IF the class has studied the Revised Eclectic Primer before taking up this book, the teacher will find the way clear for rapid advancement. The first ten lessons of the Reader contain only three new words (fed, left, and pan) not already studied in the Primer. In the next seventeen lessons, about half the words are new; among them, a dozen words of two syllables. These latter should not offer any particular difficulty, as a few words of this kind have been met with in the Primer. From this point forward, the proportion of new words and two-syllable words rapidly increases, affording an abund ance of material for advance work. Attention will be called to any special difficulties that present themselves under the directions for each particular lesson demanding notice.
As before stated, the detailed instructions for the first lessons of the First Reader are in accordance with the Phonic Method. If a teacher prefers to use the Com bined Method, it is presumed that the instructions for the first lessons in the Primer will be a sufficient guide for work in the Readers. On the other hand, teachers using the Phonic Method will be able, it is thought, to follow that method very easily in the Primer after con sulting the following instructions for the First Reader.
As it can not be assumed that all teachers will use both Primer and First Reader, the detailed instructions for the latter have been made as full as though the Primer had not been used. This fact will explain a few repetitions.
If the Primer is not to be used, it will be well to begin work with a few preliminary oral lessons, which may be conducted as shown in the following pages. If the teacher intends to use both the Primer and the First Reader, and to teach by the Phonic Method, lessons cor responding to the following should precede the Primer, and these lessons should be omitted.
Recognition of Sounds. — After the attention of the children has been gained, the teacher taps the table with a pencil, and explains to the children that what they hear is called a sound.
After repeating the same sound several times, the teacher tells the children to listen and he will make another sound. This may be done by tapping a bell or a piece of metal, and the children are led to distinguish between the two different sounds.
After a little practice of this nature, tell the children that the words which they hear and understand are sounds. Ask them whether, if they heard two sounds, one made by a dog, and one by a bird, they could tell from the sounds which one was made by the bird and which by the dog.
Tell them you are now going to try them, and see whether without looking they can tell you the different sounds you make. The children may shut their eyes, or stand with their backs to the teacher, or the teacher may make the different sounds behind the desk, asking after each, "What sound did you hear?" Answers like the following may be given: "The sound I heard was a tap on a bell." "The sound I heard was a tap on a book." "I heard a talk-sound." "I heard a sing-sound."
It will be found interesting and profitable to continue this practice in distinguishing sounds, in connection with the regular lessons, till the children catch the sounds readily and accurately. Each succeeding lesson should be a more severe test of the children's abilities than the one preceding.
The Sound Represented by Short A. — In commenc ing to teach the elementary sounds in Lesson I of the First Reader, select one of the short vowels. If you select d, you should follow it by n and r; if you select 6, you should follow it by g and d ; that is, finish the word with which you begin before taking up the sounds of another.
Begin by asking the class to tell you some sounds they can make with their mouths. "We can sing." "We can talk." "We can whistle." "We cry sometimes." These may be some of the answers of the children.
The teacher says, "Now listen to me. I will make a sound." He gives the sound a. The children repeat it, with the teacher, several times. Care must be taken that the sound is made short and pure. Have the children give the sound alone ; the boys alone ; the girls alone ; the children in the front row ; any one who will volunteer; and, finally, each child should be required to give the sound alone.
The teacher here explains that sounds can be heard but not seen, but marks may be made to stand for sounds. The teacher turns to the blackboard, and, be tween a head-line and a base-line, writes : a . He explains to the children that when they see this they are to make the sound just learned. The children are shown, next, how to make the character, and the teacher asks, "How many will try to make this on their slates?" Write the following copy carefully on the board, and have the children, at their seats, imitate it on their slates as well as they can : a a a a a a.
After practicing for a time, the children should exhibit their slates to the teacher, who should point out the faults carefully and delicately, and should give farther explanations about writing, illustrating on the black board.
The word "Ran." — Teach the sound of n as you taught that of a. Contrast the two sounds repeatedly, and see that the children can distinguish them readily and can produce them.
