TOPIC V: DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY AND REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT
Subject Matter
1. Assemblies—
First Assembly in 1635.
Second Assembly in 1638. Why three years later than first?
What was its organization? Freemen, governor, and Council. Importance.
Third Assembly in 1659.
Representatives from the hundreds making a House of Burgesses, governor, and Council.
2. The Claiborne affair and its settlement.
3. The effect of the Civil War in England upon the colonies:
a. Colonies in general:
1. Increase or decrease in population according to the sentiments of the colonists regarding the questions in England.
2. Strife in colonies. Councils called on to decide for or against king or Parliament.
3. Effect on commerce.
b. Upon Maryland in particular:
1. Increase in Catholic population.
2. Caused strife and dissension.
3. Return of Leonard Calvert to England for advice; Giles Brent left governor pro tem.
4. Invasion of Ingle.
5. Ingle and Claiborne.
6. Leonard Calvert’s return from England.
7. Leonard Calvert’s refuge in Virginia.
8. Return of Calvert and restoration of the colony under his government.
9. Death of Leonard Calvert, June 9, 1647.
Thomas Greene made governor pro tem. by Leonard Calvert on his deathbed.
Method of Procedure
1. Discuss the organization of the several assemblies.
Explain hundreds.
Textbook: Gambrill, pp. 14-19; penal laws; prisons, 21-23; judicial courts, 63-68.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Textbook Assignments: To be given by teacher.
4. The appointing of a new governor by the proprietor and the reorganization of the government: Factor in this—Civil War; the Protestants in power in England.
1. William Stone appointed governor.
Effect—he chose Protestants for his Council, from those brought into Maryland from Virginia.
They made a settlement on Severn River.
5. Trouble with the Puritans resulting in the battle of the Severn.
6. Reconcilement with Virginia.
7. Change in organization of
government—
Upper House.
Lower House.
Due to growth of colony; freemen; indentured slaves who became freemen.
8. For “Life in Annapolis” see Churchill’s Richard Carvel: Chapter on “Christmas at Carvel Hall.” This should be read to the class.
Note.—Here the development of the Maryland colony may be closed because of the political difficulties which are entirely beyond the experience of the sixth-year child. The French and Indian Wars might be studied; also the opening up of western Maryland by the coming of the Germans; but the main point has been accomplished. The children have worked their way through the study by living in the conditions of the colony and solving Leonard Calvert’s problems for him. To work such a plan out in detail, to give just enough to whet the appetite of the child and then make him think for himself, to have him live as a colonist of the times, interested particularly in the details of government that concern the colonists as a united body until finally a “two house” legislature is demanded because of the growth in population, area occupied, and interests represented, is a task for the skill of the teacher, and is worth while.
Lida Lee Tall,
Baltimore County Schools.
A LESSON IN NATURE STUDY INVOLVING A REAL PROBLEM
This lesson was planned and taught very successfully in the third grade by Miss Roxana A. Steele of the Speyer School, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Teacher’s aims:—
1. To teach pupils why and how to transplant.
2. To prepare for the transplanting of the salvia plants in our school garden.
Pupil’s aims:
1. To be able to select good plants for transplanting.
2. To know how to transplant in order to plant salvia plants without help.
Subject Matter
Box of young salvia plants for observation and comparison with cabbage and tomato plants.(Salvia plants to be transplanted into garden later.)
Advantages of transplanting:
Plants get an early start.
Opportunity for good arrangement.
Disadvantages:
Extra work.
Extra care.
Cabbage and tomato plants discarded by Teachers College gardener.
I. Choice of Plants.
Very small plants:
Do not root well.
Are slow in getting started.
Large plants:
Stalks too long and weak.
Bend very easily.
If used, need to be planted deep.
Roots have not had room enough in hotbed.
Medium-sized, strong plants:
Best for planting.
Good roots.
Good stalk.
Green leaves.
Crooked plants.
Can be straightened by the sun.
Method of Procedure
What are we planning to do with our salvia plants when they are a little larger?Why didn’t we plant the salvia seeds in the garden?
What are some of the advantages of transplanting? disadvantages?
