mm _B 1573 .S7 Dopy 1 Teachers' Manual To Accompany Easy Road to Reading worn CHICAGO CAKNAHAH MEW YORK Glass Book - On . Copyright^? / COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT TEACHERS' MANUAL To Accompany Easy Road to Reading BY CARRIE J. SMITH Fort Atkinson/* Wis. AND ELLA D. HOWE ■ Primary Teacher, Columbus, Ohio Lyons and Carnahan Chicago New York Copyright 1914 Lyons & Carnahan '+*- ro MAY 17 1915 ©CI. A 401158 4v*> h PREFACE The Easy Road to Reading Primer and First Reader are for the child. Every word on every page is for the child to read. Suggestions for seat work, phonic drill, and other material intended for the teacher are entirely eliminated from the child's book and placed in this Manual, which is the teacher's book. The method by which learning to read is made easy to the child is itself simple and easy of application. The authors have not felt that formal, learned discussions of abstruse pedagogical theories would be of great assist- ance to the teacher in her effort to secure practical results in teaching the daily lessons. They have therefore con- tented themselves with a brief, informal explanation of the general principles underlying the method, followed at once by detailed suggestions for each of the lessons. These suggestions are definite in character. The authors have not suggested pedagogical truths in a broad, vague manner, leaving the application of them largely to the teacher, but have given, in connection with each lesson, material ample to insure effective results. The teacher may enlarge on the suggestions given or vary them. Chapter VI of the Manual is devoted to a systematic development of phonics. The phonic scheme is a related part of the general plan of the book, and is outlined lesson by lesson. The use of perception cards is provided for in the outline of the lessons which constitutes the first part of the Manual. These cards can be secured from the publishers. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Beading from the Blackboard The Beginner's Work in Reading The Teacher's Task .... Written Forms The Thought The Written and Dramatized Expression Oral Expression ..... The Lessons in Detail .... (Pages 7 to 21 of the Primer.) Drill Devices Review Sentences II. Transition from Script to Print From Board to Book . Perception Cards .... Card Drill PAGE 7-10 7 7 8 8 9 10 11-19 20-24 24-25 26-28 26 27 27 III. Lesson Stories (Pages 22 to 66 of the Primer.) General Review Sentences IY. V. VI. Connected Stories . (Pages 68 to end of Primer.) Dramatization . . . . . Value of Dramatization Detailed Suggestions (for the Primer) Phonics The Aim of Phonic Work Time for Beginning Phonic Work Preparatory Phonic Games . A Method of Teaching the Sounds The First Sounds Taught . Phonic Drills 29-45 46-53 54-59 60-71 60 60 72-101 72 72 73-75 75 75 76-78 6 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Phonetic Lessons 78-79 Drill Charts . . 79-87 (Detailed Suggestions for Pages 11 to 57 of the Primer.) The Sounds of the Vowels 87 Some Phonic Eules 88-89 Learning the Names of the Letters .... 90 Phonic Summary . . . . . . . . 90 Families 91 First Eeader Phonics 91-97 Second Eeader Phonics 97 Prevalence of Long and Short Vowel Sounds . . 97 Occasional Vowel Sounds 98 Suggestive Lesson for Teaching the Macron and the Breve 98-99 A Type-Lesson for Teaching the Occasional Sounds . 100 Suggestive Lists for the Other Sounds . . . 101 Word Building 101 VII. Seat Work 102-105 (Correlated with Eeading.) Seat Work 105-107 (Correlated with Color and Form Work.) Seat Work 107-110 (Correlated with Numbers.) Use of Words Printed on Cards 109 VIII. Additional Suggestions on How to Use the Action Words, Ehymes, and Pictures .... 111-114 Action Words Ill The Ehyme 112-114 The Picture . .. 114 CHAPTER I READING FROM THE BLACKBOARD The Beginner's Work in Reading The main purpose of the beginning work in reading is to establish in the child's mind the connection between some of the words in his spoken vocabulary and their written and printed forms. By one means and another, by varied devices and thorough drill, the child must be made so familiar with the written and printed symbols that when he sees either script or print he shall instantly think the word and give it utterance or translate it into action, whichever the judgment of the teacher requires. This he must be able to do both when he sees the word singly and when combined with other familiar words in easy sentences. Any appreciable hesitation in this rec- ognition is a certain indication that more drill is required. The Teacher's Task The teacher who constantly keeps in mind this object- ive (the ready recognition on the part of the child of all words taught), who rigidly holds herself to the adminis- tration of varied and effective drill, who refuses to yield to the temptation that besets so many, to wit, to pass to new lessons before the old are thoroughly mastered, — the teacher who has strength of mind and purpose to do this may easily spell success in teaching beginners to 8 EASY ROAD TO READING read. The one who accepts as satisfactory the word spoken not at once, but after slow, painful struggles, will never teach reading, even though she goes through the motions for years. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that recognition of the words at sight is the sine qua non of successful work in learning to read. If this thought is repeated many times in this Manual it is because it is of such primal importance. Written Forms The teaching of the recognition of written forms usually precedes that of printed forms. The reason for this is not far to seek. Nothing can equal the teaching effectiveness of the live teacher and, the blackboard. The crayon that talks and the teacher who makes the crayon talk are two factors unequaled in potency in aiding the child in acquiring a vocabulary of written forms. Most teachers give from twenty to thirty lessons in reading from the blackboard before placing the Primer in the hands of the child. In these blackboard lessons, the order of procedure is as follows : 1. Awaken the idea or thought in the mind of the child. 2. Get the spoken word or sentence. 3. Present the written form. 4. Require the oral (or dramatized) expression of the word or sentence. The Thought It is absolutely necessary to pleasing, expressive oral reading that the thought be in the mind of the reader. In this beginning work, this thought may be awakened by various means. A story may be told, a picture shown, questions may be asked, the actions performed or sug- BEADING FEOM THE BLACKBOARD 9 gested or objects presented, depending upon the nature of the thought to be awakened. This may be illustrated from page 7 of the Primer. We wish to teach the word come. Teacher. We are going to play a new game. I am sure it is new to you, because whenever I hear children playing they always talk, sometimes all at once. But in the first part of this game, none of you will talk; and neither will I, except to get you started. (This preliminary talk may be elaborated at the pleasure of the teacher.) Now I am going to play that I cannot talk and I want to see who will be the first to know what I want you to do without my saying a word. (Teacher gets every eye focused on herself, then beckons with the hand, looking at one child, the least timid. She does this to each one, in silence, until all the class have gathered about her.) You may all go back to your places. (Teacher again beckons one child.) Now w^e can all talk. Mary, tell me in one word what my hand told you to do. (Beckons another child.) Tell me what my hand told you to do. (This should be repeated until each child has said "Come" in response to the awakened thought.) the Written and Dramatized Expression Teachee. Now I am going to make my hand and the chalk say just what my hand alone said to you. (Writes the word Come on the board.) 10 EASY ROAD TO READING Mary, do what the chalk says. (Writes the word again.) John, do what the chalk says. (Repeats for each child.) It is important that the word be written in various places on the board and in different sizes so that the chil- dren shall not regard any particular place or size as an essential of the written form. Oral Expression (The teacher writes the word Come upon the board.) James, what does the chalk say? (Writes the word again.) What does the chalk say, Henry ? (Repeats for each child, using colored crayons to secure variety.) Caution Self-activity on the part of the pupil is an essential to thorough work. This means that each child must be made to think the word for himself before he utters it, not echo what another has said. Mere parrot-like repetition of another's words will never teach a child to read, although it may teach him to call at sight a certain number of words. Growth is a result of the activity of the child's own mind; it comes from within, not without. The teacher of primary reading cannot repeat this fact to herself too often, for if she does not keep it in mind as a guiding principle her house will be built upon the sand. THE LESSONS IN DETAIL 11 THE LESSONS IN DETAIL Page 7, Primer First teach the word come as described in the fore- going. Go Teacher. Jack went out with some other little boys to play ball. After they had played for some time and some were rather tired of the game, Jack said, 6 ' I know what would be fun. Do you see that big tree over yonder? Let's run a race and see who will touch it first. All stand in line and I will be the starter. ' ■ So all the boys stood in line to start. When they were all ready, Jack said, ' i One, two, three," — "Who knows the last word he said? (Let a child supply the word.) Have two of the class walk a race to the window or table, another child starting them by supplying the last word after the teacher says, ' ' One, two, three — ' ' Have two others walk a race, the teacher saying ' ' One, two, three, " then writing the word Go on the board to start them. After drilling thoroughly on the ready recognition of the written form of the word go, review come, until both words are perfectly familiar. And Show the picture on page 7 of the Primer. Teacher. The little girl with the red bow in her haii lives in the white house at the foot of the hill. One daj 12 EASY ROAD TO READING she met one of her little friends on the top of the hill. She wanted her playmate to go with her to play. She asked her over and over again. Finally she took hold of her hand and said, pointing to her home, ' ' Come and go ! ' ' "Come and go!" Then her playmate said she would go, and they ran merrily down the hill. Write on the board (in different places) what the little girl said and have each child read it in turn, until all recognize it. Then ask one child to find come, another go, another and. Then write and by itself and call on child to give it and drill on this word until all are familiar with it. Page 8, Primer The three action words in this lesson are easily intro- duced by means of a story. Jump Teacher. Once there was a little boy who had a dog named Eover. The little boy had taught Eover to do many tricks. He would throw a ball as far as he could. Then Eover would run after it and bring it back. Eover would roll over, stand in the corner on his hind legs, and do many other funny things. But Eover liked best of all to jump over a stick which the little boy held out. Many times a day when they were playing together, the little boy would find a stick, hold it out straight in front of him, and say to Eover, "....!" (Let a child supply the one word.) Over Eover would go, happy as he could be. Then the boy would raise the stick a little higher, and say again to THE LESSONS IN DETAIL 13 Eover, " . . . . !" Eover thought this great fun. Some- times the little boy would simply hold his arm out and say to Eover, " . . . . !" and over the dog would go. It is to be assumed without further statement that after the thought is awakened in the child's mind, the written form will be placed on the blackboard and drill and review will follow in every case. Run Sometimes the boy and Eover would run a race. Eover would never run until his master told him to do so. They would get ready, Eover watching his master very closely, and when he said, "....!" (child supply the word), off they would start. Hop John, you may stand on one foot. Come to me. How can you come to me without putting down your other foot? (Child answers.) Page 9, Primer Teacher. John, you may jump. Who jumped? (Child answers.) Mary may run. Mary, who ran? (Child answers.) Henry, come here. Who came, Henry? (Child answers.) Jack, you may hop. Who hopped, Jack? (Child answers.) The teacher then writes I on the board and asks the children to read it. After this word is familiar, review it with come, go, and, run, jump, hop. U EASY ROAD TO READING Page 10, Primer We Teacher. Two little girls went out to play. They ran to an old apple tree which grew near. Their mother called after them, i ' What are you going to do ? " " Play keeping house/' they answered. "Who will build your house ? ' ' she asked. i ' We will, ' ' said the girls. ' ' Who ? ' ' she called again. "....," they answered back. After they were tired of playing house, they got a rope and began to jump. One swung the rope and both jumped. A boy came along and called out to them, "Who can jump?" They were almost out of breath, but both called out, " " Write the word we on the board and drill upon it. Skip Teacher. One day the girls went for a walk in the woods. As they were walking along, talking about their dolls and the new dresses they were going to make for them, they heard a little noise in a bush near by. They stopped and listened. They heard nothing more and were going on again when right in front of them ran a little gray rabbit. Before they could say a word, up the path he ran with a hop and a skip and a jump. Mary may hop as the rabbit did. John may skip. Henry may jump. James may go across the room with a hop, skip, and a jump. John may do what the chalk says. (Writes jump.) James, what can John do ? Mary may do what the chalk says, (Writes skip.) John, what can Mary do? THE LESSONS IN DETAIL 15 Play Suggested Questions : What do children like to do best of all? What do you do at recess? What do you do after school when all your work is done? What do you do with your dolls? Your dog? Your kitten? Your brothers and sisters? It may be that the first question will not bring the word play in response. If not, tell the pupils to guess again. When the right word is given, emphasize it by asking other questions that will bring the same word, being careful to make each child think the word, not merely echo it. Page 12, Primer To me It is best to introduce the word to (or any other prepo- sition) in a sentence. The thought may be awakened by a process similar to the following : (The teacher places one member of the class at some distance from her.) Teachek: "Jane, if you want me to come to you, how can you tell me without saying a word?" Jane beckons. (If the first child called upon cannot do this, try others, until one is found who can do it.) Teacher : ' i Jane, what did you say to me with your hand? Mary, what did Jane say to me with her hand?" (After each one gives the sentence Come to me, it should be writ- ten on the board and read or acted each time.) 16 EASY ROAD TO READING After the sentence Come to me has been spoken many times and has been read from the blackboard until all recognize it at sight, both by action and by reading, quick, snappy drill should be given in recognition of to and me singly, then combined with run, jump, hop, and other known words. Pages 13, 14, and 15 are review pages. Page 16, Primer To-day Like The new words in this lesson are introduced by means of a rhyme. The rhyme may be taught through a story similar to the following: One day in spring when the sky was blue and the sun was shining bright, little James asked his mamma to let him put on his Indian suit. As the air was warm she told him he could. How fine he looked, with the bright red feathers on his head! As he ran out-of-doors he called to his sister Mary, "Come and hop And jump to-day." She ran about with him in the bright sunshine, happy to be out-of-doors. Across the street they saw little John, a neighbor's boy. They hopped and jumped along, call- ing out to