Elementary lessons in everyday English

Preface

THIS is a practice book in elementary language. It is adapted to the child's abilities and to classroom requirements.

The three main objects of the book are : (i) to make correct language habits automatic ; (2) to develop the child's thinking power and to give him richer backgrounds of life ; and (3) to make, him enjoy his work in language by weaving it around the doing of real things — projects.

The book contains work for three years — two hundred lessons a year developed in twenty projects. Around the projects are woven the various exercises : thought-getting and observation, organization of ideas and outlining, conversation and formal talks, study of models, writing of letters and paragraph themes, critical exercises, technical matter, copying and dictation, dramatization, word study, and handwork. One formal talk and one pronunciation exercise are provided for each week during each year. While the pupils are guided toward a definite goal, yet provision is given for exercise of their own initiative.

The special features of the book are :

1. Sixty projects adapted for class work — each providing opportunity for "purposeful activity" on the part of the class.

2. The socialized recitation — club organization, class as audience, cooperative group work, program-periods, blackboard class outlines, and voting.

3. Training in thought- getting and organization — preventing failure by systematic development of ideas, organizing of ideas, oral expression in conversation and formal talks, and writing as the climax.

4. Supervised class work — much work in outlining, compositions, and letters built up in class, thus giving the concrete demonstration that the poorly equipped child needs.

iv PREFACE

5. Small units of assignment — sentence building as well as definite paragraph expression, focused and limited so as to be well within the grasp of the class.

6. Timely exercises — developed in such manner as to be opportune for classes entering either in September or in February.

7. The illustrative models, fresh material of everyday value — newspapers and magazines as well as literary selections.

8. The unique use of pictures for teaching purposes.

9. Community interests, a vital part of the work — Health Crusade, Protecting the Birds, Clean-up Week campaigns.

10. Americanism emphasized from cover to cover — in conversation, assignments, dramatizations.

The course is flexible. The teacher can follow the daily lessons, or, if she does not have language every day, she can select one of the two monthly projects, or portions of both, to suit her needs.

In preparing the book the author made an exhaustive study of recent investigations, surveys, and courses of study.

Margaret Sangster's "A Song for Our Flag" and the selections from Longfellow's ''Hiawatha," Whittier's "Snow- Bound," and Edna Dean Proctor's "Columbia's Emblem" are used by permission of and by special arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company, authorized publishers of the works of the authors named.

Thanks are due to P. F. Collier and Son, Incorporated, for anecdotes about Darwin and Lincoln from Patten's "Among the Humorists."

The selections from "Fairy Stories and Fables," "How the World Is Housed," "Peter and Polly," "Some Animal Fables," "Some Useful Animals," "Stories of Great Americans," "Stories the Iroquois Tell Their Children," and "The Story of the Forest" are reprinted from copyright books published by the American Book Company.

PROJECTS

Part One, Getting Ideas

I. USING THE EYES September (or February)

_ , . PAGE

Project I : Making a Language Poster . , i

Project 2 : Making a Little

Dictionary 8

October (or March) Project 3 : Making a Program 13

Project 4 : Making up a Story for a Second-Grade Class 20

November (or April) Project 5 : Challenging Another Class to a

Paper Chase 24

Project 6 : Making a Program 30

H. LISTENING December (or May) Project 7 : Doing Something

for Somebody 35

Project 8 : Making Gift Postals 40

January (or June) Project 9 : Making a Property Pledge 44

Project 10 : Going on a Visit to the Library 50

HI. USING THE TONGUE February (or September) Project 11 : Making a Case

for Written Work 56

Project 12 : Making a Play of

a Story 60

March (or October) Project 13 : Visiting Something in Your Locality 66

Project 14 : Choosing a Class

Mascot 71

April (or November) Project 15 :" Holding a Clean-up Campaign 76

Project 16 : Making the

School Yard Attractive to Birds ....81

IV. WRITING May (or December) Project 17 : Making a Class

Magazine 86

Project 18 : Presenting a Pageant 91

June (or January) Project 19 : Making a Booklet for a First-Grade

Class 96

Project 20 : Going on a Class

Picnic 100

PROJECTS PART TWO. GIVING IDEAS

V. FINDING OUT THINGS FOR YOURSELF

September (or February)

Project 21 : Making Class

Posters 105

Project 22 : Writing a Story

for the Second Grade ..in

October (or March)

Project 23 : Having a Tree

Party 116

Project 24 : Advertising for

Classroom Helpers .120

November (or April)

Project 25 : Holding a " Good

English Drive " 125

Project 26 : Making a Class

Resolution 129

VI. LISTENING ACCU- RATELY December (or May)

Project 27 : Making Gifts for

a Gift Shop 134

Project 28 : Giving a Party for

Parents 139

January (or June)

