the lion the mouse's life, without thought of any service in return. Each was prompted solely by kindness toward a helpless and suffering creature. The fables will serve as models of form for the children which they will tend to follow, even unconsciously. 2. Tell the story of Androclus and the Lion.

XV (86). More Picture Stories

(Girl with kitten, p. 87)

This, like the preceding picture, should develop a story that will be an excellent lesson on kindness to animals.

After the children have studied the lesson a few minutes by themselves, help them to develop a connected, complete story. Perhaps it will follow an outline something like this:

Little girl sent to grocer's by her mother; two little children stand on steps crying; coming nearer, the girl sees a poor, frightened kitten crouching in a corner, while a big boy is about to throw a stone at it; girl rushes in and rescues the kitten; tells the boy only a coward would do such a thing; boy feels ashamed and promises never again to be so cruel to a helpless animal; girl gives kitten up to children to whom it belongs- or takes it home and cares for it or the boy takes it and is kind to it.

Supplementary Work

1. The story may be continued like the story of the rescued puppy. The kitten may save the girl's -or the boy's-life by waking her when the house is on fire.

TELLING A STORY FROM A POEM

107

2. The boy may have a dream. He dreams he is a kitten and a big boy is stoning him. How When he wakes, what does he re

does he feel?

solve to do?

3. The story may be dramatized.

XVI (86). Telling True Stories

Talk with the children about different ways of repaying kindness, ways that they have seen or that they can think of. If children have had little experience of gratitude, let them prepare for this exercise to be taken up later—after a week or two; let them seek and embrace opportunities to show gratitude to parents, teachers, classmates, friends.

Obviously, the ethical value of exercises of this kind, made practical, is not less than their language value.

Study the poem, The First Bluebell, with the children. First, read it to them. Then have it read aloud by one or more of the best readers.

Note that the questions are arranged in groups, each group referring to a stanza of the poem. See that the pupils observe this; it will help them in their efforts to answer the questions.

XVIII (90). Telling a Story from a Poem

After the pupils have had a few minutes -five to eight should be enough to study the poem,

The First Bluebell, and to think out the story in it in their own words, have several children tell it. In the discussion of each child's story, by yourself and the other children, be sure that the comments are definite, so that every one may understand both the good and the weak points of the stories.

CHAPTER FIVE

MAKE a preliminary study of this chapter to see how it carries on, enlarges, develops, all the fundamental ideas of preceding chapters; how it provides for drill in all forms already taken up; how it sustains and stimulates interest and effort through varied exercises. The new work is as follows:

1. Quotations and quotation marks: studying their use, copying, writing from dictation, writing original quotations. 2. The use of the comma to separate a quotation from the rest of the sentence.

3. Writing an original ending for an unfinished story. 4. More definite words to be used in place of said.

I (91). Reading

Read with the children the story, The Little White Flower. After reading it through for the story, assign parts, and have it read in dialogue form. Have nothing perfunctory about this exercise; get every child into the spirit of it. The thought and the vocabulary are so easy and so familiar that every child should be able to take any one of the parts and to put into it something of originality, of individuality in conception and rendering.

Read again carefully the suggestions given in Chapter Three (p. 65) for the reading of the story, Mabel and the Fairy Folk. See that the discussion, criticism, and rereading of the various parts are carried out here as there suggested.

II (95). Studying the Story, "the Little White
Flower"

The children are to study this lesson by themselves. This does not mean that they will need no attention from the teacher, or merely enough to see that they are quiet and apparently busy. On the contrary, they will need the teacher's closest attention and keenest insight. They are learning how to study; they are forming the habit of intelligent study; at least, such is the purpose of this exercise. If it is not serving this purpose, it is wasting the children's time, and worse than wasting it.

To make the exercise fully successful you must see that the children clearly understand the directions of their book, that they are answering to themselves intelligently the questions that their book asks them. To do this, go about from pupil to pupil - especially among the poorer pupils - and speak with them individually; a hint, a question, or a suggestion, will help to reveal to you just what a child is doing, and to show him what he ought to do.

In their book, the pupils are told that they may