him, "Come and hop And jump to-day, We like to run And skip and play." THE LESSONS IN DETAIL 17 He took hold of Mary's hand and all three hopped and skipped along singing, "Come and hop And jump to-day, We like to run And skip and play." After the rhyme has been written on the board and fixed thoroughly by much repetition, the new words to-day and like may be singled out for special drill, thus : to-day Teacher : When does James want Mary to come and hop and jump? (Child answers.) Charles, find to-day on the board. (The teacher writes the word in another place.) What is this word? Find to-day in two places. (The teacher writes Jump to-day and asks a child to read it; writes We play to-day, and asks a child to find play, jump, and to-day ; asks another child to find to-day in three places; and so on.) like Teacher: What do James and Mary like to do? What do you (pointing) and you (pointing) and you like to do? The teacher writes on the board the sentence: We like to play, (or run, or hop). She then erases like, leaving: We to play. John, what word have I left out ? (The child answers. The teacher writes the word like by itself and calls on some pupil to give the word. She then writes the sentence 18 EASY ROAD TO READING I like to jump, and calls on one pupil to read it, another to point to the word like, the word jump, the word to, and so forth.) Pages 17, 18, and 19 are review pages. Page 20, Primer Boys Girls Want This rhyme may be taught in a manner similar to that used in the development of page 16. Children never tire of instruction in story form, so the teacher need not fear that she will overwork this device. The following story is suggested: One day when it was raining, a little girl named Mary was playing with her dolls. She had been so busy dress- ing and undressing them that she did not notice that the sun had come out and had dried up all the little pools of water, until she heard a sound of many voices shouting outside. She jumped up and ran to the window. There were two little boys and two little girls dancing around in a circle singing, "Boys and girls Come and play, We want to hop And jump to-day." Mary did not wait even to put on her hat, but ran out and joined the happy circle, and at once she, too, began singing, "Boys and girls Come and play, We want to hop And jump to-day." THE LESSONS IN DETAIL 19 Then they all joined hands in a straight line and hopped and skipped down to the next house where two little boys and a girl lived, and all sang out, "Boys and girls Come and play, We want to hop And jump to-day." This mav- be continued until all are familiar with the rhyme. The written form on the board, and the reading, follow. The individual words boys and girls may be taught by asking a boy to read the first line, then asking him to draw a line under the word boys, and a girl to draw a line under the word girls. Then drill on the words separately and together by varied devices. Want may be taught in a manner similar to the word like on page 16. The method of teaching by the use of the rhymes is further discussed in Chapter VIII. The child is now familiar with the written forms of seventeen words : Come, me, run, jump, hop, I, skip, like, we, play, to, to-day, boys, girls, want, and, and go. If the teacher desires to take up a few more before putting the Primer in the hands of the child, there is no objection, but it is not necessary. It is to be assumed that the forms of these words have been thoroughly fixed in mind by varied devices in drilling upon separate words and by combining the words in all possible ways. 20 EASY KOAD TO READING DRILL DEVICES For review of words, a few devices are here sug- gested. The resourceful teacher will think of many more equally good or better. The best device is the one which utilizes the child's present interest as far as possible, is simple enough to admit of rapid execution, and does not detract from the real work, which is the ready recogni- tion of words. \u me to want like go come MJ "V "^ me \ k come \ \ to \ S \ like \ \ \ \ go Ladder. Draw a picture of a ladder with six rungs. Write the words come, to, want, like, go, me, one word on each rung. Call upon the pupils to go up and down the ladder quickly without making mistakes. (Diagrams which can be drawn quickly are best for this work. For the ladder, for instance, only eight lines are necessary, — one for each side of the ladder and one for each rung.) Stairway. Draw a picture of a stairway or a skeleton side view suggesting a stairway with five steps. Write the words me, come, to, like, go, one word on each step. Call upon the pupils to go up and down the stairs without stumbling. Clock. Draw a large circle on the blackboard. Around the circum- ference write boys, girls, go, play, run, jump, hop, skip, come, I, me, we, writing these 12 words in the positions that would ordinarily be DRILL DEVICES 21 occupied by the 12 numerals on the clock face. Draw two clock hands, one pointing to boys and the other to play and call upon some pupil to ^^boys«^ we girls me 1 go come run skip jupip tell what the clock says. Erase the hands and draw them in again pointing to two other words. Continue this until all the words have been drilled upon. Toboggan slide. Draw a picture of a tobog- gan slide with several children sliding upon it. Give the children names of words that the pupils should know and call upon the pupils to COine read the names. Marbles. Sketch a number of marbles on the board, naming them ive, run, go, I, come, me, like, etc. we run g° me like me' come jump ru £Ux, Apple tree. Draw a picture of an apple tree bearing six or eight 22 EASY ROAD TO READING apples, naming the apples like, we, want, come, go, and other words that the pupils know. Christmas tree. This device is similar io that of the apple tree, but various kinds of presents appear upon it instead of apples, each present bearing the name of a different word such as jump, I, run, hop, go. Footballs. Footballs are quickly and easily drawn. Draw a number of footballs, writing a word on each one of them, and use the device in any manner that seems desirable. The footballs are probably better than marbles, because in case of footballs they can be made large enough so that the word can be written right upon the ball in each case. Building a fort. Build a fort, one stone at a time, each stone being an oblong with a word written in it. There could be four stones on the bottom named go, want, jump, and hop; three above them named come, run, and skip; above them two stones named me and like; and on the very top a single stone named to, the whole being built pyramid style. Flags. Draw a number of flags on the board quickly. Above each write one word. Jack o' lanterns. These are used the same as the drums and the footballs. This device is good because the Jack o' lanterns can be drawn quickly and appeal to the children. Name them play, run, come, skip, and jump. DEILL DEVICES 23 Autumn leaves. Draw a number of leaves, coloring each one of them differently. Then name the leaves. Call upon the children to give play want like the name of the red leaf, the blue leaf, the green leaf, the white leaf, and so on. Drums. See comments above on footballs. run Tag, prisoner's goal, or pussy wants a corner. Draw a num- ber of trees and posts on the board. Beside each post or tree draw in 24 EASY ROAD TO READING the picture of a child. Give the children such names as come, go, run, skip, and have the children play a game with them, using your ingenuity to bring out the words. Fishing. This is a very good device. Draw a picture of a child sitting on the bank of a stream with a fishing line. In the water are the fish, each fish with a different name. Have as many fish as there are words now in the child's vocabulary and let this lesson be a general review of the entire vocabulary. REVIEW SENTENCES After page 8. Come and jump. Come and hop. Jump and run. Go and jump. Run. After page 9. I run and hop. I come and jump. Jump and hop. After page 10. I skip and hop. We come and jump. Skip and hop. We come and skip: I come and hop. I run and jump. I jump and hop. I come and skip. Hop and skip. Skip and jump. Come and skip and jump. REVIEW SENTENCES 25 After page 11. Come and play. I jump and play. I run and jump and play. Play and run and jump. After page 12. Hop, skip, and jump to me. Run to me and jump. After page 16. Run and jump to-day. We like to play. We like to skip and jump. We hop and skip to-day. I like to run. After page 20. Boys, come to me. Girls, come to me. Boys, go. Girls, go. Boys, come and play. Girls, run and play. Boys want to play to-day. I want to run and play. We jump and run to-day. Boys, come and play. Go and jump. We run and skip. We run and play. Hop to me and skip. Come to me and jump. We like to hop. Hop and skip to me. I like to run to-day. Come and run to-day. Girls, go and play. I want to go and play. We want to skip and jump to-day. I like to jump. Boys like to run and play. Girls like to jump. Boys want to run. We like to skip and jump. CHAPTEE II TRANSITION FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT After the mastery of the written forms of from fifteen to twenty-five words, the child is ready to read from the book. The transition from script to print is not difficult, especially if the teacher's board hand be upright and round. It is neither advisable nor necessary for the teacher to place printed forms upon the board, for even with much practice she acquires little facility in making these forms. The process is necessarily slow and labored and the resulting forms usually far from satisfactory. Added to this is the disadvantage that comes from the loss of concentrated attention on the part of the class. Neither is it desirable to have chil- dren learn to print, for it is an accomplishment of little or no value. The time and energy necessary to acquire it might be better devoted to learning to write, fully as easy an art to learn and of much greater permanent value. Prom Board to Book "Write the word Come on the board. Have a child read it. Show a card with this word printed on it. Place it next to tbe written form on the board. Come j&?ne &0: Ask some child to read the word on the card. Ask another to find the same word on page 7 of the Primer; 26 TRANSITION FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT 27 another to find come in another place, and so on. Then point to the word in the book and ask a child what it is. Perception Cards These cards are made of strong manila paper. Their size permits the use of a large, bold-faced type that can be easily read. The word is printed on one side begin- ning with a small letter and on the other with a capital. Card Drill After the class knows a few words, even three or four, the cards furnish effective drill in sight recognition. The resourceful teacher will think of various ways in which they may be used, so that the drill need not become monotonous and mechanical. It may be well to repeat here that drill that is merely parrot-like repetition has no value in fixing a vocabulary. To be effective it must always be accompanied by intelligence on the child's part — he must think the word, that is, really recognize it, or it does not become a part of his vocabulary. Mere lip repetition will accomplish little. Suggestive Drills. 1. A quick glance at the card and instant recognition. 2. Card shown. Pupils give word in concert. 3. "Card shown. One child called on to give the word after the card is shown, not before. Note. To hold the attention of the whole class, no name should be called until the question is asked or requirement made; when all expect to be called upon, all will pay attention. If the teacher focuses on one by calling' the name first, the others know they have nothing to do and they are therefore likely to be inattentive. 28 EASY EOAD TO READING 4. One child acts as teacher. (This presupposes that the teacher has previously selected the cards for drill.) 5. Cards making a sentence are given to the neces- sary number of children, care being taken to have the capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and to call for the words in their proper order. The children stand in front of the class with their cards behind them. At a given signal they hold their cards in front of them. Class read in concert or one child reads. 6. One child is given more than one card and asked to find a certain word. The group of cards is then passed to another child, who is asked for another word; and so on. 7. A word is written on the board and a child is asked to find it in a group of three or more cards and then read it. 8. A card is shown, and class is instructed to find the word on a designated page of the book. 9. The class "spells down" with the cards. Pupils "race" with each other to see who can read the words on a group of cards in the shortest time, the teacher keep- ing time. CHAPTER III LESSON STORIES After the book has been placed in the hands of the child, the order of lesson development is the same as with the blackboard reading, with two additional steps: 1. Awakening of the idea (single word) or thought (sentence). 2. Oral or dramatized expression of the idea or thought. 3. Written form. 4. Oral or dramatized expression. 5. Printed form. 6. Oral or dramatized expression of the printed form. The following directions for awakening the thought are merely suggestive. The teacher will have to be guided by her judgment as to when it is best to use the story, when the question or object or picture. Page 22, Primer It was recess time. Just as the children were going out of the door the teacher said to them, "Girls and boys, Run and play;" and the children were only too glad to do as they were told. All were having a good time, especially two little boys" who were jumping and skipping near the school- yard gate. Two of the little girls saw them and called out, "We want to skip with you to-day." 29 30 EASY ROAD TO READING The boys said, "All right. Come on!" and then the four began skipping about, all as happy as could be. Other boys and girls came out, for they remembered that the teacher had said, "Boys and girls, Run and play;" and as they saw the four skipping they called, "We want to skip With you to-day." Suggestions : Page 23 is a review. See also page 10 in review. Suggestions for Drill Ehymes are an easy and pleasing way to teach new words to children, but they have one disadvantage, in that each line is not a complete sentence and therefore the child may get a wrong notion about the use of capi- tals. To counteract this, write each sentence on the board in one line (after the rhyme has been fixed in mind) : Boys and girls, run and play. We want to skip with you to-day. and drill on the reading of them. Page 24, Primer One Friday night when Jack's papa came home from the city he brought Jack a new football. Jack was so anxious to play with it that he could hardly wait to be dressed in the morning. As soon as he had his breakfast, he rushed out and began kicking the ball and throwing it as high as he could. But he soon tired of playing alone, even with such a fine ball, so he took it under his arm and LESSON STORIES 31 ran down the street to find another boy. As he ran along whistling he saw a boy leaning over a fence and looking rather cross. Jack called out to him, "Can you come? Can you play? Can you run away to-day?" Instantly the boy's face brightened and he answered back, "I can come, I can play, I can run away to-day." Then the two little boys ran on down the street until they found another boy. They called out to him, "Can you come? Can you play? Can you run away to-day?" and he answered, "I can come, I can play, I can run away to-day." Page 25 is a review. Page 26, Primer Jack had a little brother four years old whose name was Tom. "When the warm, bright days of summer came, Tom would go out under the trees and play. Sometimes he took his dog Eover with him. Sometimes he took kitty and watched her play with a ball. But more often he took both Eover and kitty, and such a good time as 32 EASY KOAD TO BEADING they had! When Tom got tired of running about he would sit down on the grass and say, "Rover and kitty Can run to-day, They like to jump And run and play." Sometimes when Jack came home from school he would find Tom still playing under the tree. Then