READING.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

Reading is the most wide-reaching acquisition made by the child in school. No agency is capable of becoming so effective under wise teaching, for at once disciplining and informing the pupil's mind. Νο study, then, deserves more careful consideration or demands more carefully elaborated plans than this. For in actuality no other study, when unwisely presented, more widely and effectively conduces to bad mental habits.

It must begin, and at every point proceed, on the basis of vigorous, genuine thinking on the part of the child, and the life of such thinking is constant, clear, vivid imaging. The reality and character of such imaging, the teacher should unfailingly put to the proof in some way— by questioning, by requiring drawing or construction, by dramatization or other form of expression.

These remarks lead to the following suggestions:

(a) The reading matter must be chosen with wise discrimination, as to its adaptation to the children's intelligence, taste and effort, alike in thought, in spirit, in phraseology.

(b) Close alliance must be kept between the reading matter and the children's active interest-other studies, seasonal changes, attractive elements of environment, experiences, etc.—that is, if the books contain selections bearing in a clear, stimulating way on the current work in history, geography or science, or on outdoor phenomena, such selections should be sought out and studied, where and when the association is close and suggestive. Material for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other special days may thus be accumulated; information on places and people may be brought together when most needed. This is meant to correct the mechanical use of the reader, by which the selections are taken in order with no reference to bearing on strong general interests. d carefully.)

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(c) The material chosen for the reading hour should, as a rule, be from the “literature of power"—writings that by reason of their purity, beauty and spiritual strength have become classic.

(d) Supplementary reading should be thought of and treated not simply as increasing the bulk of reading matter and exercise in the process of reading-for this may perfect mechanical skill at the expense of the disposition and power to image-but rather (a) as enlarging the range of selections for the regular exercise and (b) as furnishing a fund from which to draw in enlarging and enriching the various studies of the course-history, geography, literature, science. Material of the

first sort should be in sets of books, sufficient in number to furnish each one of the class a copy and like the regular reading matter, classic literature as a rule. This should work in with the text-books, to give specific selections where and when needed. (See b). The second sort may better be in single books or in smaller sets-books of travel, of description of industries and manufacturing processes, of science, of history and biography, of good fiction, especially of historical fiction. These are to be read for information on the topics in hand, either in preparation for the recitation or in the recitation on the subject concerned, pupils selected beforehand reading to the class. The power to read is thus applied to a clearly perceived end, with sharply defined immediative motive, and close and strong association. This is quite important, if not essential to thought getting and to organizing what is got for remembrance and use.

(e) Above the primary grades, the assignment of work must be made in such a way as to make a definite presentation of things to be accomplished: (a) words to be looked up for pronunciation or meaning; (b) allusions to be explained; (c) questions of fact to be verified by observation, reading, inquiry, or study; (d) questions to be thought of and answered, bearing either on the meaning of more subtile or difficult portions, or on the motives of characters, where these bear on the general thought; (e) maps or diagrams or illustrative drawings to be examined or made, and perhaps placed on the blackboard by one of the class, for reference during the reading; (ƒ) reviews of other studies or elements of the selection in hand, needed to give the setting or connection.

(f) No text-book in reading, which is not in itself a literary whole, is to be taken selection after selection, in the order of the book. But rather the contents of all the readers should be analyzed, and tabulated or indexed together, and the selections assigned when and where they respectively have a clear and significant bearing. (See suggestions b and d.)

(g) The voice should receive attention from the first, and all proper effort made to help the child to control and improve it for expressing thought his own or the author's thought. Drills for enunciation and articulation will be needed in every grade. These are to be given on words listed because so difficult as to need special attention and on words on which the children are found to fail of good pronunciation. Drill should be had on groups of words, to master difficult combinations and to secure smoothness. In pronunciation make more of pitch of tone than of stress to indicate accent. This enables the child to be very deliberate and distribute his effort so as to give each syllable its full value. The first few minutes of each exercise may well be given to a vigorous exercise along these lines, especially on words occurring in the immediate lesson.

(h) The voice is the instrument of thought and emotion. Clear, sharp imagination is essential to either. This makes concrete presentation and motor expression important; hence, in every grade selections

appropriate should be acted out, that is, be given pantomimic and dramatic representation.

(i) The grades have been divided into four groups for presenting these directions in more detail-First and Second, Third and Fourth, Fifth and Sixth, and Seventh and Eighth. The teacher is urged to read all these directions carefully. Much will be found in common, and yet the directions will be found quite distinct and characteristic for the several groups.

FIRST YEAR.

AIMS IN THE READING.

(a) To have the children, from the first, weld firmly together the thought and the word or the sentence by which it is expressed. It is of the utmost importance that accurate and clear mental pictures be formed by the children as they read. To this end it is imperative that the reading material be interesting.

(b) To lead the children to express the thought in clear, distinct tone, adapted to express the sentiment or the character represented as speaking, and in easy, natural, vivacious manner,—as if they were thoughts, their thoughts.

(c) To help the children become independent readers by giving. them such instruction and training in the sounds of letters and groups of letters and in other forms of word-building as will enable them to make out for themselves the new words in their lessons.