Write the character n on the board as copy for a writ ing lesson. It may be practiced a part at a time, if thought desirable.
When the children can give the sounds and write the characters d and n, teach them to sound and write their combination, An.
Teach the sound and form of r, and then the word ran as a whole.
The word " Dog." — Teach the word dog in the same gradual way that you taught ran, and in the same order, viz.: the sound of o; its written character; the sound of g; its written character ; the sound of the combination og ; the written combination og ; the sound of d ; its written character ; the sounds of die, as a whole ; the written word as a whole.
The word "The." — Do not attempt to teach the elementary sounds composing the, as the obscure sound of e is too difficult to introduce at this point. It is absolutely necessary to introduce the articles a, an, and the early in the course on account of their constant occurrence in even the simplest sentences ; but they should be taught, as before suggested, only in combination with the words which follow.
After the word dog has been learned, teach by sound the phrase, "the dog." Be very careful not to accent the the, or to give the e its long sound, thus: "the' dog," but pronounce the words naturally, as you would in enumerating "the dog, the cat, the rat," etc., giving the e its obscure sound, and letting the accent fall on dog. This is quite an important point, as the should never be pronounced in combination in any other way than that here laid down, and if the children are allowed to hear or to pronounce the words "the' dog," etc., they will fall into the habit of drawling, which will be very difficult to overcome.
Write the combination on the board with and without the capital T, thus: "The dog, the dog." Pronounce the phrase, and have the children pronounce it after you correctly, both in concert and individually, as you point it out on the board. Do not say any thing about capitals and small letters at this point. Simply say that The and the mean the same thing, and drill the children until they can recognize each by itself and in combination with the word dog. Have the pupils write the phrases on their slates.
Finally, teach the complete sentence, "The dog ran."
Length of Lessons. — It is impossible to make any arbitrary division of these preliminary lessons. Each teacher must decide for himself as to the length of the lessons, as circumstances dictate. But the caution may be repeated not to attempt too much in one lesson ; at the same time, introduce enough new matter to keep the children interested. Each lesson in this preliminary work should commence with a review of all that has already been learned.
LESSON I. — The transition from script to the printed forms usually presents but little difficulty to children. After two or three lessons, they read one form as readily as the other.
When the written characters of the several elementary sounds and words of the first lesson are well learned by the children, write the complete list on the board, and under each written character and word make its corresponding printed form, being careful to insert all the diacritical marks in both forms. Drill the class on these printed forms at first in connection with the written forms ; then rub out the written forms, and drill on the printed forms alone.
When the printed forms of all the characters and words can be pointed out as soon as sounded, and sounded as soon as pointed out, have the children open their books and read Lesson I.
Correct drawling and hesitation at once. Do not let a child say, "Th-e' d-aw-g\ Th-e' d-aw-g' r-a-a-n." See that each child says, "The dog\ The dog' ran\" promptly and naturally, as they would in speaking, the moment the combinations are presented to the eye. It is essential to enforce this point from the beginning.
There is a strong tendency in some localities to pronounce the word dog as though it were spelled dawg. The words frog, doll, log, God, etc., are similarly mispronounced by many persons. This is not the proper sound of S, and the same persons would never think of pronouncing the words fog, got, odd, or bed, in the same way. Insist on the proper sound of o from the beginning, and wherever it occurs.
LESSON II. — In this lesson we have four new words and five new elementary sounds.
Teach the new elementary sounds, words, and combinations, as in Lesson I. The vocabularies invariably contain all new words and sounds, so they will not have to be sought for in the text.
Illustrate the use of the word on by placing your book, pencil, etc., on the desk, on a chair, on your hand, etc., and ask in each case where it is. When the class understands the force and meaning of the word, teach its written form in the usual manner.
When satisfied that all can recognize the printed new characters and words at sight, have the lesson read from the book.
