
 Brown paper charts with groups of colored trian- 
 gles, squares or rings pasted on them, can be used 
 with great advantage for drill in quick recognition 
 of groups of numbers, and for drill in making rapid 
 combinations and separations. Thus, the teacher 
 points to any group and requires instant recognition 
 of the number. To allow hesitation or counting by 
 ones is to defeat the object of the recitation. 
 
74 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Suggestions for the use of "grouping charts: 
 
 • • • • 
 
 • • • • 
 
 How many dots do you see in the lower half? 
 
 How many in the upper half? 
 
 How many in all? 
 
 Ten and one are how many? 
 
 What must you take from eleven to leave ten? 
 
 How many 5's make ten? 
 
 Two 6's and how many make eleven? 
 
 By covering part of the dots the exercise can be 
 continued and a number of facts secured. 
 
 As a preparation for book study and also as a 
 means of training the child in the comprehension of 
 written or printed language, introduce exercises like 
 the following, writing questions on board and have 
 pupils write answers on blank blocks: 
 
 5 apples are 2 more than what number? 
 3 apples are 3 less than what number? 
 
 3 feet and 2 feet are how many feet? 
 
 4 days and 2 days are how many days? 
 2 times 2 balls are? 
 
 4 feet measured by 4 feet are? 
 4 feet measured by 2 feet are? 
 4 feet measured bv 1 foot are? etc. 
 
Number. 75 
 
 JFow many I's in 3? 
 
 How ?iiany 2's in 4? 
 
 How many 2's in 6? 
 
 How many halves in 1? 
 
 How many halves in 2? 
 
 How manj^ halves in 3? 
 
 How many thirds in Ir* 
 
 Says Col. Parker: "There are teachers who ar- 
 gue, that an attempt to teach the four operations at 
 the same time, confuses the child. It would, no 
 doubt, if the language alone were learned, without 
 regard to the thought which that language ex- 
 presses." 
 
 "Ideas before words" is a truism which applies 
 more closely to the leaching of numbers than any 
 other subject taught in onr schools. I quote again 
 from the same author: "We see the whole before the 
 ])art. It is the old question of trying to separate 
 synthesis from analysis. I am inclined to believe 
 that it is impossible for us to synthesize wnthout 
 analyzing or vice versa. But I think the proof is pos- 
 itive, that if we see two twos in four, we also see (at 
 the same time) that two twos are four. That three 
 and two are five, we see at the same time that we do, 
 that five less two is three, and tive less three is two. 
 Now, instead of confusing the mind, correlative rela- 
 tions mutually assist each other in comprehending 
 each relation. To spend a long time in adding num- 
 bers, without noticing consciously the separations; to 
 
76 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 follow that by a long term of subtractiog; after which, 
 to teach multiplying and dividing, produces, I think, 
 the inextricable confusion regarding number, that I 
 have never failed to find in grammar grades. The 
 same theory carried out in botany, would take one 
 part of the plant — the leaves for instance — and teach 
 that without regard to the whole plant; and then re- 
 turning, teach the bark, and then the stem, and so 
 on." 
 
 A lesson in number means a lesson in language at 
 the same time. However, the careful teacher makes 
 a sharp distinction between learning number and 
 learning the language of number. If the latter is de- 
 fective, the idea of the former is also imperfect. 
 
 For drill exercises, tables like the following are 
 helpful: 
 
 8h-2= 
 
 8^( )=4 
 
 4 2's= 
 
 4 ( 's)=8 
 
 5+4= 
 
 5+( )=9 
 
 8—5= 
 
 8_( )=3 
 
 4+2= 
 
 4+( )=12 
 
 ( )-2= 
 
 3X( )=12 
 
 ( )2's=8 
 
 9~( )=3 
 
 ( )+4=9 
 
 i of ( )=3 
 
 ( )-5=2 
 
 iof( )=4 
 
 ( )X2=6 
 
 iof( )=4 
 
 Take time and give the subject thorough work 
 and years of confusion will be avoided. Teach num- 
 ber as 5, 10, etc., as a upit. Teach the pupil to com- 
 
Number. 
 
 11 
 
 pare these units with othei- units. Thus, 10 is 5 
 times 2. This Ciin be readily taught by grouping 
 them objectivel}^ thus: 
 
 
 
 
 As soon as pupils have correct concepts fixed in 
 the mind, discontinue the use of objects and drill, 
 drill, drill. 
 
 Lead pupils (1) to perceive, (2) to express orally, 
 (3) to memorize, the facts. Perception, expression, 
 memory — all equally important. In primary grades 
 — indeed, in all grades — teachers talk too much. To 
 help out and give variety, to say nothing of saving 
 the teacher's throat and sparing the children's ears, 
 devices like the following may be used with good 
 effect: 
 
 Teacher, pointer in hand, steps to the board, 
 points to the figures on the circumference, children 
 having previously noted central figure and its ac- 
 
78 
 
 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 cornpanying sign, announce results. In the same 
 way the signs, — , X, and ^-, may be used: 
 The following is good for a wake-up drill: 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2~^ 
 
 
 8 
 2 
 
 8 
 4 
 
 6 
 9 
 
 -f2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 -2 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 9 
 
 8 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 See that the pupil names the result as rapidlj- as 
 you can point to the figures and see that you move 
 the pointer rapidly and with a purpose. Allow no 
 time for counting. Skip about in pointing--compel 
 ready and correct results — never do anything by 
 rote, or mechanically, that you can do otherwise. Do 
 not allow pupils to name digits — only the results. 
 
 For drill in fractions: 
 Unite the following parts: 
 
 apples 
 
 are how many? 
 
 are bow many? 
 
 part of an apple? 
 
 part of an apple? 
 
 are how many apples? 
 
 is what part? 
 
 is what part? 
 
 is what part? 
 
 pples a 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 b 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 
 c 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 } 
 
 d 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 e 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 g 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 h 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
Number. 79 
 
 Pupils should bo taught to do more with the mind 
 than with the pencil. A class should be taught to 
 reduce all ordinary fractions to higher or lower 
 terms without the use of the pencil. If he is to add 
 J and i, have him say: '4 equals ^ and | equals ^j 
 three-sixths and two-sixths are five-sixths." 
 
 Place tables of fractions upon the board in groups 
 of twos, thus: 
 
 i f 
 
 i i 
 
 I i 
 
 i * 
 
 Add each group of twos. 
 
 Find the difference. 
 
 Multiply each fraction by 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. 
 
 Multiply the fractions together, etc. 
 
 Do not allow pupils to use pencils except to write 
 down results. 
 
 Concrete work in fractions. 
 
 If one marble cost h a cent, what will five marbles 
 cost? 3 marbles? 7 marbles? 10 marbles? 
 
 If i pound of butter costs SI, what will one pound 
 cost? 
 
 How many fourths make ^? How many fourths 
 make ^ ? 
 
 Find the cost of 5 oranges at 2 cents each. 
 Find the cost of ^ of 1 orange worth 10 cents. 
 Find the cost of ^ of 1 orange worth 6 cents. 
 
8o Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Find the cost of i of 1 orange worth 6 cents. 
 Find the cost of i of 1 orange worth 8 cents: 
 Find the cost of I2 oranges worth 6 cents each. 
 Find the cost of H oranges worth 6 cents each. 
 Find the cost of H oranges worth 8 cents each. 
 F'ind the cost of ]]- oranges worth 8 cents each. 
 Find the cost of H oranges worth 2 cents each. 
 
 apples. 
 
 i of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14=what? 
 
 i of 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15=what? 
 
 i of 1, 4, 8, 12=what? 
 
 f of 1, 3, 6,9, 12, 15==what? 
 
 2 of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14=what? 
 
 See that there is no calculating amounts on fin- 
 gers. Knowledge ihns gained is ordinal and pre- 
 vents free action of the mind. Eeview dail3^ Judge 
 of your progress by the increasing power of your 
 pupils. Drill on work of previous grades. 
 
 Have individual work. Do not trust excellence 
 of sight work as any criterion of progress. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 NUMBER, CONTINUED. 
 
 General work from 1 to 20 inclusive. 
 
 Fractions must be included in these lessons. The 
 pupil should acquire perfect control of the simple 
 combination of fractions to eights, such as plain ad- 
 ditions, subtractions, etc. In every case treat each 
 quantity as 6, 8, or 18 as a unit; each ^ f, h, etc, as a 
 unit, but DOt apart of a unit. The pupil needs the 
 knowledge that 6 is a quantity 6 times as great as 1, 
 3 times as great as 2, 2 times as great as 3, 12 times 
 as great as 2, etc., before he can appreciate aiithmet- 
 ical quantities or comparison. Let oral and written 
 work go together, and by all means, teach the pu])ils 
 habits of independent thought. 
 
 Teach to count by 3's, 4's, 5's, 6's, 7's, and 8's, 
 starting from any unit as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. 
 
 From these and preceding lessons deduce a knowl- 
 edge of factors of all units where the results way be 
 entire. 
 
 Measures of capacity might be here introduced 
 and by actually handling them pupils can mnke the 
 tables for Dry and Liquid measures. Teach time by 
 the clock, days, weeks, months. Apply in practical 
 
82 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 work. Use a]) means of illustration used in the fore- 
 going part of tlie book. Review often. 
 
 In the effort to secure prompt w^ork, don't forget 
 to see that the pupil knows what he learns. While we 
 use the written and oral work, make sure that the 
 tnentdl faculties are trained to quick and ready ac- 
 tivity. 
 
 So many teachers complain of lack of time. Ean- 
 dom work always fails from lack of time. (1) Know 
 what you are to do. (2) How you are to do it. (8) 
 What particular part you are to do to-day. (4) Be- 
 lieve that you can do it. 
 
 It is often necessary to change methods in the 
 lower grades to keep up interest. It is claimed that 
 nine-tenths of the mistakes in business calculation 
 occur in adding and subtracting numbers. 
 
 Children should be taught to name the sum of two 
 numbers with the same ease and readiness that they 
 call a word without naming its letters. Thus in 13 
 he must see six over seven (£^) as easilj^ as ax in the 
 combination of a and x. 
 
 Since only forty-five combinations of two figures 
 each can be formed with the nine significant digits, 
 and only seventeen different words are required to 
 name results, it can not be a difficult task to learn 
 them. 
 
 Below are given the forty-five combinations. 
 Each gi'oup contains all the combinations that make 
 a given number: 
 
Number. 83 
 
 1 1 12 12 12 3 132 1324 
 1; 2- 3 2; 4 3; 5 4 3; 6 4 5; 7 5 6 4; 
 
 1234 12 34 5 2345 3 456 
 
 8 7 6 5; 98765; 9876; 9876; 
 
 456 567 67 78 8 
 
 9 8 7; 9 8 7; 9 8; 9 8; 9; 
 
 If board room can be spared, place them where 
 ihey can remain and devote a few sharp, active mo- 
 ments to them ever}" day until the action of the mind 
 is absolutely automatic. The high pei'ccntage of in- 
 accuracy is due to the fact that pupils do not know 
 the combinations. They fail to recognize sums, pro- 
 ducts, etc., on sight and are not sure of results. 
 Practice on columns (not too long) until the habit of 
 reading numbers together is acquired: thus in ad- 
 ding, do not say "7 and 5 make 12, and 3 make 15;" 
 say "7, 12, 15." In these exercises, there should be 
 much alertness, brightness and encouragement. Long 
 drills tire. It is method, energy and persistence 
 that tell. 
 
