Special Method in Primary Reading and Oral Work with Stories Part 10

By the truth of my body," quoth bold Robin Hood, "You could not tell it in better time."

Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone, With a link a down and a day, And there he met with a silly old palmer, Was walking along the highway.

"What news? what news, thou silly old man?

What news, I do thee pray?"

Said he, "Three squires in Nottingham town Are condemned to die this day."

"Come change thy apparel with me, old man, Come change thy apparel for mine; Here is forty s.h.i.+llings in good silver, Go drink it in beer or wine."

Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone, With a link a down and a down.

And there he met with the proud sheriff, Was walking along the town.

"O Christ you save, O sheriff!" he said; "O Christ you save and see; And what will you give to a silly old man To-day will your hangman be?"

"Some suits, some suits," the sheriff he said, "Some suits I'll give to thee; Some suits, some suits, and pence thirteen, To-day's a hangman's fee."

Then Robin he turns him round about, And jumps from stock to stone: "By the truth of my body," the sheriff he said, "That's well jumpt, thou nimble old man."

"I was ne'er a hangman in all my life, Nor yet intends to trade; But curst be he," said bold Robin, "That first a hangman was made!

"I've a bag for meal, and a bag for malt, And a bag for barley and corn; A bag for bread, and a bag for beef, And a bag for my little small horn.

"I have a horn in my pocket, I got it from Robin Hood, And still when I set it to my mouth, For thee it blows little good."

"O, wind thy horn, thou proud fellow, Of thee I have no doubt.

I wish that thou give such a blast, Till both thy eyes fall out."

The first loud blast that he did blow, He blew both loud and shrill; A hundred and fifty of Robin Hood's men Came riding over the hill.

The next loud blast that he did give, He blew both loud and amain.

And quickly sixty of Robin Hood's men Came s.h.i.+ning over the plain.

"O, who are these," the sheriff he said, "Come tripping over the lea?"

"They're my attendants," brave Robin did say; "They'll pay a visit to thee."

They took the gallows from the slack, They set it in the glen.

They hanged the proud sheriff on that, Released their own three men.

[7] simple

ROBIN HOOD BOOKS

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Howard Pyle). Finely ill.u.s.trated, $3.00. Scribner's Sons.

Some Adventures of Robin Hood (Pyle). Small school edition, ill.u.s.trated; Scribner's Sons.

Tennyson's The Foresters.

The Robin Hood ballads are found in many of the ballad books.

Ivanhoe contains several scenes from the life of Robin Hood (Locksley).

CHAPTER VI

PRIMARY READING THROUGH INCIDENTAL EXERCISES AND GAMES

BASED ON SCHOOL MOVEMENTS, STUDIES, AND GAMES

Before entering upon the discussion of the usual methods of introducing children to the art of reading we will give a treatment of the incidental opportunities offered by the other studies, by school movements and games in primary cla.s.ses, for introducing children to the written and printed forms.

It is a.s.sumed that the more closely the written or printed words and sentences are related to the children's activities, or the more dependent these activities are made upon a knowledge of the word-forms, the quicker and more natural will be their mastery. To put it briefly, the teacher abstains from the use of oral speech to a considerable extent and subst.i.tutes the written forms of the words on the blackboard in giving directions, in games, and in treating topics in literature and science. The following chapter is taken wholly from the lessons given by Mrs. Lida B. McMurry in the first grade. Many other similar lessons were worked out, but these are probably sufficient to fully ill.u.s.trate the plan.

The teacher's aim in the beginning reading is to lead the child to look to the lesson, either word or sentence or paragraph, to find what it has to say to him--to present the lesson in such a way that the child shall quicken into life in its presence--shall reach forward to grasp this much-desired thing. The attention of the child is centred on the thought; he grasps the symbols because he must reach, through them, the thought.

Much of the early reading can be taught in a purely incidental way--in the general exercises of the school and in the literature and nature-study recitations.

READING TAUGHT INCIDENTALLY

(a) _In the General Management of the School._ The directions which are at first given to children orally, _e.g._, _rise_, _turn_, _pa.s.s_, _sit_, _skip_, _fly_, _march_, _run_, _walk_, _pa.s.s to the front_, _pa.s.s to the back_, are later written upon the board. When the children seem to have become familiar with the written direction, the order in which the directions are given is sometimes changed, as a test, _e.g._, the following directions are usually given in this order--_turn_, _rise_, _pa.s.s_. Instead of writing _turn_ first, the teacher writes _pa.s.s_. If the children understand, they will rise at once and pa.s.s without waiting to turn.

