In general the plan of having a written review, outline, or summary of these books, either as a part of the composition or the reading work, is to be discouraged. Since the writing of a book review is a difficult task for a man or woman of broad education, it is too much to expect that the immature high school pupil will be able to do it with any degree of intelligence or interest. The fact constantly emphasized by such a method, that every book which he reads must serve as material for a book review, a summary, or an examination, often defeats the purpose of his outside reading, since it tends to create a dislike rather than a love for reading. The books read by pupils may sometimes be discussed in class, however, as a means of arousing interest in the outside reading, and frequently pupils may be led to express their opinions freely, and spontaneously concerning the books under discussion. If the pupils can be turned from an oral to a written discussion of the book more or less spontaneously, there is less danger in having an occasional written exercise based on the library reading.
V
FIRST YEAR ENGLISH
In outlining the work of the first year, it is assumed that English will be pursued for five periods a week throughout the year. Of this time one-half should be devoted to composition, and one-half to reading. These two phases of the first year English, as has already been indicated, should be closely correlated, and must, of course, be taught by the same teacher. By suggesting that one-half of the time be devoted to each phase of the subject, it is not intended, as has already been said, that the time should be formally divided. Instead of setting aside two or three periods a week for composition it is frequently more satisfactory to devote a portion of each period to a study of the principles of composition as exemplified in the reading or to a discussion of subjects for composition, and thus not to interrupt the continuity of the reading.
In Wisconsin high schools the present course of study for one course, generally called the English course, presents one serious difficulty in connection with first year English; i. e., the arrangement by which grammar and composition for five periods a week and reading and composition for five periods a week are required of all pupils in this course. It is manifestly undesirable for any pupils in the first year to pursue two courses in English for ten periods a week throughout the year. This arrangement gives the pupils in this course seven and one-half periods of composition work during the second semester if the course in grammar and composition is divided so that grammar is required in the first semester and composition in the second. It also divides the composition work between two separate classes, part of the instruction in composition being given in the course in grammar and composition and part in the course in reading and composition. Since instruction in the principles of composition without practice is of little value especially for the immature pupils in the first year, and since from five to seven and a half periods is too much time to devote to composition when the amount of practice that is possible or even desirable is necessarily limited, the best solution of the problem seems to be to devote the time to additional reading and not to attempt to give more than two and a half periods, the amount assigned for other courses, to composition work. The question of teaching grammar is considered on page [32].
1. Composition
The object of the first year in composition should be to encourage pupils to express freely their own ideas and impressions. Fluency of expression is to be encouraged by every possible means. The most effective method of developing this free and fluent expression is to have the pupils write on subjects in which they are most interested. It is sometimes said that the difficulty in writing themes in the first year lies in the fact that the pupils have nothing to write about from their own experience, and that therefore subjects must be drawn largely from the reading; that is, pupils must reproduce others’ thoughts rather than express their own. It seems doubtful whether this paucity of ideas really exists, for it is indeed a stupid girl or boy in the first year at high school who is not interested in many things in active everyday life, and who does not talk constantly of these things to schoolmates and friends. It is doubtless true that the pupil often does not consider his simple experiences of sufficient importance to be the subjects of his compositions and must therefore be led by the teacher to see the possibilities which they contain. It is the duty of the teacher of composition, as has been said, to familiarize himself with the surroundings of his pupils, and to interest himself in their various activities in and out of school. It is only by such sympathy and interest that he can get his pupils to express themselves freely in their themes. Experience has shown that the daily life of the individual pupil, and the varied activities of the school can be made to furnish practically all of the theme subjects not only for first year composition, but also for that of the other three years.
While fluency and spontaneity of expression should be encouraged in every way possible, the teacher must also insist on accuracy in details of expression. The common errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and other matters of form should be corrected constantly, and by the end of the first year all such mistakes should be fairly well eliminated from the average pupil’s work. In connection with the correction of errors in the themes, the rules of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar may be reviewed to advantage from time to time.
2. English Grammar
It is not desirable to take up formally the study of English, grammar as a regular part of first year English. Whenever the plan of devoting a semester or a term to English grammar has been tried, it has been conceded that the course has not been very successful. The cause of this is not far to seek. Since the pupils have been drilled in grammar in the seventh and eighth grades, a repetition of the subject at the beginning of the high school course invariably proves distasteful, and it is extremely difficult if not practically impossible to arouse any interest in the subject. High school pupils in the first year are too immature to take up the subject from a point of view materially different from that from which it was studied in the grades. The work, consequently, is done in a perfunctory manner, and seems to have little practical result in the pupils’ written or spoken English. It is the general experience, nevertheless, that a number of pupils entering the high school are deficient in their knowledge of the most elementary principles of English grammar, and that they are therefore somewhat handicapped in taking up the study of composition. If the present system of promotion permits some pupils to enter the high school without a sufficient knowledge of the elements of English grammar to make possible an intelligent study of high school English, it seems very doubtful whether the high school course in English should be planned to provide for pupils whose preparation is deficient. If provision must be made for the deficient ones, a special class in grammar should be organized for their benefit, and well-prepared pupils should not be compelled to repeat this grade work. This special review of grammar for poorly prepared pupils should not form a part of the regular English work of the first year, and it may be questioned whether it should be credited for graduation from high school. For pupils of required preparation the only study of grammar necessary in the first year may be taken up in connection with the correction of errors made by the pupils in composition. Syntax must be studied in connection with the construction of sentences in composition work. A consideration of the grammatical construction of sentences required for effective work in reading and composition, with such review of grammar as is made necessary by the actual errors of the pupils, will generally be sufficient training in grammar for the first year.