Tom would call out to him, "Rover and kitty Can run to-day, They like to jump And run and play." Sentences foe Drill Rover and kitty can run to-day. They like to jump and run and play. Page 27, Primer Suggestive Questions What can Eover do ? What else can he do ? • What two things can he do ? (Ask the same questions about kitty.) Pages 28 and 29 are review pages. Page 30, Primer Tom's house was on a hill. Just to one side of it was a smooth place where Tom often took his kitten to play. One day his mamma tied a small piece of wood on a string and Tom had great fun dragging it along on the ground for the kitten to chase, then suddenly jerking it up in the LESSON STOEIES 33 air. What a jump kitty would make to get it ! To every- one who passed by Tom would cry, "See my kitty jump to-day, My little kitty likes to play." Page 31 is a review. Page 32, Primer How little boys do hate to have it rain ! They forget how much good the rain may do and just think how much they want to go out and play. Jack and Tom had been on the porch a long time watching the water come down, not patter, patter, patter, but pour, pour, pour ! Finally Jack got tired of it and said, rather crossly, I fear, "Rain, rain, go away, Come again some other day, Boys and girls want to play." Then little Tom thought he would say the same thing, and then perhaps the rain would go away. So he looked out at the rain and said, "Rain, rain, go away, Come again some other day, Boys and girls want to play." They said it many times, first Jack and then Tom, but it kept on raining for some time. At last the boys began to play something and forgot all about the rain, until Jack happened to look up and saw the sun peeping out. He rushed to the door and said, "Rain, rain, go away, Come again some other day, Boys and girls want to play." 34 EASY KOAD TO BEADING And this time the rain did go away, and he and Tom went out to play. Page 33 is a review. Page 34, Primer The picture on this page tells us what is happening. What has come again to-day? Even the boys do not want to play out-of-doors to-day. When they reach the school house, they say to the teacher, "May we come in?" What does the teacher say to them? What does she say to the girls also? Page 35 is a review. Page 36, Primer (Let the children supply the word sing to complete each sentence.) The first thing we do when we open school is to The little birds in the trees like to In some of the games we play at recess we go around in a circle and When we are happy we like to Page 37 is a review. Page 38, Primer Once upon a time not so very long ago, little Mary wrapped her doll up nice and warm, put her in the doll cart and started out for a walk down the road in front of her home. It was early in the spring, so the grass was not yet very green ; but the sun was shining bright and warm. All at once Mary saw a little bird right near her and she stopped and kept, Oh, so quiet, for fear she would scare it away. The little bird would hop a little way, LESSON STOEIES 35 then turn his head to one side and look at Mary. Very softly she said to the little thing, "Little bird, little bird, Will you hop, hop, hop? Little bird, little bird, Will you stop, stop, stop*?" It really seemed as if the bird heard what Mary said, for it would hop and then stop, hop and then stop, until it was quite close to her. Then she said again, still more softly, "Little bird, little bird, Will you hop, hop, hop? Little bird, little bird. Will you stop, stop, stop?" Mary was so afraid she would scare the little bird that she hardly dared to breathe, vet once more she said, almost in a whisper, it was so near, "Little bird, little bird, Will you hop, hop, hop? Little bird, little bird. Will you stop, stop, stop?" Just as she thought the bird was coming up quite close to her, a little noise frightened it and away it flew. Mary called once more, "Little bird, little bird, Will you hop, hop, hop? Little bird, little bird, Will you stop, stop, stop?" But this time the little bird did not hear her. Sentences fok Drill Little bird, little bird, will you hop, hop, hop? Little bird, little bird, will you stop, stop, stop ? 36 EASY EOAD TO BEADING Page 39 is a review. Page 40, Primer Once there was a little boy named Jack who had a little sister named Jill. They lived in a white house at the foot of a high hill. One day Jack was playing on the top of this hill when he saw two birds flying near. They seemed to be chasing each other in the sky; first one would fly near and then the other would circle around over his head as if to keep the first one away. Just for fun, he named one of them Jack for himself, and the other one Jill, for his sister. Then he watched to see if he could tell which was Jack and which was Jill. Once they flew so near him that he did not quite like it. So he waved his arms and cried, "Fly away, Jack, Fly away, Jill." The birds flew far away and he feared they might not come back and called after them, "Come again, Jack, Come again, Jill." Page 41, Primer Who is Jack? Who is Jill? Page 42, Primer Where has the little bird been? Where is he now? How did he get there? What is he doing in the tree ? For whom is he singing? What kind of song does the bird sing? LESSON STORIES 37 After James let the little bird out of the cage, he looked up in the tree and said, "Little bird, little bird, Up in the tree, Little bird, little bird, Sing a song for rne." Then Mary looked up in the tree and said the same thing, "Little bird, little bird, Up in the tree, Little bird, little bird, Sing a song for me." And the little bird sang a song for them as you can see. Sentence foe Drill Little bird, sing a song for me. Page 43, Primer If there is either a James or Mary or both in the class, these names should be taught as their names. If not, the two children in the picture on page 42 may be named James and Mary and the two names taught. Are , being a copula, should not be taught alone, but in a sentence. This may be easily done by doing as sug- gested at the top of the page. Let Mary play she is one bird and James another. Make the chalk tell Mary she may play she is Jill — Mary, play you are Jill; then have a child tell what the chalk says. Later, emphasize the new word by various devices. Suggestive Sentences for drill on are: . . . . , play you are a bird. . . . . , play you are Rover. . . . . , play you are kitty. . . . . , play you are a tree. 38 EASY ROAD TO READING Page 44, Primer The little bird is so high in the tree that he is not afraid of the little boy and girl. The little girl plays that her dolly can talk. She holds the dolly out and tells her to say to the little bird, "Pretty bird, pretty bird, High in the tree; Pretty bird, pretty bird, Sing a song to me." The little boy also calls to the bird, "Pretty bird, pretty bird, High in the tree; Pretty bird, pretty bird, Sing a song to me." The little bird is singing to them, as you can see. Sentence for Drill Pretty bird, pretty bird, sing a song to me. Page 45 is a review. Page 46, Primer These children live in the country. Their school house is so far from home that they must start early in the morning or they will be late to school. Often in the early summer mornings they see a little bird on the bushes by the side of the road. One day they had with them their little cousin from the city. They had told her about the birds and the flowers they would see on the way to school. Sure enough! "When they came to a certain part of the road, there was a dear little bird sitting on a bush, singing a happy song. One of the children said to their cousin, "This is the pretty bird we see, So early in the morning." LESSON STOEIES 39 Then the other one said, "This is the pretty bird we see, So early in the morning." Then, as children often will, they made up a little song abont the pretty bird, and all sang it : "This is the pretty bird we see, Bird we see, Bird we see; This is the pretty bird we see, So early in the morning." Sentence fob Drill This is the pretty bird we see so early in the morning. Page 47, Primer It happened one day that Jack and his sister Jill were out playing. Jill was rolling a hoop and Jack had been chasing butterflies. Feeling a little tired, he climbed on the steps and sat down to rest. All at once he heard a bird singing near. When he looked around, he saw the bird on a bush near. He called out to Jill, "Do you hear the little birdie Singing to me, Singing to me! Do you hear the little birdie Singing to me So early in the morning V Then Jill thought the little bird was singing for her, too, so she said to Jack, "Do you hear the little birdie Singing to me, Singing to me? Do you hear the little birdie Singing to me So early in the morning V 40 EASY ROAD TO READING But something must have happened to the little bird, for he would not sing again. The children finally left him sitting there on the bush and hoped that after a time they could hear him again. Sentences for Drill Do you hear the little birdie singing to me? Do you hear the little birdie singing to me so early in the morning? Page 48 is a review. Page 49, Primer What is one of the birds that you see first in the spring? What color is his breast? his bill? his head? his body? His song in the early morning says, " Cheer up! Cheer up!" Little Jill saw a robin one morning just outside the window. Her little sister had been looking at a picture book, but when Jill called her, she dropped her book on the floor and toddled to the window. Then Jill sang to the robin, "Sing, robin, sing, High up in the tree! Sing a sweet song For baby and me." Sentences for Drill Sing, robin, sing, high up in the tree. Sing a sweet song for baby and me. Page 50 is a review. LESSON STOEIES 41 Page 51, Primer Jill's mamma told her a story of how the robins built a nest high in the tree where it would be safe from harm. After a time there were four blue eggs in the nest. Then the mamma robin sat on the eggs to keep them warm. After a time four little ones peep out of the nest with their mouths wide open for food. The papa robin brings food for them and after they have eaten and while the mamma robin keeps them warm under her wings, he sings to her and the little ones. After Jill had heard this storv she ran out-of-doors with her little sister, and sang to the robin : "Sing, robin, sing For baby and me; Sing for your little ones High in the tree." Sentences for Drill Sing, robin, sing for baby and me. Sing for your little ones high in the tree. Page 52 is a review. Page 53, Primer What is the little girl in the picture doing? How many birds are in the nest? What is the mamma robin doing? Jill talks to the robin about her little ones. (It is advisable to make this a conversation lesson and have differ- ent ones tell what they think Jill is saying to the robin about her little ones.) What do you think the little ones want to do? What else do they want to do ? When do birds like to fly, at night or in the day-time? When do they like to sing? Do they sing, as children play, all day long? 42 EASY ROAD TO READING Page 54, Primer The only new word of this lesson is way. As the word away is familiar, the new word may be easily taught by putting away upon the board and then covering the first syllable or erasing it. The lesson may then be easily read. Page 55, Primer The word school may be easily suggested by questions about the picture. What are these children carrying? Where are they going? Page 56 is a review. Page 57, Primer When you get up in the morning, what is the first thing you say to your mamma? To your papa? If you meet anyone on the way to school, what do you say? When you come to the school room, what do you say to your teacher? There is a very pretty "good morning' ' song that children in school often sing to their teacher. Place the words of the song upon the board and have children recite in concert. Page 58, Primer After the children sing the "good morning" song to the teacher, the teacher sings a "good morning" song to them. The teacher reads or sings the lines to the children. She then puts the song on the board for them to read and then has it read from the book. LESSON STORIES 43 Page 59, Primer As the word that is merely a connective, it is taught incidentally in a sentence. In response to questions like the following, sentences may be obtained which may be put on the board and read, then the one containing that may be read until it is wholly familiar, and, as all the other words are known, the new one may be easily selected. Drill on it as a single word and in other sen- tences will fix it. What do the children sing to the teacher? What does the teacher sing to the children? What is the song that the children sing? Who is glad to hear the song that the children sing? Page 60 is a review. Page 61, Primer What are falling from the tree? Drill on the individual word (leaves). What makes the leaves fly away? Drill on the individual word (wind). What will the wind do to your hat ? Drill on the individual word (bloic). What will it do to the leaves? Place the rhyme on the board and have it read line by line before reading from the book. Page 62, Primer What a nice place this little boy has found in this old tree! He climbed up here one warm day last summer. There was a gentle wind and he sat there listening to the leaves as they were whispering to each other. They all 44 EASY EOAD TO READING seemed so happy rustling and swinging together that he was surprised to see one little leaf start to fly away. He wondered why this one should go away from all the others. He watched it fly gently along with the wind until it finally dropped to the ground, where it turned over once and then seemed to go to sleep. He looked to see if there were other leaves falling, too, but there were none — just this little leaf flying away to go to sleep on Mother Earth. Page 63, Primer Did you ever hear the wind whistling down the chimney? Sometimes, if you listen, you can hear him say, "Woo-oo-oo! Woo-oo-oo!" And often he whistles around the corner of the house in the same way — " Woo-oo-oo ! Woo-oo-oo !" But it is usually cold weather when the wind whistles so loudly. In the fall when the leaves on the tree are all red and gold and orange, the wind plays with them as if he loved them. He blows them this way and that until they can hold onto Mother- Tree no longer. Then what a good time the wind has with them! He blows and tosses them about over the fields, and they seem to like it, for they dance like fairies, now here, now there, as if they were glad to be free to go where they pleased instead of staying in one place on the tree. Almost any breezy day last fall, if you listened, you could hear the wind asking the leaves to come over the field to play with him. "Come, little leaves," Said the wind one clay, "Come over the fields With me and play." LESSON STORIES 45 Sentences for Drill ' ' Come, little leaves," said the wind one day. "Come over the fields with me and play." Pages 64 and 65 are review pages. Page 66, Primer The word a-blowing is one that can be most easily taught constructively, that is, by teaching the parts sep- arately, then joining them. Blow is familiar, therefore blowing is easy to get from the question, "What is the wind doing?" Write the word on the board and drill on it until it is familiar. Write the word aivay (a familiar word) ; have it pronounced; cover the last part and have the first part pronounced, being careful to get u, not a. Write again on the board ; cover the last part and have the first part pronounced by several. When this syllable is familiar, place it before blowing and get the two pro- nounced together. In November when the wind has blown all the leaves off the trees it seems to whistle more than ever, but in summer, even when it blows very hard, it seems not to whistle, but just to sing a loud song. Have you heard the wind singing a loud song? The child now has a vocabulary, in written and printed form, of ninety-one words. There are in the Primer, up to page 69, twenty-four pages of review. These reviews combined with the daily use of the Percep- tion Cards should make these ninety-one words the child's own. 46 EASY EOAD TO BEADING GENERAL REVIEW SENTENCES If additional review sentences are desired the follow- ing are suggested : After page 22. I like to go with you. I want to come with you. We want to skip and play. Boys, we want to go with you. Girls, I want to run with you. After page 24. Can you come with me? Can we play with you? I can run and play with you. Can you run away to-day? Can you play with me? I can jump with you. Can you skip and hop to me? Can you go with me? Can we go with you? Can you play to-day? After page 26. Can Rover and kitty come with me? Can they come with me? Boys like to run. Can they run? Can girls run like boys? Can Rover run and play? After page 30. See kitty jump. See Rover run. He can jump and run. Little boys can run and jump. Little girls can play hop, skip, and jump. My little kitty likes to play with me. GENERAL REVIEW SENTENCES 47 Rover likes to play with you. He can run with kitty. After page 32. Rain, rain, come again. Go away, rain. We can play some other day. Boys, come to me. Go away again. Girls, come and play with me. Rover can come some other day. She can play some day. Kitty can jump some other day. After page 34. Rover has eome again. He likes the ram. Boys can run in the rain. Can girls play in the, rain 1 ? I like the rain. Can kitty play in the rain'? She likes to run and play. After page 36. Can you sing 1 ? We like to sing. Can the little boys sing'? Little girls like to sing. Can Rover sing 1 ? My little boys and girls sing in the rain. Can you play and sing 1 ? I want to run and skip and sing. After page 38. The little bird can sing. Little bird, stop and sing to me. Can you sing like my little bird*? Boys and girls like birds. 