CHAPTER IV
PIONEER METHODS IN DEALING WITH ILLITERATES
There were no readers in print for adult illiterates, so a little weekly newspaper was published as a reading text.
Can we win?
Can we win what?
Can we win the prize?
Yes, we can win.
See us try.
And see us win!
This was the first lesson. It consisted of simple words, much repetition and a content that related to the activity of the reader, all of which, in a first lesson are essential. The lesson referred to a contest between the moonlight schools, and the element of rivalry thus introduced heightened the interest and produced a style of reading that rang with the emphasis of a challenge. There was attained immediately what had been striven for in the day schools with only indifferent success—natural expression in reading.