The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-05-03

quoted Latin sentence set up in such
a manner that no mortal man could
make any sense out of it. Now, the
more words one has stored up in his
memory, so that the hand can write
them readily, and without conscious
thought in regard TO them, the great
er command II language will be
have, and also 90 tns readiness gith
which those untidden and unheet-
ed word -pictures present themselves
accurately on paper will, in great
measure, depend the labor Of his
writing-the amount Of manuscript
he can turn out in any given time
The only way by which readiness
in this subject may be attained, is by
unremitting drill. / repeat, drill
orally; give written drill, drill all
the time.
What is the ability 10 spell word
orally worth, if you cannot write IT?
If it do not come in proper form TO
the point of your pen whenever you
have occasion to use it? The man
who writes "oif'' for "of" has not been
trained; neither has the man who
writes their" for 'sthere."
In spelling there must be no un-
certainty. The business man who
hesitates is lost, and thinking will
seldom bring the image we want to
the mind.
A good thing of the past is the
'spelling-match-" /" am not special
ly favorable to the evening spelling
match. | regard il, in fact, as of
rather doubtful utility, but the after
noon spelling-match, under the eye
and direction of .he teacher, is an
other affair. Pupils become famil-
iarized with words. Emulation adds
its influence, and when conducted
in such a manner that all are kept
at work, l regard the spelling-match
as one of the very best means of Sc
curing good spelling. My mode of
conducting a spelling-match is as
follows: Every pupil is chosen on
one side or the other. / permit no
one to refuse to spell. The first
choice may be determined in any
convenient manner. Afavorite meth
cd is to Yet the captains" guess at
the pages of book, which l have
opened, and hold so that they can
not see the page. The one nearest
has first choice. In case of tie,
guess again. As the pupils are ehos-
en- they take seats in two classes,
each captain Mt the head OF his own
class. The next thing is for each
captain to send one, generally the
one whom he deems his best speller,
to the foot of his opponent's class.
This person is called runner"
The runner who first reaches the
head of the class, by trapping, of
course wins the match fer his cap
tain. In this mode trapping is car
ried on just as in the old style of
spelling classes. If a runner misses a
word, ne may be trapped by one be-
low him. The spelling begins at
the head of one class and passes
down to its foot; then begins at the
head of the other class, and so on.
All the pupils are engaged; there is
no idleness. This is the chief rea-
son of my preference for this mode
of conducting spelling match.
How often should we permit a
spelliEg-match? Some teachers think
every Friday afternoon. 1 regard
the time spent in spelling-match
as time devoted to the cultivation of
one branch to the exclusion of
others. Hence / am not favorable
to the too frequent match. Twice a
month is sufficient, / think. When
held every Friday the charm of now
city is, to degree, lost. But when
eve: you find the attention of the
pupils wandering, then stop the
work at once. If you have not close
attention you are not accomplishing
your work.
Here l close the present chapter.
My next will be on reading.