Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1864-12-30
Common Schools.

Il
ry to make a good reader; good articu-
), lation of The elementary sounds Of Ian
:. guage, right emphasis Of words, and thu
ability TO close sentence suitably. TIL,
first thing essential was the topic of tba
article; that is good enunciaiion of sounds
1t was shown that ignorance or inability
in this particular would be shown either
by a suppression of many of the sound:
of words, or by a INSTALLING of some OIL
them, or by species of affectation which
puts in quantity of sound in word
that does not belong there. When we
say Rihumtic, meaning Arithmetic, we
are guilty of sinking the first sound "a"
of the word, and the third "me." When
we say he'd for had, and UOilent for VIC
lent, we are guilty of miscaling some Of
the sounds of words. And when we say
confSchooshun for con, sti.tu>tion we fall
into all three of these errors. And in
one Of these three ways, if not more, we
mange a great share Of the words used
in everyday life. or coLrse then we
carry the same habits with US in al! read
ing and speaking, and in this way we ad-
vertse our want of refinement to every
man we meet. Some will say this is no
matter, if the words we use are such as
to make our meaning Understood. 9th
ers, and | Am one Of them, think it is
matter whether We 60 about men with
this mark Of savage or half civilized life
visibly stamped upon US BY everything
we say or 90.
We wear old and dirty clothes when at
home about our dirty work, and they
make US squalid and awkward. Yet we
say it is the best way, for the dress suits
the work, and we know that others who
see US viii not Judge of US mainly by the
way we appear here. They will know
we have got better clothes, and know how
to appear respectfully in them. But it is
not so with our language we cannot
dof our laundering crippled pronuncia-
ton of words, and don fair style of Ut
ttrance Just as we would an old bat for
a decent one. In the first place it car
not be successfully done in the second .
place he who tries it will be always ma
king himself ridiculous TO those who do
use good language, and laughing stock
o those who can do no better than he,
,ut see the cheat. II is matter whether
We, the masses of the people who man
sc everything, do keep our language {
IRE and refined. 1t is matter whether
ur children shall be started in the world {
nth an outfit Of apparent intelligence .
uited to ;ntroJuco them to something Ii
boye the lowest and most vulgar classes
society. Whatever other means we
lust take TO accomplish this object, we !
houd see to it that the teachers in our ,
ommon schools are faithful 10 this mat
er. TIE pupil in reading and spelling,
nd all other recitatious-in fact 10 ali
he words they utter before the teacher,
hould have this doctrine Of correct and :
asy enuuciation enforced. The subject i
# right emphasis of words, is the next I
,ood quality in a reader. To give such t
n emphasis, be must first understand the {
meaning of the words he uitere then he /
must have his voice trained so that he i
an control it to give such an emphasis,
hen his ear must be trained so that he 5
an detect the sounds Of his own voice.
To secure oil this there must be drill and
'ractice in each of these particulars.-
The piece to be read must be compre- ,
lendrd. In order for this simpler pieces ,
hould be used. The Progressive Series =
# Readers allowed in the schools is well r
rranged for this purpose. But in use, :,
he arrangement is rendered worthless =.
or the child hurries over them and wears 7
hem out from LIST to 9TH and often never =.
Ittcrs single sentence correctly. There
5 as litlle variation of tone as there is in :.
he sound of COW bell. The sentence ,
loses much as the bel! stops ringing =,
when it falls TO the ground. 1t is simply j.,
lo,pn that is all. Scholars in our schools
make no expression Of the sentiment they -
tier simply because they feel nome =
And this happens generally because they
re trying to read what is beyond their
apprehension. No sentence should be
assed by in the reading lessons ill its
meaning is understood, and that meaning
ui;ably uttered. The first three readers
re filled mainly with selections made up
f the thoughts and in the words of ev-
Iyday life. This is so that both pupils o
I'D teacher may easily see how these
lords should be uttered, and then try to
initiate nature as they see it expressing .
self all about them. The familiar iho'ts