Modern methods of teaching; language, reading, spelling

Preface

The methods of teaching Language, Reading and Spelling as presented in this volume are the result of many years of experience of the author both as a class teacher and as a supervisor. They have in the main been subjected to the crucial test of the schoolroom by the teachers of the elementary school connected with the Milwaukee State Normal School. The author desires to acknowledge his obligations to the principal and the teachers of this school and to the teacher of Language Arts in the Normal School, for valuable suggestions which have been embodied in the book. In the presentation of the methods no attempt at elaborateness is made. Simplicity, directness and naturalness have been the keynotes the author has had in mind. It was thought best to reduce the theoretical discussion of method to as brief a compass as possible, in order to secure the necessary space for illustrative exercises by means of which principles of teaching and special methods of procedure could be exemplified in a practical way.

Part I The Teaching Of Language

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Importance of Teaching English ... 1

II. Observation Language Lessons .... 5

III. Story Telling 13

IV. Dramatization 55

V. The Study of !Poetry 69

VI. The Study of Pictures 87

VII. Written Composition 101

VIII. Letter Writing and Telegrams . . . .111

IX. Correction of Compositions 125

X. Critical Study of Selections as Models

OF Style 131

XI. Course of Study in Language .... 149

PART II THE TEACHING OF READING L Discussion of Method ......... 159

II. Illustrative Exercises 180

Chapter I Importance Of Teaching English

1. Our Cosmopolitan Population

2. Relation Between Thought and Language

(a) Influence of the Home

(b) Function of the Teacher

3. General Outline of Work in Language

(a) Observation Language Lessons

(b) Story Telling

(c) Dramatization

(d) The Study of Poetry

(e) The Study of Pictures

(f) Written Composition

(g) Letter Writing and Telegrams (h) Correction of Compositions

(i) Critical Study of Selections as Models of Style

CHAPTER n

OBSERVATION LANGUAGE LESSONS

1. Children as Observers — Function of the home in direct-

ing the observation of children

2. Transition from Home to School

vii viii :^IODERN METHODS

3. Purposes of Observation Language Lessons

(a) To cultivate the senses

(b) To clarify and organize the body of knowledge

the pupils acquire outside of school and to extend and enlarge this knowledge

(c) To cultivate a love for nature

(d) To cultivate language and thought power

4. Selection of Materials

5. The Desire to Collect Things

6. Method of Presentation

(a) How to get children to talk about what they see

and know

(b) How drawing helps

7. Influence of These Lessons on Language

8. How the Fact Side May Be Relieved

9. Illustrative Exercise — The Robin 10. Illustrative Exercise — Germination

Chapter III Story Telling

1. Kinds of Stories

- (a) Fairy tales, folk-lore stories, myths and fables

(b) Stories from history

(c) Narratives in which wonderful and grotesque

personages are the actors

(d) Humorous stories

(e) Biographical stories

2. Importance of Story Telling

3. Teacher's Preparation

4. How Stories Should Be Told

LANGUAGE ix

5. Children Should Be Allowed to Tell Stories Without

Unnecessary Interference

6. A Method of Story Telling Appealing to the Creative

Imagination

(a) How children can be led to build up a story

(b) What this method demands of the teacher

7. Selected Stories, and How to Tell Them

(a) The Eye of God

(b) The Beautiful Rays

(c) The Crocodile, the Tiger, and the Traveler

(d) The Herdsman's Flute

(e) Hans the Braggart

(f) Birdie

(g) The Bremen Town Musicians (h) The Shoemaker and the Elves (i) The Boyhood of Lincoln

