FIRST YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
What is the name of this month? What was last month called? What month follows October? What season is this? What season follows autumn? What are the four seasons? How do you know that it is autumn? How is the weather different from what it was in July? What are the birds doing this month? What is happening to the leaves on the trees? What flowers are in blossom this month?
Tuesday
A little verse to learn:
Work, and make the world sweet,
That’s the best for you.
Wednesday
Read this little poem to the children:
LITTLE MISS CHESTNUT
Little Miss Chestnut lived in a tree,
She and her sisters; one, two, three.
Their house was covered with prickles green,
To keep the squirrels away, I ween.
Soon Jack Frost knocked, just for fun;
Out jumped the chestnuts, every one.
Elsie and Fred, on their walk next day,
Found the nuts and took them away.
On winter evenings, cold and long,
They’ll roast the nuts. Here ends my song.
—Selected
Have ready, but out of sight, a chestnut burr, if possible containing some of the nuts. If you cannot get the burr, at least have some of the nuts enough so that each child may have one to eat, after the lesson is over.
Show the children how the prickly burr protects the nuts from squirrels, and from boys and girls, until the nuts are ripe. Then Jack Frost comes along and opens the burr, and the nuts fall out.
Explain how the nut itself is the seed of the chestnut tree, and how, if allowed to lie under the snow all winter, a new little chestnut tree will start up in the spring.
Thursday
Teach this little rhyme to the children:
When we have a pleasant day,
We like to stroll along the way;
And as we walk upon the street,
The folks we know we always greet.
Use the rhyme as a means of teaching the children the proper method of salutation on the street. Let the girls wear their hats, and the boys have their caps at their seats with them. Allow a boy and a girl, with hats on, to go to the front of the room, and from opposite sides of the room walk towards each other. As they start, the children—all except the two at the front—repeat the rhyme. When the two children at the front meet, the girl nods her head politely, and the boy lifts his hat. After the simple ceremony the two children return to their seats, and their places are taken by other boys and girls, in turn, until all can perform the act easily and gracefully.
Friday
Ask each child to bring a penny to school. See how many things are to be found on the penny—as a head, date, etc.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
Tell the children that October was the month when America was discovered. We live in the United States, and the United States is in America. Tell the story of Columbus and the discovery of the new continent. If well told, the story is quite as fascinating as a fairy tale.
Tuesday
Have the children tell back to you the story of Columbus and the discovery of America.
Wednesday
A poem dramatized.
This poem, acted out as indicated, can be used effectively as a rest exercise. As all the children will be moving, the windows can be thrown open, and the room aired while the game is being played.
The poem is to be recited by the teacher. Allow plenty of time between lines, for each part to be acted.
Children representing Sunshine, Miss Weather and Professor Wind are first chosen. They take their places in the front of the room. Then the other children are separated, by rows of desks, into Ashes, Oaks, Maples, and Chestnuts.
October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came—
The Ashes, Oaks, Maples, and Chestnuts come skipping, tiptoe, up the aisles, helter-skelter, to represent flying leaves.
The Ashes, Oaks, and Maples,
And those of every name.
The skipping is continued, until all the leaves stand in a group at one side of the room.
Miss Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand.
As these two lines are being recited Miss Sunshine pretends to spread a carpet over the entire open space at the front of the room. She may take plenty of time. The poem is not to be recited continuously.
Miss Weather led the dancing,
As this line is recited, Miss Weather skips alone across the front of the room, from one side to the other.
Professor Wind, the band.
Professor Wind marches pompously across the room, tooting a real or an imaginary horn.
The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Chestnuts skip lightly, by couples, from one side of the room to the side where Miss Weather stands. They bow to Miss Weather by twos, turn, and skip back again.
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best.
The Oaks, then the Maples, followed by the Ashes, skip across the room by twos, bowing to Miss Weather, and returning to their places, after the fashion of the Chestnuts.
And balanced all their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
Now fallen from the sky.
While the teacher is reciting the four lines given above, all the children are still, but at its close, all skip about partners, holding their clasped hands high above the head, skipping tiptoe, as before, and very light and gay.
Then in the rustic hollows,
At “hide-and-seek” they played,
The party closed at sundown,
And everybody stayed.
All remain quiet while the four lines given above are recited, then partners separate, and everybody apparently hides somewhere.
Professor Wind played louder;
They flew along the ground;
And then the party ended
In jolly hands around.
As Professor Wind blows his hardest, all gather from their hiding places, take hold of hands and circle round, and the game ends.
—Selected and adapted
Thursday
Play the October game.
Friday
Play the October game.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
Read this poem to the children, for them to guess who is meant:
WHO’S THE ROGUE?
A roguish old fellow is prowling about
In field and in garden; you can’t keep him out.