How many children feel that they know just the best way to transfer a plant? (Pupils’ Aim.) Do you think we can afford to practice with the salvia plants when we have so few? Who can suggest a good way to learn to transplant?
Let us look at those cabbage and tomato plants which I have brought from Teachers College and see what we think about them. These are from the box from which plants were selected by the gardener last week.
I shall divide the plants into small, large, and medium-sized. Tell which you think are best for transplanting and why.
Why would you not select the very small ones? the very large ones?
When a gardener has not enough fine, straight plants, can you think of a way of planting by which he might use a crooked plant?
II. Manner of Planting.
Preparation of hole.
Water at roots.
Planted deep enough for branching of first leaves to be but an inch or two above ground.
Earth pressed firmly around plant.
Practice planting of cabbage and tomato plants in a box of earth.
Trowel.
Choice of plant.
Water.
Account of what is being done.
Summary.
How to select a plant for transplanting.
How to plant it.
(Statement of Pupils’ Aim.)
Can you think of some things which might help a very young plant to get a good start?
Has any child ever seen a farmer plant cabbage or tomato plants?
Tell us exactly how he did it and why.
Several children who can select a good plant may plant them in this box of earth. The class will decide whether they are good gardeners.
Each child will have an opportunity to plant a salvia plant in the garden. Can you tell which plants will be most liable to grow well?
A LESSON PLAN IN GEOGRAPHY WHICH IS PREDOMINANTLY DEDUCTIVE
The study of maps forms the basis for inferences which are later verified by referring to the text. This plan was written by Miss Mary F. Kirchwey of the Horace Mann School, Teachers College, Columbia University. This lesson was most successfully taught to sixth-grade pupils in the Horace Mann School.
Teacher’s aim: To teach the geography of India and to give practice in the application of principles of geography known by the pupils.
Children’s aim: Why do they have such terrible famines in India?
Subject Matter
Failure of crops—dense population directly dependent upon agriculture for a living—lack of sufficient means of transportation.
We have abundant rainfall— temperature favorable to crops— great land area in proportion to our population.
In Egypt—even as far back as in the days of Joseph (Bible)—also in recent years.
Nile’s overflow less abundant than usual—dense population.
Location and approximate extent of the Indus Valley.
Between latitudes 23° and 30° N. the temperature is warm.
Florida is in about the same latitude, but the extremes of temperature are not so great owing to the water mass that surrounds it and tempers both heat and cold.
Method of Procedure
What is a famine?Sufficient conversation to impress upon the children the suffering attendant upon famine.
What are some of the conditions that bring about a famine?
Have you ever heard of famines in our country? Why not?
In what part of the world have you heard of famines?
What were some of the causes of famine in Egypt?
The Indus Valley in India is one of the regions that is subject to terrible famines. Let us see if we can find the reason for it.
Point out the Indus on the map. Where does it rise? Where empty? Draw your pointer along the length of the valley—across it.
In what latitude is it?
What temperature conditions must prevail there? What part of North America is in about the same latitude? What do you know about the temperature of Florida? Do you think that the Indus Valley has about the same temperature? Look carefully at the location of both places— Florida and the Indus Valley. Can you see any reason for thinking that temperature is not the same? How are the summer and winter temperatures of Florida affected by the waters about it? How are the summer and winter temperatures of the Indus Valley affected by the land mass about it?
| Jan. | July. | |
| Indus Valley, | 40°-60° | 90° |
| Florida | 50°-60° | 80° |
Rainfall.
Indus Valley is in the trade wind belt.
North of the equator the trades blow from the northeast.
The air over the land becomes heated and expands. The cooler air from the water blows in.
From a general southerly direction.
Arrows on map show that the winds come from the southwest.
From the northeast in winter.
From the southwest in summer.
There can be practically no rainfall in the Indus Valley in winter because the winds blow over the great land mass of eastern and south-central Asia before reaching the Indus and have lost their moisture.
There is more rainfall in summer because the winds from the southwest come directly from the ocean. The valley lies so low, however, that the winds sweep over the southern part of it without having much of their moisture condensed. There is little condensation until they near the highlands on the north.
Refer to rainfall maps which show well-watered regions in the upper valley—desert in the lower.
Generally favorable in the upper valley—unfavorable in the lower.