 Not less valuable are the forty-five combinations 
 of the multiplication table: 
 
 1 1 1 24 5 63 7 84 
 1; 2; 3; 2 1; 1; 1 2; i; 1 2; 
 
Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 4 8 
 
 2 3 
 
 
 1 
 
 3; 
 
 5; 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 2- 
 
 2; 
 
 9 
 
 3; 
 
 7 
 
 4 2, 
 
 9 6; 
 
 4 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 4 7 
 
 5, 
 
 
 3; 
 
 3 
 
 4; 
 
 
 5; 
 
 3; 
 
 4; 
 
 6; 
 
 8; 5; 
 
 6 9 
 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 6 8 
 
 8 
 
 7 8 9 
 
 6 4; 
 
 
 8; 
 
 7; 
 
 5; 
 
 
 6; 
 
 7; 
 
 9; 1- 
 
 «■; 
 
 9; 9; 9; 
 
 Write on the board. Teacher points to combina- 
 tion and pupils give product at the same time. Be- 
 ginning write the first, test each pupil to learn how 
 man}^ of the eombir)ations each one knows. Give 
 two or three combinations for each lesson in advance, 
 and review all learned before. Give frequent drill, 
 having pupils point to combination and name pro- 
 duct, continue the drill until each pupil can readily 
 give the product of each combination. 
 
 Arithmetic is an exact science. Too much care 
 can not be taken to have children form the habit of 
 accuracy in their own work. To be exactly right is 
 not attainable at all times in any other study. Make 
 the pupil feel then, that if his work is not correct in 
 every particular, it is a virtual failure. 
 
Number, Continued. 
 
 YANKEE MULTIPLICATION TABLE. 
 
 85 
 
 
 I'S 
 
 2's 
 
 3's 
 
 4's 
 
 5's 
 
 6's 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 15 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 
 16 
 
 20 
 
 24 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 20 
 
 25 
 
 30 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 24 
 
 30 
 
 36 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 14 
 
 21 
 
 28 
 
 35 
 
 42 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 24 
 
 32 
 
 40 
 
 48 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 18 
 
 27 
 
 36 
 
 45 
 
 54 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 40 
 
 50 
 
 60 
 
 7's 
 
 7 
 14 
 21 
 28 
 35 
 42 
 49 
 56 
 63 
 70 
 
 8's 
 
 9's 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 9 
 
 16 
 
 18 
 
 24 
 
 27 
 
 32 
 
 36 
 
 40 
 
 45 
 
 48 
 
 54 
 
 56 
 
 63 
 
 64 
 
 72 
 
 72 
 
 81 
 
 80 
 
 90 
 
 10 
 20 
 30 
 40 
 50 
 60 
 70 
 80 
 90 
 100 
 
 This table, as well as the one following, presup- 
 poses the development work by means of objects; al- 
 so that the pupil has made the tables for himself. 
 
 9 
 
 Thus: 
 
 etc. 
 
 2 4 6 8 
 
86 . 
 
 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 THE TEN facts. 
 
 
 + 2 
 2 
 
 X2 
 ^2 
 
 + 3 
 —3 
 
 X3 
 ^3 
 
 4 
 
 S 
 
 5 
 
 S 
 
 6 
 
 S 
 
 7 
 
 S 
 
 8 
 
 's 
 
 9 
 
 'S 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 
 918 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 11 
 
 24 
 
 12 
 
 27 
 
 9 
 
 11 
 
 18 
 
 12 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 
 36 
 
 14 
 
 45 
 
 15 
 
 54 
 
 16 
 
 63 
 
 17 
 
 72 
 
 18 
 
 81 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 
 9 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 
 11 
 
 30 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 14 
 
 45 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 5 4 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 14 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 11 
 
 28 
 
 12 
 
 35 
 
 13 
 
 42 
 
 14 
 
 49 
 
 15 
 
 56 
 
 16 
 
 63 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 14 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 11 
 
 18 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 11 
 
 24 
 
 12 
 
 32 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 14 
 
 48 
 
 15 
 
 56 
 
 16 
 
 64 
 
 17 
 
 72 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 9 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 24 
 
 11 
 
 28 
 
 Vz 
 
 32 
 
 13 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 18 
 
 10 
 
 24 
 
 11 
 
 30 
 
 12 
 
 3G 
 
 13 
 
 42 
 
 14 
 
 48 
 
 15 
 
 54 
 
 In teaching the four fundamental operations, the 
 pupil should be led to understand clearly their rela- 
 tions to one another. It is an excellent plan to re- 
 quire the class to solve problems given under the 
 subject of multiplication, by addition, and those giv- 
 en as problems in division, by subtraction. 
 
 In the assignment of concrete problems for ex- 
 planation in the class, take care that there be great 
 variety in the phraseology of the problems that in- 
 volve the same operation, so that one stereotyped 
 
Number, Continued. 87 
 
 formula may not serve for the explanation of all of 
 them. 
 
 It is often profitable to require a class to bring in 
 original problems and the solutions to them as some- 
 what of a test of the grasp of the work taught. 
 
 If pupils are thoroughly grounded in primary ar- 
 ithmetic, little need be said about written arithmetic. 
 The trouble that does arise comes from a superficial 
 understanding of the thing. Every subject, whether 
 it be percentage, interest or cube root, is only a con- 
 tinuation of what the child has already learned. The 
 instruction in the completing course differs from the 
 elementary in that more attention should be given 
 to abbreviated processes of practical value, applica- 
 tions to business life and greater freedom than is al- 
 lowed pupils inthe mechanical forms of written work 
 and original solutions. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 ARITHMETIC. 
 
 Division is usually a diflScult operation to teach 
 pupils. Not so much because it is in itself more 
 troublesome than the other fundamental operations, 
 but rather from the lack of a proper and systematic 
 method of teaching it. Ability to divide depends 
 upon the power to determine how many times one or 
 more orders of the divisor are contained in a corres- 
 ponding order of the dividend. See to it that this 
 does not become a matter of guess work- the guess 
 and try habit is an execrable practice and one for 
 which there is no excuse except that of poor teach- 
 ing. Long division should be taught before short 
 division. At first, let the divisor be of but one or- 
 der, children writing out the work. Again, care 
 must be taken that the divisor is always contained in 
 the partial dividend, so that do cipher need be placed 
 in the quotient. Make haste slowly. Wait until pu- 
 pils are thoroughly grounded in work of this kind 
 before you give problems requiring a cipher in the 
 quotient. 
 
 Then take for divisors such numbers as 20, 30, 40, 
 etc., follow these with such divisiors as 21, 31, 41, 
 
Arithmetic. 89 
 
 etc. Here no carrying is required, but the added 
 figure will sometimes affect the quotient figure as 
 formed by dividing the first figure of the partial div- 
 idend by the highest order of the divisor. Next use 
 as divisors the decades eriding with 2. Drill until 
 the pupil can do the work with ease. In a similar 
 way, use the decades ending in 3, 4, 5, etc. After 
 these divisors of one and two figures, take up first the 
 even hundred, then the hundred and tens in the same 
 order as the tens and units were taken up. 
 
 Teach the children how to determine the quotient 
 figure by comparing the highest orders of the divis- 
 or with those of each partial dividend. To prevent 
 the formation of the guessing habit, it is better, for 
 the first lessons, to have all the work done in the 
 class under the immediate supervision of the teacher, 
 no work in division being assigned for the pupil to 
 do alone. 
 
 It will be helpful to the pupil to have the order 
 of work indicated on the black board, thus: 
 
 1. Find the quotient figure. 
 
 2. Multiply and write product under dividend 
 used. 
 
 3. Subtract. 
 
 4. Compare remainder with next divisor. 
 
 5. Bring down next figure. 
 
 6. Repeat these five steps. 
 
90 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 COMMON FRACTIONS. 
 
 Many teachers complain that they have great dif- 
 ficulty in getting their pupils to understand common 
 fractions, and that though the processes! seem to be 
 understood at the time the lesson is recited, written 
 reviews prove discouraging failures. The responsi- 
 bility here might be profitably apportioned among 
 the parents, the teacher and the text book. Most 
 parents are highlj^ pleased for their children to go 
 rapidly through the arithmetic, and estimate the 
 ability of the teacher by the number of pages passed 
 over, and not by the amount of information actually 
 obtained. Teachers, as well as superintendents and 
 principals, realizing this, are usually too ambitious 
 to rapidly advance their pupils. Classes are hurried 
 along without a proper understanding of any subject 
 before a new one is taken up. No time is given for 
 the new knovvledge to be assimilated, or for skill in 
 its application before the next topic is begun. Oth- 
 er teachers give drill enough but in an aimless and 
 desultory way that is barren of results. 
 
 Division of Fractions. 
 
 In a certain arithmetic the author says, "To mul- 
 tiply by the reciprocal of a number is the same as to. 
 divide by the number." Thus to multiply by i 
 means to separate the multiplicand into four equal 
 parts, and to take one of the parts for the required 
 product; and to divide by 4 means to separate the 
 
Arithmetic. 91 
 
 divideinl into four equal jjarls, and to take one of the 
 parts for the required quotient. 
 
 This is untrue sinne "to (iivide b}^ 4" does not 
 mean to separate the dividend into four equal parts, 
 but to separate the dividend into fours, or to measure 
 the dividend by four. 
 
 If the child has been properly taught up to the 
 time of the introduction of division of fractions, he 
 will understand the relation that each fraction holds 
 to the unit from which it was derived. If be does 
 not understand this you will teach it to him in the 
 following or in some better way. 
 
 Diaw a line upon the hoard that is nine inches 
 long; let them think of this line as a unit or 1. Use 
 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., as divisors and secure the quotients 1, 
 ^, ^, i, etc. These quotients are readily perceived 
 by the pupils. Use f as a divisor. 
 
 Show that I is contained in the unit one time and 
 one-half of another time or i] times. Use | as a di- 
 visor and show by use of line or other means that it 
 is contained in 1, 1 and J or j times. Use other frac- 
 tional divisors and generalize as follows: A fraction 
 is contained in the unit from which it is derived as 
 is indicated by the fraction inverted. P'oilow this 
 conclusion with many questions similar to the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 How many times is ,\ contained in one? 
 
 i represents the division of 1 by what? 
 
 What fraction is contained in 1, ^ times? 
 
92 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 A man divides an acre of land into plots of 2 of 
 an acre each; how many such plots can he secure? 
 
 You say that I is contained in one . how many 
 times? 
 
 Pupil — I is contained in one ^ times. 
 
 Then how many times will it be contained in ^ 
 of one? 
 
 Pvpil — h of 3 times. 
 
 And how many times in | of one? 
 
 Pupil — I of I times. 
 
 What does an inverted fraction show? 
 
 Pupil — The number of times that the fraction is 
 contained in one. 
 
 Analyze the following: Divide ^ by |. 
 
 Analysis: f is contained in one ^ times, and it 
 will be contained in ^ of one ^ of ^ times, ot 20 times, 
 or igO times. 
 
 While there are three cases in division of frac- 
 tions, teach but one way of solving all the problems. 
 Reduce integers and mixed numbers to improper 
 fractions; invert the divisor and proceed as in multi- 
 plication of fractions. 
 
 Given a Fractional Part of a .Number to Find the Whole. 
 
 24 is I of what number? 
 
 The following is a common form of analysis, 
 though obviously incorrect: 
 
 "If ;^ of a number is 24, 1 of the number is 1 of 24 
 etc.'' Change the denominator fifths to the word 
 
Arithmetic. 93 
 
 parts and read, "If 3 parts of some number is 24, 
 what, is one part of it'/ Or this — if § of some number 
 is 24, what is the whole number or •? of it? 
 
 Teach pupils to study the phraseology of prob- 
 lems and to master the thought before attempting to 
 give it expression in written form. The form should 
 also be truthful. To illustrate: 
 
 If 4 of a number is 15, what is the number? 
 
