WORDS IN A SERIES ΙΟΙ VII (139). Writing Original Stories from Original Outlines Read with the children the story of Columbus's voyage (p. 136) that they may note the regular chronological order of the narration. Let them ob serve this order, which is the easiest possible order, in making their outlines on the given subjects. Their outlines need not be too definite; their pur pose is to insure a clear, well-arranged narrative. Their outlines for the first two subjects might be somewhat as follows: AN EXCITING JOURNEY 1. From what place, to what place, with whom. 2. The start. 3. What happened on the way. 4. The end of the journey. A VISIT I. To whom (to what, or to what place), with whom. 3. What happened on the visit. 4. The end of the visit. In criticising the pupils' stories with them, particular attention should be given to their grouping of sentences into paragraphs, and to the order of their narration. VIII (141). Words in a Series As the pupils rewrite the sentences according to directions in their book, pass among them to see that they are using the comma correctly. To fix in their minds the significance of this new use, ask occasionally, Why have you placed a comma there? Exact this reply: I have placed a comma there to separate and words of a series between which the connecting word has been omitted. In order to write their own compositions well, pupils must be able to tell by the meaning how to write-how to capitalize and punctuate. Read the following sentences to the children. Have them tell you where commas occur. 1. Brown rats, black rats, gray rats, tawny rats, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives followed the Piper. 2. The blue sky, the white clouds, the soft breezes, the bursting buds, and the song of the robin tell us spring is come. 3. A strange, rustling, hissing sound reached my ears. 4. I have crept, walked, run, and tottered over every foot of this old farm. X (143). A Review of the Uses of Commas All uses of the comma thus far taught are reviewed in this exercise. As the children study it with you, insist that they give, always in a complete sentence the reason for the use of each comma, as: There is a comma after John to separate the name of the person addressed from the rest of the sentence. There is a comma after here to separate the quotation from the rest of the sentence. WRITING ORIGINAL SENTENCES XI (144). Writing Original Sentences 103 Before allowing the children to write the answers to the geography questions in their book, make sure that they understand the requirements. It might be well to have them answer orally a few similar questions, indicating the place of commas. Such questions as these would serve: Name five mining products of the United States. Encourage variety of form in their answers, as, for examples: Five mining products of the United States are coal, iron, silver, gold, and copper; or, Coal, iron, gold, silver, and copper are five of the mining products of the United States. As the children answer orally a few such questions as the above, have their answers written on the board to serve as types for other answers, written and oral. Try to impress upon the children the importance of using language correctly at all times. It is not enough merely to say, "Every lesson should be an English lesson." Children must be constantly and effectively shown that the correct and fitting use of English is necessary to clear understanding. This can be done with the use of the regular texts in his tory and in geography. Let the children note the fact that the authors of these books have applied the same rules for the use of capitals, punctuation marks, and paragraphs, that the children have been learning in their English studies; further, that without observance of these rules in writing, the product could scarcely be read intelligently. XII (145). Studying and Preparing to Answer a Letter Read and discuss the letter with the children. All the information for which the letter calls can probably be contributed by the various members of the class. This discussion will prepare each one to answer the letter in the next exercise, will give every one something definite to write about. XIII (146). Writing a Letter Go over with the pupils the directions and suggestions in their book to make sure that every one understands. If you are in a city in which there is great variety of manufactures, or in a place rich in historic associations, it would be well to make some division of the available subject-matter among the pupils, individually or by groups, perhaps each one or each group writing about some one historic spot or incident, or some one kind of manufacture. Help pupils individually to correct and improve their work, as far as possible, while they write. A THE CONVERSATION PARAGRAPH 105 period may well be given to the reading and criticism in class of typical letters. XIV (148). The Conversation Paragraph Help the pupils to make good paragraph topics, each one expressed in a complete sentence. As these are formulated, write them on the board. That the topical outline of the story may be complete, the first four topics given in the pupils' book might be copied on the board; the remaining topics would be somewhat as follows: 5. The dishonest neighbor declared a rat had eaten all the silver. 6. Pretending to believe this story, the merchant planned to recover his treasure. 7. The merchant carried off his neighbor's son. 8. The merchant invited his neighbor to dine. 9. The neighbor excused himself, saying that he was in great trouble. 10. The merchant asked what the trouble was. II. The neighbor told of the loss of his child. 12. The merchant said he had seen an owl carry the child off. 13. The neighbor refused to believe him. 14. The merchant replied that if a rat could eat one hundred pounds of silver, it would be an easy matter for an owl to carry away a boy who weighed but fifty pounds. 15. The neighbor confessed the theft and returned the silver in exchange for his son. An exercise like this, in which the pupils discover and express concisely the gist of a story, paragraph by paragraph, gives splendid training in studying |