Aldine second language book for grades five and six

Preface

This book is strictly a pupil's book ; every page and paragraph of it is addressed to the pupil ; it is written in language that the pupil can understand. It represents the carefully prepared result of many years' experience in teaching scores of classes of all kinds of children.

The Manual which accompanies this book is strictly a teacher's book ; it is addressed to the teacher throughout ; it explains in detail the purpose of every exercise in this, the pupil's book, gives careful directions concerning the most effective ways of conducting the various exercises, and is filled with practical suggestions calculated to make language teaching not only successful but a delight to teacher and pupil. Like the pupil's book, the teacher's Manual is the outgrowth of many years of experience in helping hundreds of teachers to make their work effective.

This pupil's book does three essential things. First, it furnishes and suggests a veritable feast of rich, varied, and wholesome material such as the interests and imagination of normally growing children crave. This material is peculiarly suited to expression in language, both oral and written. Indeed, much of it has served classic writers over and over for generations and ages ;

in

IV

PREFACE such are the proverbs and fables, myths, fairy tales, and legends, in prose and verse. Equally interesting and valuable as material for expression are the true stories and the real experiences whose significance the children are taught to appreciate.

Secondly, this book makes clear and really interesting to children the significance of the language forms which give effective expression to the material. Hence, they learn really to appreciate the importance of correctness and fitness of expression, — the importance, not only of correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation, but of discriminating choice and arrangement of words and expressions, and of the orderly and impressive presentation of ideas.

Thirdly, material and form are so presented as to awaken the desire and to arouse the ambition of the child to express in correct, beautiful, and effective form the fruits of his own experience, imagination, and thought. Hence, children become eager to write of their own experiences, perhaps in the form of a story, perhaps in that of a letter ; to explain clearly something, as a game, with which they are familiar ; to give reasons for a judgment or an opinion. Not less eagerly do they attempt — and often with surprising success — the invention of original proverbs, myths, fairy tales, and fables.

Here we have, then, the beginnings of literary appreciation and of literary production, using the term " literary " in a broad sense. But even more important than these beginnings are the sure promises for the

PREFACE v

future ; pupils become intensely interested in what others have expressed in language and in the way that they have expressed it ; they become ambitious to express themselves ; they acquire a natural and justifiable confidence in their ability to observe and to think and to express the results of their observation and thought clearly and effectively. All these promises warrant the expectation of continued growth in thought and language power.

The manner in which material, forms of expression, and pupils 1 exercises have been employed to bring about these results can be fully appreciated only by a careful study of the book itself and the teacher's Manual, which should always accompany this book's use. The table of contents following, how T ever, is suggestive of material, plan, and method.

Acknowledgments are here cheerfully made to authors and publishers who have kindly permitted the use in this book of their copyrighted material.

The selections from Tarr and McMurry's Geographies are used by permission of the publishers, The Macmillan Company ; the poem, " The Flag Goes By," is used by permission of the author, Henry Holcomb Bennett ; the brief selections from Lucy Larcom, Alice Cary, Olive Thorne Miller, John Burroughs, Lowell, Longfellow, and Whittier are used by permission of and by arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company, authorized publishers of the works of these writers.

Chapter One. Observing, Thinking, And Expressing Thought Orally

I. Two Stories to Study 1

II. Trying to Describe Familiar Things . . . . 4

III. How to Describe a Thing Well 4

Chapter Two. About Sentences, Capitals, And Certain Marks Of Punctuation

I. The Sentence 8

II. Making Sentences 12

III. Sentences : Statements, Questions, and Exclamations 12

IV. A Story to Study 15

V. Dictation .17

VI. Correcting Dictation — With the Teacher ... 17

VII. Statements, Questions, and Exclamations ... 17

VIII. Writing Titles . 19

IX. Things to Remember 21

Chapter Three. Reading, Dramatizing, And Reproducing A Story

I. Reading and Studying a Story 22

II. Getting Ready to Dramatize the Story of " Harmosan " 25

III. Dramatizing the Story 26

IV. Reproducing the Story Orally 26

V. Finding Different Kinds of Sentences •. . .26

VI. Writing Original Sentences 27

vii viii CONTENTS

Chapter Four. Memory Gems

I. The Value of Memory Gems 28

II. Learning a Memory Gem 32

III. Reciting Memory Gems 33

IV. Writing a Memory Gem 33

V. Preparing Original Descriptions 33

VI. Giving Original Descriptions 34

Chapter Five. Fable, Dialogue, And Narra- Tive; Apostrophe, Comma, And Quotations