 Incorrect, but common solution: 
 
 f=15 
 
 i=^ of 15; or 5 
 
 4^4x5, or 20. Ans. 
 
 The above solution is untrue because | does not 
 equal 15. | equals f and not anything else. 
 
 Correct solution: 
 
 f of some number=15 
 
 i of that number:=i of 15, or 5 
 
 ^, or the whole number=4x 5, or 20. 
 
 PRACTICAL MEASUREMENTS. 
 
 Aim to give, so far as possible, a practical turn to 
 every exercise. Suppose you ask a pupil how he 
 will obtain the superficial feet in the school room, or 
 of the model room before the class. His answer will 
 simply be, "multiply the length by the breadth," and 
 he may give these words without being able to per- 
 form the operation. That you may know whether 
 he comprehends the definition, or not, give him a 
 rule or measuring tape, and ask him to give the con- 
 
94 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 tents of the model room (46x20 inelies) or the super- 
 ficial area of either side, or of all sides, or hv actual 
 measurement the amount of car[)et that it will take 
 to cover the floor of the model i-oom, if the carpet is 
 f of an inch wide. 
 
 Ask the pupils to measure the parlor at home and 
 find out how many yards of cavpet would be required 
 if the carpet is laid lengthwise of the room. Many 
 ofthe arithmetics are misleading in directing how to 
 estimate the cost of carpeting a room correctly. 
 Practically, square measure is not used in putting 
 down carpets, but linear measure. Teach the chil- 
 dren that in determining how many yards of carpet 
 are needed for a room, first find how many strips or 
 breadths .^re required, then determine the length of 
 each strip. They are also to remember that a frac- 
 tion of a strip is to be considered a whole strip for 
 carpet dealers do not sell pieces of strips if they do 
 sell parts of yards. 
 
 Pupils must be taught to consider waste in match- 
 ing carpet; a figured carj^et has to be cut in multi- 
 ples ofthe distance between the figures. If the fig- 
 ures are two feet apart, the carpet mu!»t be cut in 
 multiples of two in order that it may match, hence a 
 room is 15 feet long, the carpet will have to be cut 
 ID lengths of 16 feet. 
 
 A boy may be able to give the rule for ascertain- 
 ing the contents of a load or pile of wood, and not be 
 able, bj^ actual measurement and figures, to carry 
 
Arithmetic. 95 
 
 the rule irito practice. In all teacbiog, combine the- 
 ory and practice. In this way you can prepare your 
 ])upils to solve such problems as the farmer, the mer- 
 chant, the mechanic, etc., will have to meet; nor will 
 they be alaimed or confused when asked by their 
 parents to perform some simple business computa- 
 tion "without the book." 
 
 PERCENTAGE. 
 
 In teaching Percentage and its applications, the 
 teacher should keep coristantly before the pupil the 
 various formulas as presented in percentage. A 
 thorough drill should be given the pupils in getting 
 hundredths of numbers. Give the term per cent, and 
 hundredths interchangeably. Show the relation of 
 50 per cent to one-half of a number; 25 per cent to 
 one-fourth of a number; 100 per cent to the whole; 75 
 per cent to three-fourths. 
 
 Show difference between one-half per cent and 
 one-half of a number; one-eighth per cent and one- 
 eighth of a number. Drill in finding one-half per 
 cent, fifty per cent and one-half of numbers; one- 
 eighth per cent, thirty-three and one-third per cent 
 and one-third of numbers, using fractions and per 
 cent interchangeably. 
 
 Show the relation of 200 per ,ccnt to two times a 
 number; 300 per cent to three times a number. 
 
 Teach pupils self reliance in mathematical work 
 
96 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 by requiring the problems to be performed mentally 
 as far as possible. 
 
 general observations. 
 
 The special purpose of arithmetic as a school 
 study is: 
 
 (1) To teach those relations of numbers that are 
 applicable to the business affairs of life. 
 
 (2) To cultivate the power to think abstractly. 
 
 (3) To train the pupil to be accurate. 
 
 (4) To discipline the reasoning faculty. 
 
 Whether the science is studied for mental disci- 
 pline or for practical mastery over every day prob- 
 lems of business life, mechanical processes and rou- 
 tine methods are of no value. In all the written 
 problems assigned for a lesson, the solutions should 
 be in approved form, though uniformity is not nec- 
 essary. 
 
 The same maybe said of "analysis." The vicious 
 system of pattern learning, beginning with "If" and 
 rounding up with a triumphant "Therefore," effect- 
 ually prevents the growing of any original or crea- 
 tive power and is a serious hindrance to the mastery 
 of the processes and principles of arithmetic. Pupils 
 become practical arithmeticians, not by learning spec- 
 ial business forms, or by the repetition of logical 
 verbiage, but by founding their knowledge on reas- 
 oning which they fully comprehend, and by being so 
 
Arithmetic. 97 
 
 thoroughlj^ exercised in its simple expression that 
 they are independent of arbitrary rules. 
 
 The prescribed formulas should often be laid 
 aside, and the pupils allowed to present their own 
 methods of solution. Upon pupils' completion of 
 any one subject such as Fractions, Interest, Percent- 
 age, etc., regular reviews should follow, in which 
 less attention may be given to the problems, and 
 more to definitions and principles. This will be 
 beneficial in that it furnishes means of testing pupils' 
 power to write analytical outlines of the work, gives 
 a comprehensive idea of the subject as a whole, and 
 exhibits the logical relation of the parts to each 
 other. 
 
CHAPTER X;L 
 GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 "Teaching, both in matter and method, must be 
 adapted to the capability of the taught." — White's 
 Pedagogy. 
 
 For this reason, this course in geography is di- 
 vided into two — an Elementary Course, suitable for 
 intermediate grades, and a Scientific Course, suitable 
 for grammar school gi-ades. Geography being a 
 treatise of the earth, ibe fii'st lessons may ijiclude all 
 things of interest in nature — initial lessons in botany, 
 zoology, or geology, and all instruction that will 
 help to picture to pupil's mind the earth as a living 
 place for man. 
 
 It is accepted in the beginning that many teach- 
 ers will say they have no time for oral work in 
 geography; these same teachers not infrequently be- 
 gin the first lesson by having their pupils memorize 
 the definition of geography, define various imaginary 
 lines supposed to be drawn around the earth, and 
 give the number of imaginary miles in the same. 
 Pray, let there be no misunderstanding here. Sys- 
 tematic knowledge implies definitions, but the defi- 
 nition should come after there has been sufficient 
 observation and reflection by the pupil to enable him 
 
Geography. 99 
 
 to talk nbout the object intelligently and to make 
 his description suggest the definition. 
 
 That geography has not been snccessiully taught 
 has been chiefly because in a narrow adherence to 
 the text book, names of countries, cities, rivers, 
 mountains, gulfs, islands, elc, willi the direction in 
 which they lie from each other, have been forced 
 into the pu[)ils' minds without any of that informa- 
 tion, and those illustrations, which will render such 
 facts intelligent and interesting. Don't make so 
 much of your text book when teaching geography. 
 It is a wise teacher who can make a judici«uis selec- 
 tion of facts worth teaching to his pupils. 
 
 METHODS. 
 
 The two distinctive methods of teaching geog- 
 raphy are the Analytic and Synthetic methods. The 
 former has to do with the earth as a whole and by 
 successive divisions passes to the various parts of 
 which it is composed. By that method we are taught 
 that the earth is composed of one-fourth land and 
 three-fourths water, that from continents we come 
 down to countries, states, counties, and townships, 
 and from the sea, the largest body of water, to the 
 smaller ones. This method is unsuited to the begin- 
 ner since it inverts the law of mental development, 
 from the particular to the general and from the 
 known to the related unknown. 
 
 The Synthetic method begins with the play- 
 
100 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 ground and passes by successive additions over the 
 whole globe. It commends itself to the primary 
 teacher as it presents single facts before giving their 
 classification and causes. 
 
 oral geography. 
 
 Oral geography may begin at any time after the 
 child enters school; and should begin as early as the 
 middle of the second year. Its aim is simply to pre- 
 pare pupils for the studj' of geography from the 
 text book. 
 
 Before entering school, children who have been 
 favorably situated, are already in possession of the 
 primary concepts and facts of geography; but this 
 knowledge must be supplemented by more accurate 
 observation than is generally given to such com- 
 mon facts as we desire to use in these first lessons. 
 
 Most pupils know what is meant by front, back, 
 right, left — also the relative positions expressed in 
 above, below, over, under, etc., and are ready to begin 
 with 
 
 Direction. Noon is a good time to begin this sub- 
 ject. If at this time, the pupils stand with their 
 backs to the sun, their shadows will fall to the north. 
 The point opposite the north is south. On their 
 right is east, and on their left, west. Then test their 
 knowledge by asking pupils to face the east, west, 
 south. Thus: 
 
 Lucy, stand at the north side of the room. 
 
Geography. ioi 
 
 James, ^o to the southern part of the room. 
 
 James, walk toward Liic)'. 
 
 Class, in what direction is James walking? 
 
 In what direction is Lucj walking? 
 
 When facing the east, what direction is on their 
 right? 
 
 What on their left? 
 
 In what diiection will their shadows fall at sun- 
 set? At sun rise? 
 
 Get the children to name ohjects in the school 
 room which are north of them, south, east, west. 
 When the four points are fixed, northeast, noi'thwest, 
 etc., may be introduced. Having learned the eight 
 points, the children should he asked to name ohjects 
 in the direction of each, beginning with those in the 
 school room, and passing to the things in the school 
 3'ard; to name the directions in which they travel 
 from their homes to school and in going from the 
 school building to the post-office and other promi- 
 nent places. 
 
 What is taught, let it be well taught b}' frequent 
 reviews Pupils tell in what part of the room the 
 front door is; the stove, the teacher's desk, etc. 
 Give the direction of the joints in the floor, the back 
 of the seats, sides and ends of the room. Transfer 
 direction from the floor to the north board if there 
 is one. Draw vertical line and horizontal, intersect- 
 ing each other. Put north at the top of the vertical 
 line, south at the bottom, east at the right end of the 
 
I02 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 horizontal line, west at the left end of the same line. 
 
 1. cardinal pts. 
 
 .- absolute^ 
 
 o 1 
 
 2. semi-cardinal pts. 
 
 f north 
 
 J south 
 
 j east 
 
 [west 
 northeast 
 northwest 
 southeast 
 southwest 
 
 , ^. (1. thiniJ^s near 
 
 relative ^ « .i • ' 
 [^ ( Z. tilings remo 
 
 te 
 
 Questions on Lesson. 
 
 1. In which wall is the front door? 
 
 2. In which direction would 3'ou walk in 
 
 pass- 
 Which way do you walk as you enter your 
 
 ing out of the front door? 
 
 3. 
 home? 
 
 4. 
 
 5: 
 
 6. 
 
 7. 
 
 8. 
 
 9. 
 
 10. 
 
 As you leave your home? 
 Point toward your home. 
 Which way are you pointing? 
 Think of your mother pointing this way. 
 Which way is she pointing? 
 W^hich way is the clock from the door? 
 Which way am I looking? 
 
 Out of Door Work. 
 
 Take the children out of doors and let them study 
 the country. 
 
 1. Take them to a creek or branch and to a place 
 
Geography. 103 
 
 where another creek flows into it. Here is month and 
 tributary. If possible, take them to where a stream 
 rises. This is source. Tell them streams always flow 
 from source to mouth. 
 
 ['source. 
 
 I he'i. 
 
 j hi'anches, 
 
 p. ^ J riirltt and left banks. 
 
 '^ j stones and other materials carried by rivers. 
 
 [ effect upon the surface. 
 
 ( navigation — boats, 
 u s e s -s 
 1^ " ^ ( water power — mills. 
 