(j) Croesus

(k) Leonidas at Thermopylae

Chapter IV Dramatization

1. Suitable Stories

(a) In the primary grades

(b) In the middle grades

(c) In the grammar grades

2. Freedom of Expression

(a) The Three Butterflies

(b) The Wise Judge

(c) Diogenes

(d) The Blind Senator

(e) The EngHshman and the Frenchman

C AIODERX METHODS

Chapter V The Study Of Poetry

1. Mother Goose Melodies — Their place and function

2. Poems for Primary Grades

3. Poetry Above the Second Grade

(a) Poems read by the teacher to give pleasure

(b) Poems read critically by the pupils

4. Method of Teaching Poems

(a) The teacher should first read the poem to the

class

(b) The value of oral reading

(c) The teacher's preparation for conducting the

5. The Study of the Biography of Poets

6. Committing Poems to Memory

7. The Final Test of Teaching Poetry

(a) The Little Jewels

(b) The World Is Full of Beauty

(c) The Disappointed Snowflakes

(d) Farewell to the Farm

(e) King Solomon and the Ants

(f) America

(g) Abou Ben Adhem (h) To a Waterfowl (i) The Recessional

Chapter VI The Study Of Pictures

I. Why Pictures Should Be Studied in School

(a) They can be made the means of developing the sesthetic taste of children

LANGUAGE xi

(b) They help to make instruction objective in char-

acter

(c) They help in developing the creative imagination

2. What Pictures to Select

(a) Pictures should be characteristic and artistic

(b) Pictures should appeal to the interests of chil-

dren

3. Necessary Preparation — The teacher must know what

she intends to teach by means of the picture

4. How Pictures Should Be Studied

Saved

The Doctor

The Quiet Stream

The Turbulent Stream

The Young Artist

CHAPTER VH

WRITTEN COMPOSITION

1. First Steps

2. Composite Stories

3. Written Reproduction of Short Stories

(a) The children should make careful preparation

before writing

(b) The written reproduction of stories paves the

way for original composition

4. Pupils Should Not Be Interfered With When They

Write

5. Too Much Stress Should Not Be Placed on Penmanship

6. Freedom of Expression Should Be the Keynote

7. Original Composition Work xii MODERN METHODS

8. Topical Recitations Related to Composition Work

9. The Use of Outlines

10. Compositions Should Grow Out of Living Speech

11. Compositions Should Be Short

12. Compositions Based on Biography and History

13. Subjects for Original Theme Writing

14. How the Teacher Can Help Pupils in Securing Freedom

of Composition

15. Suggestive Topics for Themes

16. Purpose of Composition in the Grammar Grades — Nat-

ural development of language power not to be interfered with

17. Special Aims of the Teacher — How a good style may be

secured

Chapter VIII Letter Writing And Telegrams

1. Why Letter Writing Appeals to Children

(a) The home impresses on children the necessity of

learning to write letters

(b) Letter writing can be made a pleasure

2. Letter Writing a Form of Written Composition

3. Naturalness in Letter Writing

4. How Letter Writing Assists in Original Theme Writing

5. Letter Writing in Primary Grades

6. Use of Model Letters

7. Mechanics of Letter Writing

8. Business Letters in Upper Grades

9. Telegrams

10. Illustrative Letters and Telegrams

LANGUAGE xiii

Chapter IX Correction Of Compositions

1. General Suggestions

(a) The correction of compositions a delicate task

(b) Not all compositions should be corrected

2. Directions to Pupils Will Lead to Discovery of Mis-

takes by Pupils Themselves

3. Purposes of Corrections

(a) They should assist pupils in discovering mis-

takes

(b) They may reveal shortcomings of teacher's work

4. Corrections Should Be Suggestive in Character

5. Self-Criticism

Chapter X Critical Study Of Selections As Models Of Style

1. Purpose

(a) Pupils to be made conscious of beauty, strength

and clearness of sentences

(b) They should work towards a climax

2. Results

Chapter XI A Suggestive Course Of Study For Elementary Grades

THE TEACHING OF READING

Chapter I Purposes And Aiethods

1. Statement of the Aim

2. Preparation for the New Lesson

3. Securing the Thought Content

(a) Method — Oral reading by teacher — Silent read-

ing by pupils — Oral reading by pupils

(b) Method of approach varies — Silent reading by

pupils — Oral reading of units of thought — Thought analysis — Critical reading of the selection