I. Quotations and the Apostrophe 35

II. How to Study the Story, "The Hunter and the

Lion" 37

III. Writing the Story of " The Hunter and the Lion "

from Dictation . . 40

IV. Correcting Dictation 40

V. A Written Test without Help from the Teacher . 42

VI. Studying a Dialogue 44

VII. Writing a Narrative from a Dialogue ... 47

VIII. Unstudied Dictation 48

IX. Writing Contractions 48

Chapter Six. Studying And Writing Fables

I. A Fable to Study . .51

II. Writing the Fable of " The Donkey and the Race

Horse" from Dictation ...... 53

III. Correcting the Dictation 53

IV. Making Original Fables 53

V. Writing an Original Fable . . . . . .55

VI. Enlarging a Paragraph 56

VII. Enlarging a Part of a Story 57

VIII. Rewriting a Fable 58

IX. Writing a Fable — "The Ant and the Snail" . . 59

CONTENTS ix

Chapter Seven. Picture Stories

I. Stories from Pictures 60

IL More Picture Stories ■. 64

V. Reading Picture Stories 68

VI. Correcting and Copying Picture Stories ... 68

Chapter Eight. Rhymes ; Written Reproduc- Tions ; Quotations And Capitals

I. Studying a Fable in Rhyme .70

II. Oral Reproduction of the Fable 73

III. Writing the Story, "The Ant and the Cricket " . 73

IV. How Names are Written . . . . . .75

V. Writing Studied Dictation 76

VI. Correcting Dictation 76

VII. Writing Direct Quotations .76

VIII. Things to Remember 77

Chapter Nine. Dramatizing, Play Writing, Descriptions, Original Stories

I. Studying a Story 78

II. Dramatizing the Story, " The Two Merchants " . . 82

III. Reproducing the Story Orally 82

IV. Writing a Play 82

V. Studying Descriptions . . . . . . .84

VI. Oral Descriptions 92

VII. Written Descriptions 93

VIII. Telling an Original Story 93

IX. Writing Original Stories 95

X. Writing Stories from Suggestions 95 x CONTENTS

Chapter Ten. Months, Days, Dates, Abbre- Viations, Letter Writing

I. The Months 96

II. Memorizing a Quotation 100

III. Writing a Quotation. . . 101

IV. The Months and Their Abbreviations .... 101 V. Names of Days and Their Abbreviations . . . 102

VI. Some Dates in American History ..... 102

VII. Writing Dates from Dictation 103

VIII. Walter's Letter 103

IX. Frank's Letter 106

X. Correcting Letters . 108

XI. Things to Remember 108

Chapter Eleven. True Stories, Compositions, Letters, Possessives

I. True Stories 109

II. Telling True Stories 112

III. Writing a True Story -112

IV. When I Grow Up — A Study Lesson . . . . 112 V. When I Grow Up — A Written Lesson .... 114

VI. "The Wishing Bridge" 114

VII. The Apostrophe . . . 115

VIII. Two Uses of the Apostrophe . ... . . . 117

IX. Study of Selection 118

X. Writing from Dictation 119

XI. Correcting Written Dictation 119

XII. Grandfather's Letter 119

XIII. Answering Grandfather's Letter 120

XIV. Correcting Letters 121

XV. Writing Original Letters 121

Chapter Twelve. Picture Stories

I. Making Stories from a Picture 123

CONTENTS xi

V. Correcting and Copying Picture Stories . . . 130

Chapter Thirteen. Paragraphs ; Topical Out- Lines ; Original Stories ; Letters; Punctuation