Explain the interrogation point. Tell the children that when they see that mark they may always know that a question is asked. Have them read the question, "Is the cat on the mat?" giving the proper rising inflection on the last word. Then have them read the answer with the downward inflection at the close, and with the proper emphasis on is. The proper expression in this case, and in similar ones, can usually be elicited from the children by a few well-put questions which teachers call "thought study;" as, "What is on the mat?" "Where is the cat?" "Is the cat under the mat?"
Do not allow a child to read the question and answer in the painfully monotonous way so often heard in primary classes, with pauses between each word, and with the rising inflection on each word but the last, as follows : ' ' Is'— the'— cat'— on'— the'— mat ? " " The'— cat' — is' — on' — the' — math" Insist on having both question and answer read in the same natural tones that the child would employ in speaking. If the class fail to read the question properly, have the books closed, and select some pupil to ask the question and another to answer it. Do not show them how to do it, and have them imitate you. That is simply "parrot work," words without thought, and the very worst of all bad methods. Tell one pupil to ask another if the cat is on the mat, just as though he really wished to know, and tell the second pupil to answer, not by "yes" or "no," but in full, either that the cat is or is not on the mat. When this has been done properly, have the entire class ask and answer the question, and then have it read in precisely the same tones. Constant attention to just such points as , this leads the children to think for them selves, and they soon become intelligent and agreeable readers.
If spelling be taught orally at all, it should be con fined, in primary classes, to the words of the reading lessons, and should invariably be combined with written exercises on the same words. Some teachers prefer to use oral as well as written exercises in spelling, claiming that the former assists some children to remember the words they have learned. It also assists in articulation, by requiring the child to name the letter and then give it its proper sound.
Word building, as suggested on page 59, should be begun as soon as possible ; and, after some progress has been made, it will be found interesting to the children to write the thoughts in a lesson, sentence by sentence, in their own words. This is a capital exercise, as it soon teaches a child to use his vocabulary properly, and to discover the expression through the thought.
When the class is far enough advanced to have the reading lesson assigned for study before recitation, call attention to such points as will be likely to excite curiosity and interest. It is unwise to read the lesson in full, as is sometimes done. The children should be left to do as much work as possible for themselves. It is hardly necessary to say, perhaps, that there should be a daily review of each lesson of the preceding day.
The detailed instructions for Lessons I and II are presumed to be a sufficient guide for succeeding lessons. In the latter, therefore, attention is called merely to those points which demand particular instruction.
The "General Remarks," Chapter V, apply equally to Primer and First Reader, and, usually, to the Phonic as well as to the Combined Method. They should be read before commencing work on the first reading lesson, whether it be in the Primer or the First Reader.
LESSONS III, IV, V. — Nothing demanding especial attention is met with in Lessons III and IV. In Les son V, there is a new sound of c and a new sound of s. Call the attention of the children to the short sound of e, as in pen, Lesson III, and contrast it with the long sound of e, as in see. Compare the sound of s, in see, with the sound of s, in is, Lesson II.
Here, also, we have two words containing silent letters, — Ann and see. These should be explained in very simple language. Tell the children that Ann is pronounced just as though it were printed An, and see just as though it were printed se. Illustrate by writing the two words on the board as they are properly spelled, and then cancel the silent letters by drawing a line through them.
The digraph ch should be taught as one element, and we may give this instruction generally in regard to all digraphs. Also, wherever a new sound of a letter is met with, whether vowel or consonant, it should invariably be contrasted with the sound or sounds of the letter previously studied ; and in making these comparisons, the letters, with their diacritical marks, should always be written or printed on the board. In this way, the children will soon become familiar with the force of the diacritical marks.
The exclamation point is first met in Lesson V. Call attention to it, and teach its meaning.
LESSON VI. — There are three digraphs in the vocabu lary. Double o long has its peculiar sound, differing from simple so long. It will not do to treat it, therefore, as we did double e in Lesson V, where practically one e is silent and the other has the identical sound of long e. For the combination ow, here and in all other cases, see "Suggestions to Teachers," page 2 of McGuffey's Revised First Eclectic Reader.
