compositions, or parts of them, to the class, this time for correction purposes. The reader should make a short pause at the end of each sentence, so that his classmates may question him: Did you begin that sentence with a capital letter? Did you end it with a question mark? How did you spell so-and-so? Etc. Thus each sentence may be criticized and even become the object of animated discussion.

Sometimes, particularly in the class correction of oral compositions, committees should be appointed to look for specific errors. One committee should report the use of too many and's, another the unnecessary use of such words as well and why, and still other committees of pupils should look for other points, good and bad, in their classmates' speaking and writing.

It will occur to the teacher that these group exercises in the correction of compositions are in effect nothing less than the most vital reviews.

Note 5 (page 8). The first three grammar chapters in this book necessarily are in part reviews of fundamentals treated in the preceding book. They should now be presented rapidly or slowly, according to the ability and attainments of the class.

Note 6 (page 1). The recommendation of the Joint Committee on Grammatical Nomenclature, whose Report is now generally accepted, is that some imperative sentences be classed as declarative, others as interrogative. Thus, as declarative would be classed the sentence Keep off the grass," and as interrogative the sentence Will you please keep off the grass?" Consult the Index for further references relating to imperative as well as to interrogative

sentences.

Note 7 (page 12). All involved sentences should be omitted from these early criticisms.

Note 8 (page 15). It seems inadvisable, in the present state of conflicting usage, to follow the greeting of some letters with a comma and of others with a colon. The distinction is, of course, an arbitrary one; it becomes at times a source of embarrassment; and it compels the teaching of two forms where one suffices.

Note 9 (page 17). It is suggested that, whenever practicable, pupils address their letters to classmates, who will answer them. Thus one pupil may order a book from a publisher; another pupil, impersonating the publisher, may write the reply. For the purposes of such a classroom correspondence all the pupils should be grouped in pairs, the pairs being changed from time to time. A class post office and postmaster will serve to give the finishing touch of reality. See Note III.

Opportunities for real correspondence outside the classroom will reveal themselves from time to time and should be utilized.

Note 10 (page 18). In schools where the " story hour " has been established as a regularly recurring exercise throughout the year, it has been found that pupils soon discover the need of telling their stories well if they are to hold the attention of their classmates. It is suggested, therefore, that the "story hour be left largely in the pupils' own hands, in order that the desire to entertain may be free to vitalize this English work, unhampered by instructions, "suggestions," and other limitations. Gradually this regular entertainment will create a "real situation" to which a club of adults meeting regularly for mutual entertainment through story-telling constitutes actually a true and instructive parallel. See Notes III and 112.

Note 11 (page 19). The technical term indention may be used to name this notch " in the first line of every paragraph. The term may be related to dent in every paragraph being dented in at its beginning. See Note 113. For the present purpose the paragraph consisting of but a single sentence may be disregarded.

Note 12 (page 19). If an exchange of letters with the pupils of a school in another town or city prove impracticable, arrangements may be made with a school in the same city or county; or the class may be divided

possibly the

boys as a group exchanging letters with the girls as a group, each group preparing its letters alone, in order that the reality of the correspondence may not be lessened. In this case the list on page 20 will be found to offer suitable subjects. See Note III.

Note 13 (page 19). The pupils' attention should be called, by means of proper questions, to the absurdity of this haphazard order, in order that the need of a logical arrangement may become evident. A natural motive will thus be supplied for the study of the outline and the paragraph. The possibility of different arrangements of the same material, all equally good, should be shown the pupil. See Note 114.

Note 14 (page 21). The rules for capital letters and punctuation marks are tabulated in the Appendix. Pupils should have practice in referring to them during the criticism of compositions.

Note 15 (page 22). The Review and Drill chapters, of which this is one of twelve, contain material and suggestions for supplementary work. They consist in general of (1) rapid reviews of certain fundamentals in grammar, (2) drills in correct usage, based on the common errors of school children, (3) language and grammar games, (4) exercises in pronouncing troublesome words, (5) additional sentences for the study of sentence structure and of the parts of speech. The use of these chapters is optional with the teacher; they are provided to give the book a measure of flexibility that may often prove desirable.

Note 16 (page 22). The common errors made by children in the use of English, form the basis of this and other drills in correct forms. The pupil is asked to read aloud repeatedly the sentences containing these correct forms, speaking the words clearly and distinctly. To give variety to the drill, groups of half-a-dozen pupils may stand before the class and read each group, in the spirit of a game, trying to read best. Finally the whole class may read in concert distinct, animated utterance being constantly required.

If these drills are resorted to as a language gymnastic whenever a few minutes of spare time are at hand, pupils will soon find it easier to speak the correct forms than the incorrect ones. This is the aim of the exercise. Explanations of the principles of grammar involved are not undertaken at this point. A word of warning, however, seems necessary. The thoughtless and monotonous repetition of correct forms can do little good. They should be repeated enough times to make undoubtedly clear to the pupil what each correct form is and to accustom his lips to speaking it easily and naturally and his ears to hearing it spoken by himself. But then the repetition should be discontinued, and a point should be made of employing each correct form frequently in natural contexts, so that it may be interwoven with the pupil's thinking and speaking. Judiciously employed, these drills should have the twofold effect of prevention and cure - cure for errors already established, prevention and inoculation against errors not yet contracted. See Note 119.

