PART ONE-SEVENTH GRADE CHAPTER ONE Note: For mid-year classes, the material for this Chapter may be made more timely by including Lessons 93, 96, and 97. The definite lesson unit of this book lends itself well to flexibility, to variations and adjustments to suit conditions. Not only may individual lessons or groups of lessons be shifted to make the material more suited to season or occasion, but local themes of immediate interest may be substituted for any suggested in the text. A lesson may be omitted or more than one day may be spent on a given lesson when necessary to secure the best results. Pupils should not be unduly urged or retarded in their progress merely to make the chapter unit coincide with the calendar month. LESSON 1-LITERATURE Teacher's Aim To arouse the interest of the pupils in the story of King Arthur and his Round Table. To induce pupils to talk freely about the story. To teach something of the meaning and purpose of chivalry. To help the pupils to see the beauty of Galahad's character. To help them to appreciate the beauty of the language in the selections from Malory and Tennyson. To awaken in pupils the desire to improve their own language. Teacher's Preparation Read the story of the coming of Galahad as told by Malory, or Tennyson's "The Coming of Arthur" and "Sir Galahad."' Pupil's Preparation This assignment may be written on the blackboard: Read the story thoughtfully. Be prepared to ask your classmates two questions about the story that are not asked in the text. The Lesson Purity of diction must be taught directly and indirectly. Every beautiful poem read is a lesson in diction. Every choice prose selection should be an inspiration to the children and an incentive to the use of better language. Every oral lesson is an opportunity for them to practice what is taught in the English lesson. We must induce children to talk with confidence and freedom about what they read, for it is only when a child expresses himself without restraint that we can discern his faults and note his progress. To make this possible, we must win the child's confidence, and until we have done this, there cannot be the interchange of thought that makes the discussion of a story so delightful. The mechanical part of language work may be carried on with more or less success even in an atmosphere of distrust, but only in an atmosphere of sympathy and affection can children be led to compose. The questions under "Study of Selection" should not be asked or answered in a mechanical manner. They are to serve as helps in the discussion of the story. Many other questions will occur to teacher and pupils and should be asked. Remember that fluency is acquired only after long practice. Do not be discouraged if the vocabulary of your pupils is limited, and grammatical mistakes are frequent. Receive gladly every attempt that a pupil makes to express himself, and encourage him to do better another time. A complete summary (pp. 323-332) of the language facts taught in the earlier grades makes possible a review of these principles in close articulation with the work of this book. Frequent reference to this summary is made in early lessons of the book. See pages 3, 5, etc. This unique plan for welding together the books of the series accomplishes three important purposes: (1) It furnishes the teacher with a convenient synopsis of the language facts which pupils have studied in a preceding grade; (2) it furnishes the pupil with compact reference material for "brushing up" his knowledge after the summer vacation, thus strengthening the foundation of language facts which are to be developed a step further;and (3) it gives flexibility in review, since the pupil turns to the summary only when he has forgotten some particular fact. LESSON 2-WORD STUDY: THE GLOSSARY Vocabulary growth is an important phase of language work. Pupils should gain steadily in their knowledge of words, both in meaning and pronunciation. They must learn to avoid monotony and add interest to their spoken and written vocabulary by using variety in their words; in this way they avoid the habit of repeating again and again a few words or expressions. Not only must new words be added to the vocabulary, establishing both pronunciation and meaning, but the correct usage must be fixed for words already known but habitually misused, such as see, do, come, etc. Moreover, the "dictionary habit" must be fixed, so that the independent power to master new words may be gained. Some of the The book has a Glossary (see pp. 318-328) which contains words that offer special vocabulary training either of pronunciation or meaning. A Glossary is more needed in a language text than in any other, because such a book is trying to strengthen vocabulary and develop word power. The lesson given is merely a type of the kind of assignment that should be made whenever there is need for preparation on words. This plan is superior to the use of fixed word-study lessons in the text. advantages are: (1) It is flexible and can be used according to the needs of the particular class. (2) It contains many words commonly mispronounced. (3) It