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Examples of Bad Spelling.

writing and poor spelling the request seemed to be for 100 (too) monkeys, and the order was duly answered according to this understanding, much to the amazement of the gentleman, whose highest ambition was to become the owner of two of the chattering quadrupeds.

A merchant in London wrote to his agent in Scotland, requesting him to purchase a ton of copper, but being a poor speller, as well as writer, he omitted one of the p's, and made a word which seemed more like capers than any other word. So the agent understood it, and, after much effort, he succeeded in procuring a full ton of capers, and wrote to the merchant, saying that "he had found it very difficult to obtain the required amount, but that he had finally filled the order, and the capers. were subject to his order." The merchant was not a little surprised and mortified that so queer a caper should result from his illegible writing and poor spelling.

Again I urge you to give prominence to spelling, and I hope I may never receive a letter from any pupil of yours commencing, as a letter to another did, "My dear Cur." And should I ever have occasion to invite any of them to make me a visit, I should be very sorry to receive, as I once did, an answer thus: "It will afford me great pleasure to except your kind invitation," etc.

I might fill a volume with similar specimens, were it necessary. These defects are not chargeable to you. I have only instanced them as a proof

Errors in Relation to Spelling.

of past neglect in teaching. I trust your pupils will be so trained and instructed that they will never be guilty of adding to the examples I have given. After speaking of two or three of the causes of poor spelling, I will give you a few hints and methods for conducting the spelling exercise. It is often regarded as dull and uninteresting, but, by adopting variety, it may be made pleasant and profitable.

One cause of the frequency of poor spelling may be found in the neglect with which the spelling lesson is treated in school. It is often crowded into a few minutes, and passed over in a very hurried and imperfect manner, and if any exercise must be omitted, the spelling lesson is the neglected one. Another cause may be found in a feeling, not very uncommon, that spelling is undeserving the attention of any but very young pupils. Many feel as the young man did, who, on commencing a course at an academy, demurred at the idea of joining the spelling class, notwithstanding he was a very poor speller. On being informed that all the pupils were required to join in the exercise, he very condescendingly consented to do so, provided the words should be taken from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, — feeling that it would be quite derogatory if they should be selected from any spelling or reading book. These and some other erroneous notions must be eradicated. From the beginning, let your. pupils see that the spelling lesson will always receive its due share of attention, and at its due time, and also cause

Pronounce properly. No Guessing.

them to feel that the only thing really derogatory is the inability to spell correctly. But I will proceed to describe a few methods for conducting the exercise, both in the oral and written exercises, for the latter of which I give a decided preference. I would, however, recommend a union of the two. But, first, I will allude to two very common errors.

One is that of giving out the words with an improper pronunciation, or an undue emphasis on a particular syllable or vowel; as, in-tī-mate, in-hab-itant, im-me-dī-ate-ly, sep-a-rate, sim-ī-lar-ī-ty, op-ēra-tion, etc. The only correct way is to pronounce a word precisely as it would be spoken by a good speaker; giving no undue emphasis to any letter or syllable; and, if distinctly pronounced once, it should suffice.

The other error to which I allude is that of allowing pupils to try more than once on a word in oral spelling. This is wrong, and I trust you will guard against it. One trial is sufficient, and all beyond is mere guessing. If pupils feel that they may make two or three attempts to spell a word, they will never become accurate spellers.

Some are strong advocates for the use of the spelling-book, while others entirely discard its use. My own impression is that it may be used to a certain extent; but if you would make a spelling lesson truly interesting and profitable, you must draw exercises from every proper source. It is an excellent plan to devote some time daily-a few minutes will suffice to spelling the names of familiar objects.

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A Spelling Lesson.

Ask your pupils to give you the names of all the objects they saw on the way to school, and as they repeat, write the words legibly upon the blackboard, and say to them that the list thus written will constitute the next spelling lesson. Let us suppose the following to be a list of the words given by your pupils, as names of objects they have seen on the way to school: —

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Now, that you may call particular attention to these words, spend five minutes in making some of them subjects for object lessons, somewhat as follows:*

Teacher. "What is the meaning of harness? Pupil. "It is something put on horses for them to draw by."

Teacher. "Of what is it made?"

Pupil. "Of leather." (Here you may expand the subject by asking what leather is, how made, and why better for making harnesses than rope or other materials, etc.)

Teacher. "Of how many principal parts does a harness consist? '

*In asking questions in this way, I would not often allow concert answers. Require all who feel prepared to answer to raise the hand, and then designate some one to give his answer, after which others who have a different definition may be called upon.

Further Examples,

Pupil. "Four,-collar, hames, saddle, and bridle."

Teacher. “What is sometimes used instead of a collar?"

Pupil. "Breastplate."

You will readily see that such an exercise may be extended almost indefinitely, and be made interesting and profitable. If desirable to add to the number of words, given in the columns above, the italicized words will be very good ones. The word wheel may be taken, and used somewhat as follows:

Teacher. "What is a wheel?

Pupil. "A round frame which turns round."
Teacher. "On what does it turn?"

Pupils. "On its axis; we say a wagon-wheel turns on an axletree."

say.

Teacher. 66 'Yes, but not exletree, as some Can you name the parts of a wheel?" Pupil. "Hab or nave, felloe or felly, spokes, tire."

Here you may call for a description of each, and explain the process of setting tire, etc. You may, also, question them on the different kinds of wheels which they have seen or heard of, etc.

The word mail-coach may be taken and explained. So too box, wagon, barrel, axletree, may, each, be made a topic for a lesson. For variety's sake, as well as for profit, suppose you call upon your pupils to name sentences containing the word box. The following may be the examples given:

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