CLASS EXERCISE IN WRITTEN REPRODUCTION 81

First Pupil: The, capital T-h-e; The begins with a capital because it is the first word in a title. (Teacher writes.)

Second Pupil: Star, capital S-t-a-r; Star begins with a capital because it is an important word in a title.

Teacher: Give me the first sentence of the story, telling what the Indian children saw one night.

(The teacher should insist on a good, clear sentence; it may well not be the same as the one used by the teacher in telling the story.)

Third Pupil: One night some Indian children saw a star fall.

(Of course this is only a sentence that may be given. After any satisfactory sentence for the beginning of the story has been given, have that sentence repeated by the class in concert. Then let the children stand, a row at a time, and each child in the row give, in his turn, directions for writing the word of the sentence that falls to him. The teacher writes as directed. No time should be wasted in calling pupils by name, or even in calling "next.")

First Pupil: One, capital O-n-e; One begins with a capital because it is the first word in a sentence.

Second Pupil: Night, n-i-g-h-t.

Third Pupil: Some, s-o-m-e.

Teacher: Indian, capital I-n-d-i-a-n; Indian begins with a capital because it is the name of a people. (This is all that it is necessary to tell the children now; later they will learn about the use of capitals to begin proper names.)

In this manner the work continues until all the words of the sentence have been spelled by the pupils and written by the teacher. Finally, some pupil concludes the dictation with this statement: "There must be a period at the end of this sentence because it is a statement." The exercise is continued with other sentences similarly dictated and spelled by the children and written by the teacher, somewhat as follows:

Teacher: Give the second sentence, telling where the star fell. A Pupil: It fell into a pond.

(Teacher writes as children spell the words.)

Teacher: Give the next sentence, telling what the Indian children found the next morning.

was.

A Pupil: The next morning the children found a new flower. (Children spell; teacher writes.)

Teacher: Give the next sentence, telling what kind of flower it

A Pupil: It was sweet and white, and it had a star in its heart. (Children spell; teacher writes.)

was.

Teacher: Give the last sentence, telling what this new flower

A Pupil: This flower was our first water lily.

(Pupils spell; teacher writes.)

When finished, the story on the board may be something like this:

THE STAR

One night some Indian children saw a star fall. It fell into a pond. The next morning the children found a new flower. It was sweet and white, and it had a star in its heart. This flower was our first water lily.

Of course no reproduction will work out exactly like the above. The teacher should make no effort to have it so. This exercise is given merely to show concretely and in detail the essential features of any exercise of this kind which is to be effective. Some of these essential features may be summarized as follows:

First, clear, definite, and complete thoughts must be aroused in the children. Each thought must be expressed in a sentence. Thoughts and sentences must be arranged in logical order. The word

CLASS EXERCISE IN WRITTEN REPRODUCTION 83

"sentence" is to be used by teacher and pupils whenever speaking of a sentence.

Second, the exercise must engage the attention and activity of the whole class. A few of the brightest children must not be allowed to do all, or even most of the work. It is all within the capacity of every child in the class; the slow and the dull must be made to do their full share. If this is not done, they will become still slower and duller; they are not yet too dull to observe that others are depended upon for all the work -if such be the case and they respond as any one would do under similar conditions, with inattention and lethargy. The exercise, especially the spelling and writing, should be conducted rapidly, with energy and snap. Every child should be taught to be ready and to respond promptly when his turn comes, without waiting even to be called upon.

Third, every word should be spelled in the first exercises of this kind. Later, the spelling of only the more difficult words need be called for. It is to be remembered that most mistakes made in written spelling occur in the common, much-used words.

Fourth, every exercise of this kind is to be made to afford the best kind of drill in the correct use of capitals and marks of punctuation, as these are taught.

Finally, and in a word, the exercise is training the children to think clearly and connectedly, to express their thoughts clearly and definitely, and to put that expression into mechanically correct form.

Supplementary Work

Have reproduced in the same way the story, The Trees and the Woodcutter. (Pupil's book, p. 58.)

XV (67). Copying Story from the Board

Let the children copy the story, The Star, from the blackboard. Before they begin, direct their thoughts to certain things which the copying is designed to make habitual. This may best be done by asking such questions as these:

With what kind of letter does the first word of a title begin? How do the important words in a title begin?

How does the first word of every sentence begin?

With what does every statement end?

Have pupils correct any mistakes at once, as directed in previous lessons. Do not fail to get a clear statement of the reason for every correction before the pupil makes it.

XVI (67). Studying a Poem

Read the poem, Autumn Fires, to the children; read it so that they will see the pictures that each stanza paints; read it so that they will feel the atmosphere and the spirit of it. Have the children

read it, individually and in concert.

Study with the children the questions following the poem. Ask other questions; encourage the

children to ask questions and to make comments,

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85

remembering that only relevant questions and comments are allowable.

After the children have studied the last stanza for a minute or two, as directed, let as many as can say it, recite it aloud, the others listening. This repetition will help to fix it in the minds of the slower children who have perhaps not learned it alone. After several have repeated it, the whole class may say it together.

XVII (69). Writing a Stanza from Memory

This is a lesson for the teacher to study with the children. Try to insure a reasonable degree of success in writing the stanza from memory. This may be done by seeing that the children try to recall the stanza as they are directed to do in their book; that they look back to it, and study it carefully, if this seems necessary. It will do none of them harm and it may aid many to have the stanza repeated once or twice in concert, before any try to write it from memory.. Ask about the beginning of each line and the mark at the end. In all of this, remember that the best time to correct mistakes is before they occur.

See that the pupils correct any mistakes by comparing their copy with the original.

Look over their statements to see that they are correctly written and punctuated. Have any errors corrected, as directed in previous lessons.