Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1922-02-02
CONFERENCE REPORT
Office of Board of Education, Freder-
ick, Maryland

ick, Maryland
A conference Of the Superintendent
Supervisor, Helping Teacher, and At
tendance Officer was held on Monday
January 8, 1922.
Mr.. Palmer reported to January l.
1922: Visits to schools, 1856; center
meetings, IL; community meetings, A;
Board meetings, Z; Saturdays in Of
flee, 18
Miss Brown reported to January 1,
1922 (Two-room and larger schools)
Classroom visits, 23S; teachers meet
ings, 8; community meetings, 6; office
days planning work, 10; Saturdays in
Office, IL; Tuesdays in Office, 4:30 to
600 p. m., s; after school conferences,
, a.
Miss Brust reported to January 1,
1922 (One-room rural schools): Visits
to schools, ITO; teachers meetings g.;
Saturdays in Office, IL; community
meetings, s.; days in Office planning
work, 10; Institute work, 10.
! Miss Brown and Miss Brust gave a
resume of the activities that are being
emphasized in instruction in the class
room.
Reading has the first place on the
program. Attention was called to this
subject as a result of the findings of
the class of teachers who studied Ex-
perimental Psychology last year at the
Court House under DIR. Edward F.
Buchner of the Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity. The Monroe Silent Reading Test
was given by this class to approx
mately seventeen hundred children in
Frederick and it's vicinity. This num-
Der does not include all of the children
of the county, but is typical of the
standing of the county.
From the findings of this test, we
discovered that we should emphasize
both rate and comprehension in read
ing.
In conferences with the teachers it
has been brought out that we should
keep the following detectives in mind:
In primary grades there must be
much oral reading, but this oral read
ing must be preceded by silent reading
for the purpose of thought getting.
Silent reading increases as you pass
to the grammar grades, and oral read
ing decreases.
The primary grades should give the
child control of the mechanics in read
ing, in order that he may increase his
power of thought getting.
To obtain this control the child must
have: rapid word recognition; pho
netics; rapid recognition of phrases
(this means increasing the eye span) (;
silent reading for meaning; differenti-
alton of words; breath control; pro-
nunciation; enunciation; voice (natural
tone); vocabulary GRADUAL growth) ;
If any child in the intermediate or
grammar grade has not mastered
mechanics, the teachers will have to
teach the fundamentals of the primary
grades before he can interpret the
reading material for his own grade.
The teachers are expected to teach
the sounds of the letters and build
their phonic word lists from the actual
reading of the class. These word lists
are to be kept on strips of tag board
or heavy manila paper in full view of
the children at the time they should be
functioning.
No large amount of oral reading
should be permitted in any grade be-
fore an audience which may be the
child's class or some other class until
the teacher has helped him master, in
a preparation period, the mechanics
and thought of the printed page.
These factors should be kept in
mind: rate; comprehension; organiza-
ton; memory; appreciation.
Mr.. Palmer-in conference: "How
do you expect to follow up this work
and what materials do you need to
help in this 2"
Miss Brown and Miss Brust: Per-
haps the only way is to have some unit
of measure wherein we may know the
results of the work of supervisor
helping teacher, classroom teacher ano
child. There are standard tests fol
reading, arithmetic and spelling, which
we should give at certain intervals o1
time during the scholastic year
Then we could measure the progress
of our work. Graphs should be placed
before the children showing their rat
ing in relation to children of the same
grade throughout the country. Also
we need much more supplementary
reading material"
Spelling
Interest has been aroused in oul
spelling since the Ayres Spelling Tes
was given last spring by DR.. Buchner'!
class. The 2200 children of Fredericl
County were up to the staudard-7'
per cent average. We found tn
spelling period ranged from ten t.
fifty minutes in length. This brough
up the question of economy in time.
rha foIIo,y;no ohioctives are SlQ