THIRD YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
To be committed to memory:
THE WIND AND THE MOON
Said the Wind to the Moon, “I will blow you out.
You stare
In the air
Like a ghost in a chair,
Always looking what I am about;
I hate to be watched; I will blow you out.”
The Wind blew hard, and out went the Moon,
So deep,
On a heap
Of clouds, to sleep,
Down lay the Wind, and slumbered soon—
Muttering low, “I’ve done for that Moon.”
He turned in his bed; she was there again!
On high,
In the sky,
With her one ghost eye,
The Moon shone white and alive and plain,
Said the Wind—”I will blow you out again.”
The Wind blew hard, and the Moon grew dim,
With my sledge
And my wedge
I have knocked off her edge!
If only I blow right fierce and grim,
The creature will soon be dimmer than dim.
He blew and blew, and she thinned to a thread,
One puff
More’s enough
To blow her to snuff!
One good puff more where the last was bred,
And glimmer, glimmer, glum will go the thread!
He blew a great blast and the thread was gone;
In the air
Nowhere
Was a moonbeam bare;
Far off and harmless the shy stars shone;
Sure and certain the Moon was gone!
The Wind he took to his revels once more;
On down,
In town,
Like a merry mad clown,
He leaped and hallooed with whistle and war.
What’s that? The glimmering thread once more!
But the Moon she knew nothing about the affair,
For, high
In the sky,
With her one white eye,
Motionless, miles above the air,
She had never heard the great Wind blare.
—George Macdonald
Have the first half of the poem copied.
Tuesday
Have the rest of the poem copied.
Wednesday
Have the children commit to memory the first two stanzas of the poem.
Thursday
Children commit to memory the second two stanzas of the poem.
Friday
Children learn the fifth and sixth stanzas of the poem.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
Children learn the seventh and eighth stanzas of “The Wind and the Moon.”
Tuesday
Children learn the rest of the poem.
Wednesday
Children recite the entire poem.
Thursday
Children recite the poem. Write a list of the nouns in the poem.
Friday
Write a list of the doing words (verbs) in the poem.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
For dictation:
Little fairy snowflakes,
Dancing in the flue;
Old Mr. Santa Claus,
What is keeping you?
Tuesday
Write a list of as many words rhyming with time, as you can think of.
Wednesday
Conversation about Christmas.
Thursday
Write five sentences about Christmas.
Friday
Children write a list of Christmas presents suitable for a boy, a list of presents suitable for a girl.
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
Story for reproduction:
A CLOUD STORY
A long time ago, there lived a wonderful king. Each day this king came in his golden chariot, bringing light, heat, and happiness to all the people.
Each day he passed from his palace in the east to his throne in the west. He never missed a day, for he wanted to make sure that everyone had a share of his gifts.
For everybody, he had the birds sing and the flowers bloom. For everybody, he showed beautiful pictures, which changed every hour.
The king had many beautiful daughters. They were often called swan maidens, because they rode upon beautiful white swans.
When the swan maidens were with their father they wore soft white or gray dresses.
Sometimes the king saw that the grass was brown, or the buds were not coming out. Then he said, “Swan maidens, who will go and work to-day?”
Almost before he was through speaking, many of them had rushed away. Sometimes more of them came than could work upon the grass and buds.
Then some of them ran off to play. But the best of them went down to feed the roots and the worms. They worked out of sight.
But they always went back to their father, the king.
Now it is very hard work to catch a swan maiden on her way back home.
A boy is sure he saw one of them on a ring in the tea-kettle steam. How many of them get away is a secret.
When the king saw the flowers shiver in the fall, he called the bravest swan maidens to him. He told them that they must go away for a long time.
Then each swan maiden put on a beautiful white dress, and came softly down, down to earth, with a warm blanket.
These blankets they spread over the flowers and seeds. Every little flower went to sleep under the blanket.
At last the king smiled, and their work was done. They slipped away home so softly that nobody missed them, but the boys and girls who loved the snow.
—Adapted
Tuesday
Children tell “A Cloud Story” in their own words.
Wednesday
Children write the cloud story.
Thursday
Children write five sentences about snow.
Friday
Children write what they did on Christmas Day.