 2. Take them to a pond. If another stream close 
 by connected by a narrow strip of water — this is a 
 strait. Indentures in bank of pond are called gulfs or 
 bays. They will probably notice an island in the 
 
 pond, etc perhaps also notice a peninsula. If there 
 
 are no lakes or ponds in the immediate vicinity, 
 utilize the first rainy day, or easier yet if you do not 
 find it convenient to leave the school room, see what 
 you can do with a cup of water and a dr}- board, b}' 
 way of illustration. 
 
 3. A lake is larger than a pond; sea is larger 
 than a lake; ocean is largest of all. 
 
 4. Land around lake is low and level. Called 
 plain. Oniy^ difference between it and other plains 
 is in size. 
 
 5. Pupils, looking farther off, see hills. Be- 
 tween hills are low places, called valleys. Farther 
 back still larger hills — mountains. 
 
[04 
 
 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Long line of mounlains, called chain; cluster of 
 mountains — a group. 
 
 Highest part of mountains are peaks. Some peaks 
 are so high that they are always covered with snow. 
 
 C base. 
 Mountains •< slopes. 
 ( summit. 
 
 Develop the idea of vertical zones, by short con- 
 versations about the decrease of vegetation as we as- 
 cend a mountain. This will suggest 
 
 Object Lesson on (Hi mate. 
 
 Climate - 
 
 r fi- 
 
 I Cold day leads | 2. 
 I to talk "on cold ^ 3. 
 I countries. | 4. 
 
 15. 
 
 fl- 
 Warm day leads | 2. 
 
 to talk on warm -j 3. 
 
 countries. | 4. 
 
 [5. 
 
 Houses. 
 
 Food. 
 
 Dress. 
 
 Customs. 
 
 Manner of travel. 
 
 Houses. 
 
 Food. 
 
 Dress. 
 
 Customs. 
 
 Manner of travel. 
 
 Illustrate unknown facts by comparison with 
 those which are known, e. g., habits of peoples of 
 distant countries with those of the neighborhood. 
 
 Use of Pictures. 
 
 In accordance with the fundamental principle 
 that the course of instruction in oral geography 
 should be given in the concrete, the primary con- 
 
Geography. 105 
 
 cepts and facts of geography should be presented to 
 the mind of the learner by illustration, rather than 
 by description. As it is not always convenient or 
 desirable to show the objects themselves, a collec- 
 tion of pictures systematically arranged, will answer 
 the purpose. Only an honest trial is required to 
 demonstrate the value of the information received, or 
 the superiority of this method over that of merely 
 reciting the words of the text-book. The plants and 
 animals of the various zones are made living reali- 
 ties and are given a local habitation. 
 
 Globe Lessons. 
 
 Teach with the aid of a globe and other objects 
 what the form of the earth isj how much is land, how 
 much is water, and the position, relative sizes and 
 names of the continents, oceans, etc. 
 
 Place the globe on the teacher's table and require 
 your pupils, one by one, to go to the globe aud an- 
 swer one of the following questions: 
 
 1. What is the shape of the school globe? 
 
 2. Point out with your finger, the pans that 
 represent land. 
 
 3. Point out the parts that represent water. 
 
 4. Which is the larger, the land surface or the 
 water surface? 
 
 5. Turn the globe around once; on what does it 
 turn? 
 
 8 
 
io6 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 6. In what time does the real earth turn around, 
 or rotate once? 
 
 7. How ofcen does the sun rise and set? 
 
 8. Place your finger on the top or most norther- 
 ly point on the globe; what is that part called? 
 
 9. Place your finger on the most southerly part 
 of the globe; what is that point called? 
 
 10. Put your finger on the black line half way 
 between the two poles and follow it around the 
 globe; what is it called? 
 
 11. Find the Pacific Ocean and turn the globe so 
 that the class can see it. 
 
 12. Point oat the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 13. Find the Indian Ocean. 
 
 14. Point out North America. 
 
 15. Who can point out the land on which we 
 live? 
 
 16. In what direction is North America from 
 South America? 
 
 17. Which is the larger? 
 
 18. Which is the largest ocean? 
 
 19. Which is the longest and narrowest? 
 
 20. Find and name a sea between North and 
 8outh America. 
 
 Further lessons upon the globe may include 
 zones, climate, relation, position, and size of conti- 
 nents and oceans. 
 
Geography. 
 
 107 
 
 1. 
 Zones. 4 2. 
 
 ■I 
 
 Torrid. 
 
 Temperate. 
 
 Frigid. 
 
 f Define. 
 j Boundaries. 
 J Climate. 
 j Vegetation. 
 
 Animals. 
 I Inhabitants. 
 
 Trees. 
 
 Vegetation and Animals of Torrid Zone. 
 
 fThe Palm. 
 J The Mahogany. 
 1 The India-rubber 
 [The Banyan, etc. 
 
 f Dates. 
 
 j Rice. 
 
 I Sugar-cane. 
 
 Cocoanuts. 
 
 Bananas. 
 I Oranges. 
 
 I Figs. 
 I^Pine-apples. 
 
 Food Plants. 
 
 TNutmeg. 
 
 c . Cinnamon, 
 
 opices. < ^, 
 ^ I Cloves. 
 
 1^ Pepper, etc. 
 
 Large Animals. 
 
 Beasts of Prey. 
 
 'Elephant. 
 Rhinoceros. 
 Giraffe. 
 Hippopotamus, etc. 
 
 fLion. 
 J Leopard. 
 1 Tiger. 
 [Hyena. 
 
io8 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Ye get at Ion and Animals of Temperate Zone. 
 
 
 fCorn. 
 
 
 i Wheat. 
 
 Food Plants. 
 
 J Oats. 
 
 
 1 Potatoes. 
 
 
 1 Vegetables. 
 
 
 f Apples. 
 
 
 1 Peaches. 
 
 Fruits. 
 
 ^ Pears. 
 
 
 1 Plums. 
 
 
 1^ Grapes. 
 
 
 (Cotton. 
 
 Clothing Makinfij Plants. 
 
 ] Flax. 
 
 
 (^ Hemp. 
 
 
 f Horse. 
 
 
 1 I>og- 
 
 Dotnestic Animals. 
 
 J Ox^ 
 j Sheep. 
 
 
 |Hog. 
 
 
 LCat, etc. 
 
 Vegetation and Animals of Frigid Zone. 
 
 C Mosses. 
 Vegetation. } Dwarfed Willows. 
 (Birches. 
 
 r Whale. 
 Sea Animals. < Seal. 
 
 (Walrus. 
 
 Fur-bearing Animals. 
 
 f White Bear. 
 ■] Sable. 
 (Ermine. 
 
Geographv. 109 
 
 Make colored diagrams of the zones to represent 
 the nature ot the climate — white within polar cir- 
 cles; green for temperate zones; brown or red for 
 torrid zones. To impress the thought of relation of 
 climate to food and clothing, ask the children to 
 bring tbe diflferent productions, vegetable, mineral, 
 and animal, of the different zones, the teacher fas- 
 tening them on the proper place. When the pupils 
 can not find the production, substitute a small pic- 
 ture. Of course vegetables and animals can not be 
 fastened upon the map, but pictures can be readily 
 procured, and even the dullest boy will enjoy the 
 "animal part" of the chart. 
 
 It has not been the aim of this short chapter to 
 give a comprehensive plan of ])rimaT3' work, since 
 the class of teachers whom I hope to reach, are en- 
 gaged in intermediate or advanced work — that is to 
 say — their pupils use text books. "Culture is one of 
 tbe things which, if we drive at in dead earnest, we 
 often win." Geography is pre-eminently a culture 
 study; therefore, whether we teach or fail to teach 
 all the facts primary pupils need to know as a pre- 
 parative for book stud}^ we should certainly try to 
 cultivate the geographical faculty by providing 
 proper nourishment. 
 
 The following excellent article relative to oral 
 geography recently appeared in one of the Eastern 
 journals: 
 
no PlaIxNT Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 "incidental, miscellaneous, general teaching. 
 
 Be^in anywhere. In imagination, go anywhere. 
 
 1. Tell the children interesting stories about the 
 great rivers; the great deserts; the ocean; the high- 
 est mountains; the ice-fields of theNorth; the swamps 
 and jungles of the South; the prairies of the West; 
 the Coral Islands, large and small; the brook, whose 
 course you traced yesterday from its source among 
 the hills to the river which it helped to fill; the Cat- 
 aract of Niagara with its thunder and mist, or the 
 Great Lakes, on which one may sail day after day 
 without seeing land. 
 
 Tell stories of curious plants and animals; the 
 curious peoples and customs of foreign lands; the 
 lines of commerce which man has established over 
 the sea and across the continents. Anything and 
 everything which is interesting, (and what is not?) 
 may be used to help children to realize that what 
 they see about them is only a small part of what is; 
 that the world is big, and broad, and full of won- 
 ders, but fuller still of people, old and young, like 
 those they know, and yet unlike them, partly be- 
 cause they see and have such different things around 
 them. 
 
 2. Use pictures, the best you can find, all you 
 can find of natural scenery, houses and people, cities 
 and villages, occupations and pastimes, peculiar 
 forms of vegetation, peculiar animals, etc., etc. Let 
 
Geography. hi 
 
 the class study these pictures aud talk about them; 
 let them try to reproduce the simplest of them on 
 slate or blackboard. 
 
 3. Encourage the- pupils to make collections of 
 Fruite and Vegetables, Flowers, Seeds, Nuts, Spices 
 like clove, cinnamon and nutmeg, Medicine Products 
 like camphor, poppy, and the castor bean; of some 
 form of Clothing Plants like cotton; and dye and 
 building woods." 
 
CHAPTER X!ll 
 
 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 The following topical outline is suggested, ac- 
 cording to which we may obtain and arrange our 
 knowledge of every continent and state without ref- 
 erence to the source whence it comes; or the order 
 in which we find it. Outlines are valueless, howev- 
 er, if taught mechanically and rapidly and are made 
 a mere memory exercise. Considerable time should 
 be given to each topic and the childi'en directed in 
 studying subjects rather than words. The teacher 
 should consider the meager information here given 
 simply as suggestive. 
 
 Lessons on North America. 
 
 1. Position. 
 
 1. Determined by class from an examination o 
 a globe and a map of the hemispheres. 
 
 2. Its Boundaries. 
 
 1. Mathematical. 
 
 2. Physical. 
 
 3. Size. 
 
 1. Actual. 
 
 a. Length. 
 
 b. Breadth. 
 
 c. Area. 
 
Advanced Geography. 113 
 
 d. Elevation. 
 
 e. Seaboard. 
 2. Comparative. 
 
 Jf. Form. 
 
 1. Triangular. 
 
 2. Widest part toward the north, 
 
 3. The A.rctieand Atlantic coasts of nearly equal 
 
 length. 
 
 5. Indentations and Projections of Coast. 
 
 1. Arctic coast. 
 
 a. Labrador. 
 
 b. Greenland. 
 
 c. Alaska. 
 
 2. Atlantic coast. 
 
 a. Newfoundland. 
 
 b. Northern part — good harbors. 
 
 c. Southern part — low. 
 
 d. Florida. 
 
 e. West Indies. 
 
 3. Pacific coast. 
 
 a. Less irregular than Atlantic. 
 
 b. Not many islands. 
 
 c. Shores rocky. 
 
 6. Surface. 
 
 1. Primary highland in the West. 
 
 a. Mountain ranges. 
 
 b. Basins and plateaus. 
 
 c. Mountain peaks. 
 
 d. Western slope. 
 
 e. Eastern slope. 
 
 2. Secondary highland in the East. 
 
 a. Northern part. 
 
 b. Southern part. 
 