LESSON VII. — The silent g, in eggs, affords oppor tunity to review the instructions on this point, and to test the understanding of the class.
LESSON IX. — This is the first review lesson, and should receive careful attention. All the words employed have been given in preceding vocabularies. This is true of every review lesson in the book. Hesitation, therefore, on the part of any considerable number of the class, on a review, indicates a fault somewhere. Either work has been pushed too rapidly, or some one lesson, perhaps, has not been thoroughly mastered. A little careful investigation will generally reveal the trouble, and the defect can be remedied, and should be, before proceeding with the next series of lessons.
LESSON XI. — By the time the class has finished this lesson, they have met with all the small letters of the alphabet except q and z. As these two letters are but little used, and are introduced very much later in the book, it is suggested that at this point a thorough review be given of the alphabets, large and small, printed and script, excepting these two letters. If the teacher so prefers, these two letters may also be taught in connection with this lesson, which is quite a simple one. If the class has previously studied the Primer, of course this review cf the alphabets will be unnecessary.
LESSON XII. — Kitty is the first word of two syllables in this book. The accent should be explained and vocal illustration given. The combination ng is rather difficult and needs especial care.
LESSON XIII. — Explain in simple language the use of the 's as denoting possession. Drill carefully on n.
LESSONS XVII AND XVIII. — The lessons are intended as especial drills on script. They should be written by each member of the class as well as read. This instruction applies to similar lessons throughout the book.
LESSON XIX. — The sound of a is the most commonly mispronounced of all the a sounds, and the error is quite common, even among the best educated classes. Many who know better give it the wrong sound through the force of habit and association, and the lack of early training. The error lies in giving a as though it were a. On the other hand, the extremely broad a, as in fall, should be avoided. The word is neither pronounced grass, nor grass, but grass.
It would be well to make a list of the words containing this sound of a as the class meets them, and give a special drill on it from time to time.
LESSON XXI. — Here we have a very unusual substitution of e for I in the word pretty, which is frequently mispronounced pret'ty in place of prit'ty.
LESSON XXIV. — Teach in simple language the use of the hyphen at the end of the first line of this lesson.
LESSON XXV. — The combination ai is not recognized as a substitute for e. The word said is therefore re- spelled in order to give its proper pronunciation. Teach the use of the quotation marks, which are here introduced.
LESSON XXVIII. — The word can't presents two difficulties, — its pronunciation and the mark of abbreviation.
While the word can has the short a, it will be noticed that in can't the a is pronounced like a in farm. The proper pronunciation should be insisted upon as often as the word is used by a pupil in the teacher's presence.
To explain the abbreviation mark, write the words "can not" on the board; then rub out the no of not, and write the apostrophe in their place, explaining that it stands for the omitted letters. Test the class in the use of the hyphen in the line next to the last in the lesson.
LESSON XXX. — The word wont is a peculiar contraction of "will not" or " woll not" used colloquially. In New England it is sometimes pronounced as though spelled want. A full explanation of the derivation of the word would probably not be understood by young children. It will be sufficient to explain that the apostrophe stands for an omitted o, in the word not, which helps form the compound. It will be noticed that the quotation marks in this lesson are used to indicate a continued conversation, differing from previous cases in the omission of the person relating the conversation. See that the children understand that two persons are speaking, and when one ceases and the other begins.
LESSON XXXI. — The past tenses, called and jumped, are the first words of their form that are presented. They may be mistaken for words of two syllables. Teach that the e in both words is silent. Attention should be called to a new use of the capital letter at the beginning of a quotation, as in paragraph seven: "Kate said, ' Good old Ponto ! ' " Heretofore the capital has been used only as the initial letter of a proper name and of the first word of a sentence.
LESSON XXXIL — The word says is respelled, since ay is not recognized as a substitute for e. The letter z is first presented in this respelling. If it causes any diffi culty, substitute § for z, thus: ses.
