It appears that so broad an outline as the one just given can never be filled in, that the study of geography and history, the study of the world and its peoples, can never be completed. If such is the case, it follows that the teacher who creates the most vital interest in the subject, who leaves with her pupils the most ardent desire to study and know, has been of greatest service to them.

Now, the great interests of life have their inception in early years when the mind is active, curiosity strong, and instruction accepted without question. Then should be created that abiding interest which will make good students of geography and history, good citizens, good men and women. If too many formal lessons are given them, and pupils are set to work at dreary tasks and are asked to memorize dry facts, it is probable that they will never become good students. How, then, shall an abiding interest be created?

The entrance to the field of geography is through nature study, which is discussed elsewhere under that title. For the first two years of a child’s school life he will hear nothing of geography, and even in the third year there will be little formal reference to it, but all the time he is quietly mastering facts and developing interests that are geographical in their character.

When systematic lessons begin, there should be presented only real facts and genuine things, that bear some close and direct relation to ourselves and that should be matters of personal observation, as far as possible. Day and night in summer and winter, the seasons, the weather, wind, rain, snow, sleet, foods, clothing, the occupations of the neighborhood, the brooks and bodies of water about the school, hills, valleys, plains, plants and animals of the locality, each in turn serves its purpose. We cannot here show how these various subjects should be treated, but to illustrate the use of literature in elementary geography lessons we will present an outline on a single subject. New possibilities will be seen in every direction if frequent use of the list given above is made in finding suitable selections.

If we choose the wind as the subject of our model lesson, we may be sure to cover several recitations that will lead us into reading, nature study and language (oral and written). It is a subject that encourages wide correlation. The outline might be the following:

  1. 1. Purpose of the Lesson. To teach the following facts:
  2. a. That air occupies space.
  3. b. That wind is air in motion and has force.
  4. c. The directions and names of winds.
  5. d. The uses of winds.
  6. 2. Experiments and Observation.
  7. a. Take an empty bottle and thrust it squarely, mouth down, into water. Does the water rise in the bottle? (Only a little way.) Why? (It can’t get in. There is air in the bottle.)
  8. b. Raise the bottle slowly and tip it slightly so that a part of the mouth is above the water, then push it horizontally into the water. Does the water go into the bottle now? (Yes.) Why? (Because there is no air there to keep it out.) How do you know? (I saw the air coming out in bubbles.) Why didn’t the air come out when we pushed the bottle down the first time? (The water was too heavy; it held the air in.)
  9. c. Hold your hand close in front of your mouth and blow. Can you feel anything? (Yes; the air strikes my hand.) When you are out in the wind can you feel it? (Yes; it pushes against me.) Can it push hard? (Yes; sometimes it pushes over trees and houses.) What is the wind? (It is air moving.)
  10. d. Is the wind blowing today? Did it blow yesterday? From what direction is it (was it) blowing? How do you know? (I saw trees bending away from it. I felt it pushing from that side. It came in at that window. The vane on the church steeple pointed that way.)
  11. e. When a wind comes from the South, what do we call it? (South wind.) When a wind blows from the North what do we call it? (North wind.) What wind brings cold weather? (North.) What wind brings warm weather? (South.) What wind brings long spells of rainy weather? (East.) What wind brings showers and thunderstorms? (South and West.) What winds prevail in summer? (South and West.) What winds prevail in winter? (North.)
  12. f. What work have you seen the wind do? (Turn windmills; sail boats.) Have you seen it do any work for us here? (Yes; it drives the clouds that bring us rain. It drives away stormy clouds.) Can’t you think of something else? (It scatters seeds of plants. It shakes nuts from trees. It helps melt snow and ice. It keeps the air clean and pure.)
  13. 3. Literature.
  14. a. As an introduction to the lesson or in preparation, give the first two stanzas of that beautiful poem by W. B. Rands, The Child’s World (Volume II, page 66).
  15. b. In considering the strength of the wind, there is a fine opportunity to introduce the fable The Wind and the Sun (Volume I, page 95).
  16. c. Robert Louis Stevenson’s verses, Windy Nights (Volume II, page 123), are entertaining and give an opportunity for nice explanation.
  17. d. In the same light as the preceding selection may be regarded the imaginative verses by the same author, The Wind (Volume I, page 440).
  18. e. In The King of the Golden River (Volume II) is a humorous personification of the southwest wind. It is strikingly true of the nature of that wind. The description begins on page 408, and a second appearance of the wind is chronicled on page 415.
  19. f. Finest of all the selections for this topic is Tennyson’s exquisite lullaby, Sweet and Low (Volume VI, page 122). This is well worth memorizing.

If we wish a model for a history lesson, the following will answer:

One of the interesting characters in history is King Alfred of England, and in the sketch of him (Volume IV, page 260) are facts enough for several elementary lessons in history. The outline for teaching might be as follows:

  1. 1. Preparation.
  2. a. Read the article above referred to, and such other material concerning Alfred as can be found.
  3. b. Select two incidents for story telling and prepare them for recital. (See articles on [Story Telling] in this Volume.)
  4. 2. Presentation.
  5. a. Tell the first story (page 260). It might be given in this form:

“More than a thousand years ago, Alfred, the youngest of the four sons of the king, was born. He was a fine lad and the favorite of his parents, but when he was twelve years of age he had not yet learned to read. This is not so strange, when we stop to think that it was long before people knew anything about printing, and every letter in every book had to be slowly made with a pen.