The Nile Valley—Egypt.
The annual overflow of the river.
The heavy precipitation in the mountainous districts that feed its tributaries.
Indus has many tributaries that rise in the Himalayas. In the summer, when the snows on the mountains melt, these tributaries carry to the main stream such a quantity of water that an inundation results.
Is the temperature of Florida favorable or unfavorable to crops?
Is a temperature somewhat hotter in summer and colder in winter unfavorable to crops?
Is there anything, then, in the temperature of the Indus Valley that explains their famines?
We must evidently look for some other cause for the famines. Upon what other climatic conditions do crops depend?
In what wind belt does the Indus Valley lie?
From what general direction do the trades blow in the northern hemisphere?
Let us see if there is ever any exception to this rule. How does the temperature of the land compare with the temperature of the water in summer? What effect has this upon the air over the land? What naturally follows?
From what direction, then, do the winds blow in India?
Turn to the map of the winds and find the exact direction. These winds are called the Southwest Monsoons.
Tell again from what direction the winds of India come.
What, then, do you conclude as to the rainfall of the Indus Valley in winter? Is there apt to be more or less rainfall in summer? Why? Look at the map very carefully and see if it is likely that even the summer winds bring much rainfall. Is the rainfall equally light all through the valley? Where is it apt to be heaviest? Why?
Prove that your conclusions are correct.
Would you then say that the rainfall is favorable or unfavorable for agriculture?
Does this mean, necessarily, that agriculture cannot be carried on in the lower valley?
What other river valley have you studied that is noted for its agriculture in spite of a very light rainfall?
What makes agriculture possible in the Nile Valley?
To what is the overflow of the Nile due?
Is there anything in the location of the Indus that makes it likely that it, too, overflows?
Character of the soil.
River valleys in general have a rich soil. A river that overflows leaves a deposit of rich mud that makes its banks very fertile.
Favorable—warm climate, rich soil, overflow of the river.
Unfavorable—scanty rainfall.
Crops grow so rapidly and easily when rains do not fail, that vast numbers of the people engage in farming. It is almost purely an agricultural region.
It has attracted vast numbers of people.
Principal products—millet, rice, cotton, sugar cane, wheat, tea.
Practically all needed for home consumption.
More railroads might be built in order that food products could be carried readily from one section to another.
Better methods of irrigation might be employed.
More variety of occupation might be introduced, so that fewer people would be directly dependent upon agriculture for a living.
Upon what beside temperature and rainfall does the productiveness of a region depend?
Can you come to any conclusion in regard to the soil of the Indus Valley?
State again the conditions in the valley that are favorable to agriculture. Those that are unfavorable.
What has been the effect of these physical conditions upon the occupations of the people?
What has been their effect upon the density of population?
What crops would you expect to find in the Indus Valley? Consult your textbooks and see what else is grown there.
Do you think that much is exported? Why, then, do they have such terrible famines in India?
Can you suggest anything that might be done to lessen the danger of famine?
Consult your textbooks and see what steps have already been taken in this direction.
A LESSON FOR APPRECIATION
A lesson for appreciation which includes creative and interpretative work. The interpretation of the song in the dance, or dramatic game.
This lesson was planned and taught to a group of second-grade children by Miss Eleanor Wright of the Speyer School, Teachers College, Columbia University.
The lesson was based upon the little German folk song which follows:—
1. Hopp, hopp, hopp! Pferd-chen, lauf’ Ga-lopp,
2. Tipp, tipp, tapp! Wirf mich ja nicht ab!
ü-ber Stock, und ü-ber Stei-ne,
sonst be-kommst du Peit-schen hie-be!
a-ber brich mir nicht die Bei-ne!
Pferd-chen, thu’ mir’s ja zu lie-be;
im-mer im Ga-lopp! hopp, hopp, hopp, hopp, hopp!
wirf mich ja nicht ab! tipp-ti, tapp-ti, tapp!
Teacher’s aims:—
1. To have the children make a dance which will be suitable to the music of Das Steckenpferd.
2. To help the children to appreciate this form of self-expression,—expression by means of the whole body.
Pupils’ aim:—
To make a little “folk dance” which they will present at the May Festival for the entertainment of parents and friends.