No matter how tall
You build up your wall,
He’ll find a way over, in spite of it all.
On the glass of the window his pictures you’ll see,
A grand exhibition (admission is free);
He works hard at night
While the stars glitter bright;
But when the sun rises he keeps out of sight.
He’ll sketch you a snow-covered mountain or tree;
A torrent all frozen, a ship out at sea.
He draws very fast,
But his work does not last:
It fades when the chill of the night-time is past.
Before the sun rises, while hardly ’tis light,
He feels of the fruit and takes a sly bite;
He has a fine taste,
Though a great deal he’ll waste,
Then off he will go in very great haste.
Now, who do you think this old fellow may be,
The bright, sparkling work of whose fingers we see?
All winter he’ll stay,
What more shall I say?
Only this, that his first name begins with a J.
—Selected
Tuesday
On this, or some rainy morning of the week, talk about the weather. Why did you all come to school this morning with rubbers and umbrellas? Why is an umbrella shaped as it is? Why does the rain sometimes fall straight down, and sometimes slanting? How does the rain tell us which way the wind blows? Why do rubbers keep our feet dry, when shoes do not? What else is made of rubber?
Wednesday
Teach the children this memory gem:
All that’s great and good is done
Just by patient trying.
Thursday
What does Jack Frost do to the windows? What does he do to the nuts? What does he do to the apples? What does he do to the grass? What are some other things that Jack Frost does?
Friday
Play the October game, described under the preceding week.
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
An October Pumpkin Story. (To be told to the children.)
One afternoon in late October, father went down to the field to get a pumpkin.
The children went along too. They wanted to see that father picked out a large pumpkin. They wanted to help bring it back to the house.
Although it was October, there were still some pumpkins to be found in the field.
Father led the way. The children came trooping after.
The pumpkins grew down in the cornfield. Their long, coarse stems lay sprawling on the ground. Their big, rough leaves looked like green umbrellas.
The boys saw a very large pumpkin. They were just going to pick it, but father said, “Not that one.”
Father looked around until he found a deep, yellow pumpkin. He told the children that deep, yellow pumpkins make the best pies.
The children soon found another pumpkin, somewhat smoother than the others. They picked that to use for a Jack-o’-lantern.
Then they went back to the house, carrying the huge yellow fruit with them.
The girls went into the house, to see mother make pumpkin pies.
Mother cut open the yellow pumpkin. Oh, how thick the meat was! Oh, how the fat, white seeds came tumbling out! Mother said the flesh was good because it had a nice fine grain.
Mother cut the flesh into small pieces, after she had peeled off the thick rind.
Then she put the pieces into a large iron pot to boil.
When the girls had seen the pieces disappear into the pot they went to see what the boys were doing.
Out by the barn they found the boys with a jack-knife, working away at the other pumpkin. The boys were making a Jack-o’-lantern.
They had cut a round hole in the top of the pumpkin, so as to leave the stem for a handle. In this way they could lift out the round piece like a cover. They dug out all the seeds with their hands, to make it hollow.
Then they cut a small hole, shaped like a triangle, in the side of the pumpkin. They bored two round holes, one each side of the triangle. Below it they cut a funny hole shaped like a new moon.
It looked like a huge grinning face. When the boys had finished it, they put the pumpkin away in the barn.
Then they all remembered about the pumpkin that was cooking in the kitchen, so they ran back to the house as fast as they could.
By this time the pumpkin in the pot was done, and mother took it from the stove. She poured off the water, and then put the cooked pumpkin into a colander.
While mother was rubbing the soft pumpkin through the colander, the boys ran off to hunt for eggs. When they came back, mother took eight of the eggs, and about three pints of the soft pumpkin. She stirred it very fast, while the children stood around and watched, with open eyes and mouths. Then she put in milk, and spice, and brown sugar.
Oh, didn’t it look good! The children smacked their lips as each separate thing went in. Mother gave it all such a beating with her big spoon that the children said it would be good ever after.
Next came the pie tins lined with soft crust, and last of all the pies went into the oven.
That night as father and mother sat in front of the fire-place talking, a strange noise was heard. What could it be? Was it a groan? Was somebody hurt? There it was again, again, and again! It came from the front porch.
Father went to the window and drew aside the curtain. Then they saw something that made the smaller children shiver, but the older girls only laughed. The boys were not in the house.
There at the window, staring in and grinning horribly—was—well, what do you suppose? Yes it was the Jack-o’-lantern.
—Selected
Tuesday
Talk about Jack-o’-lanterns. If possible, make one in school, or show the children one.
Wednesday
Talk about Hallowe’en, and how the Jack-o’-lantern is used for decoration at that time.
Thursday
Talk about Hallowe’en tricks.
Friday
Play some of the Hallowe’en tricks in school.