SECOND YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
For dictation:
Do all the good you can,
To all you can,
In all the ways you can.
Tuesday
Talk about the way to set a table. What is put on the table first? Where do we place the knives? Where do we place the forks? Where do we place the spoons? Where do we place the glasses? Who serves the meat? Who serves the vegetables? Where are the meat and vegetables placed? Who serves the dessert? Who serves the tea or coffee?
Wednesday
Fable for reproduction: The Fox and the Grapes. One day a hungry fox started out to find something to eat. He saw some grapes, near the top of a tall grapevine.
The fox tried to jump up and get the grapes but he could not reach them. He tried again and again, but it was of no use.
As he walked away, he said, “I do not care for the grapes. They are sour.”
Thursday
Have the children dramatize “The Fox and the Grapes.” Hang a bunch of grapes over the door or let the children pretend that the grapes are hung there. Have the child who is to play the part of the fox walk along and look up eagerly at the bunch of grapes.
“What beautiful grapes!” he says. “I wish I had some.”
Then he jumps and tries to reach them. He tries a second time, and a third. The last time he loses his balance and falls to the floor. He gets up, rubs his head, and says, “I do not care for the grapes. They are sour.”
Friday
Write five sentences about the fox and the grapes.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
Read the following poem to the children:
APPLE-SEED JOHN
Poor Johnny was bent well-nigh double
With years of toil and care and trouble;
But his large old heart still felt the need
Of doing for others some kindly deed.
“But what can I do?” old Johnny said;
“I who work so hard for daily bread?
It takes heaps of money to do much good;
I am far too poor to do as I would.”
The old man sat thinking deeply awhile,
When over his features gleamed a smile,
And he clapped his hands with boyish glee,
And said to himself, “There’s a way for me!”
He worked and he worked with might and main,
But no one knew the plan in his brain
He took ripe apples in pay for chores,
And carefully cut from them all the cores.
He filled a bag full, then wandered away,
And no man saw him for many a day.
With knapsack over his shoulder slung,
He marched along, and whistled or sung.
He seemed to roam with no object in view,
Like one who had nothing on earth to do;
But, journeying thus o’er the prairies wide,
He paused now and then, and his bag untied.
With pointed cane deep holes he would bore,
And in every hole he placed a core;
Then covered them well, and left them there
In keeping of sunshine, rain and air.
Sometimes for days he waded through grass,
And saw not a living creature pass,
But often, when sinking to sleep in the dark,
He heard the owls hoot, and the prairie dogs bark.
Sometimes an Indian of sturdy limb
Came striding along and walked with him;
And he who had food shared with the other,
As if he had met a hungry brother.
When the Indian saw how the bag was filled,
And looked at the holes that the white man drilled,
He thought to himself ’twas a silly plan
To be planting seed for some future man.
Sometimes a log cabin came in view,
Where Johnny was sure to find jobs to do,
By which he gained stores of bread and meat,
And welcome rest for his weary feet.
He had full many a story to tell,
And goodly hymns that he sang right well;
He tossed up the babes, and joined the boys
In many a game full of fun and noise.
And he seemed so hearty, in work or play,
Men, women and boys all urged him to stay;
But he always said, “I have something to do,
And I must go on to carry it through.”
The boys, who were sure to follow him round,
Soon found what it was he put in the ground;
And so as time passed and he traveled on,
Ev’ry one called him “Old Apple-seed John.”
Whenever he’d used the whole of his store,
He went into cities and worked for more;
Then he marched back to the wilds again,
And planted seed on hillside and plain.
In cities, some said the old man was crazy;
While others said he was only lazy;
But he took no notice of gibes and jeers,
He knew he was working for future years.
He knew that trees would soon abound
Where once a tree could not have been found;
That a flick’ring play of light and shade
Would dance and glimmer along the glade;
That blossoming sprays would form fair bowers,
And sprinkle the grass with rosy showers;
And the little seeds his hands had spread
Would become ripe apples when he was dead.
So he kept on traveling far and wide,
Till his old limbs failed him and he died.
He said at the last, “Tis a comfort to feel
I’ve done good in the world, though not a great deal.”
Weary travelers, journeying west,
In the shade of his trees find pleasant rest;
And they often start, with glad surprise,
At the rosy fruit that round them lies.
And if they inquire whence came such trees,
Where not a bough once swayed in the breeze,
The answer still comes, as they travel on,
“These trees were planted by Apple-seed John.”
—Lydia Maria Child, in St. Nicholas
Tuesday
Have the children tell back to you the story of Apple-seed John. Ask the following questions, or similar questions. What did Apple-seed John look like? Was he old or young? What did he wish that he might do for people? How did he get his apple cores? How did he carry his apple cores? How did he plant the cores? What did he do when his bag was empty? Why was he called “Old Apple-seed John”? What happened to the cores that he planted? What kind of trees grew from the apple seeds? Who could eat the apples? Do you think his plan of planting apple-trees, a nice one?
Wednesday
Write five sentences about Apple-seed John.
Thursday
Write a letter to a friend, telling about Apple-seed John.
Friday
Play Apple-seed John.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
Have the children copy the following:
LITTLE MISS MUFFET
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating of curds and whey;
There came a big spider, and sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Tuesday
Allow the pupils to dramatize Little Miss Muffet:
Have a little girl sit on a dry-goods box, holding either a real or a play bowl and spoon. She pretends to eat from the bowl. Have a boy place quietly beside her one of the very realistic Japanese spiders. Suddenly she sees it. She jumps up and runs away. Meanwhile the other children recite the ryhme.
Wednesday
Have the children copy:
Blow, wind, blow!
And go, mill, go!
That the miller may grind his corn;
That the baker may take it,
And into rolls make it,
And send us some hot in the morn.
Thursday
Write a word that describes: wind, mill, miller, corn, baker, rolls.
Friday
Write answers to the following, in complete sentences:
What does the wind do?
What does the wind do to the mill?
What does the miller do to the corn?
What does the baker do to the meal?
What becomes of the rolls?
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
Have the children tell, orally, the Thanksgiving story.
Tuesday
Talk about the chicken: Where does the chicken come from? What is the color of little chickens? What are the colors of hens? How do a chicken’s feathers change as the chicken grows? How many feet has a hen? How many eyes? What kind of a bill? How does a hen drink?
Wednesday
Talk about the duck: How does a duck differ in appearance from a hen? What are young ducks called? How does a duck’s bill differ from a hen’s bill? How do the feet differ? What can a duck do, that a hen cannot?
Thursday
The turkey: Why is this the favorite bird for the Thanksgiving table? How does the turkey differ in appearance, from the hen? From the duck? What is the male turkey called? Why? Which do you like best to eat—chicken, duck, goose, or turkey?
Friday
Dramatize and play, the story of Chicken Little.