Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-11-12
Objects of n Recitation,

+,
viii not be properly prepared
,rohahlv not prepared Vt all, Pu-
ills ouF.at to be tested, first Il all
5 70 what They know about the
eSS ii themselves. They should
y low that it is their duty to
ariuS out what the lesson
and not to he Nero re-
ceptacles for the teacher to pour
INTO and fill up. The proof Vt y ru-
pills preparation is his ability toeN-
press clearly the idcas aud facts OF /
tho lesson. The idea will be oh-
scurc and imperfect in proportion to
the ohscuuY and incoherrncc ot
the language used in recitation.
believe there are somc ideas for
which we have no words, but they
are not in this account, When pu-
pills say, Il know, but can't tell or
write It., they ought 10 say, II
don't know IL we'll enough.
knowledge and its expression aro
intimately united that the tormer
does not commonly exist without
the latter, and hence testing y pu-
| pills knowledge ola lesson rs the
same rs testing his ability to cN-
| i rrss il. ln this way the recita-
tion contributes greatly TO the ne.
quircmrnt of command Of Ian
guage, and of ease and correctness
of expression
The recitation enables the teach
or to correct errors. Errors of state
mcnt, errors Of fact, errors Of infer
encc, errors Of language, errors Of
ohscr vation, and errors of prcpara-
tion. Advice III the way Of pre-
pairing a lesson is often great i'm
centive, and saves the pupil great
deal of time aud worry and disgust.
Another object of the recitation
is to train the pupils to be eolf-re-
liant, and TO be sufficiently self
confident. In most of our schools
IT is impossible to prevent pupils
from helping each other too much
~ the preparation Of lessons. In
! many classes one or to do all the
thinking; the others copy. This
may be detected III the recitation.
Then each is to he put upon his
own responsibility. The faet that
each must rely upon himsclfin rec
itation checks to some extent this
slavish dependence too commonly
seen in our schools. fimid pupils
acquire suilicientcoura and those
whose tongues outstrip their Judge
mcnt, learn under the fire of criti-
clsm, to be more modest
The recitation enables the pupil
To remember what he learns. II is
well known TO us all, that the more
frequently we tell or write what we
think about, the better it is retain
ed, and unless wc do repeat what
we learn, we are by no means sure
Of IT, The recitation affords a
mems Of fixing facts and impress
ions. not only by this means, but
by concentrating the mind upon
them, discussing them, aud elicit
INK criticism upon them.
The recitation gives The teacher
an opportunity 70 add new matter
q the text, both as u fact and ILL
ustration. This is not necessary in
every case, but il is usually desira-
bic and Necessary for the teacher 70
make nsc Of new illustrations, at
least, in recitation. No author can
introduce, much less elaborate, all
the illustrations needed for expla.
nation. Besides, pupils take more
delight in rceiting, and in all
school work. If the teacher gives
them something more than il con-
tanned in tht book, or requests them
70 look up some matter on the leg
son not found in the text.
It is an object Of the recitation to
give encouragement u pupils, and
70 hold out TO them proper incen-
ti9es 70 study. II is more common
for teachers 10 find fault with their
pupils in recitation than il is for