WRITING THE STORY

III (75). Writing the Story, "The Four Oxen"

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See that each child understands how to study the story preparatory to writing it. See that each one does study it as directed. Give individual help when needed.

Do not try to keep the children together in this study. It is an individual matter. Some will know how to spell all words with little or no study, others will have to study many words; some will be prepared to write much sooner than others. All should be provided with paper and pencil at the beginning of the exercise; each one should be allowed to write as soon as he thinks he is ready.

In this preparation, and in the writing of this story, the children will need your full attention. Watch especially the work of the poorer pupils. Anticipate their tendency to disregard the division of the story into sentences, by having them write complete answers to a series of questions suitable to bring out connected statements, as:

Where did the four oxen feed? (Four oxen fed together in a field.)

What did a lion try to do? (A lion tried to kill one of the oxen.)

What did the oxen do? (The oxen stood together and shook their horns at the lion.)

Do not hamper with such questions the work of any child who is able to write good sentences with

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out them. They are but crutches, to be leaned upon only as a last resort.

Each child's paper is to be criticized for the following:

I. The completeness and clearness of the story.

2. The use of capitals and period.

3. The spelling.

4. The appearance of the paper, penmanship.

arrangement, neatness,

Criticizing-let it always be remembered-means commending, when that is possible, quite as much as it means censuring, or pointing out faults.

While the points for criticism, as given above, may, at first thought, seem rather numerous and formidable, a moment's reflection will show you that they are merely the result of the briefest analysis of the essentials in which the goodness or the poorness of the child's work consists. It may seem simpler to say to the child, "Good," or, " Poor; try to do better next time." But such criticism is simple only for the teacher; for the child, it is merely the source of unintelligent pleasure or discouragement. It is not enlightening; it does not point the way to definite and sure improvement.

A paper may be neat in appearance, correct in spelling, and in the use of capitals and period, but lacking in completeness or clearness of statement. This the writer, or any other child, may be made to see by questioning, or by comparing the paper with

WRITING THE STORY

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another that is complete and clear. So may the quality of any paper, in the other respects, be brought out clearly to every child, by questioning and by comparison. Of course, the comparison of papers must be made tactfully.

It is true that such definite, detailed criticism means much painstaking work for the teacher. It is easier to gather up the results of the pupils' efforts, glance them over, make a few general comments on the papers as a whole, and drop them all quietly into the wastebasket; and this process may be repeated, day after day, with little exertion or thought on the teacher's part. But this is not teaching children to think or to write; it is not teaching them to take any intelligent satisfaction or interest in their work.

Progress in language may be just as sure and almost as definitely noticeable as progress in learning the multiplication table. But such progress depends upon the intelligent doing of definite things every day, in every exercise; upon the intelligent and definite criticism of the pupils' definite efforts; and upon definite, intelligent attempts to do definite things better at each trial. The pupil must be held up to his best all the time; he must be made to apply everything that he has learned, and to apply it not merely in the lesson in which he has learned it, but whenever there is occasion. Thus does the child become helpfully critical of his own work. He

takes intelligent delight in the realization of his growing powers.

Each pupil should correct his own work, if possible at once. (See directions, p. 49.)

Supplementary Work

In most classes it will be advisable soon to have another short story reproduced in writing. For this reproduction the following story may be used. Let this be written upon the board, studied by the children under the teacher's direction, and finally written and criticized as has just been directed.

THE FIRST FOUNTAIN

Flora was a little girl who liked to play in the water. One day she was wading in a little stream. She played until she grew tired. Then she tried to step out on the bank. But her feet were held fast. Her hair became little streams of water. A fairy had turned her into a fountain.

IV (76). The Use of Capitals in Writing the Names

of Persons

The one new point in this lesson is the writing of personal names with capitals; the rest is a review of the use of capitals in titles and at the beginning of sentences, and the use of the period at the end of statements. See that the pupils study the lesson through carefully as directed; test them upon this in oral recitation.

Then tell them about the game of names de

THE GAME OF NAMES

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As a

scribed and to be played in the next lesson. preparation for this, have every child write his name on the blackboard; let only full names be written, not initials. Have the names spelled from the board by the children, each child spelling the name of some other child. Call attention to the capital beginning every name, and insist that the child spelling say "capital" before naming the first letter

of a name.

Leave the children's names on the board until the next lesson, or better, rewrite them yourself in columns as they are spelled from the board by the children. Let the pupils understand that those who learn how to spell the largest number of names correctly before the next lesson, and who are careful about the capitals, will be most successful in the game.

V (77). The Game of Names

The game of names is played as follows:

Harry Brown: Mary Smith, spell my name.

Mary Smith: Harry Brown, capital-H-a-r-r-y, capital-B-r-o-w-n. John Pope, spell my name.

John Pope: Mary Smith, capital-M-a-r-y, s-m-i-t-h.

Mary Smith: No, that is not the way to spell my name. Frank Ball, spell my name.

Frank Ball: Mary Smith, capital-M-a-r-y, capital-S-m-i-t-h. Charles Marsh, spell my name.

And so the game continues as long as desirable. The one who makes a mistake loses his chance to