 3. Great central plain. 
 
 a. Width. 
 
114 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 b. Divided by height of land. 
 
 c. Arctic Plain. 
 
 d. Mississippi Valley. 
 7. Inland Waters. 
 
 1. Rivers. 
 
 a. Arctic slope. 
 
 (a) Mackenzie. 
 
 (b) Saskatchewan. 
 
 b. Atlantic slope. 
 
 (a) Mississippi. 
 
 (b) St. Lawrence. 
 
 (c) Rio G-rande. 
 
 (d) Hudson. 
 
 (e) Potomac. 
 
 c. Pacific slope. 
 
 (a) Colorado. 
 
 (b) Columbia. 
 
 (c) Frazer. 
 
 (d) Yukon. 
 
 2. Lakes. 
 
 a. Superior. 
 
 (a) Largest in the world, 
 
 (b) Most elevated of the five Great 
 Lakes. 
 
 b. Michigan. 
 
 (a) Lies entirely within the United 
 States. 
 
 c. Huron. 
 
 (a) Nearly a crescent. 
 
 (b) Its waters very deep. 
 
 d. Erie. 
 
 (a) Noted for its fearful storms. 
 
 (b) Shallow waters. 
 
 e. Ontario. 
 
 (a) Never closed by ice. 
 
Advanced Geography. 115 
 
 f. Great Salt Lake. 
 (a) Has no outlet. 
 
 8. Climate. 
 
 1. Northern region includes 
 
 a. Canada. 
 
 b. Greenland. 
 
 c. Iceland. 
 
 d. Alaska. 
 
 2. Central region — teniperale zone. 
 
 3. Southern region — torrid zone. 
 
 9. Soils. 
 
 10. Productions. 
 
 1. Vegetable. 
 
 a. Northern regions — drj' and cold. 
 
 (a) Lichens. 
 
 (b) Scanty grasses. 
 
 (c) Dwarfish flowers in extreme North. 
 («1) Pines and furs in the South 
 
 b. Central region — mild climate. 
 
 (a) Grains. 
 
 (b) Fruits. 
 
 (c) Vegetables. 
 
 (d) Sugar cane. 
 
 (e) Hay. 
 
 (f) Cotton. 
 
 (g) Tobacco. 
 
 c. Southern region — hot and moist. 
 
 (a) Tropical fruits. 
 
 (b) Palms. 
 
 (c) Sugarcane. 
 
 (d) Dye woods. 
 
 (e) Cabinet woods. 
 
 2. Animals. 
 
 a. Northern region, 
 (a) Whale.' 
 
ii6 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 (b) Seal. 
 
 (c) Walrus. 
 
 (d) Seal. 
 
 b. Central region. 
 
 (a) Bear. 
 
 (b) Deer. 
 
 (c) Wolf. 
 
 (d) Pantber. 
 
 (e) Bison. 
 
 (f) Elk. 
 
 c. Soutbern region 
 
 (a) Alligators. 
 
 (b) Monkeys. 
 
 (c) Parrots. 
 
 (d) Lizards. 
 11. People. 
 
 1. Occupations. 
 
 a. Agriculture. 
 
 b. Manufacturing. 
 
 c. Mining. 
 
 d. Fisbing. 
 
 e. Commerce. 
 
 (a) Amount. 
 
 (b) Exports. 
 
 (c) Imports. 
 
 2. Eaiiroads— Continental, etc. 
 .8. Towns. 
 
 a. Capital. 
 
 b. Commercial. 
 
 c. Manufacturing. 
 
 4. Education. 
 
 5. Religion. 
 
 6. Government. 
 
 7. History. 
 
Advanced Geography. 117 
 
 GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 I. On Teaching Coasts. 
 
 1. Ask pupils to take imaginary journeys fle- 
 scribiiig various ])oiiits visitedj thus the coast of 
 L'lbrador is ^vild and rockj-; Alaska is low and 
 swampy; San Francisco, the best harbor on the Pa- 
 cific coast, etc. 
 
 2. Comparison of each coast with others. 
 
 3. Contrasts and resemblances noted. 
 
 4. Mental pictures secured through interesting 
 descriptions read in the class. 
 
 II. On Teaching Surface. 
 
 1. Modeling in sarjd. 
 
 2. Comparison of Primary highlands with Sec- 
 ondary. 
 
 3. Descriptions of mountain scenery read or 
 given orally. 
 
 4. Pictures. 
 
 6. Diagrams showing comparative heights of 
 mountains 
 
 ///. On Teaching Rivers. 
 
 1. Show that the drainage of a countrj' is deter- 
 mined by its great slopes. 
 
 2. Contrast and compare each river system with 
 the others. 
 
 3. Compare the lengths of various rivers by 
 means of a diagram. 
 
ii8 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 4. Promote interest by showing yjictiires and 
 reading descriptions of scenery along the banks. 
 
 5. Imaginary journeys. 
 
 IV. On Teaching Prodnciions. 
 
 In teaching the productions of any continent, en- 
 courage the children to make collections of their 
 own. A grain of coffee will make an interesting les- 
 son. Describe the countries from which the coffee 
 is brought, the route by which it comes to us, and 
 the people who are engaged in its production. 
 
 Rice, sugar, cotton, wool, all of them, articles 
 which can be had in any home, will do for lessons. 
 Why do not wheat districts produce rice? Topics of 
 this kind will make pupils think, reason and inquire. 
 
 international trade or commerce. 
 
 Points to be Discussed. 
 
 1. Man must have food, clothing and shelter. 
 
 2. Men differ in their abilities. 
 
 3. Different countries produce different ma- 
 terials. 
 
 4. Exchange of goods is called commerce. 
 
 5. Domestic commerce; foreign commerce. 
 
 6. Methods of transporting goods. 
 
 7. Resources of different countries. 
 
 8. Money. 
 
Advanced Geography. 119 
 
 • map drawing. 
 
 Drawing is the language of the eye, and it often 
 enables us to communicate what could not be well 
 told in words. A traveler in a strange country can 
 often convey more true knowledge by a rough sketch 
 of the object than he could by a labored description. 
 Map drawing, to be of practical value, should begin 
 as soon as pupil has learned to distinguish absolute 
 and relative direction, and must be a gradually de- 
 veloping process. The first attempts are simple 
 representations of the table top, or the floor of the 
 school room. The next step may be a map of the 
 school grounds or neighborhood. 
 
 In representing the continents, the first lessons 
 should be entirely by imitation. It is thought that 
 an elaborate system of construction lines and sup- 
 plied measurements waste time and call attention 
 from the object sought. 
 
 General proportions of a continent should be no- 
 ticed, and indicated with straight lines. Draw one 
 coastline at a time, noticing largest projections and 
 indentations. As the hand moves, try to secure 
 mental pictures of what one would actually see if he 
 were traveling along the line indicated. 
 
 Be satisfied with approximate accuracy rather 
 than minuteness of detail. Eemember that the ob- 
 ject of map drawing is not to train the child to draw 
 
I20 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 beautiful maps, but to aid liim in recitation and in 
 retaining his knowledge. 
 
 A r» interesting and profitable exercise is to com- 
 bine map drawing with the oral recitation- thus: one 
 pupil does the mechanical work while others name 
 the lines^ anothei- may take the crayon — or the 
 teacher draws while the pupils talk. In two or three 
 minutes a dozen of the outlying cities are placed on 
 the board, also rivers, lakes, etc. — each with its own 
 particular point of interest. 
 
 There is but little educational value in merely 
 copying a map, hence, pupils should be trained to 
 make memory maps of the facts they study. Having 
 the outline of a continent on the board, it is a good 
 plan to call for volunteers to 
 
 1. Putin five rivers as called for by the pupils. 
 
 2. Put in five cities as called for. 
 
 3. Put in five mountain ranges. 
 
 4. Put in the most prominent lakes. 
 
 5. Put in individual rivers, cities, etc., as called 
 for. 
 
 This plan of reviewing on outlines is very pleas- 
 ing to pupils. 
 
 In studying the United States, do not separate a 
 map of a group altogether from the map of the 
 whole. To do so, confuses the children with refer- 
 ence to the relation of a group to other groups and 
 to the whole country. Have a large map of the 
 United States in sight and require one pupil to draw 
 
Advanced Geogkaphv. 121 
 
 his map as a pai't of tlie l:iigc tnaf), vvliile otliei mem- 
 bers ai-e 'Ira wing the gi-oiip. 
 
 It is somelimes well lo require pupils to mnke 
 rapi'i aufl bold sketches without special attempt at 
 beauty or exactness; call these sketches, however, ami 
 distinguish between the mnking of them and the 
 making of maps. 
 
 The following suggestions are im])ortant if you 
 would have your map drawir<g possess much value: 
 
 1. Never allow any map in sight at the time of 
 the exercise. 
 
 2. See that the maps are large as space will 
 permit. 
 
 3. Pupil should re])resetit just the things he has 
 studied — no more. 
 
 4. Insist that the map is finished with neatness 
 and good taste. 
 
 TEST QUESTIONS FOR GENERAL REVIEW IN GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 1. Derine watei- shed; mountain system. 
 
 2. Name and locate the different river S3'stems 
 of the earth. 
 
 3. Why are rivers very important to civiliza- 
 tion? 
 
 4. Name and locate the principal mountain sys- 
 tems of the earth. 
 
 5. Name five principal exports and imports of 
 the grand divisions. 
 
122 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 6. Name ihe principal cotton and rice ijr?'owin^ 
 rcijions of the world. 
 
 7. Name the wheat, cotton, tea, coffee, and fruit 
 regions. 
 
 8. Where are the most important gold, silver, 
 diamond, copper, lead, coal, tin, zinc, and v«alt re- 
 gions? 
 
 9. Go hy water from New York to London. 
 
 10. Go by railroad from New York to San Fran- 
 cisco. 
 
 11. Why is Western Europe much warmer and 
 moister than Eastern Europe? 
 
 12. Name the different races of men. 
 
 13. Name the three leadir^g commercial coun- 
 tries. 
 
 14. Describe the structure of Eastern Asia with 
 its central highlands andslopes. 
 
 15. What two sj'stems of govei-nment prevail 
 among the civilized nations of the lan(i? 
 
 16. How is the surface of the earth divided in 
 respect to temperature? 
 
 17. A vessel sails for England laden with ma- 
 hogany, dye stuffs and tobacco; where is she proba- 
 bly from? 
 
 18. Name a political division of Europe that is 
 an island; one that is a peninsula; one that has no 
 seaport. 
 
 19. Give the proofs that the earth is round. 
 
 20. What are the prevailing religions of the 
 world? 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 HISTOEY. 
 
 Divisions. 
 
 History is divided iuto two gieat braiichcs: the 
 Facts of History mid the Philosop/ry of History. The 
 former divisioti enibiaces the oiderlv and sj'stematic 
 statement of the events that have occurred in the 
 lives of individuals and nations. The Philosophy of 
 Ilistor}' endeavors to. ascertain the causes which 
 have coTitiibuted to produce the different changes in 
 society and nations, and from these to predict the 
 future condition and destiny of mankind. 
 
 Stories. 
 
 Li ke geography, history ranks with the culture 
 studies. The mercoiy, the reason, the imagination, 
 are all brought into play. The first lessons should 
 concern persons, and story telling is the first stage in 
 learning this subject. Every event in history has 
 associated with it lives of great men and women who 
 are the chief actors. A mother has no trouble in 
 teaching her child the story of Moses, or the wan- 
 derings of the Israelites in the wilderness, and the 
 teacher, if propeidy qualified, ought to have no 
 
124 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 trouble iti teaching the story of Columbus, or the 
 Pilgrim Fathers. 
 