I. The Paragraph 131

II. Making Paragraph Topics 134

III. Learning to Recognize Paragraphs by their Contents 135

IV. Oral Reproductions from Original Outlines . . 136 V. Written Reproductions from Original Outlines . 138

VI. An Original Story from a Given Outline . . . 138

VII. Writing Original Stories from Original Outlines . 139

VIII. Words in a Series . 141

IX. Supplying Commas . 143

X. Uses of Commas — A Review 143

XI. Writing Original Sentences 144

XII. A Letter 145

XIII. Writing a Letter 146

XIV. The Conversation Paragraph 148

XV. Writing an Original Conversation .... 149

XVI. Unstudied Dictation — A Test 150

CHAPTER FOURTEEN. ABOUT DESCRIPTIONS AND LETTERS ; NOUNS, PRONOUNS, ADJECTIVES ; THEIR CHOICE AND USE

I. Studying a Description 151

II. Writing a Description . . . . . . . 154

III. Nouns : Common and Proper 156

IV. Choosing Nouns that Fit 159

V. Selecting Nouns to Avoid Repetition .... 161

VI. The Pronoun 163

VII. Adjectives . 167

VIII. Comparisons 168 xii CONTENTS

IX. Descriptions of People 171

X. Writing a Description of a Person .... 177

XI. Reading and Criticising Descriptions .... 178

XII. Selecting Adjectives 178

XIII. A Letter Containing a Description .... 182

XIV. Testing Descriptions 183

XV. Descriptions to Express Beauty 183

XVI. Descriptions to Make Clear 183

XVII. A Review 184

Chapter Fifteen. Poems, Compositions; Verbs, Adverbs

I. A Poem to Study 186

II. The Flag 190

III. Memorizing the Poem, "The Flag Goes By" . . 190

IV. Verbs 190

V. Finding Verbs 194

VI. Variety in the Use of Verbs 195

VII. Selecting Suitable Verbs 196

VIII. Writing a Description 196

IX. Some Troublesome Verbs 197

X. Verbs often Misused : Lie, Lay, Sit, Set . . . . 199

XI. Shall or Will ? 200

XII. May and Can 202

XIII. Adverbs : Their Use as Modifiers of Verbs . . 203

XIV. Selecting Suitable Adverbs 205

XV. Other Uses of Adverbs 206

XVI. Some Adverbs that are often Misused . . . 207

Chapter Sixteen. Picture Stories

I. Making Stories from a Picture 209

CONTENTS xiii

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. ABOUT PREPOSITIONS, CON- JUNCTIONS, INTERJECTIONS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW TO USE THEM

