FOURTH YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
To be committed to memory:
THE FAIRIES
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren’t go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl’s feather.
Down along the rocky shore,
Some make their home;
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.
High on the hilltop,
The old king sits;
He is now so old and gray
He’s nigh lost his wits.
By the craggy hillside,
Through the mosses bare,
They have planted thorn trees
For pleasure here and there.
Is any man so daring,
As dig one up in spite?
He shall find their sharpest thorns
In his bed at night.
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren’t go a-hunting,
For fear of little men,
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap;
And white owl’s feather.
—William Allingham
Copy the poem.
Tuesday
Learn the first half of the poem.
Wednesday
Learn the rest of the poem.
Thursday
Answer the following questions:
What is meant by the “airy” mountain?
What is meant by the “rushy glen”? What is a glen?
Why are the fairies called “wee” folk?
What is meant by their “trooping”?
What are “crispy” pan-cakes?
What are “reeds”?
Why is a mountain lake called “black”?
Friday
What “old king sits”?
What are “wits”?
What is a “craggy hillside”?
Why are the, mosses called “bare”?
Write a description of a fairy as given in the poem.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
Talk about the following: What story, that you have read, do you like best? Why? What game do you like best? Why? What song do you like best? Why? What study do you like best? Why?
Tuesday
For dictation:
Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime;
And, departing, leave behind us,
Footprints on the sands of time.
Wednesday
Write about what the wind does.
Thursday
Write about the signs of spring that you have noticed.
Friday
Talk about what you saw on your way to school.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
Write a list of all the words you can think of that begin with h. Who can write the longest list?
Tuesday
For dictation:
In spring when stirs the wind, I know
That soon the crocus buds will blow;
For ’tis the wind who bids them wake
And into pretty blossoms break.
Wednesday
Write a description of the teacher’s desk.
Thursday
Write an informal invitation to a St. Patrick’s Day entertainment at the school.
Friday
Have a spelling match.
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
Write seven verbs.
Write each in a different sentence.
Tuesday
For dictation:
To look up and not down,
To look forward and not back,
To look out and not in, and
To lend a hand.
Wednesday
Write a letter, if you are in the country, to some one in the city, telling what games you play at recess. If you live in the city, write to some one in the country.
Thursday
Write a description of some game you play.
Friday
Talk about the return of the birds.