 Now, to be successful, the teacher must first /mow 
 the facts to be given; second, he must understand the 
 art of telling the story so as to make it pictorial. 
 "Oat of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speak- 
 eth" in the histoi-y class, at least. Imperfect knowl- 
 edge, on the part of the teacher, leads to hesitation, 
 corrections and blunders, all of which causes the 
 child's mind to wander and the exercise becomes 
 distasteful, wearisome, and well nigh fruitless. 
 
 Details. 
 
 The sequence of events should not be strictly ad- 
 hered to in the lower giades. Too many dates, 
 names, and other details mustnot be required, as the 
 memory will be over taxed and perhaps confused. 
 Chil(Jren have not the power of mind to grasp and 
 retain a long series of historical events. A judicious 
 selection should be made--remembering that we are 
 to teach — not the date of the fall of Quebec, but the 
 heroism of Wolfe and Montcalm; not where Brad- 
 dock died, so much as why he died there; not only 
 the narrative part, but the business of history. 
 
 Geography. 
 
 Instruction in history should be given in connec- 
 tion with geography. Before attempting to teach 
 the facts of the history of any colony, a special les- 
 
History. 125 
 
 son ifi ireoi^raphy should be assigned and i-ecited; 
 ])npils should also be trained to the habit 01 eon- 
 statitly refen-ing to map? when studying the lesson, 
 and should he requiied to illustrate the routes of 
 voyagers, the march of an army, the line battle, the 
 location of* forces, etc. 
 
 Reference Books. 
 
 In assigning the lesson, call attention to impor- 
 tant points; ask the children if they have any his- 
 tory at home with the lesson in it; tell them in what 
 })age, in the books of reference at school, they will 
 find the points needed. Historical novels, the lives 
 of heroes, etc., are ind is])ensabie to the ciriti vation of 
 historical imagination. The books to be recom- 
 mended must of course, vary with the advancement 
 of the children. The following is believed to be an 
 all around list. 
 
 Young Folks' History of the United States. — 
 Higginson. 
 
 Boys of '76 and Old Times in the Colonies. — 
 Carl et on. 
 
 Child's History of the United States. — Goodrich. 
 
 Evangeline. — Lon gfello w . 
 
 Little Duke and Prince and Page. — Miss Yonge. 
 
 B log ra ph ica I Port r a its . 
 The following method has been used with good 
 results, and recommends itself to teachers in search 
 of a device to awaken an interest in the historj^ les- 
 
126 Plain Talks with Student Teachp:ks. 
 
 son. Select a liyt of noted historical characters from 
 those whom the pupils have studied about, and ^ive 
 as vivid a desci'iptioii of each as possible, somelioies 
 telling <^"'j prominent ttaits of character and mind, 
 and sometimes describing in a j)ict uresque maL'ner, a 
 scene in wliich the chai-ftcter figured, thus: 
 
 "The earth is covered, with snow; human foot- 
 prints are marked with blood. There are rows of 
 comfortless hnts, and hu Idlefi in them are men with- 
 out even straw oi- blankets to keep them warm. 
 They sleep on the bare earth, hungry, and benumbed 
 by cold. The sick die unattended, without food or 
 medicine. Amid ail this discomfort is the leader of 
 these men, shaiing their w^ant and famine, and in- 
 spiring them with ])atrioiism. Under all circum- 
 stances he is calm, dignified, and hopeful. 
 
 Who was Ibis patriot and commander?" 
 
 As soon as ]ju|»ils have caught the idea, require 
 them to give the descriptions. 
 
 Much is to be gained by writing on the board, 
 noted sayings of great men, and celebrating anniver- 
 saries and birthdays of those who have become fa- 
 mous. 
 
 Outlines. 
 
 To teach history is like painting in water colors. 
 First a general outline is made; then more is added; 
 then tbe whole is gone over with care. Take the 
 history of Virginia for example: 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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8 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Dates. 
 
 As has been previously intimated, the memory 
 should not be loaded down with chroru^loixical de- 
 tails. Below will he found a list of dates that are 
 memorable in American history, each one of which 
 may be ma'le the basis of a very interesting talk that 
 will stimulate pupils to further reading- ori the sub- 
 ject: 
 
 1492_The discovery of the New World by Col- 
 umbus. 
 
 1607— The settlement of Virginia by the English. 
 
 1614— The settlementof New York by the Dutch. 
 
 1619 — The meeting of the first legislative body, 
 House of Burgesses. 
 
 1620— The settlement of Plymouth by the Pil- 
 grims. 
 
 1630— The settlement of Boston. 
 
 1776 — The Declaration of Independence. sshw^ 
 
 1777 — The surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga. 
 
 1781 — The ratification of the Articles of Confed- 
 eration, 
 
 1783— The Second Treaty of Paris, defining the 
 extent of the United States. 
 
 1787 — The Constitutional Convention and the 
 Ordinance of '87. 
 
 1789 — The beginning of the National Government 
 under Washinefton. 
 
History. 129 
 
 1793 —The inventior) of the cotton gin bj- Whit- 
 ney. 
 
 1807 — The successful voyage of the "Clejmont." 
 
 1813— The battle of Lake Erie. 
 
 1842— The Webster-Ashburton treaty, Northeast 
 boundary. 
 
 1844 — The invention of the telegraph. 
 
 1846 — The settlement of Northwest boundary 
 trouble. 
 
 1848 — The treaty of Gaudaloiipe Hidalgo — South- 
 west boundary. 
 
 1863— The battle of Gettysburg. 
 
 1876 — The Centennial Celebration of American 
 Independence. 
 
 1892, '93— World's Columbian Exposition at Chi- 
 cago. 
 
 General Suggestions. 
 
 1. In all grades of work, localize events by 
 means of maps and plans. 
 
 2. Make cause and result of events prominent. 
 
 3. Require a knowledge of the geography of the 
 country in which the events occur. 
 
 4. Do not require a slavish adherence to text- 
 books; only some beautifully expressed thought. 
 
 5. Give pecularities of customs of peoples men- 
 tioned. 
 
 6. Use biography to teach moral lessons: cour- 
 
130 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 age, self denial, fidelitj^ to trust, perseverance, pa- 
 triotism, humanity. 
 
 7. Assign lesson by topics rather than by pages. 
 
 8. Kequire each pupil to keep a note-book. 
 
 9. Show how the history of a country depends 
 upon its geography. 
 
 10. Be on the alert constantly for coincidences 
 and contrasts. 
 
 Study of a war includes: 
 
 1. Parties. 
 
 2. Causes. 
 
 3. Occasion. 
 
 4. Campaigns. 
 
 5. Results; immediate and remote. 
 Study of an administration includes: 
 
 1. Political issues. 
 
 2. Political changes. 
 
 3. Industrial changes. 
 
 4. Foreign relations. 
 
 5. Extension of territory and settlements. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 Government. 
 
 It is assumed that the "new teacher" at whom 
 this is directed, has exercised good judgment in se- 
 lecting his first school, that he has made the neces- 
 sary preparation for the first day, and that he has 
 taken some pains to secure the support of trustees 
 and parents in all reasonable requirements. 
 
 The first and most important principle that he 
 must adopt is, that to govern others he must govern 
 himself. Loss of temper is a loss of power. Chil- 
 dren study a new teacher as a commander studies a 
 fort be expects to capture. If there is a weak point 
 indicated by his presence, in movement, attitude, or 
 expression — if he can be teased, irritated, or made 
 angry, be assured the weakness will be discovered 
 and the charge made there. 
 
 The second element is that of courage. Pupils 
 instinctively recognize a quiet, unalterable deter- 
 mination to control them and in most cases make a 
 complete and lasting surrender, provided there is 
 plenty of nutritious food at hand in the way of good 
 teaching and training. 
 
132 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 A gentleman widely known for his power as a 
 disciplinarian was asked to tell how he governed a 
 school. He replied, "There is no formula for govern- 
 ing — do DOt seek it. Experience has taught me sev- 
 eral principles which may do you service. Strong 
 minds exert a strange influence over others. You 
 have doubtless experienced this; when you are fully 
 yourself, you can put your whole mind on the im- 
 mediate duty; when you are calm and your thoughts 
 are clear, you have managed better than when you 
 were vexed or confused, or distracted by mental or 
 bodily influence. It seems that anyone would learn 
 this lesson. Keep concentrated all your attention 
 on your present duty; allow no distracting thought, 
 no worry, to destroy this wholesome, this indispen- 
 sable equilibrium; concentrate, don't dissipate your 
 powers." 
 
 To secure good government the teacher should 
 possess: 
 
 Firmness. By this, is meant that he exacts not a 
 half yielding to his requests, but an entire and hearty 
 compliance therewith. Having a clear conception of 
 the end desired, a proper knowledge of all the means 
 to be employed, a calm reliance upon the worth of 
 his own convictions, he makes an undeviating eff^ort 
 toward the end. This same teacher also possesses 
 tact which leads him to suggest and request rather 
 than to command^ to avoid friction b}^ applying the 
 
Miscellaneous Suggestions. 133 
 
 oil of good nature, and in ail things attracts but rarely 
 forces. 
 
 The pupils find him uniform, making the same de- 
 mands and requiring the same obedience each day. 
 
 He is withal Impartial, requiring the same obe- 
 dience from all to the same demands — and preventive, 
 seeking alwa^'S to deter from, rather than to punish 
 offenses. Finally, that while fear is the beginning 
 of wisdom, even that is cast out through "perfect 
 love.'' 
 
 School Boom Manners. 
 
 If manners do not make a man, they certainly 
 make a great part of him: hence it is exceedingly 
 desirable that deportment should be made the sub- 
 ject of definite instiuction in every school. "A 
 beautiful behavior is the finest of all arts" says Em- 
 erson. Children are supposed to learn manners at 
 home, but when they enter school the teacher is 
 made to sustain the relation of parent to the child 
 for specific purposes, and is a co-laborer with the 
 parent in the child's education. 
 
 There is something of far greater influence than 
 any formal principles and rules that the teacher, may 
 formulate, and that is his real character as it uncon- 
 sciously manifests itself in his ordinary words and 
 deeds. That is the best school, therefore, in which 
 the teacher, uniformly setting an attractive example 
 
134 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 of graceful and refined demeanor, rigidly insists on 
 good manners in the pupils. 
 
 The following "rules of politeness" are not given 
 in the forms of commands and prohibitions, but rath- 
 er as suggestions and recommendations for pupils to 
 voluntarily adopt. Make each direction a subject of 
 conversation with your pupils: 
 
 1. True politeness consists in having and show- 
 ing due regard for the feelings, comfort and con- 
 venience of others. 
 
 2. Do not make witticisms at the expense of 
 others which you would not wish to have made up- 
 on yourself. 
 
 3. Avoid loud talking or laughing in school or 
 in company. 
 
 4. Be rude to none; rudeness harms not even 
 the humblest and poorest to whom it is directed, but 
 it injures the exhibitors. 
 
 5. Resolve, on being received as a member of 
 the school, to cheerfully comply with all the require- 
 ments of the teachers, and faithfully perform every 
 duty assigned you. 
 
 6. Do not ask another to do what you would not 
 be glad to do under similar circumstances. 
 
 7. Be particularly courteous to new pupils. 
 
 8. Scuffling, striking, pushing, or rudeness of 
 any kind must never be practiced under any circum- 
 stances in the school building. 
 
 9. Marking or writing on the desks, walls or 
 
Miscellaneous Suggestions. 135 
 
 any part of the building exhibits bad taste or a vic- 
 ious disposition to deface and destroy property. 
 
