The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-05-10
WHOLE NO. 1909.

like Banquos, they stretch on till
the crack of doem, and will not
down at our bidding"
Some teachers may deem the
method l give above as a method
suitable for teaching spelling, but
not reading. l can only say ii it is
suited in any degree for spelling, 1t
lis much more adapted to reading;
TRY it and then decide. But not all
Jour pupils are Of so primary grade.
For this and all other blessings may
the Lord make us truly thankful
The point to be attained in pupils of
iall higher grades than indicated
above, is TO enable them to recogn-
ize word at sight. There must be
no hesitation. If there is, you OBJ
tain drawling utterance at once ri
diculous and absurd. No one must
stop to spell word. The name of
the word must spring from the
tongue as the picture of the word is
formed on the retina of the eye.
Hand any ordinary newspaper to a
commonly good reader and request
him to read portion aloud. If you
notice carefully, mistakes and hesi-
fancy will occur in those words only
with which he is wholly unacquaint-
ed or not familiar. The object, then,
is to render the boy familiar with as
many words as possible. 10 give
him a good vocabulary-hpw shall
this be done? This is the important
query. think it can best be done
by carefully reading the best pro-
ductions of different authors | know
no other means that will so surely
develop ones command Of language.
In connection Herewith the use of
writing materials must not be neg
lected. When the word is once
caught writing will rive. it fast and
make it ours forever. In coDjunc-
tion with all this, l need scarcely
mention the constant use of the die
tionary. An eminent author on ed
ucation, says: ''The very best teach
er ever knew was a lady, who, in
passing to and froamong her pupils,
constantly carried an unabridged
dictionary under her arm, and used
it, too." This looks laughabIe, doesn't
it? But do not forget that there is
more common sense than ahsurdity |
there. The dictionary is III itself a |
library; pupils in our schools do
not consult this monitor one-tenth |
part so much as they should consult |
it. Bear in mind, this book is in
tended for use; use it, then. Whilst
/ am upon this subject of the die
tionary, will say, and with sorrow,
too, l am satisfied that there are
many pupils in our schools who can
not determine the proper pronunci-
alton of word with the dict ionary
in their hands. They have never
been taught the 'sdiacutl al marks"
There are few Of our school resderp$
which attempt to teach these marks;
in fact / am acquainted with but
one series that does so. This is not
as it should be. The unabridged
should be in every school, and every
pupil should be taught how to fad
any word in it, and how to determine
its proper pronunciation after find-
ing il.
There are certain errors into which
the inexperienced teacher is likely |
to fall, and / viii notice few of
them here.
/. Permitting those members of a
class who are not reading to become
inattentive.
2. Permitting members to read in
sing-song tone.
3. Int,rrupting a reader in order
TO make corrections of various kinds. i
4. Permitting yourself to be inter-
rupted by the school at large while
hearing a recitation.
5. Too much concert reading.
Concert work is too apt to be only a
cloak for the poorly prepared.
6. Not enough written work.
Z. Permitting pupils to assume an
tone.
s. Failure to drill on the element
ary sounds to sufficient extent or en-
tirely.
o. Failure to insist on distinct
of word elements. Il
10. Permitting pupils to 'slur"
unknown words.
II. Failure TO enforce attention to ,
definitions. (
IL. Permitting lounging posture
in class. X
13. Hurrying through the book" {
too rapidly, and thus failing TO Sc |
cure thoroughness-
/ might extend the list, but / '
think that bakers dozen viii suf- i
fee. Pray you avoid these and your I
work will be better. II
With this l close the subject of |
Ny next chapter will be 1
On geography. Il
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