Now take your eyes off the blackboard and tell us all you saw, and tell it in just the order the pictures occur on the board. If you miss any steps, you must read again and again until you see the whole thought so clearly that it seems real; then I am sure you will be able to tell it correctly. You need not use my words; just use your own language.
Now you are ready to take the next step. Read the sentence to the class so that you make them see just what you see. Be sure you never forget this.
You must remember that unless you try to make them see the pictures you have in mind, they will be very likely not to understand you.
Now, what have we been doing? First, we studied the meaning of the words; second, we got several pictures; and third, we tried to give those pictures to others. So we see there are two kinds of reading: the first for ourselves, the second for others. The first kind must always go before the second: for if we have nothing in our mind to tell, how can we give it to others?
Let us remember then, that reading for others is just like talking to them, and unless we get from the page just the thought the writer had in mind we cannot give that thought to another. Sometimes it is not easy to get this thought; but if you will study carefully, it will become clearer and clearer, until at last it is just as easy to understand as if it had been your own. I want to give you a short drill, and then our first lesson will be over. “In the summer the grass is green, but it turns brown in the fall.” Can you imagine how green grass looks? how brown grass looks? Do you notice that fall is the time when grass is brown? Again, “He was a very tall man, with light, curly hair, tanned skin and blue eyes. His shoulders were stooped like those of a farmer or of one who has been digging in the mines.” Close your eyes and then call up the picture of this man. Do you see him as a real man? Now read this sentence aloud so that your classmates may get the same picture that you have.
These are the three things we have learned in our first lesson, and they are very, very important: We must get the thought; we must hold the thought; and we must give the thought. This is reading aloud.
Remember, I want you to be getting these pictures from everything you read; from your geography lesson, your history lesson, and even your arithmetic lesson. I am sure you will get these lessons better than you ever did before.
Here are some interesting stories and parts of stories which you must tell to the class. Be sure you understand them, and then tell them so that your classmates will understand them too.
[7]Keep busy! ’tis better than standing aside