Much interest may be aroused by having the children impersonate the characters in the reading lessons that contain considerable direct discourse. They will at first act the parts as they read them, and later, if the selection is interesting and not too long, they may dramatize it.

There are on the market only a few books which contain plays suitable for the lower grades. For a list of such books see page 257. Mother Goose rimes, Æsop's fables, Grimms' tales, and other fairy stories are especially good for this work. Nearly all the readers in the lower grades contain selections that may be dramatized.

Two short rimes are dramatized below as practical examples of this work:

BAA, BAA, BLACK SHEEP

Baa, baa, Black Sheep,

Have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir,

Three bags full.

One for my master,

And one for my dame,

And one for the little boy

Who lives down the lane.

PRELIMINARY STEPS: After learning the rime the children are led to decide what characters are needed for the play and what children shall represent these characters. The most convenient place in the schoolroom is chosen for the play, and the staging is decided upon.

CHARACTERS: BLACK SHEEP, LITTLE BOY, LITTLE GIRL, and several other Children.

SCENE: A group of Children playing on a lawn (space in front of the
teacher's desk) as BLACK SHEEP is seen walking up the road (aisle).
BLACK SHEEP. [Walking down the road] Baa, baa!
LITTLE GIRL. Oh, I hear a sheep; let's go see him.

[LITTLE BOY and LITTLE GIRL run to the gate.]

LITTLE GIRL. Good morning, Black Sheep.

LITTLE BOY. Good morning, Black Sheep, have you any wool?

LITTLE GIRL. Have you much wool?

BLACK SHEEP. Yes ma'am, yes sir, three bags full: one for my master, and one for my dame, and one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

LITTLE BOY. Won't the master be glad!

LITTLE GIRL. Yes, and the dame will make a nice sweater and a warm dress out of the wool.

LITTLE BOY and LITTLE GIRL. [Clapping their hands] You are the best sheep in the world!

BLACK SHEEP. [Starting down the road] Baa, baa !

LITTLE BOY. Good-by, Black Sheep.

LITTLE GIRL. Come back to see us sometime, Black Sheep. Good-by.

LITTLE BOY and LITTLE GIRL return to lawn and rejoin Children at play. All the Children then return to seats.

LITTLE BOY BLUE

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn!

The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn.
Where's the little boy that looks after the sheep?

He's under the haystack, fast asleep.

Will you wake him? No, not I;

For if I do, he'll be sure to cry.

PRELIMINARY STEPS: The story is introduced and the characters are chosen in the manner shown in the preceding play.

CHARACTERS: FIRST CHILD, SECOND CHILD, several boys for Cows, several girls for Sheep, LITTLE BOY BLUE, a Dog.

SCENE: A meadow in one corner of the room; a cornfield in the opposite corner. Four chairs with backs inside for the haystack in the meadow. LITTLE BOY BLUE lies asleep on two of these chairs. The girls in the corner which represents the meadow; the boys in the opposite corner, which represents the cornfield.

FIRST CHILD discovers sheep in the meadow and cow in the corn. Walks about the room, calling LITTLE BOY BLUE

FIRST CHILD. Little Boy Blue, O Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn; the sheep's in the meadow and the cow's in the corn.

[FIRST CHILD meets SECOND CHILD.] FIRST CHILD. Have you seen Little Boy Blue anywhere? SECOND CHILD. Yes, he is here under the haystack, fast asleep.

FIRST CHILD. Will you wake him, please?

SECOND CHILD. No, not I, for if I do, he'll be sure to

cry.

FIRST CHILD. I will, then. [Goes to LITTLE BOY BLUE and shakes him] Little Boy Blue, O Little Boy Blue,

come blow your horn; the sheep's in the meadow and the cow's in the corn.

[LITTLE BOY BLUE jumps up and, after rubbing his eyes a moment as if crying, blows his horn.]

LITTLE BOY BLUE. Toot-toot, toot-toot.

[A boy (the Dog) rushes first to one corner and then to

the other, driving the sheep from the meadow and

the cow from the corn. The children all retire to their seats.]

(The three parts, First Child, Second Child, and Little Boy Blue should now be assigned to three other children and the play be given a second time.)

3. Language Games. Didactic teaching seldom reaches the young child, because a natural interest is hard to arouse in this way. The most effective efforts at this stage are those that utilize the play instinct in child life. Nearly all growth in language power comes when the interest is high, as it is when the play element is introduced into school work.

For these reasons the language game is a most effective means of getting children to speak correctly without knowing that this is the teacher's purpose. It is intended merely to supplement the regular language work, and should be looked upon by the children as play and nothing else. It may be effectively used in the first three grades and sometimes in the fourth, and is so planned that every child in the class may have a part in the play work.

The teacher should keep a record of the commonest mistakes made by the children and should plan

the games so as to correct these. The following mistakes will very likely be heard: 'come' for 'came'; 'seen' for 'saw'; 'set' for 'sit'; 'done' for 'did'; 'run' for 'ran'; 'laid' for 'lay'; 'has rang' for has rung'; 'ain't' for 'is n't,' 'are n't,' or 'am not'; 'I've got' for 'I have'; 'It's me' for 'It's I'; 'them' for 'those'; double negatives; plural subjects with singular verbs.

These language games, each of which can be played in a very few minutes, may be used to fill in at any odd time. The best results are achieved if the children are allowed to play the games as a reward for work well done or as a means of recreation. There are on the market only two books that outline for the teacher's use games of this character (see p. 256 for the names of these).

To correct 'Ain't.' One child is asked to think of a word, as, for example, 'cat.' He says, "I am thinking of a word that rimes with cat.' Jim, what is it?" "Is it 'rat'?" is the reply. "No, it is n't rat,'" replies the leader. He continues giving this answer until some one guesses the word he has in mind, which may be 'fat,' or 'mat.' The child that guesses the word becomes the next leader.

To correct 'It's Me.' After the game is explained to the children, one child is asked to leave the room for a moment. While he is out, let someone move the teacher's bell or eraser. The child is called back and begins asking, "Who moved the bell? Was it you, Will?" The answer is probably, "No, it was