FOURTH YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
Story for reproduction:
THE CAT AND THE CHESTNUTS
A cat sat before an open fire where some chestnuts were roasting.
A monkey who was hungrily watching the chestnuts said to the cat, “Do you think you could pull a chestnut out of the fire? Your paws seem to be made just for that.”
The cat was flattered and she quickly pulled out a chestnut that had burst open.
“How do you do it?” asked the monkey. “It is wonderful. Can you reach that big one?”
“Yes, but see, I have burned my paw a little.”
“Oh, but what of that, when you are making yourself so useful?”
One after another the cat pulled the chestnuts from the fire. Then she found that the sly monkey had eaten them all. All she had was a pair of sore claws.
—Æsop
Tuesday
Write the story of the cat and the chestnuts.
Wednesday
Write ten sentences about the signs of spring.
Thursday
Write a list of the wild flowers that grow in your vicinity, so far as you know them.
Friday
Have each pupil draw on paper some kind of flower. Exchange papers, and each pupil write five sentences about the flower he thinks is intended by the drawing on the paper he receives.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
Poem to be committed to memory:
PLANT A TREE
He who plants a tree
Plants a hope.
Rootlets up through fibres blindly grope;
Leaves unfold into horizons free.
So man’s life must climb
From the clods of time
Unto heavens sublime.
Can’st thou prophesy, thou little tree,
What the glory of thy boughs shall be?
He who plants a tree
Plants a joy.
Plants a comfort that will never cloy.
Everyday a fresh reality,
Beautiful and strong,
To whose shelter throng
Creatures blithe with song.
If thou could’st but know, thou happy tree,
Of the bliss that shall inhabit thee!
He who plants a tree
He plants peace.
Under its green curtains jargons cease;
Leaf and zephyr murmur soothingly;
Shadows soft with sleep
Down tired eyelids creep,
Balm of slumber deep.
Never hast thou dreamed, thou blessed tree,
Of the benediction thou shalt be.
He who plants a tree
He plants youth;
Vigor won for centuries, in sooth;
Life of time, that hints eternity!
Boughs their strength uprear,
New shoots every year
On old growths appear.
Thou shalt teach the ages, sturdy tree,
Youth of soul is immortality.
He who plants a tree
He plants love;
Tents of coolness spreading out above
Wayfarers he may not live to see.
Gifts that grow are best;
Hands that bless are blest;
Plant: life does the rest!
Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree,
And his work its own reward shall be.—Lucy Larcom
Copy the poem.
Tuesday
Learn the first two stanzas of the poem.
Wednesday
Learn the second two stanzas of the poem.
Thursday
Learn the rest of the poem.
Friday
Talk about the meaning of the hope, joy, peace, youth, and love, as mentioned in the poem.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
Write a list of twenty articles made of wood.
Tuesday
Each pupil think of a tree. Each in turn tell about his tree, the other pupils to guess what it is. For instance:
I am tall and straight. I have many long needles, instead of leaves. When the wind blows through my branches it makes sweet music. What am I? (A pine tree.)
Or—I am a large tree, with great branches. My fruit is called an acorn. What am I? (An oak tree.)
Wednesday
Talk about Arbor Day—why it is celebrated, and why it is necessary that our trees be preserved.
Thursday
For dictation:
A song to the oak! the brave old oak!
Who hath ruled in the greenwood long;
Here’s health and renown to his broad green crown
And his fifty arms so strong.
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
Story for reproduction:
TRIFLES
A friend of the great artist, Michael Angelo, was once watching the last touches being made to a statue. Some time later he visited the studio again, and the artist was still at work upon the same statue. He exclaimed: “You have done nothing since the last time I was here. The statue was finished then.”
“Not at all,” was Michael Angelo’s reply. “I have softened this feature and brought out that muscle. I have given more expression to the lips and more energy to the eye.”
“Oh,” said the friend, “but these are trifles.”
“It may be so,” said the artist, “but trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle.”
Tuesday
Write ten sentences, each containing is or are.
Wednesday
Write sentences, each of which contains one of the following adjectives; little, yellow, moist, good, large, beautiful, swift, slow, useful, breakable.
Thursday
For dictation:
Tinkling down! shining down!
Golden sunbeams kiss the flowers.
Wake them up! wake them up!
Through the happy hours.
Friday
Play “What I am thinking of,” using objects in the school-room.