establishes the " dictionary habit," and gives the pupil definitions within his understanding. (4) It distributes word study throughout the year, instead of massing it in a few lessons. (5) The pupil studies the word in its proper setting in a sentence, not as an isolated word in a mere list. Before beginning the study of the words assigned for this lesson, make sure that your pupils know how to find a word in the dictionary or glossary. For practice in finding a word in the dictionary, use a list of words beginning with a, as: lesson may be looked Friendly rivalry will You will soon learn how proficient your pupils are in the use of the dictionary. If it seems desirable, the words of this up in the dictionary or Glossary as a class exercise. stimulate pupils to work intelligently and with speed. Practice in the use of the Index (pp. 387-398 of the text) furnishes helpful drill in finding words alphabetically arranged. Teacher's Aim LESSON 3-COMPOSITION To instill the ideal of personal service. To show that courage and self-sacrifice are needed today, as well as in the time of King Arthur. To induce every child to talk. To improve the child's manner of expressing himself. Teacher's Preparation To become familiar with the work of the Humane Society, the Red Cross Society, the Consumer's League, and organized charities. The Lesson In every class there are some pupils who do not readily take part in oral lessons. They are the timid, the slow, and the unfortunate children who have already found the world so harsh that they have become hard and suspicious. Such children need careful handling. Any attempt to force expression from them will result in failure. You may, it is true, force such children to stand and repeat what you have said or what some other child has said, but there will be little growth, either mental or spiritual, in such an exercise. If we cannot force expression from a child, how may we bring it about? It must be won, and the means are: (1) such thorough preparation of the lesson by the teacher that she may be able to present it in an interesting manner, (2) the contagion of enthusiasm, sympathy, patience, and singleness of purpose. Little by little the self-conscious child will be drawn out of himself and into the discussion. Do not open the discussion on this lesson by asking a pupil to talk on topic (a). The pupils are not ready for that. A few questions put by the teacher may start a general conversation, which is more to be desired at this time than a formal discussion by a few pupils. Lead the class to consider, first, what is meant by "righting wrongs." Lead them to tell you that dumb animals, as well as boys, girls, men, and women, often suffer wrong. How are horses wronged? Dogs? Cats? Birds? How may wrongs to dumb animals be righted? How prevented? What great society tries to do this? How is such a society made possible? How may boys and girls help? A question put by the teacher in the right way, at the right time, may induce a reticent child to talk freely. The best way to get a reticent child to talk is to have him tell some personal incident. A mechanical, businesslike manner of question and answer has no place in oral composition. The teacher must be one with the pupils, and together they must approach the subject to be discussed. The pupils must be confident that their teacher has inexhaustible supplies upon which to draw for the illumination of the subject, but they must also feel that they have something to give that she wants from them. The following is a report of a typical lesson given in a Seventh Grade. CONVERSATION AND DISCUSSION (ORAL COMPOSITION). Subject: Work That Knights Might Do Now Teacher: If Galahad were living now, what wrongs would he set right? Think a moment. Well, Steve, have you thought of something? Steve (rising and facing the class): I think Galahad would set right wrongs that one nation does to another. I mean the kind of wrong that Germany done Teacher (quietly): Germany did. Steve: Germany did to Belgium. Mary: How could a knight right such a wrong as that? Teacher: Perhaps Henry will tell us. Henry: A knight would make the country that did the wrong give up all the land it had taken from the other country. Alex: One knight could not do that! Ralph: One knight couldn't do it alone, but if Galahad started it, Lancelot and other knights would hurry to help him. Ella: The Allies went to the aid of Belgium. Were they knights? Max: They were the best kind of knights. They went to help the weak against the strong. Teacher: Let us think now of wrongs that one person might do to another. Sam: If you knew a boy what stole Sam: Who stole something and you made him give it back, that would be like a knight. Herbert: That's just what the knights had to do all the time. Gertrude: How could a boy or girl make a person give back what he had stolen? I don't believe I could! Only a policeman could do that! Teacher: Can you tell us, Joe? Joe: When boys swipe Teacher (quietly): When boys steal— Joe: When boys steal things from box cars and show you the things, sometimes you can get them to put them back. |