I. Prepositions 217

II. Studying Prepositions 220

III. Some Prepositions that are often Misused . . . 221

IV. Using Prepositions 224

V. Conjunctions 225

VI. Combining Sentences 227

VII. Combining Sentences in a Story . . . . . 228

VIII. Written Reproduction 229

IX. Interjections 229

X. Expressing Feelings through the Use of Interjections 231

XI. Review of Parts of Speech 233

XII. Studying a Poet's Choice of Words .... 234

XIII. Reading the Poem 238

XIV. Memorizing the Poem 239

XV. Reciting the Poem 239

XVI. W T RITING THE POEM FROM MEMORY 239

Chapter Eighteen. About Fables And Proverbs

I. Studying a Fable 240

II. Telling Original Fables 242

III. Writing Original Fables 244

IV. More Fables to Study 244

V. Writing from Dictation " The Farmer and the Bird " 246

VI. Telling Original Fables 246

VII. Writing Original Fables 247

VIII. A Story to Finish 248

IX. What are Proverbs? 248

X. Origin of Proverbs 250

XL Application of Proverbs 253

XII. Making Proverb Stories 255

XIII. Writing Proverb Stories ... ... 256

XIV

CONTENTS

XIV. Writing Proverbs from Memory 257

XV. A Letter 257

CHAPTER NINETEEN. ABOUT CLASSIC, MODERN, AND ORIGINAL MYTHS AND FAIRY TALES; TRUE STORIES AND QUOTATIONS

I. Myths: Their Origin . . . . . . . 259

II. A Myth to Study 262

III. Another Use of the Comma 264

IV. Rewriting a Myth 266

V. Modern Myths 266

VI. Making Original Tree Myths 269

VII. Subjects for Original Tree Myths .... 271

VIII. Making More Myths 271

IX. Subjects for Original Flower Myths . . . 272

X. Subjects for Original Bird Myths . . . . 273

XL Subjects for Original Beast Myths .... 273

XII. Writing an Original Myth 274

XIII. How Great Writers Refer to Myths .... 274

XIV. Memorizing a Quotation 278

XV. The Truth of Fairy Tales 278

XVI. The Meaning in Fairy Tales 281

XVII. Memorizing and Writing a Quotation . . . 287

XVIII. A Story to Finish 287

XIX. Writing an Original Ending to a Story . . . 289

Chapter Twenty. Picture Stories

I. Making Stories from a Picture 290

II. Telling Stories from a Picture 294

III. More Picture Stories 294

IV. Still More Picture Stories . . . . . . 298

CONTENTS xv

Chapter Twenty-one. About Explanations And Reasons; Writing From Different Viewpoints; Letters

I. Studying an Explanation 300

II. Writing an Explanation 302

III. Testing Explanations 303

IV. Two Views of the Same Thing 303

V. Different Points of View 305

VI. Answering Criticisms 305

VII. Writing a Story 306

VIII. A Letter 306

IX. How to Do Things 306

X. Giving Reasons 307

XL Newspaper Headings 308

XII. One-Minute Stories 309

Chapter Twenty-two. Material For Supple- Mentary Work And Reviews

I. Stories for Study, Dictation, and Reproduction . 310

II. Stories to Finish . . . . + . . 312

III. Subjects for Other Stories . . . . . . 314

IV. Titles for Myths 314

V. Letters 315

VI. The Use of Capitals 323

VII. Uses of Punctuation Marks 324

VIII. The Parts of Speech . 326

ALDINE SECOND LANGUAGE BOOK

Chapter One Observing, Thinking, And Expressing Thought

ORALLY

I. TWO STORIES TO STUDY The Simple Traveler

A simple lad who had lived all his days in a little valley once made up his mind to see the world. With high hopes he set out on his travels. As he climbed the mountain north of the village, his friends and neighbors stood watching him, that they might wave a final good-by before he disappeared on the farther side. When the lad reached the top of the mountain, he turned and waved his cap to his friends ; then he set his face again towards the north.

Suddenly the youthful traveler stopped. He stared straight before him for a moment, then turned and ran leaping down the mountain towards the village. The wondering people hurried out to meet him. When he came within sound of their voices, they called to him : " Why have you returned ? " " Why did you go no farther ? "

" O friends ! " he gasped, " I had to come back.

A great piece of the blue sky has fallen and is lying in the valley beyond the mountain. I could not walk over the sky."

Then how the people laughed !

" Why do you laugh ? What I tell you is true," cried the boy, surprised and beginning to be angry.

" No, lad," answered an old man at last, " what you tell us is not true. What you saw was not a piece fallen from the sky ; it was only an image of the blue sky mirrored in the waters of the lake that lies at the foot of the mountain."

— A Swiss Legend

The Sailor's Story

A Greek sailor was once on board a fishing vessel that spent some hours cruising along the Pacific coast of the United States. From the ship he saw but few people — not more than three or four — on the shore. Two of these people chanced to be cripples. On his return to his own country he told his friends that there were very few people in the United States and that most of them were cripples.

Did the lad tell the truth about what he saw beyond the mountain ?

Did the sailor tell the truth about the people of the United States ?

Did either one mean to tell what was not true ?

TWO STORIES TO STUDY • 3

What was the matter in each case ?