Subject Matter
I. A. Getting the problem before the children.
1. The surprise.
2. Reason for doing this work.
3. Nature of the problem.
B. 1. Set the standard for judging the value of the work done: that is, to have the dance tell the same story as the music.
2. Consider some other familiar melodies, and show, in physical expression, what they tell.
a. Soldier Song. (Bentley Song Primer.)
b. Bye-Low. (Bentley Song Primer.)
c. Old Black Joe.
d. Robin Hood and Little John.
C. Choose those pupils to interpret a song to whom it seems to appeal most.
1. Soldier Song—boys.2. Bye-Low—girls.
3. Robin Hood—partners.
Method of Procedure
I. A. 1. Do you remember, children, that I promised you a great surprise this morning? Well, this is it.
2. One day, not long ago, Miss S., Miss T., and I were talking over our program for the May Festival, and we decided that the little people did not have enough to do.
The first-grade children are to play a little story, and our two grades, you know, are to sing The Little Princess—so we thought that the second grade ought to have a little part of its own. Now what do you think it is to be? I am going to tell you.
3. We are going to make our own little dance to the music of Das Pferdchen. Don’t you think that will be very interesting?
1. When we made the tunes for our songs last winter, what did the music always have to tell?
Just so, as we make our dance to-day, it must tell the same story as the folk song.
2. Let us sing one of our little songs that we have known for a long time, and see if we can tell, in a dance, how that makes us feel.
Different children may here give different, individual interpretations. Encourage much freedom.
I am thinking of another tune that is quite different from this one. You may sing it with me if you like.
Virginia may show us how that song makes her feel: what she wishes to do when she hears it.
(Handle these two songs in a manner similar to that used for the other two.)
I am going to choose James to dance this, for he knows so much about soldiers.
Whom do you think could best show us how Bye-Low “goes”? Yes, I believe the girls can.
Henry may choose a little boy and girl to show us how this tune (Robin Hood) seems to go.
II. A. Das Pferdchen.
1. Kind of song—gay.
2. Things a little horse would do.
a. Gallop.
b. Jump.
c. Trot.
d. Paw the earth.
e. Stamp.
f. Step very high.
g. Carry his head proudly.
h. Prance.
3. Find any or all of these movements in the song.
4. Analysis of stanzas. First stanza—3 parts.
a. Jumping.
b. Galloping.
c. Jumping lightly.
5. Interpretation of each part by several different children.
6. Criticism.
a. Suggestions and constructive criticism of work done.
b. Judgment of the class as to the relative values of work.
c. Selection made for permanent dance.
7. a. Analysis of second stanza—3 movements.
b. Contrast the general spirit of first and second stanzas.
8. Encourage timid pupils to put forth effort. Have a very weak one work with one who is strong in this line.
II. A. Our little song, Das Pferdchen, is very different from all these.
Let us sing it together, to “la.”
1. What kind of song do you think it is? How does it make you feel?
2. This song is about a little horse. Now what can a little horse do?
3. Now we shall sing our song again, and this time you must listen very carefully so that you can tell what this little horse does.
4. Is this stanza alike throughout, or are there different parts to it? You may raise your hands when we come to the end of each part. Name each part.
5. You may show us how that first part makes you feel, Leland.
Irving may show us his way of doing it.
You have seen these two boys work; have you any suggestion to give?
Which piece of work do you consider more appropriate? Why?
Are you willing to accept this for your finished dance?
Now we have gotten the movements for our first stanza, we shall see if the second stanza is very like it.
How many movements did you hear in it?
b. Is the general spirit of the second stanza just like that of the first?
Compare?
Will you not show us, Josephine, how that little horse seems to go, in this second stanza.
Now William is a very strong horse, so we shall put you with him and make a fine “team.”
III. A. 1. Review the whole dance.
2. Give the incentive to work upon this until it is a very finished product.
3. Provide for a way of getting on and off the floor, when the dance is given.
4. Assignment.
III. A. 1. Since we have gotten all our dance, in parts, maybe you would like to see some one dance it all the way through. Who will be strong enough to do this without any help?
We liked that very much.
2. But I wonder if you feel ready to give this at the May Festival, just as it is?
Why not?