 10. 
 'Please' unlocks the casket, and shows the jewels 
 
 rare; 
 'Thank you' is the golden coin that pays for sight 
 
 so fair. 
 'To oblige me' and 'You're welcome/ 'Excuse me' 
 
 and 'Be so kind,' 
 All these littles make politeness, and its rules we'll 
 
 ever mind." 
 
 Some Don'ts in School Management. 
 
 1. Don't say "don't" when you can avoid it. 
 The don'ts are often necessary, but they also intrude 
 where they could easily be spared. Children prefer 
 the positive to the negative. Fill their time and 
 thought with directions for doing. 
 
 2. Don't make pretenses; your pupils will find 
 you out. 
 
 3. Don't make your recitations too long. If 
 force is spent on one subject; listlessness and indif- 
 ference will characterize others. 
 
 4. Don't try to get on too fast. Teach thorough- 
 ly and remember that you are laying the foundations 
 of knowledge. 
 
 5. Don't be cross; be mild and firm and you will 
 hold your pupils. 
 
 6. Don't allow grave offenses to pass unnoticed. 
 
136 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 Dignity, kindly tones, and excellency of speech are 
 well, but they must be mixed with a goodly amount 
 of "Thou shall" and "Thou shalt not." 
 
 7. Don't speak when a look will do. Words are 
 common and pupils get used to them. Besides they 
 attract attention. 
 
 8. Don't tiy to teach what you don't thort)Ughly 
 know. Remember that knowledge is yotir own stock in 
 trade. 
 
 9. Don't be tempted to give undue attention to 
 the older, to the neglect of the younger classes. 
 Your obligations are the same to all. 
 
 10. Don't punish hastily, or in anger. Coi-poral 
 punishment is a last resort and should be inflicted 
 apart from the school, and long enough after the of- 
 fense for calm and sober reflection on the part of 
 both teacher and pupil. 
 
 Good Books for Children. 
 
 Captain January. 
 
 Little Women. 
 
 Uncle Tom's Cabin. 
 
 Ben Hur. 
 
 Little Lord Fauntleroy. 
 
 Little Men. 
 
 Ivanhoe. 
 
 David Copperfield. 
 
 An Old-Fashioned Girl. 
 
 Robinson Crusoe. 
 
Miscellaneous Suggestions. 137 
 
 RamoDu. 
 
 John Halifax. 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 Tom Brown at Rugby. 
 
 Aunt Jo's Boys. 
 
 Longfellow's Poems. 
 
 Swiss Family Robinson. 
 
 Eight Cousins. 
 
 Boys of '76. 
 
 Water Babies. 
 
 Alice in Wonderland. 
 
 Sara Crewe. 
 
 Anderson's Fairy Tales. 
 
 Little Folks in Furs and Feathers. 
 
 Fairyland of Science. 
 
 The Pathfinder. 
 
 We G-irls. 
 
 Hoosicr School Boy. 
 
 .^sop's Fables. 
 
 Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous. 
 
 Lives of Poor Girls Who Became Famous. 
 
 The Little Master. 
 
 Tales From Shakespeare. 
 
 The Birds' Christmas Carol. 
 
CHAPTER XV!, 
 
 Qe(r\S For primary U/orl^. 
 
 I 
 
 1. Strive for the best and guard against the worst. 
 
 2. He only is a well educated boy who has a good 
 
 determination. 
 
 3. All that you do, do with your might, 
 
 Things done by halves are never done right, 
 One thing at a time and that done well 
 Is a very good rule as many can tell. 
 
 4 A wise child makes a good plan and is content 
 to work and wait. 
 
 5. Deal with another as youM have 
 
 Another deal with you; 
 What you're unwilling to receive 
 Be sure you never do. 
 
 6. The boy who is kind to his mother will be glad 
 
 to remember it when he becomes a man. 
 
 7. Moments are useless trifled away, 
 
 So work while you work and play while you 
 play. 
 
Gems for Primary Work. 139 
 
 8. Were I you, little lad, I would see that each day 
 
 Was swept clean ere 'twas folded away: 
 Aye, so clean that at night I conld say with all 
 truth: 
 "'Tis a bit of s^ood work done to-day." 
 
 — The Fountain. 
 
 9. There is nothing good in idleness. 
 
 10. One rule to guide us in our life 
 
 Is always good and true; 
 ^Tis do to others as you would 
 That they should do to you. 
 
 — The Teacher's World. 
 
 11. Drive the nail aright boys, 
 
 Hit it on the head; 
 Strike with all your might, boys, 
 While the iron is red. 
 
 12. If a task is once begun, 
 
 Never leave it till it's done; 
 Be the labor great or small, 
 Do it well or not at all. 
 
 13. Birds in their little nests agree 
 
 That's very true, no doubt, 
 But when the nests have grow^n too small, — 
 Then comes the falling out. 
 
 — From Our Little Ones and The Nursery, 
 
 14. 'Tis the will that makes the action good or ill. 
 
I40 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 15. Kind hearts are the gardens, 
 
 Kind thoughts are the )-oots, 
 Kind words are the blossoms, 
 Kind deeds are the fruits. 
 
 16. Speak the truth and speak it ever, 
 
 Cost it what it will, 
 He who hides the wrong he did 
 Does the wrong thing still. 
 
 17. The things we do, the words we've spoken, 
 
 Are wound about the heart, 
 Into the web of life are woven, 
 And of the woof a part. 
 
 — The Primary Teacher. 
 
 18. Think how^ simple things and lowly 
 
 Have a part in nature's plan. 
 How the great have small beginnings, -- 
 And the child will be a man. 
 
 19. There's many a battle fought daily 
 
 The world knows nothing about; 
 There's many a brave little soldier 
 Whose strength puts a legion to rout. 
 
 — The Fountain. 
 
 20. Hearts, like doors, can ope with ease 
 
 To very, very little keys. 
 And two are these, "I thank you, sir,'^ 
 And "If you please." 
 
Gems for Primary Work. 141 
 
 21. A little bit of patience, 
 
 Often makes the sunshine conne, 
 An(i a little bit of love 
 
 Makes a very happy honne. 
 A little bit of hope 
 
 Makes a rainy day look gay, 
 And a little bit of charity 
 
 Makes ^lad a weary way. 
 
 — Selected. 
 
 22. There's a knowing little proverb 
 
 In the sunn}^ land of Spain, 
 Bat in Northland as in Southland 
 
 Is the meaning clear and plain. 
 Lock it np within your heart; 
 
 Neither lose nor lend it — 
 Two it takes to make a quarrel, 
 
 One can alwa3^s end it. 
 
 The Fountain. 
 
 23. I've something to tell you, 
 
 A plan you can try — 
 How to be very good, 
 
 As the hours go bj^. 
 A plan very simple, 
 
 For child or for man; 
 And this is the way — 
 
 "Do the best that you can." 
 
 — Wallace. 
 
142 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 24. If 3^ou gently touch a nettle, 
 
 It will sting you for your pains; 
 Grasp it like a la'l of mettle, 
 And it soft as silk remains. 
 
 25. Dare to speak the truth, my boys, 
 
 Speak it without fear; 
 Speak it bravely, nobly, boldly, 
 
 Though the world should jeer; 
 All things else with time may vanish, 
 
 Truth must still remain; 
 Crushed to earth, the sages tell us. 
 
 It will rise again. 
 
 26. "I can't" is a sluggard too lazy to w^ork; 
 From duty he shrinks, every task he will shirk. 
 No bread on his board, and no meal in his bag. 
 His house is a ruin, his coat is a rag. 
 
 27. Dare to do right, dare to be true, 
 
 For you have a work, no other can do; 
 Do it so bravely, so kindly, so well, 
 Angels will hasten the story to tell. 
 
 28. Work with the heart and work with the brain, 
 
 Work with the hands and work with a will. 
 Step after step, we shall reach the high plain, 
 Then pull away cheerily, work with a will. 
 
Gems. i43 
 
 Qefi\2 per f\d\J3r)^ed U/orK- 
 
 1. So live, so act that every hour 
 May die as dies the natural flower; 
 That every word and every deed 
 May bear within itself the seed 
 Of future good and future need. 
 
 — Longfellow. 
 
 2. "We rise by things that are 'neath our feet, 
 
 By what we have mastered of good and gain; 
 
 By the pride deposed and the passion slain, 
 
 And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet." 
 
 —J. G. Holland. 
 
 8. In these lives of ours, tender little acts do more 
 to bind hearts together, than great or heroic 
 deed; since the first are like the dear daily 
 bread none can do without; the latter, occa- 
 sional feasts, beautiful and memorable, but 
 not possible to all. — Louisa M. Alcott. 
 
 5. There is no school house like God's large school 
 house; and there are no school days to be com- 
 pared to the three score and ten years in 
 which we move to and fro about this school 
 house of the Father, not with our books slung 
 over the shoulder, but carried in the heart. 
 
144 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 4. The heart is the jeweleri casket, 
 And kindness the golden key, 
 That opens the doors of the numberless rooms 
 In the Castle of Courtesy. 
 
 6. That day is best wherein we give 
 
 A thought to others' sorrows; 
 Forgetting self, we learn to live, 
 
 And blessings born of kindly deeds 
 Make golden our to-morrow. 
 
 — Rose Hartwick Thorpe. 
 
 V. We look before and after, and pine for what is 
 naught; 
 Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught; 
 Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest 
 
 thought. q \ 
 
 — Longfellow. ' • 
 
 8. The ODly way to shine, even in this false world, 
 
 is to be modest and unassuming. Falsehood 
 may be a thick crust; but, in the course of 
 time, truth will find a place to break through. 
 
 9. Press bravely on and reach the goal 
 
 And gain the prize and wear the crown, 
 Faint not! For to the steadfast soul 
 
 Come wealth and honor and renown. 
 To thine own self be true and keep 
 
 Thy mind from sloth, thy heart from soil; 
 
Gems. 145 
 
 Press on! aod thou shall surely reap 
 A heavenly harvest foi- thy toil. 
 
 — Park Benjamin. 
 
 10. Such is the woild. Understand it, despise it, 
 love itj cheerfully hold on thy way through 
 it, with thy eye on the highest loadstone. — 
 CarJyle. 
 
 li. The torch of freedom God has lit 
 
 Burns upward toward tfie Infinite, 
 And through all hindrances it will 
 And Wdi/sf and shall burn upward still. 
 
 — Gerald Massey. 
 
 12. Every wise observer knows. 
 
 Every watchful gazer sees, 
 Nothing grand or beautiful grows 
 
 Save by gradual, slow degrees. 
 Ye who toil with a purpose high, 
 
 And fondly the proud result await. 
 Murmur not as the days go by 
 
 That the season is long, the harvest late. 
 
 13. • But I've learned one thing; an' it cheers a man 
 
 In always a-doing the best he can; 
 That whether, on the big book, a blot 
 Gets over a fellow's name or not, 
 Whenever he does a deed that's white, 
 It's credited to him fair and right. 
 
 — Will Carltion. 
 11 . 
 
146 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 14. Kindness will always do good. It makes others 
 • happy — and that is doing good. It prompts 
 
 U8 to seek to benefit others — and that is doing 
 good. It makes others gentle and benignant 
 — and that is doing good Albert Barnes. 
 
 15. Ah, if our souls but poise and swing 
 Like the needle in its brazen ring, 
 Ever level. and ever true 
 
 To the toil and the tasks we have to do, 
 We shall sail securely and safely reach 
 The Fortunate Isles, on whose shining beach 
 The sights we see and the sounds we hear 
 Will be those of joy aad not of fear. 
 
 — Longfellow. 
 
 16. Every lie, great or small, is the brink of a 
 precipice, the depth of which nothing but 
 omniscience can fathom. — Dr, Beade. 
 
 17. We are not rich merely because we can buy, 
 
 but only when we can enjoy, hence culture is 
 the true basis of happiness J. N. Patrick. 
 