Suppose the lad, instead of turning back and hurrying home to tell of the fallen sky, had gone on until he came to the edge of what he thought was sky. He might not have known the name lake, and he might still have had to return ; but he would then have been able to describe truly what it was that stopped his further travels.

Imagine yourself that boy. Go down the far side of the mountain to the lake ; find that you can go no farther ; learn all you can about the lake that stops you ; return to your home on the other side of the mountain ; and then describe to your friends what you saw, what you came upon that made you turn back. You might begin something like this :

As I began to descend the far side of the mountain, I saw something glistening in the sunshine away down in the valley. It spread out, smooth and level, from the foot of the mountain to the base of the mountains beyond. It was bright blue like the sky ; white clouds were floating in it.

Complete your description with the discoveries you make as you draw nearer to the water. Try to make your description as clear and beautiful as a mountain lake. Think it all out carefully so that you can give it in class.

If you can find any pictures of mountain lakes, study them and bring them to school.

II. TRYING TO DESCRIBE FAMILIAR THINGS — A CLASS EXERCISE

III. HOW TO DESCRIBE A THING WELL

Read again "The Sailor's Story" (p. 2).

Did the sailor tell the truth about the people of the United States?

About how many millions of people are there in the United States ?

How many did the sailor see ?

How many people do you think you have ever seen ?

How many cripples have you ever seen ?

Did the sailor tell the truth about the people of the United States as he saw them ?

If he had first traveled through the country, visiting the large cities, would he have said what he did about the number of people ? Would he have said what he did about cripples ?

Often people tell what is not true about

HOW TO DESCRIBE A THING WELL 5

people and things, misrepresent them, we say, not because they mean to give wrong ideas, but because they do not observe long and carefully enough before talking. Let us make up our minds right at the beginning of our work in this book not to make this mistake. Let us determine to find out about things before we try to describe them ; then what we say will be true.

We can find out about things in three ways : by observing — studying the things themselves, by asking questions of those who know, by reading.

You may think it very easy to avoid the mistake of the simple traveler and to describe something so exactly that every one can see the thing in his mind just as it is. Try it. Choose some object in the classroom. Think just how you will describe it when your teacher calls upon you. In making your description, remember that you are trying to make your hearers see the object just as it is ; so do not say something that will lead them merely to guess at it.

Suppose you were to say :

I carry something in my pocket that tells me the time.

Every one would guess that you mean a watch ; but you have not described the watch you mean. You can see in your mind the watch that is in your pocket ; but you have said nothing to make any one else see that particular watch. What you have said might be true of any watch.

But suppose you were to say :

I have something in my pocket that reminds me of a person. It has a white face and two golden hands. It must be very shy, for it always holds its hands before its face. Like some people, it is always talking, but its voice is very soft and low. The face is uncovered so that I can see it whenever I wish ; but the back is covered with silver. In the middle of the back are carved my initials. If once every day I turn a little screw on the top until it will turn no more, my little friend will see that I am always on time.

Now you have described your watch. From what you have said about it any one can see in his mind the particular watch that you carry in your pocket. One can see an open-faced, silver watch, with your initials cut on the back; a stem-winder, with white face and golden hands ; and one can hear, in imagination, its soft " ticktick." You have not only described your watch ; you have made your description interesting.

HOW TO DESCRIBE A THING WELL 7

Is your description complete ? Have you told everything about your watch ? No, you have told only a few things about it. You have said nothing about its size, shape, or thickness ; nothing about its general appearance, whether bright and new, or old and worn ; nothing about the surface of the case, whether smooth or chased ; and nothing about the inside of the watch. But you have probably told enough to distinguish your watch from any other, enough so that one could pick your watch out from a hundred watches that might be gathered together. Descriptions need not be complete ; they should be true and distinguishing.

Try to make the description of the object that you have chosen to describe true and distinguishing; that is, try to describe it so that one can see clearly in his mind the object you mean and pick it out from all others. Try, also, to make your description interesting.