Note 17 (page 22). Nearly one fourth of all the errors in the speech of school children is due to the confusion of the past tense with the perfect participle. Recent investigations show that the verbs see, do, come, ring, sing, drink, and go, in the order named, are more commonly misused in this way than any others.

Note 18 (page 24). Classes familiar with the subject matter of this chapter should nevertheless give it a thorough review. See Note 5.

Note 19 (page 24). Pupils sometimes have difficulty in separating sentences into their subjects and predicates. The purpose of these preliminary exercises in constructing sentences is to make the subsequent analytical work easier.

Note 20 (page 28). To the principal word of the subject may be given the technical name of subject substantive. This is the term recommended by the Joint Committee on Grammatical Nomenclature.

Note 21 (page 30). The untechnical wordings employed here, subject preceding predicate and predicate preceding subject, are recommended as being instantly understood by the pupil. Some teachers may prefer to use the term natural order for the first and the term inverted order for the second. In this connection teachers should bear in mind that real understanding of grammatical facts is more important than mere acquaintance with their technical names.

Note 22 (page 31). If pupils should have difficulty with any of these sentences, which is unlikely, it is suggested that the verb be selected first and then such questions asked as (see sentences I and 4)" Who walked?” “What passed?"

Note 23 (page 32). The example sentences as well as the exercise sentences at this point purposely avoid difficulties. The simple sentence can have little structural meaning for the pupil until he is able to contrast it with the compound sentence (see page 59). Some teachers may wish to explain at this time such sentences as "John and Mary cried" and "John cried and laughed."

Note 24 (page 40). Teachers should read each literary selection to the class before it is studied, in order that pupils may surely be impressed by its adequacy and beauty. The literary selection is intended to function less as a model in these lessons than as an awakener of interest. It is recommended that the best compositions of the last year's class be utilized continually as models for the present class. See Note 70.

Note 25 (page 44).

See pages 386–387 and 409.

Note 26 (page 45). In learning a selection it is advisable to read through the whole from beginning to end, and to repeat the reading until all is learned, rather than to learn bit by bit" (W. B. Pillsbury, "The Essentials of Psychology,” p. 192). Teachers will find the entire chapter viii of Professor Pillsbury's book, but particularly pages 191–194, suggestive and helpful.

Note 27 (page 46). Many of the drills, or parts of them, may advantageously be given as conversation games. Thus:

TEACHER. Is n't your little brother here?

PUPIL. No, he is n't here.

TEACHER. Is n't he coming to visit us to-day?
PUPIL. No, he is n't. Etc.

TEACHER. Does n't he know Mr. Smith?

PUPIL. No, he does n't know Mr. Smith.

TEACHER. Does n't he live with his uncle?

PUPIL. No, he does n't live with his uncle. Etc.

It is clear that throughout the game the teacher asks questions that call for answers containing is n't and does n't. Other words or expressions may be used for similar conversations. See Note III.

Note 28 (page 47). Other lists of words are given in subsequent chapters of this book. To all these should be continually added words that pupils mispronounce in their recitations, as well as localisms. A committee of pupils may be asked to watch for words to add to a growing list that is kept on the board. All these words should be used frequently in sentences. By alternating questions with answers a game may be made. See Notes 105 and 111.

Note 29 (page 48). The purpose of Chapter III is to make certain that pupils have at least a bowing acquaintance with the parts of speech. Without it they cannot proceed advantageously with the study of sentences.

It is suggested that in this chapter frequent use be made of the material provided in the following composition chapter. See particularly pages 61, 62, and 63. Pupils' compositions too should furnish material.

Note 30 (page 50). Since the pupil now understands the distinction between the entire subject and the principal word of the subject, the word subject makes a flexible term that may name either.

Note 31 (page 53). The adjectives not printed in italics are to be disregarded for the purposes of this exercise.

Note 32 (page 56). The test of an adjective is whether it modifies a noun; the test of an adverb is whether it modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Since pupils sometimes have difficulty in distinguishing adjectives and adverbs, these tests should be frequently applied. They are repeatedly indicated in the text. The difference between such words as lovely and happily, both ending in ly, should be made clear with the help of the tests.

Note 33 (page 57). Instances where the preposition does not precede its object are relatively uncommon and are disregarded for the present. Instead of object of the preposition we may say word used with the preposition. The term phrase may be employed at this time to name a group of words consisting of a preposition and its object (see page 104).

Note 34 (page 59). This is simply a preliminary statement (see page 132). Note 35 (page 66). The following sentences from a preliminary statement regarding the proposed revision of the English syllabus in the state of New York may prove valuable in this connection: "It will be found that comparatively few students are capable of detecting during one reading the various kinds of errors that creep into their compositions. On the other hand it will be found that a student who reads over his composition with the view of discovering some particular kind of error seldom fails to find all the errors of that particular kind.” This means of course that the first question in this and other group exercises should be disposed of before the second is asked, the second completely answered before the third is taken up, and so on to the end of the list. In oral work it is suggested that the class be sometimes divided into sections or committees, each to look for a specific error. For suggestions regarding lists of questions, changing with each grammar chapter studied, see Note 4. See also Note 37.

Note 36 (page 66). Since pupils are now familiar with the eight parts of speech, it is advisable to refer them, as need arises, to the later chapters in which each is studied in detail. This may profitably be done in connection