Special Method in Primary Reading and Oral Work with Stories Part 17

No leaves! No leaves!

I wish I had gla.s.s leaves.

IV

_In the morning._ Oh, how beautiful!

Gla.s.s leaves! Gla.s.s leaves!

No robber will take them.

I can keep them.

I am so happy!

V

Cloud, do not come.

Wind, do not blow.

Keep still, keep still.

A leaf is broken.

Another! Another!

All gone! All gone!

No beautiful leaves.

I wish I had bright green leaves.

VI

_In the morning._ Oh, my pretty green leaves!

No one will steal them.

Nothing will break them.

I shall not need to keep still.

I will dance.

Dance! dance! dance!

VII

Goat, do not come here.

These are my leaves.

I want them.

They are pretty.

Oh, oh, oh!

All my pretty leaves are gone.

What shall I do?

I wish I had my needles.

VIII

Oh, mother, mother, see!

I have my old leaves.

I like them.

They are best of all.

No one will steal them.

Nothing will break them.

Nothing will eat them.

I can keep them.

My dear old leaves!

(III) _Nature Study as a Basis for the Reading._ The subjects in which the pupils are most interested are made the basis for the reading lessons.

Sometimes there is a guessing game like the following: The teacher, holding a flower in her closed hand, writes:--

Guess what I have.

It is a flower.

It is white.

_It has a yellow centre._

(The children answer--a daisy.) Or--

Guess what I have.

It is a leaf.

It is yellow.

It is long.

It is narrow.

(The children answer--the willow.)

After the pupils have made a careful study of a few birds or flowers, the reading lesson describes one of these, and the pupils are expected to name it from the description. If a child gives the wrong name, one of those who know better points out the line or lines barring out this object, and reads to the one making the mistake as proof of his error.

I live in the woods.

I am not a bird.

I am not a flower.

I am not a tree.

I run up trees.

I eat nuts.

I have a bushy tail.

What is my name? (_Squirrel._) I am a little bird.

My back is brown.

My breast is white.

My bill is curved.

I go up a tree trunk.

I fly to another tree.

I like insects.

What is my name? (_The brown creeper._) This is a big bird.

It is blue.

It has black bands on its tail and wings.

It has a crest.

Its bill is black.

It scolds.

What is its name? (_The blue jay._)

The children sometimes play a game like the following: All but one personify red-headed woodp.e.c.k.e.rs. The _one_ questions from the board.