The Dickinson press., 1907-02-16
City Schools.
(BY HARTwELL ~JoHMsoN.)
FIRST PRIMARY.

oSLOOI "ilAIOus TIC oO'1sy " 6dIA TIC
simplest ideas OF thoughts for himself
from the printed page and is as helpless
in expressing his w thoughts in any
other way than by spoken language.
His thinking up to this time has been
almost involuntary and now he must
learn to direct his mental effort along
certain prescribed lines. In other words
the pupil must learn to read, write,
think and express himself.
In aiding the young child to develop,
the tools used by the teacher are the
subjects taught. The children in this
grade at present are interested in re-
producing and dramatizing stories from
the life of George Washington. In this
manner they are beginning to learn how
to get the thought from literature and
having obtained it receive valuable
training in expressing it again. Thus
the story becomes real and vital to the
child. The ideas expressed by the new
words found in each days lessons are
made real to the child in much the same
way by object and action lessons.
The young child experiences consid-
cradle difficulty in learning to recognize
and pronounce printed words. Careful
phonic drills are given to familiarize him
with the sounds of letters and it is not
long before he is able to pronounce cor
rectly new simple words composed of
letters with whose sounds he is familiar.
This is the purpose of the regular phonic
drill given in this grade. The little folks
are busily working in the last half of
"Arnold's Primer"
Spelling is by no means neglected,
and exercises in oral, written and phonic
spelling of easy words found l their
lessons are a regular feature of the days
work.
This grade too is making first excur-
| sions into the field of arithmetic. They
are practicing counting to a hundred by
ones, two's and three's; and by the
means of objects are discovering and
memorizing the combinations of num-
bers that added together make the dill
ferent numbers up to twelve. Through
different exercises, games, etc., involving
the use of the objects, they are becoming
acquainted with the, terms, inch, foot,
cent, nickle and dime. 1t is a very inter-
esting sight to see the thirty-6ve pupils
in this room with eager faces actively
engaged in their daily tasks.
NEW REPORTS.
Hon. Thomas Marshall has sent the
school library copies of the following
publications: Commerce and Finance
of the United States" "Produetion and
Commercial Movement of Sugar ""Great
Canals of the World" Commercial
lndia," Commercial Australia" "Com.
mercial Japan" These books will
prove of especial value to the CONNER
cial geography class.
The school has received from DR.. G..
A. Leonard twenty copies of the second
and third biennial reports of the North
Dakota Geological Survey for the use Of
the geology class. The contents of the
second report is devoted to the Ignite
deposit of North Dakota, its character
quality and the methods Of mining. The
third annual report deals with the posi-.
bilities of irrigation in North Dakota and
contains a careful write-up of the west
ern half of the state. A striking feature
of this report is its relief map of this
region.
Mrs. Berry visited the high schoo
room last Friday afternoon and remained
for the regular Friday afternoon ~literar,
program. The teachers are always very
much pleased to have visitors and hav,
felt that many of the parents have beef
neglecting the school in the matter O
calls.
The value of memorizing selection
from literature furnished the basis TO
discussion at the last teachers meeting
At the meeting before that, all the teach
eirs took part in a general discussion G
teaching morals and manners.
On Friday, a spelling match took plac
between the sixth and seventh grade
The sixth grade o out by a good ma.
gin. The winners have already cha
lenged the eighth grade for a match an
should the eighth grade be worsted, ii
sixth grade will be ready to meet til
high school.
The freshmen gave a very creditab|
program Feb. 8. A pleasing feature {
the program was a violin solo by Haz
Altman. The programs for the ne:
three weeks will be given by the sop
ignores, Juniors and seniors in turn.