LESSON XXXV. — Test the knowledge of the class on the use of the apostrophe in I've. If no one can tell for what letters it stands, write the words "I have" on the board, and have some pupil erase the proper letters without prompting. Assign compositions in which the children are to use the abbreviations I've, I'll, I'd, I'm, etc.
LESSON XXXVI. — This lesson presents another word requiring respelling in order to show its proper pronunciation. Been is often improperly pronounced ben.
LESSON XXXVII. — The word one needs particular attention. The main difficulty with these words of arbitrary pronunciation is in the spelling, but if the daily writing exercises are conducted in the manner we have advised, they soon become fixed in the memory, and present little trouble.
LESSON XXXVIII.— Be careful about the word bas - ket; it is generally mispronounced basket or bas'kit.
LESSON XXXIX. — In the second line of this lesson we have the compound word easy-chair. Its component parts only are given in the vocabulary. Call attention to this use of the hyphen, and illustrate with other words on the blackboard ; for example, market-basket, derived from the preceding lesson.
LESSON XL. — See that the quotation marks in this lesson do not lead to confusion as to who is speaking. The mother is speaking throughout the third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs. The laws of punctuation require that quotation marks should be placed at the beginning of each of these paragraphs, but at the close of the last one only. The danger is that the young child may imagine that the person speaking changes with each paragraph, and confusion naturally follows.
This lesson affords a good opportunity for the teacher to test the thinking power of the children. This should be done by pertinent and searching questions.
LESSON XLIII. — In this lesson is presented an excellent drill on the different sounds of a. In the fifth line, "At half past eight," we have first a in at, then a in half, a in past, and e, a substitute for a, in eight. Drill on this phrase, and see that the four distinct sounds of a are clearly given.
Test the class in the use of the hyphen in line six of page 58. The words bed and time have been given separately in Lessons XXIV and XXIX.
LESSON XLIX. — See that often is pronounced of'n. Both the t and the e are silent.
LESSON XLVIII. — The letter q is here introduced, completing the alphabet. Teach that q is always fol lowed by u; the combination has two sounds: that of kw, as in quiet, and that of simple k, as in pique.
LESSON XLIX. — Teach that underscored words in writing mean the same thing as words printed in italics; that is, both are to be emphasized in reading. By careful "thought questions" on the part of the teacher, the children can be led to discover the proper word or phrase to be emphasized.
LESSON L. — Laughing is rarely pronounced properly, the a being given generally as a prolonged sound of short a ; as, ls-a-af'ing, or like a. Have it pronounced like a in father. Illustrate by pronouncing the two words a number of times alternately, dwelling a little on the a in each case to impress the sound.
LESSON LV. — The word again is commonly mispro nounced. "Poetic license" is frequently taken with it, even by many of the leading poets. Nevertheless, the only proper pronunciation of the word is aged. It should never be pronounced agan1.
LESSON LVI. — The seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter are frequently written incorrectly with a capital. The opportunity for teaching the proper method occurs in correcting the writing exercise accompanying this lesson. Do not teach or even say what the wrong form is, but if any pupil writes spring with a capital, call him up quietly and point out his error.
LESSON LVII. — Call attention to the difference be tween the spelling, pronunciation, and meaning of of and off.
LESSON LIX. — Here we have the unusual occurrence of two silent letters in one syllable, making whistle a little difficult to spell.
LESSON LXII. — Really is the first word of three syllables presented to the children.
LESSON LXIII. — Be careful about the word parents; it is frequently mispronounced parents. Phonic Chart. — The chart is presented for the purposes of drill, and can be used at the discretion of the teacher as time and circumstances dictate. It is suggested that the entire school, either as a body or in separate classes, spend from three to five minutes in exercising on the elementary sounds. It will be time well spent.
The above text is reprinted from "The Eclectic Manual of Methods for the Assistance of Teachers."