48 EASY BOAD TO BEADING See my little bird. Can you see the bird hop? We want the little bird to sing. Boys, can you hop like the bird? Girls, can you sing like the little bird Little bird, will you sing to me? Will you sing to my boys and girls? After page 40. Little birds can fly and sing. Can little boys fly? Jack can fly. He can fly with Jill. Jack will fly away with Jill. Jack will fly to me some other day. She will sing to-day. After page 41. Jack is my little boy. He likes to run and play. Jill is my little girl. They want to play with you. Can you see my little boys? She will come with me. Is Jack my bird? Is he my boy? Is she my girl? After page 42. Will you sing a song for me? Come and sing with me. We will sing a song for you. Fly to the tree, little bird. We want you to sing a song. Kitty can run up the tree. Up, Rover! Jump up! Jack is up in the tree. Jill wants to go up in the tree. GENEEAL REVIEW SENTENCES 40 After page 43. Jack and Jill are little birds. They sing with me in the morning. Mary and James are with me. Are they with you? They like to come and play with me. We want to see Mary and James. Can they run ? Stop and sing a song to me. They can sing like Jack and Jill. The little bird can fly away. We go to see the little birds in the tree. Can the bird sing a song ? They will sing with me. Can you sing a song ? Girls, the boys can sing a song with you. After page 44. My bird is pretty. She can sing a pretty song. I see James high up in the tree. See my pretty bird. Can you jump high, boys ? Jump high for me, boys. Sing a pretty song for me. We will sing a song with you. We like to sing pretty songs. I want to sing like the bird. The pretty bird is high in the tree. After page 46. Can you jump to-day ? Will you sing a song this morning ? Can you sing so early in the morning ? The birds sing early in the morning. We play and sing to-day. Can you come with me so early ? Can you sing a song, little boys ? 56 EASY EOAD TO BEADING After page 47. Can you hear the birdie sing? Do you like to hear the boys and girls sing? Do you see the pretty bird? I can hear the little boys and girls singing. Do you hear the bird singing so early in the morning Is the pretty bird singing to me? Are you singing to me? I can hear the bird singing to you. Sing with me, little girls. Are the boys singing? After page 49. Can you hear the robin sing? Robin, sing a song for baby and me. Robin can sing a sweet song for you. The robin is a pretty bird. He can sing a sweet song. Baby likes to hear the robin sing. Do you want to hear the robin sing? We like to see the pretty robin. Robin will sing with the other birds. Can you see the robin fly? After page 51. Robin, sing for your little ones. Sing for baby and me. Your little ones are pretty. Can they fly and sing? The little ones are in the tree. Are they high in the tree? The little ones want to fly. They want to sing. Sing a sweet song for baby. I see your little ones high in the tree. After page 53. The little robins cannot sing. GENERAL REVIEW SENTENCES 51 They cannot fly. All birds can fly. Do you play all day long? Can the little birds fly all day? Can you play all day long? I do not want to fly. Do you want to jump? I can not jump so high. After page 54. This is the way we jump. We can play this morning. Do you want to sing this morning? We will sing a sweet song. You can hop this way. Run this way with me. Do you want me to go with you this morning? I like to come early. You do not come so early in the morning. Hover likes to run this way and that. After page 55. Do you go to school? Will you come to school early? This is the way we play in school. Is this the way you run to school? Can you run all the way to school? Is this my little girl? Are you my little boy? I like to go to school in the morning. Do you stop to play on the way to school? We like to play on the way to school. After page 57. This is a good little girl. She likes to sing in school. She is glad to see the dear teacher. Are you glad to see me? 52 EASY KOAD TO BEADING Are you good all day long? I hear the boys and girls singing. They are singing a "good morning" song. I can see the teacher. She is glad to hear the boys and girls sing. They sing a sweet song to the teacher. After page 58. I hear the children singing. They are singing to the teacher. She sings to the children. Do you hear the children sing? They like to sing in school. The children run and jump on the way to school. Some children like to go to school. Other children do not like to go to school. After page 59. Is this the song that you like to sing? We like to sing that song. I do not like to jump that way. This is the bird we like to hear. Kitty, do you like to run with me? We do not go that way to school. Is this your kitty ? Rover likes to play with kitty. This is not the way to go. Hop and skip on the way to school. Can you sing the song that they are singing? After page 61. The wind blows the leaves away. Can you see the leaves? We like to see them fly. The wind will blow the leaves away. Can you see the wind? Do you like to hear the wind sing? The wind will blow all day long. We can hear the wind singing to the leaves. GENEEAL REVIEW SENTENCES 53 After page 62. Can the little leaf fly away 1 ? Can you see one leaf? I can see one little leaf. The leaf will fly away. The wind can blow the leaf away. I can see the leaves. Stop, little leaf. Come and play with me. One little boy is in the tree. Will you go with me to the tree? I like to see the little leaves fly. After page 63. The wind said to the leaves, "Come with me." Will you play with me, little leaves? Come over the fields with me. We want to play in the fields to-day. The birds fly over the fields. Can you fly, little leaves? Can you fly like the birds? The teacher said, "Good morning, dear children." The children said, "We are glad to see you, dear teacher." I am glad to see you, dear little boys and girls. After page 66. The wind can sing a loud song. Can little boys sing loud? We can sing a sweet song to-day. Is the wind a-blowing? Will you sing a song for me ? Mary is a dear little girl. She can run to school to-day. This is the way she runs. CHAPTER IV CONNECTED STORIES With the exception of the rhyme on pages 76 and 77, which may be taught in a manner similar to those on pre- ceding pages, the remainder of the Primer is made up of connected stories. If the work in phonics^ has accompanied the reading, the class will now be able to get many of the new words presented in the stories from their knowledge of phono- grams and consonants. Those which contain sounds not yet familiar may be taught by suggestive questions, stories, objects, actions, or pictures, as shown in the lessons already studied. The four stories, Jack and Jill, The House that Jack Built, The Boy and the Goat, and Chicken Little, with review sentences and the rhjane on page 77, make up the last forty pages of the Primer. Page 68, Primer The nursery rhyme, Jack and Jill, is familiar to most children. As it is taught by sections, only a few words being unfamiliar, there need be no difficulty in securing its ready reading. The two names have been previously taught, also up and the, so that only went and hill are unfamiliar. A single question as to what Jack and Jill did will bring to mind the old nursery jingle. It is best 54 CONNECTED STORIES 55 to place the sentence on the board in a single line with no capital except those beginning the proper names, and have it read from there before reading from the book, where it is printed in the usual two-line form. Page 70, Primer The question "What did Jack and Jill go up the hill for?" will bring the line To get a pail of water, and the three lines may be read as a whole. The separate words should then be drilled upon. Page 71, Primer The last line of this page prepares for the following lessons. The question "What happened to Jack?" will introduce the new words fell and down, or they may be taught through their knowledge of phonics and the line then presented as a whole. Page 72, Primer What happened to Jack when he fell down the hill ? What did he do to his crown? What did he break? Drill on the separate words before reading the last line. Page 73, Primer Get the words came, tumbling, and after through phonics ; then have the whole rhyme read. Dkill Sentences Jack and Jill went up the hill to get a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown. Jill came tumbling after. 56 EASY EOAD TO EEADING Page 77, Primer This rhyme may be taught as the other rhymes in the book have been. When the children are familiar with it have them repeat it in concert. Page 80, Primer This is the first of the three stories making up the remainder of the book, all of which are what may be termed cumulative in character. This type of story, involving, as it does, much repetition with the introduc- tion of each new character, is dear to childhood. Preparation for the story The House That Jack Built is made by presenting the first sentence, This is the house that Jack built, and then weaving these words into many sentences containing familiar words. This sentence may be introduced by a talk about the picture on page 80, or by questions on the picture. This boy's name is Jack. What has he in his hand? What has he been doing with it? Whose house is this? Who built it ? Point to the house that Jack built. Draw a picture of the house that Jack built. Write the sentence This is the house that Jack built on the board. Have the sentence read, first from the board, then from the book. The rest of this story, pages 83-90, may be taught in a manner similar to the above. The picture will name the new object introduced and a question or questions will bring out what part the new object plays in the story. The dramatization of this and other stories is given in a separate section of the Manual. CONNECTED STORIES 57 Page 91, Primer The story of The Boy and the Goat is probably not so familiar to children in general as are the nursery rhymes Jack and Jill and The House That Jack Built. It may be that the teacher will prefer to let the children get the story by discovery, that is, by reading it, section by sec- tion. But, if preferred, the story may be told by the teacher, previous to the reading, in form somewhat more elaborated than that given in the text. Familiarity with a story does not destroy the young child's desire to hear or to read it over and over again. The following is suggestive of the preparatory story that may be told if it is desired to follow this method: On the top of a high hill was a little white house and in this house lived a little boy with his papa and mamma. This boy did not have so many playthings as most chil- dren have, for his parents were very poor ; but he had a playfellow of whom he was very fond. This playfellow was not a dog, nor a kitty, nor even a pony, but it was a goat. Brown and shaggy, with two sharp horns and rather a long beard, he looked handsome to the little fellow who loved him. The goat spent much of his time tied to a stake in the yard just back of the house. His rope was long so that he could nibble the grass in the yard for some distance around, but sometimes, when the grass seemed short and dry, the little boy untied the goat, and, holding the rope carefully, would lead him out into the near-by fields to eat. One bright sunny day, he started down the hill, leading the goat to a new feeding- ground. The goat happened to be feeling pretty good that day, and he tried to get free several times. But the 58 EASY EOAD TO READING boy held liim fast until they came near the woods which were not far from the house, when the goat made a sudden leap and the rope slipped from the boy's hand. Off into the woods ran the goat, dragging the rope with him, and after him ran the boy. From this point on, the story may follow the text. When ready to begin the reading, the new words may be taught through phonics, except the names of the animals, which are more readily suggested by the pic- tures. This story offers an opportunity for reading as a dialogue — an opportunity that should never be neg- lected, for by this method, natural, easy, pleasant read- ing is easy to secure. The dramatization of this and other stories is given in a separate section of the Manual. Page 104, Primer Introductory Story Have you ever seen a flock of little fluffy chickens in the yard? If you have, you will remember how any little noise will send them running to the mother hen. They all try to huddle close about her as if they were afraid something terrible would happen to them. And if one little chick happens to get a little way from the others and then she hears any little noise, no matter what it is, you should see her scamper to her mother to tell her all about it ! This story, Chicken Little, is about a young chick so small that everyone, even her mother, called her Little Chicken or Chicken Little, just whichever happened to come to mind first. One day Chicken Little was so busy CONNECTED STORIES 59 scratching for food that she did not notice that she had wandered far from her mother and brothers and sisters. She had just found a fine worm under a big tree and had swallowed it whole, when she happened to look up and see that she was all alone and that all was very still around her. Just then something fell on her head. Then she teas scared. It was really nothing but a seed from the old oak tree under which she was eating, but Chicken Little did not know this, of course. Her heart began to thump, for she thought that the sky was falling and that a piece of it had struck her on the head. She could hardly make her two feet go fast enough to take her to her mother to tell her all about it. From this point on the text may be used. The dramatization of this and other stories is given in a separate section of the Manual. CHAPTER V DRAMATIZATION Primer Value of Dramatization From the beginning of the work in reading until school days are finished, the teacher should never lose sight of the potency of dramatization in teaching reading. Whether this dramatization shall take the form of vivify- ing words through simple action to show understanding of their meaning, or the reading of the conversational parts of selections as dialogue, or the conversion of the longer connected stories into drama form, will depend upon the nature of the lesson to be read. Detailed Suggestions In the first thirty pages of the Primer action words predominate. The silent reading of the word and its translation into action are often more valuable than oral utterance, showing as they do whether the child really reads understanding^. At the same time, the action affords a legitimate outlet for the physical restlessness of the child. The actions suggested by such words as come, go, run, jump, hop, skip, sing, and fly are easily performed and need not be a disturbance to other work. Page 7, Primer Ask different children to tell others to "come" with the hand. Do the same with "go." 60 DEAMATIZATION 61 Ask one child to act the sentence "Come and go." Use the picture as a suggestion, if necessary. Page 8, Primer Let one child illustrate "run" by running lightly on tiptoe across the room. Let a second run lightly and jump, after reading the sentence. The jumping should be done with both feet, but need not be noisy. Tell another child to perform the action after reading the word "hop." Note that this is done on one foot. Write "Hop and jump" on the board. Let one child read, then act. Do the same with the last two sentences. (These actions may be performed so lightly and quietly as not to disturb the children at work in the room.) Page 9, Primer Let the children take turns at being "I." Then let them, in turn, perform the actions indicated by the dif- ferent sentences. Page 10, Primer Skipping consists of alternate leaps and hops. Be careful to distinguish it from hopping and jumping. Let two children be "we" and perform the actions together. If thought practicable, the rope may be used for skip- ping, as suggested by the picture. 