4. Expressive Reading of the Selection

(a) The kind of selections to be used

(b) The basis of expressive reading

(c) The goal in expressive reading

(d) Proper use of the voice

(e) Proper breathing

(f) Proper phrasing

(g) Rapid reading to be avoided

(h) Recognition of the imitative faculty — Importance of the teacher — Slavish imitation not desired

(i) Oral reading at home

(j) The pupil reading should face the class xiv

READING XV

(k) Individual assistance by the teacher (1) An experiment by an inexperienced teacher (m) Correct posture of the body (n) Reading of old sekctions 5. Reproduction of What Is Read

(a) The preparation and use of the outline

(b) Valuable language exercises

(c) Outlines on knowledge subjects

(d) Written exercises — Drill in spelling — Outline

should not be depended upon too much

CONCERT READING

1. Advantages of Concert Reading

2. Importance of the Teacher in Concert Reading

SIGHT AND SUPPLEMENTARY READING

1. Power Secured in Critical Reading to Be Applied in

Sight Reading

2. Children Should Have Access to Supplementary

Readers

3. The Study Recitation in Sight Reading

4. Flighty Reading Should Be Avoided

5. Rapid Sight Reading to Be Developed

6. How the School Helps

READING ONLY A MEANS TO AN END

1. How the Ability to Read Becomes Educative

2. Good Books Are True Friends xvi MODERN METHODS

Chapter II

1. The Story of a Lost Lamb

2. The Sandpiper

3. TraiUng Arbutus

4. The Uprising— 1775

5. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

6. A Selection from Rip Van Winkle

7. A Selection from Longfellow's Evangeline

8. At the Open Chapel

9. After All, We Must Fight

10. The Shasta Daisy

11. Springtime

12. Mother.

THE TEACHING OF SPELLING

1. Difficulties of English Spelling

2. Spelling a Few Hundred Years Ago

3. The Objective Point of Spelling Reform

4. The Duty of the School

5. Sources of Spelling Lists

6. Should the Spelling Book Be Abolished

7. Words for the First and Second Grades

8. The Speller

(a) How the words should be printed

(b) Should the words appear more than once

(c) Words from knowledge lessons

(d) Dictation exercises

(e) The speller should be small

9. The Wisconsin Tests

(a) Made under the direction of the Department of

Education

(b) The first test

(c) The second test

(d) The third test

(e) The fourth test

(f) The fifth test

10. Results of the Tests

11. The Canadian Tests

12. Results of the Tests

13. How the Teaching of Spelling May Be Improved

14. Number of New Words to Be Taught

xvii xviii MODERN METHODS

15. Relation of the Teacher to the Pupils

16. The Teaching Process

(a) The study recitation

(a') The presentation of the words

(b') The meaning of words

(c') Use of the dictionary

(d') Oral drill exercises

(e') The ''flash" method

(f) The coordination of ear, eye, voice and hand

(b) Individual study by pupils

(c) Test exercises

(a') Oral and written spelling

(b') Tests should be largely written

(c') Spelling matches

(d') Learning to spell through reading

(e') Dictation exercises -

(f) Copying parts of the reading lesson

17. Special Lists

18. Review Exercises

(a) Daily review of old words

(b) Words should not be mispronounced

(c) Records of efficiency

THE TEACHING OF LANGUAGE

CHAPTER I IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING ENGLISH

OUR COSMOPOLITAN POPULATION

The power of expressing thought clearly, concisely and cogently should constitute an important part of every child's education. Granted a home environment in which the child heard only pure and correct English, he would learn his mother tongue naturally and easily, like play. But in a cosmopolitan population like that of the United States, the language of the home often is not English, but German, Italian, Polish or any one of many languages, and English is practically a foreign tongue to be learned at school and on the street. This condition emphasizes the necessity of devoting special attention to the teaching of English, and thus instruction in this subject becomes one of the most important functions of the elementary school.

RELATION BETWEEN THOUGHT AND LANGUAGE

But aside from this special reason, the teaching of English is important because of the close interaction between thought and language, and because of the close connection between language and- general culture. This is the most important reason for giving English a prominent position in the course of study from the first grade in the elementary school to the university.

