Under proper instruction the pupils will go into the next grade with the ability to express themselves freely and easily at the blackboard. It is quite unnecessary and unpedagogical to teach children a habit that in the course of a few years must be given up entirely; reference is here made to teaching of finger movement in the first three grades.
One B grade aim: To introduce pupils in this grade to all small letters in short words. To attain an average speed of thirty letters per minute.
One A grade aim: To introduce pupils in this grade to all capital letter forms in families. To review all small letters in words and sentences. To attain a speed of thirty-five letters per minute. To give pupils by the end of the term, a tool for handling spelling and language in a satisfactory manner at the blackboard.
Material: Compendium (optional), crayon, eraser. The blackboard should be ruled with lines four inches apart beginning at the bottom and extending six lines in height. Eighteen to twenty inches is sufficient board space for each child. More practice and correspondingly better results follow when the entire class is at the board at one time.
Length of lesson: Fifteen minutes daily, five times per week. Place the period early in the day or just before spelling so that it may function. Writing is an inter-recitation activity. Practicing the daily lesson will be found very profitable.
Demonstration: Each drill should be demonstrated briefly from one to three times each day of presentation. Blackboard models for tracing should be provided for each pupil daily. Good models are a necessity because of the inconvenience of using compendiums at the board.
Distribution of time to subject matter: At the beginning of each term devote one-half to one-third of the lesson to movement drill. Tracing and writing consume the remainder of the period. As skill increases reduce the amount of time to one minute on movement drill and divide the remainder equally between words and sentences. The board should be filled ten times during one lesson. One A children should fill the board once daily with the figure represented in the current date.
Names: Pupils should write their names as early as possible in the term. After the capital “I” has been mastered use the following form for name practice: “I am (name).”
Z Group: This group proceeds at a slower rate of speed, attaining at the end of the year scarcely thirty letters per minute. More frequent demonstration is necessary. Use as many two-letter words as possible. Select words from the reading as far as practicable. More blackboard work, tracing and rhythmic drill are necessary than in other classes.