MARCH
FIRST YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
Talk about the new month. What month is this? What was last month? What month follows March? What season is this? What are the three months of the spring season? What season follows spring? What season is just past? How many days has March? What is March sometimes called? (The windy month.)
Tuesday
Write the date. Write the word March.
Wednesday
Talk about the wind. Can we see the wind? How do we know when the wind is blowing? What does the wind do to the trees? What does it do to the clothes hanging on the line? What does it do to our faces? (Makes our cheeks rosy.)
Thursday
To be taught to the children:
WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND?
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you;
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I,
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.
—Christina Rossetti
Friday
Teach the children the poem given above.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
Talk about wind-mills: How they are used; how they turn; Holland and the wind-mills of that country.
Tuesday
Write:
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
Wednesday
Story to be told to the children:
THE WINDS
This is one of the stories that the fathers and mothers in Greece used to tell their children.
Æolus was the father of all the winds, great and small. He had six sons and six daughters.
When the children were old enough, they went out into the world to work. Often they were gone all day long.
They had to sweep and dust the whole world. They carried water from the sea to wash and scrub the earth.
They helped to move the great ships across the ocean. They scattered the seeds, and watered the flowers, and did many other helpful things.
And these things are what the winds do for us to-day.
Can you tell the names of the four great winds? (East, West, North, South.)
Thursday
Have the children tell you about Æolus and his winds.
Friday
Write: The four winds are East, West, North and South.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
Talk about kites and kite-flying: How does a kite fly? How high will a kite fly? How do boys make kites?
Tell the children about the kites of Japan, and about kite-flying day in that country.
Tuesday
Have the children give as many words as they can that rhyme with kite. Write these on the blackboard, and use them for drill in phonics.
Wednesday
Talk about pussy willows. Who has seen pussy willows? Who has seen pussy willows this year? Where? How do we find the little pussies growing? What are they covered with? What for? (To protect the tiny buds from cold.)
Thursday
Write: Pussy willows have gray fur.
Friday
To be committed to memory:
Whatever way the wind doth blow,
Some heart is glad to have it so;
So blow it east, or blow it west,
The wind that blows—that wind is best.
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
Tell the children about St. Patrick, the good old Irish saint, whose birthday comes in March.
Tuesday
Have the children tell you about St. Patrick.
Wednesday
Write: Spring begins in March.
Thursday
Fill the blank spaces in the following:
The East Wind comes from the ——.
The West Wind comes from the ——.
The North Wind comes from the ——.
The South Wind comes from the ——.
Friday
Talk about the signs of Spring.
SECOND YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
To be committed to memory:
THE WIND
I saw you toss the kites on high,
And blow the birds about the sky,
And all around I heard you pass,
Like ladies’ skirts across the grass—
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid.
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all—
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
O you that are so strong and cold;
O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?
O wind, a-blowing all day long?
O wind, that sings so loud a song?
—Robert Louis Stevenson
Children copy the first stanza of the poem, and commit it to memory.
Tuesday
Copy and learn the second stanza of the poem.
Wednesday
Copy and learn the third stanza of the poem.
Thursday
Recite the entire poem.
Friday
Write a list of the naming words (nouns) in the poem.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
For dictation:
Galloping, galloping, galloping in,
Into the world with a stir, and a din.
The north wind, the east wind, the west wind together,
In-bringing, in-bringing, the March’s wild weather.
Tuesday
Write five sentences, telling what the wind does.
Wednesday
Story for reproduction:
SPRING
It was spring.
The sun had melted the snow from the hill-tops; the grass blades were pushing their way through the brown earth, and the buds on the trees were beginning to break open and let the tiny green leaves peep out.
A bee, waked from the sleep in which he had lain all through the winter, rubbed his eyes, then opened the door, and looked out to see if the ice and snow and the north wind had gone away. Yes; there was warm, clear sunshine.
He slipped out of the hive, stretched his wings and flew away.
He went to the apple tree and asked, “Have you anything for a hungry bee, who has eaten nothing the whole winter long?”
The apple tree answered:
“No; you have come too early. My blossoms are still buds and so I have nothing for you. Go to the cherry tree.”
He flew to the cherry tree and said, “Dear cherry tree, have you any honey for a hungry bee?”
The cherry tree answered:
“Come again to-morrow; to-day my blossoms are shut up, but when they are open you are welcome to them.”
Then he flew to a bed of tulips nearby. They had large, beautiful flowers, but there was neither sweetness nor perfume in them and he could not find any honey.
Tired and hungry, the poor bee turned to seek his home, when a tiny dark blue flower, beside a hedge, caught his eye.
It was a violet that was all ready for the bee’s coming. The violet opened its cup of sweetness. The bee drank his fill, and carried some honey to the hive.
—Selected and Adapted
Thursday
Children retell, in their own words, the story of “Spring.”
Friday
Write five sentences about spring.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
For dictation:
If a task is once begun,
Never leave it till it’s done;
Be the labor great or small
Do it well, or not at all.
Tuesday
Talk about signs of spring! Sky, bright sun, warmer days, return of birds, pussy willows, swelling buds.
Wednesday
Write five sentences about pussy willows.