SOURCES OF MATERIAL FOR READING LESSONS FOR BEGINNERS.

METHODS OF PRESENTING THESE LESSONS-GENERAL.

The first lesson in reading should be given independently of any book, and should be presented in writing on the blackboard. In these lessons the writing should be large, clear, vertical script, swiftly executed in order not to lose the interest and zest of the thought.

1. Room Management: After the direction "Stand" is given orally to the children at a certain time each day for a few days, the teacher, instead of saying "Stand," writes the direction upon the board and tells the children to do what the chalk directs. The teacher may have to tell what the chalk says the first time the word is written, and perhaps several times. "Turn," "Rise," "March," "Sit" may be taught in the same way. Gradually let other oral directions give place to the written form.

2. Games: The children learn to play a game by following the spoken directions of the teacher; e. g., "Simon says, "Thumbs up;' Simon says, "Thumbs down.'" After the children can play this well from the spoken direction, the written direction is substituted.

In the color game, the teacher, holding up different colored ribbons, one at a time, asks, "What is the color?" The answers, white, blue, red, orange, brown, violet, are written and each child places a check by the name of the color he wishes to wear. When all are named, the game begins. The children stand in a row, each wearing a bow of the color chosen, while the teacher bounces a ball on the floor, calling, "red," "blue," or "yellow." The child wearing the color called for catches the ball, or if he fails, gives up his color and goes to his seat, the game continuing until all are seated. The child remaining last on the floor wins the game.

3. Literature. Lessons based upon stories may be dealt with in the same way. Select a familiar story; say to them, "Let us name the parts to be taken." As the children name the different characters, the teacher writes them upon the board, "Silverhair," "Father Bear," "Mother Bear," "Baby Bear," etc. Then the child wishing to take the part of Silverhair steps to the board and draws a line under the word, at the same time saying, "I wish to be Silverhair." Another child makes his choice in the same way, and so on until all the parts are taken. The story is then acted.

Some stories may be recalled by the children under the teacher's unobtrusive guidance in brief sentences, giving the strong simple lines of the story. It is of importance that the children feel that these sentences are theirs, the story of their telling. In this work abundant opportunity will offer to recall the livlier and more valuable phraseology of the classic used and work it into the children's vocabulary, to a large extent. If the teacher can command the use of a hektograph or mimeograph, sets of papers may be made, and used in the class. Some times the children should be given each a copy to take home to read to mama; or, if successive sections are used, the several sheets may be made into books containing the whole story.

Nature Study. When based upon the Nature Study the teacher may write, for example, the names of the spring flowers in blossom at the time of writing, the children giving the names, and reading the lists later. Daily observations of the weather may be used as a reading lesson; as,

Or the teacher writes guessing games upon the board, e. g.:

I am not large. I have four legs. I have a fur coat.
I have short ears. I have sharp eyes. I have a bushy tail.

I run up trees. I eat nuts, What am I?

It is well after having much board work, that the children should have printed lessons on large sheets of manilla paper or card-board

before beginning the use of the books. Small printing outfits are sold cheap now-from $1.50 up-so that every school can afford one. The first charts should be the reproduction in print of lessons already familiar in script. If the children do not recognize the word in print, refer to its written form on the board.

NOTE. For some time the lessons in print contain only such words as are familiar to the children in script.

5. Objects and Pictures: A supply of objects and pictures furnish material for many delightful and profitable reading lessons; such a collection is particularly useful in teaching children who do not speak English.

The first lessons are not truly reading lessons, but are language exercises in which the toys are named over and over again by the teacher, imitated by the pupils. As soon as the children can name any one of the articles as the teacher selects it from the rest, then the word

is placed upon the board. Then more conversation takes place; directions are given, as, "Roll the ball," "Bring me the cup," "Put the cup on the chair," etc. As soon as the spoken direction is understood, it is written upon the board.

Suggestions in General: In reading from the board and in the early reading from books, the children look thru a sentence (or paragraph) and know what it says before they try to give it to others; in this way merely pronouncing words in place of reading is avoided. The children are taught from the first not to attempt to read aloud what is not perfectly clear to them. Encourage them to be free to ask what a word or sentence means before they are willing to read it aloud.

In planning the lessons for the board, the teacher has before her a list of the words which the children will meet in the fore part of their first readers. Wherever these words can be used well, without in any way detracting from the interest in a game, they are used, but many words not in that list will also be used. These are all common words, however, which the children will soon find in their reading.

As an aid in getting a new word, the children should be taught to look at the word in its setting in the sentence; e. g., in the sentence, "The squirrel lives in a hollow tree," the word "hollow" is not known. When they come to this word they will not attack it at once, but will look forward to the end of the sentence. They will discover that the new word, in all probability, tells what kind of a tree the squirrel lives in. Knowing the kind of trees squirrels choose, they will in most cases give the word without more study. The teacher should write all words upon the board that have not been instantly recognized by the pupils in reading. At the close of the lesson two or three minutes may be given to drill on this list, conducted in a lively, enthusiastic manner.

FIRST THREE MONTHS.

This is an important period in the child's experience; impressions made here are not easily effaced. The teacher should plan the work carefully and present it with zest. A great desire on the part of the