What will be necessary, then, before we can feel satisfied with it?
3. Now we know how our dance is to go after we have gotten out on the floor, but we have not said how we shall get to and from our places.
Don’t you think this is very important?
4. I am going to ask you to be ready to answer this question on Monday:
What will be the most suitable and pleasing way in which to get before our audience; and also, back to our places after our dance has been given.
A LESSON IN ARITHMETIC BASED ON A REAL PROBLEM WHICH WAS INTERESTING TO CHILDREN
Such a lesson gives little opportunity for practice in arithmetical computation, but gives the very best possible motive for the drill work which is to follow. This lesson was planned and taught in the third grade of the Speyer School, Teachers College, Columbia University, by Miss Roxana A. Steele.
Teacher’s aims: To have children appreciate the practical value of itemized bills.
To make children conscious of their need for the multiplication table of six.
Pupil’s aim: To find the cost of the basket of food to be given to a poor family on Thanksgiving Day.
Subject Matter
Thanksgiving baskets are sent annually to the needy families of the neighborhood.Voluntary offerings of money, groceries, help in preparing and distributing.
An offer to pay for a Thanksgiving basket if the value were estimated.
List of things for the Thanksgiving basket:
2 cans of vegetables.
3 qt. of potatoes.
2 qt. of apples.
6 lb. of beef.
1 qt. of cranberries.
1 lb. of sugar.
1 lb. of nuts.
Market list prices:
| Small squash | 12¢ |
| Large squash | 18¢ |
| Canned vegetables | 10¢ |
| Potatoes per qt. | 8¢ |
| Apples per qt. | 12¢ |
| Cranberries per qt. | 12¢ |
| Sugar per lb. | 6¢ |
| Nuts mixed per lb. | 18¢ |
| Small squash | 12¢ |
| Large squash | 18¢ |
| 2 ) 30¢ | |
| Medium squash | 15¢ |
Method of Procedure
How many children know about the Thanksgiving baskets which are sent from the Speyer School?You may tell the rest of the class how this work is planned for.
Miss S. was telling me yesterday that a gentleman offered to pay for one of the baskets, but she did not know the value of one. She said that she knew the different articles which are put into the basket, but did not know the value of each. I thought Grade III could find the cost for her. Would you like to try to do it? (Pupils’ Aim.)
Miss S. gave me a list of the things which are to go into the basket.
As I put the list on the board try to think of the price of each article.
We will choose the average price because our goods will be average goods.
How many are ready to tell the price of squash? How can you find the medium price? You may record the squash. Who can fill in the second line and explain it? Class be ready to criticize.
| $.16 | |||
| .16 | |||
| .16 | $.16 | a lb. | |
| .16 | × 6 | ||
| .16 | $.96 | for 6 lb. | |
| .16 | |||
| $.96 |
Suggestions.
Numbers in straight columns.
Add up and down.
Give proper name to answer.
Board addition.
Papers for Miss S. and the gentleman.
Neat.
Correct.
Good writing.
Cost of Thanksgiving basket, $2.15.
Need of 6 table.
How can we find the cost of 6 lb. of beef at 16¢ a pound?
Teacher do the multiplying, showing the practical value of the knowledge of the 6 table. Which is the better way and why?
Is there any question before finding the value of the basket as a whole?
Who can give helpful suggestions to make sure that the answer is correct?
Checking of results at board by pupil whose work is incorrect.
These three children may choose the two best papers and tell why they select them.
What have we found out in to-day’s lesson?
What do you think we ought to do in the arithmetic lesson to-morrow?
(Problem to carry over.)
Aim for next lesson to be expressed by pupils.
We cannot always follow in every detail the plan which we make for a lesson. It is interesting in this connection to read Miss Steele’s accurate account of what actually happened when the lesson, as planned above, was taught. The description which follows appeared in the Atlantic Educational Journal for November, 1910.
A PRACTICAL LESSON IN ARITHMETIC
By Roxana A. Steele, Speyer School, Teachers College, Columbia University
Pupil’s aim: To find the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner.
Teacher’s aim: To make children conscious of their needs in arithmetic.