Instruction in English should be both general and special. Every subject taught has its language features, and it is the province of the teacher to cultivate on the part of the child a desire to express himself at all times in as clear and correct English as lies in his power. To do this most effectively, the school, in its early teachings, must imitate the home.

Influence of the Home. What an astonishing command of language every little child possesses upon entering school ! True, the little German boy may appear mute upon his first introduction to school, but try him in his native tongue. You will find him able to use it with as great facility and ease as the child who has been brought up in an Englishspeaking home uses his mother tongue.

What special method does the home use in developing this wonderful power of expression? It makes use of the simplest but most effective method. The child learns language by listening to his mother, father, brothers and sisters. He is encouraged to express his thoughts and feelings by all who come into contact with him. His every effort is applauded ; a feeling of conscious power to express his thoughts soon becomes his and he enjoys his new accomplishment to his heart's content. The work in language in the school differs from that of the home in that the school teaches not only the language of conversation but the language of literature.

Function of the Teacher. There should be no break between the home and the school. The school should endeavor to furnish conditions similar to those of the home of culture and refinement, and thus make possible a continuation of the method of the home in the teaching of English. In the school, the teacher takes the place of the parent. It is her voice which the children hear more than that of anyone else.

This demands that the teacher's language be rich and pure and her enunciation clear and forceful, to the end that her language may be a proper model for her pupils.

Like the mother, she must possess infinite patience and tact in encouraging and assisting children to express their thoughts in a logical, pleasant, clear and convincing way. Like the mother, she must realize that ideas spring up in the child's mind as water bubbles up in a spring. She may guide the flow, but she must avoid stemming it by excessive though well-meant criticism.

GENERAL OUTLINE OF WORK

In the following pages an attempt is made to outline in a general way a course of study in language for the elementary school and to suggest methods of instruction. Together with the discussion of method there is introduced a series of type studies by means of which it is hoped methods are exemplified in a concrete way. The broad lines of work may be stated as follows :

1. Observation language lessons.

2. Story telling.

3. Dramatization.

4. The study of poetry.

5. The study of pictures.

6. Written composition.

7. Letter writing and telegrams.

8. Correction of compositions.

9. Critical study of selections as models of style.

The above arrangement of subjects should not be taken to mean that they are to be introduced in the order as given. From the first grade on practically all the different lines of work may be appealed to. The observation language lessons of the first few grades develop into nature study and elementary science in the middle and upper grades. Story telling, while emphasized most in the primary grades, should constitute an important part of language work in all of the grades. This is true also of dramatization and the study of poetry and pictures. Both oral and written composition begin in the first grade and are continued throughout all the grades. Even the critical study of selections as models of style which we commonly associate with the work of pupils in the upper grades of the elementary school should have its modest beginning in the primary grades.

CHAPTER II OBSERVATION LANGUAGE LESSONS

CHILDREN AS OBSERVERS

The senses of children are ever active in storing their minds with a great amount of knowledge gained at first hand and not through books. But little children as a rule do not observe closely. Their eyes flit from object to object hastily, with the result that much of the knowledge gained is superficial and vague.

It is the function of the home so to direct the children that they may form habits of studying things closely and carefully, for upon the development of right habits of observation depends the development of all intellectual life.

TRANSITION FROM HOME TO SCHOOL

The wise teacher will use the knowledge which the children have gained while at home and make it the natural means of transition from the education of the home to that of the school. She will engage the little people in conversation and urge them to talk freely about the things at home, their household pets, the birds, flowers and trees, and anything which has come within the range of their observation.

PURPOSES OF THESE LESSONS

The teacher should, however, do more than have the children tell about what they have seen and heard. Things should be brought into the schoolroom which are to be studied under the guidance of the teacher. To do this work effectively the teacher must have in mind the purposes of the observation language lessons. These may be summed up as follows :

1. To cultivate the senses.

2. To clarify and organize the body of knowledge the

pupils acquire outside of school and to extend and enlarge this knowledge.