62 EASY EOAD TO READING Page 11, Primer As "play" is a general word, it can not well be drama- tized unless some special meaning is attached to it. Let each child select what he wants to play — jump, run, hop, or skip. Then let two or three perform these actions at the same time or two together do one thing as play. Pages 12 to 19, Primer Pages 12-19 inclusive may be dramatized in a manner similar to the foregoing. The rhymes on pages 16, 20, 22, 54, and 55 lend them- selves easily to concerted action. Page 16, Primer m 4 & -&- Come and hop and jump to - day; We like to run and skip and play. Page 20, Primer The rhyme here given may be dramatized as shown in the picture or in any similar way. It may also be sung and acted at the same time. i i 3=* t ± -0- * - Boys and girls, fa^=E3E£= come and play, We want to hop and jump to - day. p- I z±* g —p— p : ^- Boys and girls, run and play; We want to skip with you to - day. Page 22, Primer fr-^— ft=to i & i :£#=F=p: fc Frr- t* Girls and boys, run and play; We want to skip with you to - day. DRAMATIZATION Page 26, Primer 63 Sz«=i=s=:? t=« i *~ » g* & ^ Rov-er and kit - ty can run to - day; They like to jump and run and play. £=fc=35=£ *# ^M^te^^S! ai *—• z8& S Rov-er and kit- ty can run to-day; They like to jump and run and play. Page 30, Primer i i w W-Jl ¥ Z^ •g* — y ^ g= h^— e± ^ — #- L z^ — # -^- See my kit - ty jump to - day, My lit - tie kit - ty likes to play. Page 32, Primer i «5 o -0 # =333? a <&- ^- l± ^ -^- Rain, rain, go a- way, Come a-gain someoth-er day, Boys and girls want to play. Pages 49 and 51, Primer «^aa .0 — 0. -#-i- f=£ £=£=£ $= Sing, robin, sing High up in the tree! Sing a sweet song For ba-by and me. Sing, robin, sing For ba - by and me, Sing for your lit-tle ones High in the tree. Pages 54 and 55, Primer i # — i #_=ff 4 IP ft — b~~ P — %—v :r= $ -*~m ^JL—0 $=£ ^ This is the way we run and play, Run and play, run and play; This is the way we go to school, Go to school, go to school; I .*_•_ -0-i — •- fc fe: m% # — I #ZZE i2=b=k!=tJ: *=£ $=£ This is the way we run and play, Ear - ly in the morn - ing. This is the way we go to school, Ear - ly in the morn - ing. 64 EASY ROAD TO READING Page 58, Primer (Also Pages 54 and 55) ^r — V — ^ — ^ w~i This is the song the teach - er sings, The teach - er sings, the teach - er sings; &=$=$ N3SS to 3E5 I P^ -*-tr • •- v=± This is the song the teach - er sings So ear - ly in the morn - ing. Page 57, Primer Sing to above music : This is the little song we sing, Song we sing, song we sing, This is the little song we sing So early in the morning. Follow this by i ' Good Morning to You, ' ' etc. Pages 57 and 58, Primer The first four lines of each page may be sung to the tune given for pages 54 and 55, but the key should be changed to four flats, key note, A flat. The last four lines of each page may be sung to the following : Page 57, Primer m s 3 ■t 0-^-0 &- ■&- -0-0- ■f~+ ¥¥ \ Good morning to you, good morning to you, Good morning, dear teacher, we are glad to see you. Page 63, Primer Let one child be the wind; the others, the leaves. Have the wind at one side, or behind some object, say- DRAMATIZATION 65 ing " Woo-oo-oo ! Woo-oo-oo !" Then have him come out and say, as he runs lightly about, "Come, little leaves, come over the fields and play." Then the leaves also run lightly about after him. If preferred, the rhyme may be sung instead of being recited as the children act. I m i 5 0=£ =t^ t- 'Come, little leaves," Said the wind one day, "Come o-ver the fields With me and play." Jack and Jill This simple rhyme can be dramatized easily by a little boy and a little girl while the class recites it in concert or while one child recites it. The children should be taught to fall easily and quietly, this affording excellent practice in bodily control. The well may be improvised from four chairs placed back to back so as to form a hollow square, and the chil- dren may dip the pail down in the square, or they may perform the action of pumping by using a pointer or long ruler slipped between the rounds of the back of the chair. Arrange the pump on the platform, if there be one, so that the hill may be simulated. There should be a pause after the recitation of the first two lines to allow time for Jack and Jill to draw or pump the water from the well, and to start back down the hill. The House That Jack Built Let one boy be Jack, and build his house with chairs in any way that his fancy suggests. He should then sit 66 EASY EOAD TO READING in his house while the rest of the drama is acted. The one who is the malt should curl up on the floor of the house with his head hidden. The rat should creep on hands and feet and nibble the malt. The cat should creep in and catch the rat while the latter is nibbling, and then the dog should run in on all fours and chase the cat around. The cow with the crooked horn should be rep- resented by using the hands for horns, and a pretense should be made of tossing the dog on the horns. The girl that milked the cow may simply walk in with the pail on her arm. The latter part of the story, being an addendum to the original, and not lending itself easily to dramatiza- tion, may be omitted, unless it be preferred to have some one for papa, mamma, and baby, and all three just come in to look at the cow. The simplest action is enjoyed by children and the incongruities will not be noticed by them. The Bay and the Goat The only accessory needed for the dramatization of this story is a string by which the goat may be' led. Com- mon twine will do. Chairs placed in one corner of the room may represent the woods. By the time they have finished reading the story, the children will be familiar with the conversation, so that the action will move along smoothly. The bee should simulate flying with the arms. The rab- bit, squirrel, and fox may go on all fours or walk as usual. If left to themselves to determine the action, the children, will probably do the former. Spontaneity should charac- terize all dramatization, so that the teacher should do as little directing as possible. If encouraged to do so, the children will suggest the accessories and the action. DRAMATIZATION 67 Chicken Little Let the smallest child in the class be Chicken Little. The teacher may be the tree, and drop a tiny piece of crayon for the seed. The next larger child may be Henny Penny, the taller ones Turkey Lurkey and Goosey Loosey, while a short, stouter one may be Ducky Lucky. Foxy Loxy should be the largest boy, and he should run on all fours. The chairs may be arranged in a corner to form the fox's den. The different animals should be disposed in different parts of the room, in the order of the appear- ance in the drama. The children should run lightly on tiptoe. FIRST READER See PEIMEE, p. 60. There are only a few stories in the First Reader that do not lend themselves easily to dramatization. The teacher need not concern herself to provide elaborate accessories, for the imagination of the children will con- vert a chair or other available object into anything de- sired. No story should be dramatized until it has been read in its entirety by the class so that all its details are famil- iar. It adds to the interest of the action if the children remember the conversation of the lesson. To this end the teacher will find it an advantage while the lesson is being read to have the children 'assume the different characters whenever there is conversation in the lesson. This reading as a dialogue, without the explanatory words, is a great help in securing easy, intelligent, ex- pressive reading. It serves also to add interest to have different children read the explanatory words. This 68 EASY EOAD TO READING engages the attention and co-operation of more of the class than the dialogue alone can do. Both methods are good ; neither should be used to the exclusion of the other. Let the children do the dramatizing as far as possible, the teacher keeping in the background. Self-expression though crude is worth more than a finished performance. Page 7, The North Wind Let the largest boy personify the Wind. He may come running in, waving his arms and blowing. The smallest children may be the leaves. One child reads. When the point is reached where the North Wind speaks, let him say the words and the little leaves run about quietly on tiptoe, the North Wind chasing them. Page 12, Piggy Three different children may be the pig in the three different stanzas. Four children may ask the question at the beginning of each stanza; first a boy, then a girl, then a boy and girl together. The pictures are suggestive of the action. Page 15, The Billy Goats Gruff Let a child be the elf. Two rulers, if no board is at hand, may be placed across two chairs to serve as a bridge, and each of the Billy Goats Gruff (represented by any convenient object, handled by another child) may climb over it while the elf crouches at one side under the bridge. Or the platform may serve as a bridge and the elf may crouch behind a chair at one corner. In this case the children may be the Billy Goats Gruff. Ignore all DRAMATIZATION 69 but the conversation, which the children will easily re- member. Page 28, The Race This makes very good material for dramatization. Let the smallest child be the tortoise; the largest, the fox. The tortoise should crawl on all fours, the hare should go with a hop, skip, and jump. The accessories are the woods, which may be represented by a number of chil- dren standing together; the bridge, represented by the platform; and a tree beyond the bridge, represented by a chair or by a child. Page 36, Ten Little Brownies Each stanza and the accompanying illustration sug- gest the action. A box may be utilized for the shoe. Page 41, Little Half -Chick A small child should be Half-chick; a child lying on the floor, the brook; another child kneeling between two chairs tipped back to back, the fire ; another child waving his arms and blowing, the wind ; the waste basket, the ket- tle ; and the largest girl, the cook. Page 51, Wolf! Wolf! This is a dramatization wholly for the boys and if left to themselves they will put plenty of spirit into it. The girls may read the connecting parts or be the sheep. Page 56, The Little Pig's House This is so easy to dramatize that no suggestions are necessary. 70 EASY ROAD TO READING Page 73, The Lion Cub and the Man This is another story which the boys will enjoy put- ting into action. It is so long that it may very well be divided into parts and different boys be allowed in turn to be the hero. In the same way, several boys may take turns being the lion cub. The table leg may be the tree, and a pointer the ax, if nothing better is present. Page 86, The Honest Woodman The boy who is the woodman may be on the platform ; the girl taking the part of the fairy may crouch on the floor near and rise or sink as the story progresses. The pointer with a pasteboard ax-head may serve as the ax. The head should be fastened loosely in place so that it will fly off into the water, the floor around the fairy. Page 95, The Selfish Old Woman In addition to the two main characters, one little child may be in the oven and change the pieces of pasteboard representing the dough to larger ones. She (or he) may sit between two chairs placed back to back and hold a book for the oven shelf. A large book stood on end may serve as oven door. As the old woman changes to a bird, the child acting the part may crouch to make herself smaller and imitate flying with her arms. Page 103, The Little Red Apple Tie something red loosely on the end of the pointer and support this on the table so that it will project over the little girl who sits on the platform or floor under the edge of the table. A small child may be the robin and hop from the chair to the table and pretend to sing or whistle. DRAMATIZATION 71 The sun may extend the hands with fingers spread over the apple to represent the beams, then may kiss the apple as stated in the story. The wind may come running in and blow the apple until it falls into the little girl's lap. Page 122. Little Brother This needs no suggestions beyond what are contained in the story. The boys will enjoy its dramatization. Page 128. The Hares and the Elephants Let the larger children be the elephants, the largest one the king, and the very smallest ones the hares. Give them homes on opposite sides of the room. The pool may be the platform. Page 132. Oock-a-lu and Hen-a-lie Have several of the boys as cocks in the first part and let them crow when wakened by Cock-a-lu's crowing. A very small child crawling may be the snail ; a little girl, the squirrel, carrying a piece of paper crumpled to repre- sent the leaf ; and another little girl, the brown hen. CHAPTEE VI PHONICS The Aim of Phonic Work The aim in the teaching of phonics is to give the child power to recognize new words without assistance. The work, therefore, should be practical and thorough, and be closely related to the simpler words of the child's speak- ing vocabulary. Daily drill is necessary in order that the child may rapidly gain phonetic power. This drill should be rapid, not halting. Great care must be taken to secure accuracy in the utterance of the sounds, as this is necessary to accurate pronunciation and clear enuncia- tion later. Time of Beginning Phonic Work The teaching of phonics proper should begin about the second week of school, but phonic games preparatory to this work should begin on the first day. The rapidity with which the sounds are taught will depend upon the ability of the class and the time given to the subject. The average class should, if possible, be divided into three groups, the children who learn rapidly being placed in the first group ; those who learn less rapidly in the second group ; and the slow children in the third group. The best results will be obtained if the phonic and the reading recitations are separate. Even if only five min- utes at a time can be given, the attention will be focused 72 PHONICS 73 on phonics alone for that time ; whereas if fifteen minutes be given to phonics and reading, the tendency is to center on the reading and neglect the phonics. This does not mean that there should be no phonics in connection with reading. On the contrary, the primal purpose of teach- ing phonics is to give the child power to find out new words for himself. No opportunity to apply his knowl- edge of phonics to the mastery of a new word in reading should be neglected. As each phonic fact must be mas- tered before passing to the next, the teacher will do well to make haste slowly. Preparatory Phonic Games The following games furnish suggestions for oral work preparatory to the teaching of phonics, no attempt being made at this stage to connect the oral sound with the written or printed symbol representing that sound. A week or two of this work will accustom the ear of the child to the separation of spoken words into the initial consonant and family, and render more easy the teaching of phonics proper. Game 1. Tell My Name. — Charles is blindfolded. The teacher points to a member of the class (Jack), who says, " Good-morning, Charles." Charles