Thursday
Write a letter to your sister or brother, telling about pussy willow.
Friday
Write a sentence containing the word blue; one with the word green; pink; yellow; red; white.
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
Tell the children about St. Patrick.
Tuesday
Write three sentences about St. Patrick.
Wednesday
Write the names of all the members of the family, and your address.
Thursday
For dictation:
Under the snowdrifts the blossoms are sleeping,
Dreaming their dreams of sunshine and June.
Friday
Talk about the wind, and what it does.
THIRD YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
To be committed to memory:
THE VOICE OF THE GRASS
Here I come creeping, creeping, everywhere;
By the dusty roadside,
On the sunny hillside,
Close by the noisy brook,
In every shady nook,
I come creeping, creeping everywhere.
Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere.
All around the open door,
Where sit the aged poor;
Here where the children play,
In the bright and merry May,
I come creeping, creeping everywhere.
Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere;
In the noisy city street
My pleasant face you’ll meet,
Cheering the sick at heart.
Toiling his busy part—
Silently creeping, creeping everywhere.
Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere,
You cannot see me coming,
Nor hear my low sweet humming,
For in the starry night,
And the glad morning light,
I come quietly creeping, creeping everywhere.
Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere,
More welcome than the flowers
In summer’s pleasant hours;
The gentle cow is glad,
And the merry bird not sad,
To see me creeping, creeping everywhere.
Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere;
My humble song of praise
Most joyfully I raise
To Him at whose command
I beautify the land,
Creeping, silently creeping everywhere.
—Sarah Roberts Boyle
Copy the first half of the poem.
Tuesday
Copy the rest of the poem.
Wednesday
Commit to memory the first two stanzas of the poem.
Thursday
Commit to memory the second two stanzas of the poem.
Friday
Recite the entire poem.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
Write a list of the nouns in the poem.
Tuesday
Write a list of the verbs in the poem.
Wednesday
Write a list of adjectives in the poem.
Thursday
For dictation:
In her dress of silver gray,
Comes the Pussy Willow gay;
Like a little Eskimo,
Clad in fur from top to toe.
Friday
Write five sentences about pussy willows.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
Write, to a classmate, a telegram of not more than ten words, saying that spring is coming.
Tuesday
Write a letter to a pussy willow.
Wednesday
Talk about the wind and what it does.
Thursday
Write five sentences telling what the wind does.
Friday
Write the story of St. Patrick.
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
For dictation:
Day after day, and year after year,
Little by little, the leaves appear;
And the slender branches far and wide,
Tell the mighty oak is the forest’s pride.
Tuesday
Write a list of at least ten objects beginning with m. Who can write the longest list?
Wednesday
Write a rhyme of four lines about the wind.
Thursday
Write a story about some pet that you have or that you know about.
Friday
Tell something that makes you happy.
Tell something that makes you sorry.
Tell something that you think it is right to do.
Tell something that you think it is wrong to do.
FOURTH YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
To be committed to memory:
THE FAIRIES
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren’t go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl’s feather.
Down along the rocky shore,
Some make their home;
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.
High on the hilltop,
The old king sits;
He is now so old and gray
He’s nigh lost his wits.
By the craggy hillside,
Through the mosses bare,
They have planted thorn trees
For pleasure here and there.
Is any man so daring,
As dig one up in spite?
He shall find their sharpest thorns
In his bed at night.
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren’t go a-hunting,
For fear of little men,
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap;
And white owl’s feather.
—William Allingham
Copy the poem.
Tuesday
Learn the first half of the poem.
Wednesday
Learn the rest of the poem.
Thursday
Answer the following questions:
What is meant by the “airy” mountain?
What is meant by the “rushy glen”? What is a glen?
Why are the fairies called “wee” folk?
What is meant by their “trooping”?
What are “crispy” pan-cakes?
What are “reeds”?
Why is a mountain lake called “black”?
Friday
What “old king sits”?
What are “wits”?
What is a “craggy hillside”?
Why are the, mosses called “bare”?
Write a description of a fairy as given in the poem.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
Talk about the following: What story, that you have read, do you like best? Why? What game do you like best? Why? What song do you like best? Why? What study do you like best? Why?
Tuesday
For dictation:
Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime;
And, departing, leave behind us,
Footprints on the sands of time.
Wednesday
Write about what the wind does.
Thursday
Write about the signs of spring that you have noticed.
Friday
Talk about what you saw on your way to school.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
Write a list of all the words you can think of that begin with h. Who can write the longest list?
Tuesday
For dictation:
In spring when stirs the wind, I know
That soon the crocus buds will blow;
For ’tis the wind who bids them wake
And into pretty blossoms break.
Wednesday
Write a description of the teacher’s desk.
Thursday
Write an informal invitation to a St. Patrick’s Day entertainment at the school.
Friday
Have a spelling match.
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
Write seven verbs.
Write each in a different sentence.
Tuesday
For dictation:
To look up and not down,
To look forward and not back,
To look out and not in, and
To lend a hand.
Wednesday
Write a letter, if you are in the country, to some one in the city, telling what games you play at recess. If you live in the city, write to some one in the country.
Thursday
Write a description of some game you play.
Friday
Talk about the return of the birds.