Last fall Grade Three had been studying the wholesale market in industrial work. The wholesale market was compared with the retail market, prices contrasted, etc., and much language and arithmetic work was based upon this work.
A few days before Thanksgiving a gentleman stepped into the school office and offered to pay for one of the Thanksgiving baskets which the school sends out to poor families in the neighborhood. No one seemed to know the exact value of one of the baskets, so Grade Three was asked to make the estimate.
This could have been done by an adult in a few minutes, but it would have been done no more accurately than the children were able to do it after having made a careful study of market lists. The exercise also furnished an excellent child’s aim for the arithmetic lesson. The class felt its responsibility and was anxious to do good work.
The list of things generally put into one of the baskets was given to the class. The children decided upon the average price of each item. This called for an appreciation of the word average. The work was done orally with class discussion. For instance, when the price of a squash was asked, one child said “twelve cents,” another, “eighteen cents,” etc. The class finally agreed that a medium-sized squash would cost about fifteen cents.
| Small squash | 12¢ |
| Large squash | 18¢ |
| 2 ) 30¢ | |
| 15¢ |
The child who recorded the price of the squash on the board wrote fifteen cents—$.15. Before the lesson was over, several children had a little trouble in writing cents without dimes ($.06), keeping the money columns straight, using the dollar mark and decimal point, etc. With suggestions from other members of the class, the list was complete.
In the item “6 lb. of beef @ 16¢” the class found that it was necessary to multiply by six. As they had never had the six table, I did not expect them to be able to do it, but it chanced that one boy knew his six table and did the work readily.
Marion Thalman.
Nov. 23, 1909.
The Cost of a Thanksgiving Dinner
| 1 squash | $.15 |
| 2 cans of vegetables @ 10¢ | .20 |
| 3 qt. of potatoes @ 8¢ | .24 |
| 6 lb. of beef @ 16¢ | .96 |
| 2 qt. of apples @ 12¢ | .24 |
| 1 qt. cranberries | .12 |
| 1 lb. sugar | .06 |
| 1 lb. nuts | .18 |
| $2.15 |
When the price of each item had been decided upon, the children found the total cost at their seats, and their results were compared.
The lesson closed with the question, “What did you find out in to-day’s lesson?” The answers were: “The cost of a Thanksgiving basket”; “That Russell is the only child who knows his six table”; “That we need to write dollars and cents so that we won’t make mistakes.”
At the beginning of the arithmetic lesson the following day, when the class was asked, “What do we need to do to-day?” there was a division of opinion as to whether the drill on dollars and cents or learning of the six table should come first. The decision was in favor of the drill on writing money, and the six table was presented later in the same period.
The result of the lesson on the cost of the dinner was sent to the principal. The class received a note of thanks for the help which it had rendered. The children were proud of their accomplishment and anxious to work out more real problems.
A LESSON FOR APPRECIATION
Teacher’s aim: To help children to enjoy Stevenson’s Bed in Summer.
Did any child in the room ever have to go to bed before it was dark? Did you ever get up in the morning before daylight? Stevenson remembered how he used to feel when he had to go to bed before dark, and wrote a story about it. Would you like to hear the story?
Children’s aim: To enjoy Stevenson’s story about going to bed before dark.
Subject Matter
BED IN SUMMER
“In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle light;
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
“I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
And hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.
“And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?”
Method of Procedure
I want you to tell me all you can about the place where Stevenson lived, when I am through reading the story.
Read the poem.
Who will describe the place where he lived?
Were there other children who lived near by?
Were there any trees near the house?
I’ll read the poem again and you will see how many reasons Stevenson had for not wanting to go to bed by day.
Read the poem again twice.
Why does he tell you that he has to get up at night in the winter?
When do the birds go to bed?
Do the grown-up people go to bed when children do?
How was he able to see the birds in the trees? Do you think he ever got out of bed?
Do you think all the children in the street had to go to bed as early as Stevenson? Let me read the last stanza and see whether you can tell.
Recall the Mother Goose Rhyme:
“Girls and boys come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day;
Leave your supper and leave your sleep,
And come with your playfellows into the street.”
How did Stevenson know the other children were in the street?
Read the last stanza.
I’ll read the whole story again, and then ask some one to tell me Stevenson’s story about going to bed in summer.