replies, ' * Good-morning, Jack. ' ' This is continued with other children until Charles fails to give the correct name. Game 2. Teacher gives a word, fan, for instance. Asks a child for a word that sounds like fan; then another, and so on until the children can think 74 EASY ROAD TO READING of no more. Then the teacher may give an- other starting word or have one of the class give one. This game is a particularly good one for teaching quickness of thought and training the ear to discriminate sounds. It is the basis of the family work which comes later. Game 3. Teacher says, "I am thinking of a word that sounds like sun. You may guess what it is, Mary." "Is it fun?" "No, it is not fun." Continue until some one guesses the word. Vary the game by letting one child start it. Game 4. Have familiar objects with simple names pres- ent (book, bell, ball, cap, hat, top, box, etc.) Teacher says, "Bring me the c-ap" (sound- ing the word as indicated). To another, "Bring me the t-op." To another, "Put the b-ox on the chair." At this point no more should be asked of the child than that he shows that he recog- nizes the word when thus sounded by doing what is requested with the object named. Game 5. Ask the child to perform some simple action, as st-and; or w-alk; or s-it. Game 6. Commence the game as directed in (4). When the child brings the object, cap, ask him to tell you what he has in the way you told him. This will require patience and much repeti- tion, for he will be inclined to pronounce the word as a whole instead of separating it. PHONICS 75 Game 7. Separate a child's name, thus, J-ack, in giving him some direction to follow. Do not help the child by looking at him. Compel him to rec- ognize with the ear alone that he is meant. Have one child call on another one in the same way, giving some direction to be fol- lowed. A Method of Teaching Sounds The sounds of the letters should be taught from the be- ginning in their proper relation as parts of words in the child's vocabulary. After the child has learned several single sounds, he is ready to blend these with families to form new words. These families are also taught by an- alyzing words that are familiar to the child. Only words that the child can use should be blended. Children take pleasure in discovering new words and using them in sen- tences. These word lists make excellent seat work, and, later on in the year, furnish material for spelling. The First Sounds Taught The first lessons in the Primer are based upon action words easily mastered by the child, hence these words are made the basis of the first five sounds taught, begin- ning with the sound of c in come. In presenting this sound, the teacher first pronounces the word easily and naturally. Then she pronounces it slowly, separating the sounds thus : c-ome. She repeats this several times, always giving the sound softly. Next, she tells the class to say the word slowly. Then it is given by different children in the class. She then tells them to 76 EASY ROAD TO READING watch the chalk say it, and writes the word on the board, slightly separating the letter c from the remainder of the word, and slowly pronouncing the word as she writes it. She then blends the two parts of the word, pointing to c and ome as she does this. Then she tells the class to say it with her and points to the c and ome as before. By the time several children in the class have thus blended the word, they have discovered for themselves the sound of c, and when the teacher covers ome and, pointing to c, asks what it is says, they readily give the sound. The next step is the blending of other familiar words beginning with c and having the children guess the words, The following are suggested as being suitable for use in teaching the sound of c: cow, cat, call, cut, and catch. After the words have been blended and the children have guessed them, they should be written on the board with the c separated from the remainder of the word, as in the word c-ome. A child is then called to the board to find c, the teacher calling it by its sound, and the child giving the sound as he points to the letter. Different children find c in each of the words, giving the sound as they point to it. Then all the letters of the words are erased except c, and the class sounds what remains. Each consonant sound is taught in a similar manner after the word by which it is introduced has been taught in the reading lesson. All blends and sounds should be reviewed daily. Phonic Drills After the phonic work proper has put the class in pos- session of a few sounds, drill on these sounds may be varied by one or more of the following games : PHONICS 77 Game 1. Quick Ears. — The children form a ring. One child who is "It" stands in the center of the ring. He points quickly to a child and gives a fam- ily name. The child designated must imme- diately respond with a word containing the family name, or pay the forfeit by being "It." Game 2. Changing Places. — A number of children stand in a straight line in front of the school, each holding a phonic card. The teacher announces that the game is going to be "Changing Places." Some child who is seated asks, "May I change places with ingf If he can go to the front and find ing at once, he is allowed to change places and stand in line while the other child sits in his seat. This continues until the different sounds have been recog- nized. Game 3. Guessing. — After several sounds and families have been taught, the teacher writes them on the board. One child covers his eves while the teacher points to the sound to be guessed. The child then looks at the written sounds and points to the different ones, asking, "Is it unV' The class answers, "No, it is not un." This continues until the child guesses correctly, when the children answer, "Yes, it is fe." Another child then covers his eyes, and the first child chooses the word to be guessed. 78 EASY ROAD TO READING Game 4. Making Families. — After the children have had considerable experience in blending and building word lists, it is a good plan to give each child a card having on it the name of a family, and let him tell all the words he knows belonging to that family. To vary this, the teacher may write on the board a group of words representing different fami- lies, and have each child point to the words belonging to his family. Game 5. Recognition of Given Sound in Names. When a given sound has been learned, say t, tell the class that each child who has the sound of t in either his first or last name to stand in a certain place or do any- thing else which the teacher may designate to show recog- nition. This is good practice on each new sound. Phonetic Lessons The lesson units in phonics which follow should not be confused with recitation units. Sometimes the material given in one lesson may be sufficient for two or three or even more recitations, depending upon the ability of the class and the time given. The lesson numbers have no significance beyond indi- cating sequence, and even this may be varied without materially interfering with the method, providing it is kept in mind that no sound should be taught until the key word used to teach it is familiar to the child both in its oral and written or printed form. The words suggested for blending words in the first ten lessons are familiar to the average child in their spoken form, but their use PHONICS 79 here is purely a phonetic one, to help fix the sound pre- sented, and is not for the purpose of increasing the child's written or printed vocabulary. However, some such increase will incidentally result, especially with the brighter children. Lesson 1. Teach the sound of c from come. Follow the plan outlined earlier in this chapter in teaching all consonant sounds. Blend cow, cat, call, cut, and catch. ' Lesson 2. Teach the sound of g from go. Blend gun, get, goat, girl, and gate. Lesson 3. Teach the sound of r and the family un from run. Blend rain, rest, rip, ride, ring, and right. Lesson 4. Teach the sound of j and the family ump from jump. Blend joy, just, jar, jam, and joke. Lesson 5. Teach the sound of h and family op from hop. Blend hill, hot, hit, hat, hall, and hand. Lesson 6. Teach the sound of iv from we. Blend wind, water, will, wall, wait, and west. Lesson 7. Teach the sound of t from to. Blend ten, top, tall, take, tent, and toy. Lesson 8. Teach the sound of m from me. Blend mat, move, mill, make, man, and mine. Lesson 9. Teach the sound of I from like. Blend low, let, long, little, and last. Lesson 10. Teach the sound of b and the family oy from boy. Blend bat, ball, best, bell, band, and bird. Drill Charts The children now know the following single consonant sounds and families : c, g, r, j, h, w, t, m, I, b, un, ump, op, and oy. 80 EASY EOAD TO HEADING They are now ready to use this phonetic knowledge to unlock the following words, which are unfamiliar in their written form : bun lump lop bunt gun top crop *blunt bump mop hunt joy hump These words may be presented in family groups at first, but later should be given miscellaneously. Charts of stiff manila paper upon which these word lists can be printed will be found very helpful. If no printing outfit is available, black crayola will prove a good substitute. Each new sound or combination should be blended whenever possible with families previously taught, and these new words added to the chart. Lesson 11. From the word and, which is familiar, blend hand, land, band, grand, and brand. Lesson 12. Teach the sound of the consonant y from you. Blend yes, young, and yellow. Lesson 13. Teach the family an from can. Blend an ran man bran can tan ban Lesson 14. Teach k from kitty. Blend kite, kind, king, and Kate. Lesson 15. Teach s from see. Blend sat, sand, say, and sun. * The initial consonants of this word should be prefixed to the family separately, lunt, then prefix b. PHONICS 81 Lesson 16. Teach sh from she. Blend shop and shun. Lesson 17. Teach the combination sk from skip. Blend sky, skate, skin, and skill. Teach the family ip from skip. Blend ip lip tip clip skip sip ship slip rip hip trip Lesson 18. Teach ain from rain. Blend ain main train brain rain lain grain slain gain Lesson 19. From in, which is familiar, blend in sin skin kin tin win bin shin Lesson 20. Teach ing from sing. Blend • ing ring king swing sing wing bring sling It is good practice to have the class add this syllable to words already familiar: jump-ing, rain-ing, skip- (p)m#, run- (n) ing, and so on. Lesson 21. Teach ill from will. Blend ill fill bill skill will till kill sill hill mill Lesson 22. Teach the combination st from stop. Blend stop, stump, sting, and still. 82 EASY EOAD TO READING Lesson 23. Teach the family ack from Jack. Blend ack back tack lack rack sack Jack track hack stack crack Lesson 24. Teach the combination tr and family ee from tree. Blend trip, train, trill, and track. Show the class that the sound of ee at the end of a word is the same as e. Blend we be bee wee me she see glee he tree Lesson 25. Teach the sound of / from for. Blend fun, fin, fill, and fan. Lesson 26. Teach the combination fi and vowel sound of y from fly. Blend flop, fling, flip. fly by sky shy my try sty Lesson 27. Teach the family ong from song. Blend song, gong, long, and strong. Lesson 28. Teach the family ear from hear. Blend ear rear fear sear hear tear year shear Lesson 29. Teach the sound n and family ot from not. Blend nun, Nan, near, nip. Blend ot rot hot shot cot lot tot trot ay jay say gay hay lay ray way bay day may tray PHONICS 83 Lesson 30. From the word all, blend all call wall hall ball fall tall stall Lesson 31. Teach the sound of d and family ay from day. Blend dip, Dan, ding, dong, dear, and dot. Blend stray stay gray Lesson 32. Teach the combination gl and family ad from glad. Blend gland and glee. Blend ad had bad fad glad lad sad clad mad Lesson 33. Teach the family ood from good. Blend good hood wood stood Lesson 34. Teach the combination ch from children. Blend chop, chip, chain, chin, and chill. Lesson 35. Teach the combination th and the familv */ at from that. Blend than, thy. Blend at mat fat . Nat cat sat bat chat rat tat flat that Lesson 36. Teach the combination bl and family ow from blow. Blend black, bland, and blot. Blend ow mow sow glow blow low show stow row bow flow grow 84 EASY ROAD TO READING Lesson 37. Teach the family et from get. Blend et met fret net jet let yet get wet bet set Lesson 38. Teach the sound of p and the family ail from pail. Blend pump, pop, pan, pain, pin, pill, pack, pat, pot, pad, and pet. Blend ail jail tail sail pail hail mail fail rail wail nail trail Lesson 39. Teach the combination pi in play. Blend plump, plan, plain, plat, and plot. Lesson 40. Teach the family ell from fell. Blend ell yell bell dell fell sell shell Nell well tell Lesson 41. Teach the combination br from broke. Blend brand, bran, brain, bring, and brad. Lesson 42. Teach the combination cr from crown. Blend crop, crack, and crow. Lesson 43. Teach the family ame from came. Blend ame tame shame name came lame fame blame game same flame dame Lesson 44. From the word it, blend it hit fit pit bit wit flit slit sit PHONICS 85 Lesson 45. Teach the combination wh and the family en from when. Blend whip, why, whack. Blend en when hen den then ten Ben men pen glen Lesson 46. Teach the family aw from saw. Blend aw saw caw jaw law flaw raw paw draw Lesson 47. From the word ate, blend ate gate hate late Kate skate fate date erate rate plate grate Lesson 48. Teach the family og from dog. Blend og cog hog flog clog log fog frog Lesson 49. Teach the family ow from cow. Blend mow ow cow how bow now brow Blend crown, town, down, gown, clown, drotvn, brown, and frown. Lesson 50. Teach the sound of ave from gave. Blend ave save wave rave gave shave pave grave cave stave brave crave 66 EASY ROAD TO BEADING Lesson 51. Teach the family oat from goat. Blend oat coat float moat goat boat Lesson 52. Teach the family ar from far. Blend ar car jar tar far scar bar char star mar Lesson 53. Teach the combination gr from grass. Blend grip, grain, grill, gray, grate, and grow. Lesson 54. From the word eat, blend eat treat beat bleat heat neat seat wheat meat cheat Lesson 55. Teach the family ut from but. Blend ut cut hut nut but rut shut Lesson 56. Teach the family ake from make. Blend ake take rake shake make lake wake flake cake bake sake Lesson 57. Teach the family ew from flew. Blend ew chew clew crew mew flew blew drew new few pew PHONICS 87 Lesson 58. Teach the combination fr from from. Blend frill, fry, free, fret, frail, frame, fray, and frog. Lesson 59. Teach the family eed from seed. Blend eed seed weed need reed steed deed bleed heed feed greed breed Lesson 60, eep weep Teach the family eep from peep. Blend keep deep peep sheep creep Lesson 61. Teach the combination cl and family uck from cluck. Blend clamp, clip, cling, clear, clay, clad, cleiv, clan, claw, and clog. Blend uck duck luck stuck cluck truck suck buck struck tuck Lesson 62. old told cold Lesson 63. ed led Ted Teach the family old from told. Blend bold mold hold sold fold scold gold Teach the family ed from led. Blend fled fed shed Ned sled Fred bed Lesson 64. Blend out shout pout spout sprout stout trout The Sounds of the Vowels The short sound of the vowels may be taught from at, et, it, ot, and nt. 88 EASY EOAD TO BEADING The class will learn the long sounds of the vowels easily, as they are the same as the names of the letters. No diacritical marks should be used at this stage of the work. They mar the image of the word and will be found unnecessary when a class is well drilled in phonograms (families). Some Phonic Rules (a) It is easy after thorough drill on families to have the children discriminate between the long and short sounds of the vowels, and they may even be taught to call them long sounds and short sounds. After suit- able lists are presented they may be easily led to see the effect of the silent e at the end of a monosyllable, even though they do not state it in a formal rule. Lists like the following furnish excellent drill. pin pine hop hope fin fine mop mope tin tine lop lope win wine din dine Exceptions to this rule, like love, have, etc., should be taught as sight words. (b) • The likeness in sound between the two combi- nations ai and ay and their identity in sound with long a may be taught