The names of the children, instead of being spoken, are often written; in this way the children become familiar with the names of all the children in the school. The teacher, writing _Clarence_ upon the board, says, "I would like this boy to erase the boards to-night." The first time it is written the teacher speaks the name as she writes it. It may be necessary to do this several times. The teacher does not look at Clarence as she writes his name. If he does not recognize his name after it has appeared repeatedly, his eyesight may well be tested. If heedlessness is the cause of the failure, another name is written at the board, and Clarence loses the opportunity to do the service. No drill should be given on these names. The repet.i.tion incident to the frequent calling upon the child is all that is necessary to fix the name.

The names of the songs and of the poems which the children are memorizing are written upon the board as needed. The teacher says, "We will sing this song this morning." If the children do not recognize its t.i.tle as the teacher points to it, she gives it. After a while the children will recognize the names of all the songs and the poems which are in use in the room.

The children become familiar with the written form of the smaller numbers in this way--the number of absent children is reported at each session and written on the board. On Friday the teacher records upon the board some facts of the week, or of the month, which the children learned from their weather charts--viz., the number of sunny and the number of cloudy days. The number of children in each row is ascertained and written at the board that the monitors may know how many pairs of scissors, pieces of clay, or pencils to select.

The poems, after being partially committed to memory, are written upon the board; when the pupils falter, reference is made to the line in question as it appears upon the board.

The teacher sometimes writes her morning greeting or evening farewell at the board--thus: "Good morning, children," or, "Good-by for to-day." The children read silently and respond with, "Good morning, Miss Eades," or, "Good night, Miss Farr."

Often she communicates facts of interest at the board. If the pupils are unable to interpret what she has written, she reads for them, _e.g._, the teacher writes, "We have vacation to-morrow." Quite likely some child, unable to read at all, will say, "We have _something_, but I can't tell what it is." (These same words will occur again, when needed to express a thought, and it is a waste of energy to drill upon them.) When the children have interpreted the above sentence at the board, the teacher writes, "Do you know why?" The children read the question silently and give the answer audibly, and say, "It is Decoration Day."

We too often allow children to treat a question in their reading as if its end were reached in the asking. To lead the children to form a habit of answering questions asked in writing or in print, such questions as the following are, from time to time, written at the board: "Did you see the rainbow last night?" "What color was it?" "Did you see any birds on Sat.u.r.day?" "What ones?" "Have you been to the woods?" "What did you find there?"

(b) _In Connection with the Literature._ The name of the story which the teacher is about to tell is placed upon the board. At the first writing the teacher tells the pupils what it is, if necessary, _e.g._, the teacher says, "We shall have a story about '_The Three Bears_,'"

pointing to the t.i.tle upon the board. The next day she says, "I would like you to tell me all you can about this story"--writing its name upon the board.

In the final reproduction of the story the teacher a.s.signs topics, _e.g._: Chauncey may tell me about this (writing at the board): _Silver-Hair going to the woods_. Eva may tell about this: _Silver-Hair going into the kitchen_. Jennie may tell about this: _Silver-Hair going into the sitting room_. Willie may tell about this: _Silver-Hair going upstairs_. Should the child go beyond the limited topic, the teacher points to the board and asks about what he was to tell.

At the close of each story that can be dramatized, the teacher a.s.signs at the board the part which each is to take, thus: After the story of "The Old Woman and the Pig" is learned, the teacher writes in a column each child's name opposite the animal or thing which he is to represent, in this way.

_Agnes_--the old woman.

_Glenn_--the pig.

_Sadie_--the dog, etc.

(c) _In Connection with the Nature Study._ In the spring the children are looking for the return of the birds, the first spring blossoms, and the opening of the tree buds. The teacher often makes her own discoveries known through writing, upon the board, _e.g._, "I saw a robin this morning," or "I found a blue violet yesterday," or "I saw some elm blossoms last night."

The cla.s.s, by the aid of the teacher, make a bird, a flower, and a tree-bud calendar, on which are recorded the name and date of the first seen of each. These names are put on the calendars in the presence of the children, and they frequently "name their treasures o'er."