Dictionary Work
The dictionary work of the sixth year aims to establish the dictionary habit. Lesson 30 is the beginning of the use of the synonym, although this word is not used in the pupil’s text at this point. This lesson should be worked out very carefully under the immediate supervision of the teacher. The formal work on synonyms is presented in the seventh grade, but this preliminary work is of very great importance.
The rule for forming the plurals of nouns ending in o is given in Lesson 35, and for nouns ending in s, sh, ch, and x, is given in Lesson 36.
On pages 63 and 64 are presented lessons consisting of words having i before e, or e before i. After teaching Lessons 45 to 50 inclusive, the words of these lessons should be reviewed as a whole. Other reviews of them should be frequent enough to be sure that the rule is fixed in the child’s mind and is being followed. There is no greater cause for misspelling than the confusion existing because of these two combinations of letters. Careful teaching at this point means much. Lessons 51 to 54, inclusive, are exceptions to the rule and should be carefully noted.
Individual words are constantly occurring which well illustrate the rules that have been taught. Teachers should not fail to take advantage of these opportunities in the teaching part of the lesson.