Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1891-10-29
Geography,
Paper read before the recent Session of
the Teachers Association at
Ear Harhor.


BY MRS. CLARA f. NORRIS.
Young and old are alike delighted with
tales of travel by sea or land-hence the
inference that geography may be attrac-
hrtiy taught and eagerly learned Here are
my ideas Of the aims, methods aud means
of teaching geography.
Before attempting to teach the lesson,
/ loo It over carefully, make it Your own
by study. note on a piece of paper (or
have book for thst purpose) the points
10 be taught and the illustrations YOU in
tend 10 use and then be independent Of the
Textbook. Have distinct object in every
part OF the recitation and cons family re-
qnire the children TO use the know, DE
they have gained
Black board Illustrations. ,ketched in
rapid manner, Will tend to secure at:en-
tion and help to make the lesson impress
sive like scenes OF real life.
Do not be afraid To use the crayon (it il
very cheap and children are not critical.
and their activ, i'm iginatious. if helped by
words, will make beautiful picture, from
very rude outline.
The fire of enthusiasm NAV be further
kindled by means of objects. pictures. and
stories jpdiciou>ly told one writer has
said, You can do almost ANYTHING with
children If you will only tell lhem stories,
you can reune their feelings, touch their
! hi n. Inns Sia
their ambition. eukindle their devotion.
and enchain their fancy. There is moth
Ing in the broad rance Of noble living that
you cannot bring to their consciousness
by means of a story"
Make instruction, and not amusement,
the object Of each lesson, and do not de-
pend on stories to Ike, up the interest of
the class
Ialk to the children in pleasant, easy
manner, calculate 10 win their confidence,
and To attract their attention; tell them
this study is all about our home, the home
of white and black ard red ard yellow
men, some in houses by themse selves. some
IN clustered houses in cities. some in hous-
es built il tree-tops, in floating villages
upon rivers, in huts under cocoa nut trees
or on coral islands.
This gr' at dwelling place of the race,
with the special homes of the different
compleXloned brothers of the family. cam
not be well understood without something
about the wheat, the rice, the banana tie
lat fnr ha
hbrc for clothes. the mines for gold, iron,
and coal, oceans, rivers, and railways for
trade and travel, something about how
much cloud and how much sunshine, in
arctic, and tropic, and temperate regions
how often calins. and how rarely cyclones
Something of all these things geography
includes. 1t is no meager study, but rich
in material and easily capable OF fascinat-
ing treatment. Ingenuity is required to
make it dull The object of this study is
both practical and educational Rightly
taught this two fold object is surely at
;ained
There are methods in managing this
branch; this may be as emphatically said
of geography as of chemistry or language
or numbers. Beginning " ith the home or
| primary grades, there should be IA series
Of exeIcisss on position, direction, rising
and setting of the sun, the horizon, the
cardinal points. the familiar land and wat
er divisions. Next should follow the per
ceptive course. Here We should teach
nf al. IL.
great physical features. mountains, river
sy stems, plains, etc. Give a story ,iliustra-
tions or show illustrative objects. See
these great features clearly and cause your
pupils to see them by the power of awak-
ened imaginations.
Textbooks should not be discarded, but
here especially the text book should exist
for the class and not the class for the text
| book. Much of the very good Textbook
is for reading and reference only, not to
| be memorized To oblge pupils to com
| nit to memory what they do not compre-
| hend is TO ruin memory and class and
/ ought to put in risk the place of the
teacher. This branch. of all others, has
suffered from parrot work of teachers and
pupils.
The method of questions and answers
should be such as to hold pupils to prompt,
clear, accurate and rapid reproductions of
all those points and ideas truly essential,
and which have been fully explained and
faithfully impressed. The topical method
should be much practicsd-especially in re-
views. By all means be live teacher. as
the teacher should be largely the text
book. Let the teacher have several of the
ordinary textbooks Gin connection with
what is used in her room) IN order to pro-
ft by different phases of the subject and
by comparison of the several authors.
| The globe, this is needed at the outset,
and indispensable throughout the course.
OUTLINE MAPS.
These think every teacher should have
in her room. Here l wish to show you
how much very young children can learn
| that have never studied from maps in their
geography illustrates by class work.
The molding board or table never use.
That may do in our great cities where chill
dren never see mountains, rivers, etc, but
here our rough and rugged Hancock coun-
| ty is a moldi3g board In itself.
| Read if possible great deal to your
| pupils. Newspaper cuttings to be remem-
bered or placed in q scrap-book under the
head of each country, may be rapidly ac-
cumulated and are of great value. Teach
your pupils to locate every place they read
about or hear mentioned. Should there
be great fire or flood, read it to your pu-
pills, then have them locate the city or town
| in which it happened. Gather maps.
| charts, and diagrams upon every section
of your work and from those you have
learn to make more.