from the following lists : at ate bit bite mat mate kit kite hat hate spit spite pat pate rat rate plat plate may mail ray rain say sail stay stain hay hail may main pay pail gray grain ray rail pay pain PHONICS 89 (c) The identity of the sound ea with long e may be shown from the following : * read beam plead dream bead seam stream eat ear mean real meat hear lean meal seat dear clean deal heat near bean heal cheat spear peal treat shear neat rear (d) The likeness between oa and long o may be seen in the following : goat road oar float load soar boat goad roar moat toad It will not be found difficult at this time to teach the sound of s like z. It may be called the "buzzing" sound to distinguish it from the hissing sound. It should be taught orally, with no appeal to the eye, for the intro- duction of marks at this early stage is undesirable. Give the word boy. Ask the class what word to use w T hen more than one boy is meant. Sound boys, pro- long the last sound. Ask class to sound. Ask the same question for toy, girl, curl, pin, oar, seed, jaw, and each time have the class or individuals sound the whole word, then the last sound. When this sound occurs in any word later, simply refer to it as the "buzzing" sound until such time as the distinguishing diacritical mark is intro- duced. * It is also true that ea has the same sound as short e in some words, but this need not be brought up at this time. 90 EASY KOAD TO READING Learning the Names of the Letters When the pupils begin writing, they should learn the names of the letters in connection with their sounds. For example, when writing the letter c, tell them its name and compare it with the printed form. Then ask them what c says. They will tell you that c says ■€. Give them fre- quent drills on the names of the letters and their sounds. The same plan should be followed in writing the families, that is, they should learn that u-n says un, etc. They will very quickly learn the letters of the alphabet by follow- ing this plan, and it is a good preparation for the spell- ing lessons later on in the year. Phonic Summary Single Consonant Sounds Combinations of Consonants c— come g— go r— run 3— jump h— hop w— we t-to m— me 1— like b— boy y— you k— kitty s— see f— for n— not d— day p— pail sk— skip sh— she st— stop fl-.ny fr— from tr— tree th— that gl— glad gr— grass ch— children cr — crown cl— cluck bl— blow br— broke pi— play wh— when PHONICS Families un— run ad — glad ake— make ump— jump ood — good ew — flew op— hop ow — blow eed— seed ip— skip et— get eep— peep oy— boy ail— pail uck— cluck an— can ame— came old— told ain— rain ell- fell ed— led ing— sing en — when and ill-will aw— saw out ee— tree og— dog in aek— Jack ow — cow all ong— song ave— gave it ear— hear oat— goat at ot— not ar— far ate ay— day ut— but eat 91 The long and short sounds (without marks) of a, e, i, o, and u, the long sound of y, and the two sounds of s (without marks) have also been taught. First Reader Phonics When the class begins reading in the First Reader, drill on the phonics already taught should be continued, and, wherever possible, this knowledge should be used in mastering the new words. For instance, on pages 7-11 of the First Reader there are twenty-three new words introduced. Of these, eleven can be pronounced by the child through the sounds he has already learned in the Primer phonics. strong, through the family ong, and the prefixing, one at a time, of the known consonant sounds, r and st. fun, through the family un and the consonant /. meat, through the family eat, and the consonant m. 92 EASY ROAD TO READING bark, through the consonant b, the family ar, and the consonant k. fear, through the family ear and the consonant /. crying, through the word cry and the family ing, stopped, through the family op, the consonant combina- tion st, and the substitution of consonant t for ped st-op-(ped) t. grow, through the family ow and the consonant combi- nation gr. getting, through the family et, the consonant g, and the family ing (g-et-(t)ing). too, through the word to (to (o)). red, through the family ed and the consonant r. The remaining words of the First Eeader which can be mastered by the child from his knowledge of phonics obtained from the Primer work follow. The silent let- ters may be enclosed in parenthesis just long enough to get the pronunciation of the word, then these marks should be erased. Another way to show silent letters is to draw a light line through them, but this is not so easily erased. going go-ing sheep sh-eep leaving 1-ea-v-ing sell s-ell young y-(o)un-g bow b-ow got g-ot strings s-t-r-ing-s new- n-ew cakes c-ake-s grown gr-ow-n hung h-un-g started st-ar-t-ed black bl-ack let 1-et cut c-ut stand st-and sharp sh-ar-p knew (k)n-ew yellow y-ell-ow sleep sl-eep crowed cr-ow(e)d PHONICS dark d-ar-k town t-ow-n sat s-at fellow f-ell-ow sun s-un hopped hop(ped)t trip tr-ip gray gr-ay wait w-ai-t know (k)n-ow than th-an man m-an grow gr-ow seen s-ee-n please pl-ea-s(e) hunting h-un-t-ing back b-ack small s-m-all grew gr-ew wood w-ood crow cr-ow paw p-aw cheese ch-ee-s(e) bent b-en-t show sh-ow frowned f-r-ow-n-(e)d running run-(n)ing hard h-ar-d swing s-w-ing stood st-ood wall w-all chopping ch-op-(p)ing till t-ill chop ch-op cattle c-at-(t)l(e) snail s-n-ail garden g-ar-d-(e)n taken t-ake-n green gr-ee-n speed sp-eed brown br-ow-n called c-all-(e)d flying fly-ing sends s-en-d-s slow sl-ow swayed s-w-ay-(e)d beat b-eat window w-in-d-ow tails t-ail-s straight st-r-ai-(gh)t take t-ake tall t-all killing k-ill-ing seemed s-ee-m-(e)d played play(e)d name n-ame pen p-en lying 1-y-ing still st-ill planted pl-an-t-ed spring s-p-r-ing jar j-ar ten t-en each ea-ch standing st-and-ing plant pl-an-t sitting s-it-(t)ing bell b-ell late 1-ate fills f-ill-s playing play-ing bend b-en-d slipped sl-ip-(ped)t lame 1-ame 93 94 EASY ROAD TO READING bill b-ill neat n-eat wing w-ing hopping hop-(p)ing clean cl-ea-n trotting tr-pt-(t)ing shake sh-ake grunted gr-un-t-ed bring br-ing ball b-all drown d-r-ow-n ring r-ing now n-ow fallen f-all- (e)n hot h-ot drink dr-in-k fall f-all deep d-eep killed k-ill(e)d bean b-ea-n top t-op dew d-ew steeple st-ee-pl(e) The child should never separate a family after he has once learned it, and should always utter a combination together. The method followed in teaching the sounds in the First Eeader should be that of the Primer: Teach the sound, whether of consonant combination or family, from a word already familiar both to ear and eye. The following families and blend words are sugges- tive only. Others may be supplemented or substituted. Key Family OR Word Combin. iTioN Blend Words strong str string, strip, strain, stray, strew find ind wind, rind, bind, find, grind, blind, hind, mind bark ark shark, spark did id bid, hid, rid, lid twig ig pig, big, rig, wig, sprig, fig, gig dresses dr drop, drill, drip, dray, drain, draw, drew thought ought ought, bought, sought spade sp spill, spin, spat, spit, spout, speed ade made, trade, grade, wade PHONICS 95 Key Family or Word Combination think ink th side ide right ight just ust him im brook ook swing sw air air child ild hare are slow si very v race ace line ine fast (1) ast trick (2) ick dive ive fish ish leg eg clean ean fire ire white ite rest est noise oi ox ox more ore queer qu Blend Words sink, mink, rink, link, pink, wink, drink thin, thing, thump, thought hide, wide, ride, tide, bride, pride might, bright, light, sight, night, plight, tight, fight, flight must, rust, trust, dust, gust, crust rim, dim, whim, trim book, look, hook, nook, rook sway, swell, swill, sweep, swim fair, pair, hair, chair, lair wild, mild fare, rare, ware, mare, bare, dare, care, glare, flare, stare, share slay, slack, sling, slip, slim, slain, slave, sleep vim, van, vat, vail, vow ace, pace, race, face, lace, place, space, trace, brace dine, wine, mine, nine, pine, tine, thine, shine, fine, swine mast, past, last, vast pick, nick, kick, sick, tick, thick, prick, lick, wick, chick five, live, strive, hive, drive wish, dish peg, beg, keg lean, mean, bean, wean mire, tire, wire, hire, spire mite, bite, smite nest, vest, best, west, pest, lest, chest boil, oil, toil, spoil, foil fox, box core, bore, store, chore, tore, wore, fore, shore quite, quill, quell, quest, quack, quail, quake, quit 96 EASY ROAD TO BEADING Key Family or Word Combination or or small sm drove ove bent ent i gold old 1 sank ank 1 cap ap ] smaller er (3) Blend Words for, nor smell, smut, smite stove, grove, wove, rove, cove, dove sent, tent, lent, rent, dent, spent, went bold, cold, gold, hold, mold, told tank, thank, rank, bank, lank, blank lap, map, nap, strap, sap, rap, tap, clap, trap, chap taller, larger, master, rooster, longer, order, sicker, slipper, duster, bolder, colder Care (1) The correct sound of a in this word is a. should be taken that it is not changed to a. (2) It is very easy to get the children to sound this word without the final s, After the ick family is well known, get them to add s to pick, prick, wick, and the like. Also to other words to form plurals. (3) Practice adding er to words already known. Key Family or Word Combination shone one feel eel nice ice hope ope felt elt each each shoot oot bend end ugly llg ly (4) should ould fur ur Blend Words tone, lone, stone, bone heel, peel, reel, steel rice, lice, mice, spice, price mope, rope, dope, hope melt, belt, pelt, welt teach, peach, reach, beach, preach hoot, boot, toot, soot lend, mend, send, tend, rend, slender tug, lug, mug, pug, dug, rug, plug, hug, bug* sadly, hardly, nicely, sharply, largely, shortly, slowly could, would curl, church PHONICS Key Family OR Word Combination Blend Words dance ance chance, prance, lance pool ool fool, stool, spool, cool, tool moon oon noon, soon, spoon die ie tie, pie, lie snail sn snow, snip, snake, snare while ile pile, mile, smile 97 (4) Much practice should be given in adding this syllable to the adjectives and nouns which the children already know. SECOND READER PHONICS After completing the phonic work of the Primer and First Reader, and a sufficient number of families is known, combined with their knowledge of consonants and consonant combinations, to enable the children to mas- ter most of the new words of the Second Reader, no fur- ther class instruction in phonics would be necessary were it not that the use of the dictionary must be taught. This necessitates the learning, at this stage, of some of the diacritical marks. Prevalence of Long and Short Vowel Sounds The long and short sounds of the vowels are already known. It remains only to represent them to the eye, that is, to learn the diacritical marks that distinguish them. If the teacher is thoroughly familiar with vowel equiv- alents, a surprisingly large number of the new words can be mastered with the knowledge of no other markings 98 EASY ROAD TO READING than the breve and macron. For instance, of the four new words in the first lesson of the Second Reader, three have the long sound of the vowel. Of the six new words in the next lesson, four have the short sound, one the long sound, and in the sixth, something, the sound of o is equivalent to the sound of u. On the next three pages, there are thirteen new words. Of these, seven have the long sound of the vowel and six the short sound. From these illustrations, it is easily seen that to pro- nounce these twenty-three words, the children need to learn only one new thing. The word not having the long or short sound of its vowel is heart. They already know the sound of a in this word, for they have had it in the family ar, but they need to learn its diacritical mark, a, in order to distinguish it in future words from the other sounds of the same vowel. Occasional Vowel Sounds The few vowel sounds that can not be represented by the substitution of some long or short sound are a, a, a, a, and e. The teaching of these sounds and of the markings for the long and short sounds constitute the phonic work of the Second Reader. Suggestive Lesson for Teaching the Macron and the Breve Place the following list of words on the board : can cane pan pane man mane ban bane PHONICS 99 Point to can and ask to have it pronounced; point to an (the family), and have it pronounced. Then cover the n, and ask for the remaining sound. Do the same with each of the other words in this col- umn, being careful that each child is able to give clearly the short sound of a. Follow the same method with cane. Then write a on the board and ask for the sound. Some will give a and some a. (This will show the necessity for some mark to distinguish the sounds.) Tell the class that the a when sounded like that in can is marked thus, a. When sounded like that in cane, it is marked thus, a. Dkill : 1. Point to the a in the words in either column pro- miscuouslv and ask for the sound. 2. Write the representations of the two sounds on the board promiscuously and give drill, — a a a a a a a a a a a 3. Unlock new words, — sham, shame, plan, plane, came, wane, lane, slam. 4. Find the known words in the reading lesson which have these sounds. 5. Call for lists of words which have the sound of long a. Of short a. Teach the markings of the long and short sounds of the other vowels in the same way. 100 EASY ROAD TO READING A Type-lesson for Teaching the Occasional Sounds The sound of a. Preparation : Eapid oral review of the sounds of r, m, f, h, b, ch, n, y, t, a, and a. Presentation : 1. Ask questions that will bring the following words as answers, and place them on the board : arm farm bar mar harm barn or far tar charm yarn 2. Have these pronounced until all are familiar with them. 3. Point to a in the first word, and ask for that sound alone. (At this stage, probably most of the class can separate this sound. If not, the teacher should give it and require it to be imitated until it is well known.) 4. Place the letter a alone upon the board and ask for its sound. (This may bring a, a, or the new sound for an answer, thus showing the necessity for another mark to distinguish the different sounds.) 5. Mark the a in arm thus, a,, and require this sound many times. Drill : 1. Write promiscuously upon the board,— a a a a a a a a a a a a and drill until there is ready recognition and utterance. PHONICS 101 2. Call for words having the sound of a, then a, then a. 3. Place on the board a list of known words having the three sounds, and have them spelled by sound. 4. Give words containing these sounds which are in their spoken vocabulary, but the written or printed forms of which are unfamiliar, — snatch, hammer, plane, path, cart, — mark them, and have them pronounced. Suggestive Lists for the Other Sounds a a *a *e ask all air her mask ball hair earth task call fair heard past fall pair earn fast tall chair learn dance WORD BUILDING It will be found very profitable to build words by add- ing syllables, as was suggested in the First Reader work for ing, er, and ly. This work may be extended to in- clude est s or es (to form plurals) ed (both letters sounded, making an additional syllable, — sound, sounded) ed (e silent, d sounded with root, — drown, drowned) ed (sounded like t, — prick, pricked) en ish * It is better to teach these sounds with the r following. CHAPTER VII SEAT WORK (Correlated with Reading) Seat work or, as it is sometimes called, busy work, should be planned with as much care as any other part of the day's program. Too often it is considered just a means of occupying the time of one division of the class while another is reciting, without regard to the valuable use that may be made of this period. It is not enough for a child to be busy, his effort must be spent in ways which count for growth. Careful assignment of seat work is necessary if good results are to be obtained. As everything is new and strange to the child just entering school, more time will be required for this in the beginning of the year than later on. One of the first forms of seat work associated with the work in reading is the finding of the letter c after the sound of the letter has been taught from the word come. Each child should be provided with a box of assorted letters. The teacher prints a large C on the board. This may be done with ordinary crayon, but color appeals to the child and a letter made with yellow crayon will be appreciated. The class is directed to find as many c's as possible. All children do not readily associate the small letter found in the box with the one made on the board, so the first time this is done it will be necessary 102 SEAT WORK 103 for the teacher to help each child find one letter so that he will know just what is expected of him. She should then tell the class that when thev have */ finished their work she is going to count the letters and see who has found the most. This w T ill create a spirit of competition that will result in each child's doing his best work. The teacher should never fail to examine the work done by each child and to praise the best work. Appre- ciation of good work rather than criticism of poor will be found the best policy in dealing with little children. This creates a much happier atmosphere in the school room. This plan should be followed with each letter after the sound has been taught, and use should be made of each family taught in the same wav. %J O *j For example, the word run is used to teach the sound of r and the family un. One day the class should find the letter r and the next day the family un. As this necessitates the combining of two letters for the first time, care should be taken that each child knows the letters that form the family. For this reason it will be necessary for the teacher to go around the class and place the u and n together on each desk. She should call their attention to the capital letter on the reverse side, showing them the open space at the top of the letter u, so that they will place the letters correctly. This can be done very quickly and there will be little chance of incor- rect forms being made. In a very short time the class will need no assistance and the only time required of the teacher will be for the distribution of material and inspection of the w T ork when it is completed. By this time they will be familiar with the forms of the letters and can build words, then easy sentences. 