3. To cultivate a love for nature.

4. To cultivate language and thought power.

- SELECTION OF MATERIALS

There is a wealth of material the teacher can choose from, for these exercises. Naturally the material selected in a city will differ from that selected in a village or in the country. Each season of the year, also, both in the city and country, will have its special offering. Two tests, however, should always be applied in selecting material : Is it interesting to the pupils; and, has it cultural value? Pictures may also be used, but while they may serve a good purpose it must be remembered that the most interesting picture book is nature herself.

THE DESIRE TO COLLECT THINGS

The desire to collect things Is Inherent In all children. This habit should be carefully cultivated by parents and teachers. Every child and every schoolroom should have a collection of interesting things that nature furnishes for nothing, requiring only that we look for that which she has to offer.

METHOD OF PRESENTATION

In presenting an object for study, the teacher should so place it before the class that all pupils can see it. Then she should encourage pupils to tell what they know about it.

The success of the exercise depends upon the teacher. If she is interested in the matter presented and by skillful questions gets the children to make observations and to tell what they have seen or learned, they will respond with the same enthusiasm as that manifested by the teacher.

When the pupils have spent some time studying an object and telling what they have observed, it is a good plan to have them summarize what was learned. In the first few grades the teacher naturally must come to the pupils' assistance in securing these summaries.

The teacher who is skillful in drawing has a great advantage in this work. Sketching an object or a part of it on the board will help in emphasizing it and fixing it in the memory. Children, also, should be led to make sketches, crude though they may be. The very fact that they are to make an attempt at sketching causes them to observe more closely. In the first and second grades the first efforts might be limited to copying sketches made by the teacher.

INFLUENCE ON LANGUAGE

The observational exercises should be as conversational in character as possible. Pupils should be encouraged to speak freely and, as a rule, in full sentences. Children enjoy talking about real things and thus these exercises will help in cultivating the power of expression. Beginning with the second or third grade, pupils may base simple written compositions on the observation work.

HOW THE FACT SIDE MAY BE RELIEVED

Finally it must be remembered that while the general purpose of these observation language lessons is to enlarge the body of knowledge of things appealing to the senses, the work in school should be so conducted that the pupils will have an increased interest and love for the things in nature and in art. For this reason, especially in the first few years, the fact side should be relieved by introducing in each exercise a suitable story, poem or song.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXERCISE THE ROBIN

The teacher should secure from the school museum a mounted specimen of a robin. If such a specimen cannot be had, the picture of a robin will suffice.

There is no set way to conduct this exercise. The teacher may begin by calling attention to the size, shape and color of the robin, or she may begin by having the children tell what they know about the robin. Probably the latter course is preferable. With a little encouragement on the part of the teacher the children will talk freely about what they have seen the robin do, about its nest and the little baby robins.

After this preliminary work the teacher may ask suggestive questions which pupils may answer or which she may answer herself.

METHOD OF PROCEDURE

It is spring. Snow and ice have disappeared and the robins have come again. Where were the robins in winter ? Why did they not stay with us ? Here the teacher may find it necessary to tell the children that in the fall of the year the robins fly to warmer regions and return to us in the spring. For this reason the robin is called a bird of passage.

Let us examine the pretty robin more closely. What is the color of its head? What is the color of the upper part of the robin? The tail? What is the color of the throat? What is the color of the breast? What is the color of the wings ?

What does the robin do during the day? How do the robins build their nest? Where do they build it? What do the robins eat? The robin is a useful bird because he lives mostly on liarmful insects and we ought not to begrudge him a few cherries as dessert. Have you ever seen a robin protect the nest ? What do you Hke best about the robin ?

Have you ever seen robins feed their little ones ? Sometimes the father and the mother robin are out searching for food at the same time. Then the baby robins usually lie sleeping with their heads hanging over the side of the nest. But as soon as the limb moves ever so little, every baby robin's head is up and its mouth wide open ready for the food. Do you know how often a baby robin is fed ? Every fifteen minutes is dinner time for the baby robins, and every day each little robin eats at least two times its own weight in worms. No wonder the little ones grow rapidly.

