PART READING AND DRAMATIZING

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drawing on the blackboard, with such description as will enable the child to form an approximately correct mental picture.

Your skill as a teacher is shown in your insight and resourcefulness in aiding the children to utilize such experiences as they have had in their efforts to appreciate thought and feeling represented by printed words. For instance, it may help the children to a sympathetic appreciation of the snowdrop's part if you make reference to their feelings at the call to get up early on a cold morning. When they have finally made up their minds to arise, do they do it slowly, or do they "pop" out of bed just as the snowdrop did? After they are up and dressed and out in the cheerful sunlight, do they want to go back to bed again, or are they glad, as the snowdrop was?

The general lesson of the poem is quite similar to that of the myth, The Little Plant and the Oak Tree, the first story in this chapter. It will be a good test of the children's understanding of both the myth and the poem to see whether they will note the similarity. Perhaps a few questions, helping them to recall and to compare the myth with the poem, will be necessary.

XVII (50). Part Reading and Dramatizing a Poem

Let the teacher read the narrative parts of Spring Waking while two children take the parts of the sun and the snowdrop, like this:

First Stanza.

Teacher: A snowdrop lay in the sweet dark ground,

Teacher: But she lay quite still and she heard no sound;
Sun: Asleep, no doubt!

Second Stanza.

Sun:

Teacher: The snowdrop heard, for she raised her head,
Look spry, look spry !
Snowdrop: It's warm here in bed.
Oh, fie! Oh, fie!

Sun:

Such part reading is excellent preparation for dramatizing, which should follow the reading. The snowdrop may be covered with a white apron (the snow). The conversation between the sun and the snowdrop should follow the order and the ideas of the poem, but not necessarily the exact words. A third child might be introduced to represent the robin, who speaks or sings something like this: Cheer-up, cheer-up! Snowdrop is awake! The air is growing warm! Cheer-up, cheer-up!"

XVIII (50). Learning to Tell a Story

Help pupils to work out an interesting, connected story from the poem, Spring Waking, following the suggestions given in the pupils' book. This is no trivial requirement of the pupil at this stage of his progress. He must get the thought from the poem in connected, progressive order, and then express it clearly and connectedly in his own language. It

ORAL REPRODUCTIONS

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will not do to make a dry, condensed statement of the main ideas of the story, as, "The snowdrop was asleep under the snow, the sun called her, and she gct up." On the contrary, the story should contain rather more detail than the poem gives; especially may the conversation be elaborated to advantage. The expression should be appropriate; a colorless statement of facts does not make a story. The conversational parts call for animation and inflection; even something of dramatic action will aid.

In helping the children to work out the story, they may well take turns, one telling a portion, that one followed by another telling the next portion, and so on. Each child's contribution should be encouragingly criticized and suggestions for improvement made when necessary; then the child should try again until he has made his part satisfactory. This will help the children to form the habit of judging their own efforts critically.

XIX (51). Oral Reproductions

Have pupils tell the complete story of the sun and the snowdrop. This must not be mere perfunctory repetition. Each pupil should do his best; then his production should be definitely criticized by pupils and teacher, in a kindly way of course, and always with suggestions for improvement. Then each one following should try to retain all the good points of previous ones and to make improvements.

CHAPTER THREE

BEFORE taking up this chapter with the children, master its content and purposes yourself. Study it thoroughly both in the children's book and in this Manual so that you may understand clearly what you are to do and what the children are to do alone, and under your guidance. Compare carefully the exercises of this chapter in content, form, and purpose with the work already done in previous chapters. Read again the introductory paragraphs of Chapters One and Two (pp. 7-8, 35-36); they apply equally here.

Several things that you should observe in this preparatory and comparative study:

1. In the continuation of the several different types of work already begun-reading, dramatizing, oral story telling, and the rest—there is gradual and constant advance in the opportunities and demands made upon the children for original, independent thought and effort. For examples, they must learn to take the initiative more and more in the preparation and execution of a dramatization; to study more independently; to use more originality in conception and expression.

2. Copying and dictation are used always with definite purpose usually to teach, fix, and test pupils' mastery of the use of various language forms.

READING THE STORY

3. The new work presented in this chapter:

I (52).

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(a) Titles-studied, copied, and written from dictation; making and writing original titles.

(b) The first lesson in written reproduction of a story. (c) Copying, memorizing, and writing poetry from memory.

Reading the Story, "Mabel and the Fairy Folk" Let the teacher read this story to the children, and read it so well that every one will be inspired to read up to the teacher's standard, when he has the opportunity. Even teachers cannot do their best without practice and rehearsal.

Now have the story read in dialogue form by the children. Thus, in the first part, "Mabel and the Fairy Queen," have one child take the part of Grandmother, another the part of Mabel, and a third that of the Fairy Queen, each one reading only what is said by the one he represents. All short explanatory parts that are not generally necessary to the understanding of the conversation, such as, "said Grandmother one morning," should be omitted. Longer descriptive or narrative parts, like the fourth, sixth, eighth, the end of the ninth, and the tenth paragraphs of the first part, should be read by a child designated for this, or better, in this first exercise of the kind, by the teacher.

For the second part, "Mabel and the Brownies," five children are necessary to take the parts of