that his pupils should show to the best advantage, he gave them an extra drill the day before the examination. Now,' said he, addressing his pupils, 'when you read before the minister to-morrow, you may leave out the ticks, though you must think them as you go along, for the sake of elocution.' So far, so good. Next day came, and with it the minister, ushered into the school-room by the Dominie, who, with smiles and bows, hoped that the training of the scholars would meet his approval. Now it so happened, that the first boy called up by the minister had been absent the preceding day, and, in the hurry, the master had forgotten to give him his instructions how to act. The minister asked the boy to read a chapter in the Old Testament, which he pointed out. The boy complied, and in his best accent began to read: And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying tick, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying tick, tick, and thus shalt thou say unto them, tick, tick, tick, tick.' This unfortunate sally, in his own style, acted like a shower-bath on the poor Dominie, whilst the minister and his friends almost died of laughter."

It is not my intention to give you any specific hints, or directions, in relation to the elocutionary part of reading, but rather to offer such hints as may be of service to you in the every-day work of the school-room. I must leave the strictly oratorical part, and take up reading as an intellectual exercise, and, if possible, offer such thoughts and sug

Good Reading. What is it?

gestions as may be truly practical. With so many under your training, you cannot be expected to go into all the minutiae of elocutionary drilling. Your aim must be to teach well what you undertake to teach. If you cannot hope to make all your pupils accomplished elocutionists, you may hope and strive to make them good and intelligent readers. Perhaps you will wish to know what I consider good reading. I call that good reading where a person reads distinctly and clearly, and with such intonation and emphasis as to be pleasant to the hearer, and in such manner as to be easily heard and readily understood. That person may be called a good reader who can, from the columns of a common newspaper, read the several items and articles in a clear and intelligible style, without seeming effort on his part, and without requiring painfully or unpleasantly close attention on the part of the hearer.

You have some among your pupils who are yet strangers to the letters of the alphabet. The old method of teaching it was a tedious one both for teachers and children. Of course you have a blackboard in your school-room, as this is one of the really essential articles for every school. Call your little ones in front of the blackboard. If possible let each be furnished with a slate. Now draw upon the blackboard the picture of some animal or object, a dog, for instance. With a pointing-stick in hand, call attention, and have an exercise somewhat as follows:

Teacher.

"What animal is this?"

Children. "No, ma'am; some are small and some are large.'

Teacher. "Are they alike in all but size?"

Children. "No, ma'am; they don't have the same color."

Teacher. "How many legs has a dog?"

Children. "Four."

Teacher. "What can a dog do?"

Children.

squirrels."

"He can run fast, and he can catch

After you

You will readily see that these questions may be continued indefinitely. They will tend to awaken thought and interest in the little ones. have extended the questioning sufficiently, ask them if they would like to know another way to express the animal besides by a picture. They will all be anxious to know. Now print DOG under the picture on the board, and require them to do the same on their slates. Then tell them the name of each letter, and have it repeated several times. After having fixed their attention for a minute, make D only on the board, and ask its name, and so with each of the other letters, and in a short time they will be able to give their names readily. It will be well also, at the right time, to give them the powers of the letters, or their appropriate sounds. You will readily see, that some object of interest to chil dren may be connected with these early lessons, and that, by judicious questioning, they may be trained

Teaching the Alphabet.

A Specimen Lesson.

to think and express their thoughts at the same time they are learning their letters.

The following excellent specimen lesson for teaching the alphabet just meets my attention. It is from the pen of a distinguished educator, and will commend itself as sensible and practical.

TEACHING THE ALPHABET.

A SPECIMEN LESSON.

Apparatus. A blackboard; a chart of easy words of one syllable; an alphabet chart; a set of alphabet cards, with a grooved stick, called spellingstick, in which the cards may be inserted in spelling words; and a slate and pencil for each child.

Preliminary Training. Children should not be put to reading immediately upon entering school for the first time. Judicious preliminary exercises will render subsequent progress, not only in this, but in other branches, more rapid and satisfactory. The object of these exercises should be to train the ear to distinguish sounds, and the organs of speech to utter them; to form habits of attention and of prompt obedience to all directions; and to excite the curiosity, or desire to learn something. Such being the objects, the judgment of the teacher must guide in the selection and adaptation of the exercises.

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Lesson. The proper preparatory training having been given, the teacher will select a single letter to begin with; it matters little which. Suppose it

*John D. Philbrick.

A Slate Exercise.

to be ǎ. The card containing it is placed in the spelling-stick, in view of all the class.

Teacher. "You see this letter. Now look at me. You all know me when you see me. Now I wish you to look at this letter, so that you will know it whenever you see it. It stands for a sound. Listen, and hear me give the sound."

Having enunciated the sound distinctly several times, taking care to secure the attention of all, the teacher might ask if any one has ever heard the sound before. Some may remember it, as given among the elementary sounds of the language. If so, they are pleased to find that the lesson is connected with something learned before. If it is not recalled, give the vowel-sounds promiscuously, requesting all to put up hands when they hear it.

Teacher. "Now all give the sound after me; again; again. That is what this letter says. When you read it, you give the sound. You may take your slates, and see if you can make one like it."

Only a few, perhaps, will try at first. But the teacher passes rapidly around, giving a glance at slates, bestowing commendation on the best efforts.

Teacher. "Erase it. See me make it on the blackboard. I begin here, and go round in this way. You may try it again on your slates."

The slates are inspected as before; the timid are encouraged, and the letter written for them on their slates. Then the drill on the sound is repeated, and afterwards individuals called up to give it.