FOURTH YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
Pass around well-known pictures, if possible, have as many different pictures as there are children. Have each pupil describe his picture.
Tuesday
For dictation:
EVENING HYMN
Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh,
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky.
Now the darkness gathers,
Stars begin to peep,
Birds and beasts and flowers
Soon will be asleep.
—S. Baring-Gould
Wednesday
Original composition, on the signs of coming winter. What signs can be seen in the fields? What about the grass? The leaves? The sky? The birds? The cold?
Thursday
To be read, for written reproduction:
THE WONDERFUL TRAVELING CLOAK
One day a little old woman in gray visited Prince Dolor. She gave him a present.
“What is this?” he asked, as he untied the many knots.
“It is a traveling cloak,” she answered.
“Oh,” said the little prince, “I never go traveling. Sometimes nurse hoists me on a parapet, but I never go farther than that.”
“But this is not an ordinary cloak,” said his godmother. “It is a wonderful cloak. It will take you anywhere you wish to go. From it you may see anything you wish to see.”
“But how can I get out of the tower?” he asked.
“Open the skylights,” she said, “then sit in the middle of the cloak. Say your charm and out you will float through the blue sky on your wonderful cloak.”—From “The Little Lame Prince.”
Friday
Letters of introduction may be sent by mail, or be presented by the person introduced. In the latter case, the letter is never sealed. The envelope is addressed in the usual way, but in the lower left-hand corner is written, “Introducing Mr. Smith, or Miss Smith,” as the case may be.
Write the above on the blackboard. Have the pupils look up in the dictionary, and write out definitions of the following words: Introduction, presented, person, latter, addressed, usual, way.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
Write sentences containing the irregular verbs go, went, gone, see, saw, seen, am, was, been.
Tuesday
For dictation:
Hail to the merry harvest time,
The gayest of the year:
The time of rich and bounteous crops,
Rejoicing and good cheer.
—Charles Dickens
Wednesday
Exercise for clearness of enunciation. Have the following read aloud by every child in turn, each word and syllable to be enunciated clearly.
THE OWL
In the hollow tree, in the old gray tower,
The spectral owl doth dwell;
Dull, hated, despised, in the sunshine hour,
But at dusk he’s abroad and well:
Not a bird of the forest e’er mates with him;
All mock him outright by day;
But at night, when the woods grow still and dim,
The boldest will shrink away.
O, when the night falls, and roosts the fowl,
Then, then is the reign of the horned owl!
—Barry Cornwall
Thursday
Selection to be memorized:
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small,
For the dear Lord who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.—Coleridge
Friday
Write a letter of introduction for one of your classmates, to be addressed to the principal of the school, or the chairman of the committee of the school district.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
Story for written reproduction:
THE INDIAN CHILDREN
Bright Eyes and Fawn Foot were two little Indian children. They lived in an Indian village near a swift river.
All the people of this village belonged to one family or tribe. The bravest man was the chief. He had the finest wigwam.
One day the Indians moved from the village to a place in the woods. Here they hoped to find game to live on through the winter.
Little Fawn Foot helped her mother when they moved. Bright Eyes was carried on his mother’s back. He was too small to help.
When warm weather came they all moved back to the village.
Outline: The Indian children and their home. The tribe. The removal. Fawn Foot and Bright Eyes at the moving. The return.—Selected
Tuesday
Write a list of the adjectives in the story, “The Indian children”; a list of the nouns; a list of the verbs.
Wednesday
Write what you see in Boughton’s picture, “The Return of the Mayflower.”
Thursday
Write about an imaginary journey from London, England, to Boston. How long does it take to cross the ocean? What is the deck of a steamship? What is a stateroom like?
Friday
Write an advertisement asking for a position for yourself.
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
For dictation:
THE GRAINS OF WHEAT
Some grains of wheat lived in a sack. It was so dark that they all went to sleep.
At last the sack was moved. The grains of wheat awoke. They heard some one say, “Take this sack to the mill.”
The grains of wheat had a long ride. When they reached the mill a man put them into a hopper. The grains of wheat were crushed between two stones.
—Selected
Tuesday
Rewrite in your own words, the story of “The Grains of Wheat.”
Wednesday
Write a letter to a friend, telling where wheat grows, how it grows, how flour is made, and how the flour is used.
Thursday
Describe how fire-drills are conducted in your school.
Friday
Talk about the coming of winter, and the indications that are apparent at this time.