Read the poem, calling attention to the different scenes: (1) The boy that gets up by night and dresses by yellow candle-light. (2) In summer quite the other way, he has to go to bed by day—he has to go to bed and see the birds still hopping on the tree and hear the grown-up people’s feet still going past him in the street. (3) The little boy lying in bed who feels very much abused.
And does it not seem hard to you, etc.? Let us see all of the pictures again. Read in same way again. Who will tell the story? I am going to write it on the board, so that we can tell the story as Stevenson did.
After the treatment indicated above, memorization will be very easily accomplished. The preliminary study for appreciation will make the poem mean more to the children than it could have meant had the teacher simply read it to the children two or three times and then asked them to memorize it.
In a study lesson, the plans will vary from a single exercise in finding the principal thought in a paragraph to a development lesson, not dissimilar as to plan to other lessons of the same type. The recitation lesson may be a development lesson, inductive or deductive, or a drill lesson. The plans would therefore be similar to those given above.
In conclusion, it may be suggested that any teacher who feels that it is impossible to plan all of her work will gain greatly if she will plan carefully for a single subject. As facility is gained in plan making, it will be possible to write plans for two or three or for more subjects. A topic plan should result in definiteness in the work of both teacher and pupils. Good plans give the teacher more freedom in conducting her work, and enable her to tell definitely the progress which the class has made. Plans are necessary in teaching. No one has a right to pretend to teach without previous thought concerning the subject to be taught, and the method to be employed in giving children command of this material.
For Collateral Reading
W. W. Charters, Methods of Teaching, Chapter XIX.
C. A. and F. M. McMurry, The Method of the Recitation, Chapter XIV.
Exercises.
The plans which follow were offered to teachers as suggestions rather than as outlines of subject matter or of procedure to be followed absolutely. Reorganize these plans so as to show subject matter and method separately. Add to the subject matter or method wherever necessary. If you think best, change the organization of material, the statement of aim, the references to books, and the like. Do not change the topic. As a result of your work you should be ready to present a plan for which you are willing to stand.
LITERATURE—THIRD GRADE
Atalanta’s Race
Note.—The story of Atalanta’s Race furnishes material for several lessons. The following outline embraces the whole set of lessons.
Aim:—
- To teach the story of Atalanta’s Race.
- I. Division into parts.
- 1. Atalanta.
- 2. Hippomenes.
- 3. The Race.
- II. Outlining of each part.
- 1. Atalanta.
- a. Her home.
- b. Swiftness of foot.
- c. Beauty and grace. Desire of youths to win her.
- d. Her determination.
- 2. Hippomenes.
- a. Who he was.
- b. His decision.
- c. His resort to strategy.
- 3. The Race.
- a. Atalanta’s self-confidence.
- b. The first apple; the result.
- c. The second apple; the result.
- d. The third apple; the result.
Preparation:—
Tell me of a game in which one child outruns another.
Tell me of a story in which two animals played a game like this race of Atalanta. (Hare and Tortoise.)
Let us play a game in which two boys run a race.
Let us play the Hare and the Tortoise.
Which is the faster runner, the hare or the tortoise?
How, then, did the tortoise win the race?
Presentation:—
Let the teacher tell the story of the Hare and the Tortoise.
Find in the Atalanta story the person who takes the place of the hare, and the one who takes the place of the tortoise.
By showing the picture in the book, have the children solve the problem.
Did Atalanta expect to win the race? Why not?
How did this make her act?
Did the hare expect to lose the race? Why not?
The teacher may tell the story of the girl going to market with a basket of eggs on her head. She was so sure of getting sale for her eggs that she set to dreaming of the pretty things she would buy with the money she was to get for the eggs. She would buy, she thought, a bright new dress and a new hat; and then how mean and shabby she could make the other girls look; and how she could walk past them all, tossing her head in pride! Forgetting that she was still only on her way to market, she then gave her head a proud little toss; and—what do you think happened?
Let the children give the story of the Hare and the Tortoise in their own words.
What is likely to happen to any one of us who is too sure of winning?
What will we say, then, of any one who is too sure of anything?
It has been said, “Count not your chickens before they are hatched.” What does this mean?