Then the two boys would chase Marni to the breakfast table saying:
“Marni Mitchell,
Marni Moo,
Run like a mousie
Or I’ll catch you.”
And Marni would scimper scamper like a mousie until she reached the breakfast table.
Then they would all have breakfast together.
THE ROOM WITH THE
WINDOW LOOKING OUT
ON THE GARDEN
In this story written for a three-year-old group, I have tried to present the familiar setting of the classroom from a new point of view and to give the presentation a very obvious pattern. I want the children to take an active part in the story. But before they try to do this I want them to have some conception of the whole pattern of the story so that their contributions may be in proper design, both in substance and in length. That is the reason I give two samples before throwing the story open to the children. If each child has a part which falls into a recognized scheme, through performing that part he gets a certain practice in pattern making in language,—however primitive—and also a certain practice in the technique of co-operation which means listening to the others as well as performing himself. I have not tried to add anything to their stock of information,—merely to give them the pleasure of drawing on a common fund together.