Project 29 : Forming a Class

Library Club 144

Project 30 : Making an Animal Day Program .150

Vn. TELLING SO THAT

OTHERS LIKE TO LISTEN

February (or September)

Project 31 : Choosing a National Emblem 156

Project 32 : Presenting a National Pageant 161

March (or October)

Project 33 : Planning a Gar- '

den 167

Project 34 : Making a Story

for a Program 1 73

April (or November)

Project 35 : Forming a Clean-up Club 178

Project 36 : Making a Visit to a

Park 183

VHI. WRITING SO THAT

OTHERS LIXE TO READ

May (or December)

Project 37 : Making a Bird

Booklet 188

Project 38 : Acting a Play on

a Program 194

June (or January)

Project 39 : Arranging a Flag

Day Program 200

Project 40 : Class Field Day

(or Indoor Meet) . . . 205

PROJECTS

Part Three. The Art Of Speaking And Writing Well

IX. TELLING WHAT (Stories and Descriptions) September (or February) % Project 41 : Forming a Better

Speech Club 211

Project 42 : Writing a Book about America.

Chapter 1. A Day in America 219 October (or March) Project 43 : Starting a Health

Crusade 224

Project 44 : Writing about

America. Chap. 2.

Our Greatest Tree. . .229

November (or ApriC) Project 45 : Holding a " Good

Speech Drive " 235

Project 46: Writing about

America. Chap. 3.

An Adventure 241

December (or May) Project 47 : Making a Joke

Book 246

Project 48: Writing about

America. Chap. 4.

An American Animal. 253

January (or June) Project 49 : Planning a House. .258 Project 50: Writing about

America. Chap. 5.

An American House . . 263

X. TELLING HOW (Explana-

tions) February (or September) Project 51 : A " Boom Your

State " Campaign. . . 269 Project 52 : Writing about America. Chapter 6. American Weather 276

March (or October) Project 53: Protecting the

Birds 283

Project 54: Getting Acquainted with the Post Office 289

April (or November) Project 55 : Crusade against

Destructive Foes 297

Project 56 : Taking a Class

Walk 303

XI. TELLING WHY (Reasons)

May (or December) Project 57 : Making a Program for Mothers. . .307 Project 58 : Choosing a National Hero for the Class 313

June (or January) Project 59 : Making a Scout

Poster . 318

Project 60 : Making an Americanism Program .... 324

PART ONE. GETTING IDEAS Project i

PAGE

Game — use of saw and heard 5

Titles of poems and stories 5

Definition of stanza 5

Capitals in poetry 5

Capitals for names of God 5

Definition of sentence 7

Alphabetical arrangement 8

Punctuation of sentence 9, 10

Period with a statement 10

Question mark, questions 10

Definition of paragraph 10

Indention 10

Capitals in titles 10

Position of 7 14

The outline (model) 14, 15

Game — use of there is and

there are 16

Margin 16

Form of a play (model) 17

Hyphen 22

Exclamation mark 23

PAGE

Quotation marks 2;^

Capital with quotations 23

Game — use of were 26

Parts of friendly letter 28

Models of friendly letters 28, 29

Capitals — persons, places, days,

months, holidays 32

Game — use of isn't 32

Alphabetical arrangement 33

Sentence match 34

Punctuation in letter 36

Capitals in letter 36

Good form in speaking 37

Using the right order 38

Capital for 1 40

Words formed with less 40

Words that stand for other

words 41

Addressing envelopes (model) ... 43

Abbreviations, period 43

Capital with title of person 43

IX

PAGE

How to make a promise 46

Use of / will and we will 46

Topics and subtopics in outlines 47

Project io

Abbreviations and initials,

period 52

Sentence match — go, come, do, freeze, ring, sing, swing, buy ... £2

Friendly letter (model) 53

Addressing envelopes 53

Models of letters and envelopes 53, 54

Connectives — and, but, yet, though 54

Project ii

Game — use of doesn't 58

Model of composition 59

Making a play (model) 60

Commas with names of address. .65

Apostrophe with singular

possessives 67

" Key words " in outlines 68

Game — forms of see 69

Subject of sentence 71

Definition of description 72

Rearranging notes 73

Forming words with un 75

PAGE

Game — use of this and that 78

Commas, short quotations 79

.81

Sentence match — give, sit,

bite, tear, teach, take 82

Contractions, apostrophe 85

Capitals in personification 87

Game — use of did 88

Correct usage — this, that ; sit, set ;

which, who, whom ; much, may . . 88 Derivation 89

Arranging a play (model) ... .91, 95 Acting a pantomime 94

Use of the dictionary 96

Plural possessives 96

Homonyms 97

Correct usage — to, two, too 97

Sentence match — speak,

shake, burst, rise, lend, blow .... 98 Game — it was 1 99

Sentence match — begin, lie,

shine, droivn 101

Commas with yes and no 102

Correct usage — at, to ; learn, teach; well, good 102