 18. Words of kindness we have spoken 
 May, when we have passed away. 
 Ileal, perhaps, a spirit broken. 
 Guide a brother led astray. 
 
 — J. Hazen. 
 
Gems. 147 
 
 19. Luck lies abed in dreams to number 
 
 The coins of future riches vasi; 
 Labor arising from his slumber, 
 
 Earns pence that grows to pounds at last. 
 
 20. No man is born into the world whose work 
 Is not born with him; there is always work, 
 And tools to work withal for those who will; 
 And blessed are the bands of toil. 
 
 — James Russdl LoicdL 
 
 21. Work, work, my boy! be not afraid. 
 
 Look labor boldly in the face; 
 Take up the hammer or the spade, 
 
 And blush not for your humble place. 
 There's glory in the shuttle's song; 
 
 There's triumph in the anvil's stroke; 
 There's merit in the brave and strong 
 
 Who dig the mine or fell the oak. 
 
 — Teachers' World. 
 
 22. Dare to do the best that's in you, 
 
 Boys — be not afraid; 
 Do it though the world oppose you — 
 
 Thus are heroes made. 
 To the summit of the conflict 
 
 Let your courage grow; 
 Those that never stem the current, 
 
 Never learn to row. 
 
 — Mrs. H. A. Chute. 
 
148 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 * 
 
 23. He liveth long who liveth well, 
 
 All else is life but flung awaj^; 
 He liveth longest who can tell 
 
 Of true things truly done each day. 
 
 24. God asks of thee works as well as words; and, 
 
 more. He asks of thee works first, and words 
 after. And better it is to praise Him truly by 
 works without wv)rds, than falsely b}^ words 
 without works — Rev. Chas. Kingsley. 
 
 25. "Ever or) ward, ever upward," 
 
 Let your watchword be; 
 In the vanguard plant your colors. 
 
 Where the world may see, 
 Bold inscribed upon your banner, 
 
 Justice, truth and right, 
 Pressing forward, onward, upward. 
 To the highest height. 
 
 — Golden Days. 
 
 26. A kind word often so endears 
 
 It echoes sweetly through the years — 
 Forgotten by the tongue that spoke, 
 Remembered by the heart it woke. 
 
 27. History, with all its volumes vast, teaches but 
 
 one lesson and developes but one truth: Ab- 
 solute right is final victory in every contest. — 
 W. D. Simonds. 
 
Gems. 149 
 
 28. Yesterday now is n part of forever, 
 
 Bound up iti a slieaf, whicli God holds tight, 
 With sad days and bad days and glad days, 
 Which never shall visit us more with their 
 
 bloom or their blight, 
 Their fullness of sunshine or sorrowful night. 
 
 — Susan Coolidge. 
 
 29. Dreams, books, are each a world; and books we 
 
 know. 
 Area substantial world, pure and good; 
 Eound these, wn'ih tendrils strong as flesh and 
 blood, 
 Our pastime and our happiness will grow\ 
 
 — Wordsworth. 
 
 30. The morn of life is like the dawn of day, full of 
 
 purity, of imagery and harmony. — Chateau- 
 briand. 
 
 31. Though fools may count their riches 
 
 By shillings, pounds and pence, 
 The best of wealth is youth and health, 
 And good, sound common sense. 
 
 32. Perfect growth by little shows. 
 
 He who hastes shall lose by speed. 
 He who clutches mars by greed. 
 He who hurries spoils the deed. 
 
150 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 33. The bria^ht days of youth is the seed time of 
 
 life. Every action is a seed whose good or 
 evil fruit will be the happiness or misery of 
 after life. 
 
 34. The love of books is a love which requires 
 
 neither justification, apology or defence. It 
 is a good thing in itself; a possession to be 
 thankful for, to rejoice over, to be proud of, 
 and to sing praises for. With this love in his 
 heart no man is ever poor; ever without 
 friends, or the means of making his life love- 
 ly, beautiful and happy J. A. Langford. 
 
 35. The new year lies before you, free from care, 
 All its days are pages, white and fair, 
 
 Write thou then thy record, for it aye shall 
 
 stand 
 When heaving sea no more shall chafe the solid 
 
 land. 
 
 36. Ah me! those joyous days are gone, 
 I little dreamed till they were flown 
 How fleeting were the hours; 
 
 For lest he break the pleasing spell. 
 Time bears for youth a muffled bell 
 And hides his face in flowers. 
 
 — Saxe. 
 
Gems. 151 
 
 37. Knowledge is now no more a fountain sealed, 
 Drink deep, until the habits of the slave, 
 The sins of emptiness, gossip and spite 
 
 And slander die. 
 Better not be at all, than not be noble. 
 
 38. A lesson of daily human life; 
 
 We build, though we may not see. 
 For Time and Eternity, day by day. 
 The character that shall be. 
 
 89. Hath any one wronged thee? Be bravely re- 
 venged. Slight it and the work is begun; for- 
 give it and it is finished. He is below him- 
 self that is not above an injury Quarles. 
 
 40. Judge not; the working of his brain 
 
 And of his heart thou canst not see; 
 What looks to thy dim eyes a stain, 
 
 In Grod's pure light may only be 
 A scar brought from some well worn field 
 
 Where thou wouldst only faint and yield. 
 
 41. He who has injured thee was either stronger or 
 
 weaker. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, 
 spare thyself. — Seneca. 
 
 42. The years have linings just as goblets do, 
 The old year is the lining of the new; 
 Filled with the wine of precious memories, 
 The golden Was doth line the silver Is. 
 
152 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 43. To-day is the summit of duty and life, 
 The path of endeavor, the arena of strife; 
 To-day is ours only, work, work while you may, 
 There is no to-morrow, but only to-day. 
 
 44. The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to 
 
 every man the reflection of his own face. 
 Frown at it, and it will turn and look sourly 
 upon youj laugh at it and with it, and it is a 
 
 joll^y, kind companion William Makepeace 
 
 Thackeray. 
 
 45. The bravest trophy ever man obtained. 
 
 Is that which o'er himself, himself hath gained. 
 
 46. Wanted — the world wants boys to-day. 
 And she offers them all she has for pay — 
 Honor, wealth, position, fame, 
 
 A useful life and a deathless name. 
 
 Boys to shape the paths for men, 
 
 Boys to guide the plough and pen. 
 
 Boys to forward the tasks begun; 
 
 For the world's great work is never done. 
 
 47. This world has work for us^ we must refuse 
 
 No honest task, nor uncongenial toil; 
 Fear not your feet to tire, nor robe to soil, 
 Nor let your hands grow white for want of use. 
 
 — Thomas Ashe. 
 
Gems. 153 
 
 48. Let fraud und wron^ and baseness shiver, 
 
 For still between them and the sky 
 The falcon Truth hangs poised forever, 
 And marks them with his vengeful eye. 
 
 — Lowell. 
 
 Each little word, or thought, or deed 
 Is clipped by the chisel we wield; 
 
 Each loving plan foi' another's good 
 Is wrought in the life w^e build. 
 
 — School Jounud. 
 
 49. Our grand business is, not to see what lies dim- 
 
 ly at a distance, but to do what lies clearl}- at 
 hand Carlyle. 
 
 50. Be good, my child, and let who will be clever; 
 
 Do noble deed, not dream thorn all day long, 
 And so make life, death, and that vast forever 
 One grand, sweet song. 
 
 . — Chas. King si ey. 
 
 51. The world is an echo that returns to each of us 
 
 what we say Emerson. 
 
 52. One little gi'aiu in the sandy bars; 
 One little flower in a field of flowers; 
 One little star in a heaveti of stars; 
 One little hour in a year of hours; 
 What if it makes, or what if it mars/' 
 
154 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 But the bar is built of the little strain, 
 And the little flowers make the meadows gay, 
 And the little stars light the heavenly way. 
 And the little hours of each little day 
 Grive us all that life contains. 
 
 — Selected. 
 
 5.3. The best rules to form a young man are, to 
 talk little, to hear much, to reflect alone upon 
 what has passed in company, to distrust one's 
 own opinions, and to value others that deserve 
 it — Temple. 
 
 54. Excellence comes from toil, from fidelity to 
 
 purpose, from intelligent effort. 
 
 55. He that has light within his own clear breast, 
 May sit in the center and enjoy bright day. 
 But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts 
 
 Benighted walks under the midday sunj 
 Himself is his own dungeon. 
 
 56. Be a woman! on to duty! 
 
 Raise the world from all that's low; 
 Place high in the social heaven. 
 
 Virtue's fair and radiant bow; 
 Lend thy influence to each effort 
 
 That shall raise our nature human. 
 Be not fashion's gilded lady. 
 
 Be a brave, true, whole-souled woman. 
 
Gems, 155 
 
 57. The moments are little and unseen things — 
 Light forms they have and unseen wini>;s; 
 They glide o'er our heads with the morning 
 
 beam 
 And slip fi'om our grasp with tiie day's last 
 
 gleam; 
 They tick in our ears with the steady old clock. 
 They stand at our hearts and there wantonlj- 
 
 knock; 
 They bid us not loiter if fame we would win, 
 They knock and entreat us to gather them in. 
 
 58. On the road of life one mile-stone more! 
 In the book of life one leaf turned o'er! 
 
 Like a great red seal is the setting sun 
 On the good and evil men have done — 
 Naught can to-day restore. 
 
 — Lonij fellow. 
 
 59. The cloudiest night has a hint of light 
 
 Somewhere in its hiding; 
 It is better far to hunt for a star 
 Than the spots on the sun abiding. 
 
 —Ella Wilcox. 
 
 60. Small service is true service while it lasts; 
 
 Of humblest friends, bright creature, scorn 
 not one: 
 The daisy, by the shadow that it casts. 
 
 Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun. 
 
156 Plain Talks with Student Teachers. 
 
 61. Give to every mtin thine ear, but lew thy voice: 
 Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judg- 
 ment. 
 
 — Shakespeare. 
 
 62. If w^ sit down at set of sun 
 
 And count the things that we have done, 
 
 And, counting, find 
 One self-denying act, one word 
 Thai cheered the heart of him who heard, 
 
 One glance most kind 
 That fell iike sunshine where it went — 
 Then we may count that day well spent. 
 
 63. Read not to contradict and confute, nor to be- 
 
 lieve and take for granted, nor to find talk 
 and discourse, but to weigh and consider. 
 Some books are to be lasted, others to be 
 swallowed, and some few to be chewed and 
 digested; that is, some books are to be read 
 only in parts; others to be read, but not cur- 
 iously; and some few to be read wholly, and 
 with diligence and attention. — Bacon. 
 
 64. The fairest action of our human life 
 
 Is scorning to revenge an injury; 
 For who forgives without a further strife 
 
 His adversary's heart to him doth tie; 
 And 'tis a firmer conquest, truly said. 
 To win tlie heart than overthrow the head. 
 
Gems. 157 
 
 65. O land of lanclsl to thee we give 
 
 Our prayers, our hopes, our service free; 
 For thee thy sons shall nobly live. 
 And at thy need shall die for thee! 
 
 66. There is often sadness in the tone, 
 
 And a moisture in the eye. 
 And a trembling sorrow in the voice. 
 
 When we bid a last good bye; 
 But sadder far than this, I ween, 
 
 O, sadder far than all. 
 Is the heart-throb with which we strain 
 
 To catch the last foot-fall. 
 
 67- Like a tide our work should rise, 
 
 Each later wave the best; 
 To-morrow forever dies — 
 
 To-day is the special test. 
 Like a sawyer's work is life, 
 
 The present makes the flaw. 
 And the only field for strife 
 Is the inch before the saw. 
 
 —O'Reilly. 
 

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