Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-23

spring and fall flowers, Towering trees and
different kinds of pine trees, the grasshop-
per, bee. ladybug, spider and other insects.
the squirrel rabbit rat mouse beaver,
prairie dog and other rodents were all
studied with much interest. The work IN
phonics was continued, introducing the con-
sonant sounds ch, sh. tn and VIII, the long
and short vowels and all sounds OF a.
The season of the year and the incidents
of the term suggested topics Tor the
morning talk as in the preceding years.
many of the same subjects being treated
with advantage by virtue of the personality
of the teacher. Means of transportation,
the different street car lines. letters and
their travels the telephone. house lighting:
the city its water supply and sewerage
system: ice. its production. transportation,
storage. delivery and uses, and the daily
weather report were some or the new SUD-
jects discussed.
connection with the new science work, part
of the Franklin second reader was reviewed,
the normal third and Franklin third. Aesops
fables, Hans Andersen, the health primer
to page 81 and many photographed sheets
prepared by the teacher relating to science
work We're read
The average of poems explained and men,
oriZed was nearly one week The daily
writing on science work. varied by the
Transformation of poems and the reproduc-
ton of suitable prose selections. consti-
tuted the composition work of the grade.
The technical grammar consisted IN prac-
ticing the correct uses of the forms Of va
rious irregular verbs, the plurals and pos
SeSSieVs of nouns, contract!onS and abbre-
viations and direct and indirect quotations.
The analysis of the sentence was begun,
the child learning to differentiate only the
simplest forms Of expression. The spelling
was the new words in connection with the
science work.
Fourth Grade.
The reading of the fourth-grade children
was always reproduced by the pupils, and
ing was begun. Here. as in all other
grades. no copying of compositions was per-
mitted, but perfection was sought in the
first draft. The subjects were the repro
auctions noted above. transpositions of
Lily's Ball and Greek stories, and agina-
tive compositions of conversations of birds,
animals, etc. Capitalization, punctuation,
the use of the hyphen and quotation marks
and drill on about fifty irregular verbs con-
stituted the work in technical grammar.
The child was encouraged to make good
complex sentences; the results were often
times remarkable for their excellence
Many simple sentences were analysed.
Fifth and Sixth Grades.
The reading toward the end of the fifth
year bore especially on the history and
geography of the grade, selections being
made from the Franklin intermediate
reader and books of travel. The secrets of
flowers the metamorphosis of butterfly
the blue jay, the paper makers and insect
life were studied concretely, as far as pos
sible. afield and in the school room, many
teachers having provided their schools with
the necessary collections of materials.
Some memorizing of gems was DONE
The study of the sentence in it's entirety
was prosecuted here and through the sixth
and seventh grades. The work of the fourth
grade. of finding the base of the sentence
was continued more and more difficult SEN
fences being mastered: the idea asserted
was differentiated as to identity. condition
place. time. size. etc.-and action; and
finally the idea was analysed for its eTe-
| ments. Here the child began the study of
the parts of speech in addition to being re-
quired to know the sentence-as a whole,
its parts. bases. modifiers. asserters -
whether emphatic, potential, absolute etc
and what Is asserted.
Evangeline was studied carefully by the
sixth grade, very much talking being done
| by both teacher and pupil, as the object to
be attained was the fluent use of correct
English. the poem being used as a means
| to that end. The life of the poet was
studied by the child. and especial attention
was given that the child saw the pictures,
| the characters. the likenesses. the entire
panorama and the artistic proportions of
| the poem. Many of the words needed spe-
! c:al preparation before the first reading
was attempted. As with all other reading
| In the course, the children were taught to
| prepare their work with the dictionary and
| atlas for constant reference, and they were
as constantly held responsible for correct
| spelling. pronunciation, punctuation and
transformation as these elements appeared
| In all their speech and writing
The child wrote on all the subjects of the
| grade, but especially on Evangeiine, physi-
ology and history, a clear distinction being
! made between description and narration.
| The study OF the parts of speech was con-
| tfnued. being taken up in miscellaneous
| way as they were encountered. As an aid
| to correct speech and writing. the analysts
| OF the sentence was continued in this and
the seventh and eighth grades until be-
fore going to the High School the child was