Have you ever seen the father and mother robin teach the little robins how to fly ? It may be necessary for the teacher to tell how the bird parents tempt the fledglings to leave the nest by holding worms just out of their reach, how the little ones in trying to get the food fall fluttering from the nest ; how the parents then teach their little ones their first steps in hopping and running; and how later they teach them to fly.

This more or less informal study of the robin should be followed by a study of a pretty selection, so that the pupils may be led to see the robin with the poet's eye.

SIR ROBIN

Rollicking- Robin is here again, What does he care for the April rain?

Care for it? Glad of it! Doesn't he know That the April rain carries off the snow,

And coaxes the leaves to shadow his nest. And washes his pretty red Easter vest, And makes the juice of the cherry sweet. For his hungry little robins to eat?

— Lucy Larcom.

The teacher should write the above stanza on the board. Just what purpose the stanza is to serve will depend on the grade in which it is used. If it is used in a first grade the teacher should read it to the children in such a way that they may catch the spirit that actuates the robin in coming so early to his Northern home. Naturally in a second or third grade the children will read the stanza themselves.

However, whether the stanza is read by the teacher or pupils there should be joined to it a thought analysis which may be suggested by the following questions :

The first line tells us that the robin has come back. What question does the second line ask? What in the third line tells us what the robin thinks of the April rain? Is the April rain usually cold or warm ? Does the robin care ? Is some of the winter's snow on the ground in April? What does the April rain do to the snow? Does the sun help? How does the April rain coax the leaves out? What does "to shadow his nest" mean? What is meant by "red Easter vest" ? Why does the poet call it an Easter vest ? Do you like the name robin red breast? What else does the April rain do? Do the hungry little robins eat many cherries? What do they mostly eat?

After the discussion on the stanza the teacher should help the children to commit it to memory.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXERCISE GERMINATION

Simple lessons on the germination of plants may be begun in the first grade. Some time in the early part of April the teacher should plant seeds of the bean, morning-glory and corn in boxes filled with sand, carefully marking each row. The sand must be kept moist and warm so that the seeds will sprout within a short time. After a few days specimens of the beans may be taken out and compared with the dry seeds. After a few days more another row of seeds may be taken up and the changes noted. In this way the pupils may be led to observe and describe the seeds while germination is in progress. Naturally these lessons will be given from time to time in the course of a month or two.

A few seeds should be planted and not watered; a few should be planted and watered but kept in a dark place; some should be kept in a cool place. In this way pupils may be led to discover that growing seeds need moisture, warmth, air and sunshine.

The teacher should guard against attempting to do too much on the fact side with the children in this grade. By means of these lessons children may be led to watch the awakening life in seeds and observe the development of roots, stems, leaves and flowers.

At an appropriate time after these lessons are begun the teacher should soak many beans in water for a day or two and then have the children remove the skin and find the little plantlet hidden between the two thick seed leaves.

To give the poetic touch to these lessons the teacher may write the following poem on the board and base a conversational exercise on it :

THE SEED

In the heart of a seed

Buried deep, so deep, A dear little plant

Lay fast asleep.

" Wake ! " said the sunshine,

" And creep to the Hght ! "

" Wake ! " said the voice

Of the raindrop bright.

The little plant heard

And it rose to see What the wonderful

Outside world might be.

— Kate L. Brown.

What does the first stanza tell us ? Why may we say the plant lay fast asleep in the heart of the seed? What did the sunshine say to the seed ? How do you know that sunshine is necessary to have plants grow ? What did the raindrop say to the seed ? Is water necessary to have the plant grow ? Let us recite together the last stanza.

After this study of the poem the children will watch the development of the seeds with increased interest. The teacher might also distribute various seeds among the children and ask them to request their mothers to plant them at home. The children will naturally enjoy helping their mothers in caring for the seeds and will be anxious to report changes in the appearance of the plants from time to time. Then, also, with the assistance of the mother, the life history of a plant from seed to seed may be studied, and thus, also, the interest of the mother in the education of her children may be kept up.