104 EASY ROAD TO BEADING Whenever a new sight word is taught, a sentence for seat work that includes this word combined with words already familiar should be planned, with the new word underscored. Attention should be called to the large letter used in the beginning of a sentence and the punc- tuation mark at the end. Both the period and the ques- tion mark should be used and the comma when necessary. Make use of the rhymes in the same way. Print the rhyme on the board, or better still, provide each child with a copy of the rhyme card and designate the rhyme which the children are to build from the letter cards. When a sufficient number of consonant sounds and families have been taught, word lists should be made. These groups of family words may be printed on the board or charts may be made of stiff manila paper and the words printed upon them. These lists afford splen- did material for seat work, since each time the child forms the word he not only becomes more familiar with it, but he is also gaining a knowledge of the combination of letters into words which will make the work in spelling much easier later on in the year. When the names of the letters have been taught, as previously suggested for both the script and print forms, they may write the words from the printed forms on the board. A good plan for combining the seat work with the spelling lesson is as follows : The teacher writes a family on the board. Let us suppose she chooses the ight family. Of course the chil- dren are familiar with a number of words belonging to this family, as they have named them many times in building word lists and in their games. She then calls SEAT WOEK 105 for the name of the family, which will be readily given. The children then name each letter as she points to it and again give the name of the family. This may be done by several children individually and then they are ready to study the family. Two or three minutes is suffi- cient time for this and then different children may be called upon to name the letters without looking at the family. This may be done by a number of children in a very short time. The teacher then calls for words be- longing to this family and these are named and spelled by different children. Suppose that the first word given is the word night. They have already learned that the letter n has the sound with which the word night begins, and find no difficulty in spelling the word. The teacher prints each word on the board as it is given, and from this printed list the children write the words. The more formal spelling lessons in the second and third grades will be found much more satisfactory if this plan is con- scientiously carried out in the last half of the first year, and the same plan, modified to some extent, used in these grades. SEAT WORK (CoEEELATED WITH CoLOE AND FoEM WoEK) Colored tablets in the form of circles and squares may be obtained from any firm dealing in kindergarten supplies. These tablets make interesting seat work and are a means of teaching primary colors. On strips of cardboard about 8"x2", paste tablets rep- resenting the six colors. On some of the cards place six circles; on others six squares, on others circles and squares alternating. Make enough of these cards to sup- 106 EASY ROAD TO READING ply the largest division of the class, and, in a correspond- ing number of boxes, place six squares and six circles of each color. Each child is given a box and card and directed to place six rows of tablets on his desk exactly like those on his card. "When examining the work, ask different children to name the colors. Sometimes let them make original designs with the tablets. When they know the written names of the colors, place six cards, having the names of the colors written on them, in each box. Have the children place the circles and squares of each color below the card on which the name of the color is written. Another device which involves the use of color is the making of borders and designs with colored sticks. The borders illustrated are simple and effective. SEAT WORK 107 Stick laying needs little guidance from the teacher. At first the designs must necessarily be copied, but after becoming acquainted with the material and character of designs used, the interest for new designs is awakened in the children and they take great pleasure in creating original designs, especially if their power of observation has been stimulated. Let them illustrate the story of Columbus by laying the design of the three ships, and follow this by the story of the Indians, in connection with which they may lay the design of the wigwam and the canoe, and so on. In November they will enjoy mak- ing the early homes of the Pilgrims, their first church, the tall hat, the cradle and other designs suggested by the story. The Three Bears is a splendid story to illustrate with the sticks. First they lay the stick to form the bear's house in the woods. Then they make the three bowls, the three chairs, and the three beds. It is supposed that the resourceful teacher will have many ideas of her own to add to these suggestions. Whatever form of seat work is used, it must always be kept in mind that nothing spurs the child on to better work like the appreciation of good work or honest effort. SEAT WORK (Correlated with Numbers) In making plans for seat work one of the most impor- tant elements to consider is that the children need variety during the day. As this often presents difficulties for the young teacher, some plans for seat work not corre- lated with the work in reading are suggested. 108 EASY KOAD TO READING Boxes of assorted numbers should be among the sup- plies found in every primary room. There are many ways in which these may be used to advantage in connec- tion with the number lessons. One day have the class find all the l's possible, another day all the 2's. Then let them find l's and 2's. Then let them find l's and 2's placing them in rows. After they have found 3's they are ready to place rows of l's, 2's, and 3's on their desks. Use this plan with numbers up to 10. Always insist upon the numbers or letters being placed in order. It is so unnecessary for incorrect habits of work to be formed, and nearly all children take pleas- ure in doing their best work — if it is appreciated. Later on, as different combinations are taught, let the children form these combinations with the assorted num- bers, finding the answer as with the written numbers : for instance, 2 + 1 = 3. Either place a row of combinations on the board or give each child a card having the com- binations written or hektographed upon it. These cards will be found very convenient if board space is limited. They can be quickly distributed by one of the children. Dominoes also afford splendid material for seat work. These may be purchased, or they can be easily hekto- graphed on stiff paper. In hektographing the dominoes, it will be found more satisfactory to make a small circle instead of the solid dot. The regular dominoes are double, like the illustration, but for seat work they should be cut in two. Place several domino cards of each number in a box. In the beginning let the class find all the squares con- taining one dot, then those having two, and so on, as with SEAT WORK 109 the assorted numbers. Sometimes give the class squares and let them trace around them and make dominoes on paper. They like to do this, and, incidentally, are learn- ing the shape of the square. They may also write the number under the domino representing it. In connection with the writing of numbers, one scheme that the children enjoy is to trace around a circle and then write the number within the circle they have made. Later on, when the combinations are being taught, let them find the dominoes that say 1 + 2 = 3, and so on. Another time have them make the dominoes that repre- sent the numbers in each combination, and write the cor- responding number below as illustrated: 3 + 2 = 5 The same cards that were suggested for use with the sorted numbers may be used in this connection. Large domino cards representing the numbers from one to ten will be found very convenient. These cards should be about 8"x8" and may be made of heavy paper and the dots, or circles, made with black crayola. A hole should be punched in the top of each card so they can be hung on small hooks, which should be placed where the cards can be easilv seen. Use of Words Printed on Cards All words in the Easy Road to Reading Primer and First Reader (complete vocabulary) will be printed on 110 EASY ROAD TO READING ruled card board — so that the separate words can be cut out for use in seat work. Have pupils cut out the separate words from these ruled cards and use them for building sentences. Every pupil should be supplied with these ruled cards contain- ing the vocabulary of the Primer and First Reader. The sentence building exercises with these separate words should be a profitable and interesting practice and will prove helpful. CHAPTER VIII ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO USE THE ACTION WORDS, RHYMES, AND PICTURES Action Words All the early lessons in the Primer are based on action words. The symbols representing these action words are more easily taught to beginners than those representing words which can not be demonstrated in a way calculated to arouse continued interest. Every action word in the early lessons of the Easy Road, to Reading Primer is capable of wide demonstration. A great number of addi- tional sentences can be made up, based on the simple action w^ords whose symbols we are trying to have the pupil readily recognize as sight words. As explained in the first part of this manual, the action words can be best taught by the use of the story. They can be drama- tized as explained in the chapter on dramatization, and they can be taught phonetically. The use of the story and dramatization will be largely practiced at first to teach beginners these simple action words. The work in Phonics as outlined will be introduced and practiced as early as possible. The plan is to make the best pos- sible use — in the right order — of the three devices ; viz., story telling, dramatization, and phonics, in teaching the symbols of reading to beginners. ill 112 EASY ROAD TO BEADING The Rhyme The rhyme represents the accelerated action of the children in their playful activities. Accelerated and rhythmic action results in harmonious movement. Children like rhymes and rhythm and consequently the rhyme furnishes a convenient and proper method of introducing new words. It is an interesting way to teach children the new words, since they are interested in the rhyme. The plan is to have every child in the class memorize each rhyme in the order in which it comes. This will not be difficult — but the practice should con- tinue until the teacher is certain that any rhyme passed over can be readily recalled. Since practically all new words in the early lessons are found in the rhymes, the children really have in their possession every word which they encounter in the reading lessons which follow these rhymes. They, however, will have to be frequently re- minded of this fact. They may be able to repeat over and over again the rhyme "Come and hop And jump today, We like to run And skip and play," and yet when they encounter the word i ' like " in a differ- ent setting — in a new sentence — they may not know it. The teacher in such case should not tell them the word, but should suggest to them that they have already had the word and should know it. If they can not recall it, they should be sent back over the lessons they have had until they find the word. Naturally the children ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS 113 will soon discover for themselves that practically all the new words come in these rhymes. Of course the teacher should tell them this and practice making up additional sentences from the words and phrases in the rhymes until she is quite sure that they can readily recognize and call every word in the rhyme. Then the succeeding reading lessons will be easy. Another reason why the rhyme furnishes a good method for introducing the new words is that it helps pupils to help themselves. They must be taught from the start that the teacher will not do for them what they can do for themselves. Consequently when they meet a new word and can not call it, they should be required to go back over the rhymes until they find it, as previously explained. The action words in the early lessons in the Primer which are capable of being demonstrated by hav- ing the children perform the actions, are repeated in the rhymes. The rhyme is early introduced and used until sufficient phonic power is acquired by the members of the class to render its longer use unnecessary and undesirable. There is danger in using the rhyme too long. The work in phonics should take the place of the rhyme as soon as practicable. All the rhymes are printed on cards and numbered so that pupils can readily refer to them when they encounter new words which they can not call. It was the purpose of the authors of the Easy Road to Reading to make a legitimate and proper use of the rhyme. They consider this use to be what is outlined in this manual. The fact that new words can be introduced from the start in their true sentence relation by means of rhymes, and the fact that pupils can be taught to do effective work from the 114 EASY EOAD TO HEADING start in discovering new words for themselves, justify the rhyme as a means of introducing new words. The Pictures The pictures in the Easy Road to Beading course are unsurpassed for the purpose for which they are used. They are thought inspiring. They tell a story. Every pupil should be taught to tell the story which the picture tells. This practice cannot be too strongly emphasized. It develops language power. It furnishes a splendid exercise in making proper estimates, in cultivating the initiative. Have each pupil in turn tell the class what story he or she thinks the picture tells. Have them practice at their seats reproducing the picture. Of course this will be crude, but the practice stimulates thought. Continue to study and talk about the picture until the pupil's interest is aroused to such an extent that he wants to begin reading the story which the picture really tells. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS in 021 772 721 2