Beginners' Book in Language Part 6

2. What could be added to make the talk more interesting?

=Written Exercise.= 1. When the talk that you have just been studying has been rewritten on the board in its improved form, copy it. Before doing so, read the exercise that follows. It will show you why it is very important that you try to copy the talk without making a single mistake. Look out for the spelling of words, for the capital letters, and for the punctuation marks. In this way you will be preparing for the battle in the next exercise.

2. The entire cla.s.s may now be divided into two Indian tribes. The tribes are to have a battle in the schoolroom. The battle will be a writing battle. It will show which tribe can write from dictation[18]

with the fewer mistakes. What you have just copied from the board is to be used for this dictation. Before the exercise begins, each tribe may give its war whoop.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WALKING STICKS USED BY THE OLD MEN OF A TRIBE]

3. Compare what you have written with what is on the board.[12] How many mistakes in spelling have you made? How many times have you written small letters where there should be capitals? How many punctuation marks have you forgotten? How many mistakes have all the Indians in your tribe made? Did your tribe make fewer mistakes than the other tribe?

Then your tribe may give its war whoop as a sign of victory. The losing tribe must remain silent.

=17. Still More Telling about Indians=

What boy would not be an Indian for a while when he thinks of the freest life in the world? This life was mine. Every day there was a real hunt.--CHARLES A. EASTMAN (OHIYESA), "Indian Child Life"

=Oral Exercise.= 1. What did Indian boys and girls enjoy that you do not have? What pleasant things do you enjoy that the Indian children had never heard of before the white men came to this country?

2. Make believe that you are an Indian boy or girl. Play that you have been asked by the teacher to visit the school. The teacher asks you to tell about your pleasant life in a tepee in the woods, and why you are glad you are an Indian. The teacher will meet you at the door, lead you before the cla.s.s, and say something like this:

Boys and girls, I want to introduce you to our visitor. As you see, he is an Indian boy, who has come to us from his home in the woods. He will tell us why he likes the Indian life and why he would not exchange places with us.

What will you say to the cla.s.s?

[Ill.u.s.tration: BARK WIGWAM WITH CURVED ROOF]

3. Now play that the cla.s.s is a tribe of Indians. You have been captured by them as you were wandering through the woods.[27] They want you to live with them and to grow up with the Indian boys and girls.

Stand before this Indian tribe. Tell them bravely why you would rather stay with the white men. Ask them to let you return to your home. Give good reasons why they should do so. Which of the following ideas will you use in your talk?

1. You would rather spend your life in the city than in the woods.

2. You like the white men's houses and ways of living better than those of the Indians.

3. You want to learn to read better so that you may enjoy many storybooks of which you have heard.

=18. Correct Usage--_Have_[28]=

A game that Indians often played was called "Finding the Moccasin." The players formed a circle around one who stood in the center and was "it."

They pa.s.sed a small toy moccasin quickly from hand to hand. The one in the center tried to guess who had it. If he guessed right, then the player who had the moccasin became "it" for the next game.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOCCASINS]

=Game.= Make believe that you and your cla.s.smates are a band of Indians playing "Finding the Moccasin." Make a small moccasin of paper or cloth.

Pa.s.s it quickly from hand to hand as you stand in a circle. Be careful that the player in the center does not see you pa.s.sing it. He will ask one after another in the circle, "Have you the moccasin?" The answer will always be, "No, I haven't (or have not) the moccasin," until the one who does have it answers, "Yes, I have the moccasin." Then this player is "it" for the next game.

=19. The Names of the Months=

Here are two lists of names. The second gives the Indian names for the months. As you see, the Indians use the word _moon_ instead of the word _month_.

January Snow Moon February Hunger Moon March Crow Moon April Wild-Goose Moon May Planting Moon June Strawberry Moon July Thunder Moon August Green-Corn Moon September Hunting Moon October Falling-Leaf Moon November Ice-Forming Moon December Long-Night Moon

=Oral Exercise.= 1. As you read the two lists above, do you see the reason for each Indian name? Do you like the Indian names as well as the names we use? Which Indian name do you like best of all? Which do you think could be improved? Can you make up other names for the twelve months?[29]

2. Can you name the twelve months in order? Remember to p.r.o.nounce all the _r's_ in _February_.

3. Let twelve pupils be the twelve months. Let the pupil who is January speak first. He should tell who he is and what he brings. He might speak as follows:

I am January. The Indians call me Snow Moon. I bring cold weather, ice, and snow. Healthy boys and girls like me. When I am here, they can go coasting and skating. When I bring too much cold, they stay indoors by the fire and read books about Indians.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INDIAN SLED, OR TOBOGGAN]

In this way each of the twelve pupils may tell the cla.s.s what kind of month he is.

=Group Exercise.= After each month has spoken, the cla.s.s should tell him, first, what was specially good in his talk, and then, what might have been better. These questions will help the cla.s.s to see how good each talk was:

1. What was the best thing in the talk?

2. Did the speaker leave out anything interesting?

3. Did he use too many _and's_?[30]

=Written Exercise.= You and eleven cla.s.smates may go to the board. The teacher will name a month for each pupil. Each is to write a sentence that tells what he likes to do in one of the months. If you are to write what you like to do in November, you might write a sentence like the following:

In November I like to read books and play games by the warm fire.

While the twelve pupils are writing on the board, the pupils in their seats will write on paper.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STONE AX]

Do not forget that the name of every month begins with a capital letter.

Do not forget that the word _I_ is always written as a capital letter.

=Group Exercise.= 1. The cla.s.s may now point out any mistakes there are in each of the twelve sentences on the board. These questions will help pupils to find mistakes:

1. Is the name of the month spelled correctly? Does it begin with a capital letter?

2. Does the sentence begin with a capital letter?