Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Literature Part 10

How did they play it? They thought in turn of some place to hide and imagined they were hiding in it; they had three guesses to find out the place.

Whose turn was it to hide? The old lady's, because the boy is guessing where she is.

Where did he find her at last? In "Papa's big bed-room", in "the clothes-press".

Is there anything else spoken about that was in the bed-room? There was a "little cupboard".

Why does he mention the cupboard? He often thinks of it. He likes it.

Why? His mother's "things used to be" in it.

Why does he say "used to be"? That tells us that they are not there any longer.

Why? I think his mother is dead.

Who takes care of him now? His grandmother lives with him and looks after him.

Why does the boy say "It can't be the little cupboard"? They both think too much of it to want to use it in connection with their play.

How did the boy enjoy the game? Very much, because it says he laughed "with glee".

How did the Grandma enjoy it? She was glad to see the boy happy.

Do old ladies usually like to play games? No, they generally prefer to read or sew.

Why was she playing with the boy? She loved him and was sorry he was lame.

Could he do anything for his Grandma? He could talk to her, and keep her from being lonely.

When he grows older, he can read to her.

Describe the picture you see in the ninth stanza. I see the old lady, with her hands covering her face, while she guesses where the boy is hidden.

In the last stanza, why does the author use so many "olds", in speaking of the Grandmother? He wants to make us feel she is quite old.

Why does he say "dear" so often? He wants to show how very kind she was to the lame boy.

Why does he say the boy was "half-past three", instead of three and a half years old? It sounds better the way he says it. It suggests the clock's time.

Give me some other t.i.tles for this poem. "The Chums", "A Queer Game", "The Two Playmates".

DANDELIONS

(Second Reader, page 30)

AIM

To lead the pupils to perceive and appreciate how the poet uses personification and comparison.

PRESENTATION

This poem should be studied in the spring, when the dandelions are in bloom. A nature study lesson should precede the literature lesson. The pupils should be required to observe when the dandelions begin to make their appearance; at what time of the day they are most conspicuous; after what kind of night they are to be found in greatest profusion; what change occurs in the structure of the flowers as they grow older; how long a time usually elapses between the first appearance of the flowers and this change; what the white, downy part of the flower const.i.tutes; what eventually becomes of this part.

Introduce the lesson by a brief conversation about military operations.

Describe how one army tries to seize a strategic position, sometimes a hill, where the men can fix their guns and command the surrounding country. If this lesson could be presented without the pupils knowing the t.i.tle (by writing the poem on the black-board, for instance), there would be the added interest of solving a riddle, namely, what the poet is describing.

What is a real "trooper band"? A band of soldiers on horseback.

And what are real "veterans"? Old soldiers who have seen much service in war.

What is actually meant by the "trooper band"?

The dandelions when they first come out.

What is the phrase that suggests that they are dandelions? "Yellow coats."

What does the author actually mean by the "veterans"? The dandelions, when they have gone to seed.

What phrase suggests this? "Their trembling heads and gray."

Where did the "trooper band" make their appearance? On the hillside.

When? On a "showery night and still".

Why is such a night selected? Because it makes the dandelions bloom in great numbers.

To what is the coming of the dandelions compared? To an army taking possession of a hill.

What words tell how they came? "Without a sound of warning", "surprised", "We were not waked by bugle notes", "No cheer our dreams invaded".

Explain "surprised the hill". Marched upon it when they were least expected, and seized it.

Give the meaning of "held it in the morning".

Had undisputed possession of it.

Tell, in your own words, how the dandelions came. Suddenly and unexpectedly.

How did this attack differ from a real military attack? There were no notes of the bugle or shouts of the soldiers to announce the capture of the hill.

Change "No cheer our dreams invaded" into prose order, and explain the meaning. No cheer invaded our dreams. Our sleep was not disturbed by the victorious shouts of soldiers.

How did the coats of the soldiers you have seen differ in colour from those of the dandelions?

What is the meaning of "at dawn"? The first appearance of light in the morning.

"Green slopes"? Gra.s.sy hillsides.