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until he needs to know them for facility in dictionary work. Since in a combination taught as a phonogram the vowel has the same sound as in the words built from it, what use is there of indicating that sound by marking? Thus, o-l-d is old, hence, s-o-l-d is sold, and h-o-l-d is hold.

One necessary condition of success in the teaching of reading today is the mastery of phonics. My experience shows me that in the equipment of teachers in this respect, normal schools are not sending out those prepared to do this work well; and the institutes are doing little, because institute conductors are not, as a general thing, able to teach and exemplify good phonic work. It is not philosophizing about phonics that teachers need; it is practice. It is not talking about how phonics should be used in teaching reading; it is seeing it done; it is witnessing the demonstration by a teacher who knows how to do it, or how to make children self-helpful in word-mastery. I wish here to commend the policy of the state department, shown during the past summer more than ever before, of employing primary teachers in the institutes;-young women who have made a success of their work, and who go to the institutes with all the devices which come from a woman's love of detail, and with the skill resulting from long practice, can do more to help the teachers learn how to teach reading than all the philosophizing and description that the most able teachers of methods could put forth. Men can never learn to do this. It is the attribute of few masculine minds to enjoy the detail which would make them successful primary teachers. How would it be, in teaching girls to cook, to employ as teachers men to describe how it is done and to philosophize about cooking? Just about as effective a thing is being paid for summer after summer, out of the state treasury, in sending out to minister to the needs of the teachers of little children, people who can only describe how it should be done. Much of the work to be done in institutes can be better done by men than by women; but, certainty, in the important lines for which I am now pleading, real effectiveness can come only through the woman, abreast of the times, engaged in actual primary teaching.

Besides practical work in institutes to show what can be done, teachers must be spurred to better preparation by the requirements of superinten

dents. Teachers should be made to prove by an oral examination their preparation for doing this very important part of the teaching of primary reading. Written examinations in orthoepy! Absurd! As sensibly, take a profession of faith as guarantee of a righteous life! There is but one way of telling whether a person knows enough to teach a child phonics as a means to reading, and that is by having that person articulate those elements separately, analyze words into their elements and combine elements to make words. A doctor has to have more than a framed diploma exhibited on the walls of his office to assure us that we may safely entrust ourselves to his care.

And it is not the primary teacher alone who needs a knowledge of phonics. Drill in phonics and articulation exercises are needed by the older pupils in order that they may have ease and accuracy in speech. Good articulation and clear enunciation come from accurate, correct use of the organs of speech, and this, like any muscular habit, can result only from practice under direction.

It is time to go back to my "secondly," now so far removed from our thoughts. It concerns results, by which we may judge whether the primary reading has been successfully done or not. It is the practical, the inspiring psychologist, James, who says that "The teacher's prime concern should be to ingrain into the pupil that assortment of habits that shall be most useful to him throughout life." What are the habits in reading that will be most useful to a person throughout life, and which should, therefore, be made the prime concern of the teacher?

First, the habit in pupils of thinking what they read, and of not being satisfied until the thought is understood. The method of starting children in reading already described furnishes the first impetus toward this end. Another thing that helps greatly is to get the child to feel that he must not attempt to read orally until he has the thought to give. All methods of class management that cause attention to be centered upon the thought as the main thing, and make the pupils first of all responsible for thought getting and giving, are good. ing, are good. Criticism conduces to the formation of this habit, when it approaches errors and imperfections in oral reading from the thought side, instead of the form side. Seven pages of the Manual (pp. 34-41) are devoted to suggestions

upon the promotion of the thought-getting habit, and time forbids further development of this topic here.

The second habit that should result from good teaching of primary reading is the habit of using the imagination. This comes from practicing the child in imaging scenes and objects described in his reading books. This imaging is greatly stimulated by a demand for a drawing of the thing described, which device is excellent for furthering more intensive reading of the matter which is to yield the picture. A similar stimulus is furnished by calling for the dramatization of scenes or the tableau representation of situations. The usefulness of this habit of visualizing in life will be realized in the power to enjoy higher literature, in which the imagination and the fancy of some master mind have manifested themselves.

Another habit to be looked for is that of self

help through the use of phonics-a useful thing throughout the learning stage of his life, at least.

A fourth habit is that of taking in a number of words at a glance, one to which all quick perception work contributes, in laying the foundation for later fluency and smoothness in oral reading, and the ability to quickly glean the thought content of the printed page.

Oral reading should show the habits started of correct articulation, distinct enunciation, natural modulation, and agreeableness of tone. To this, To this, pp. 41-47 of the Manual are devoted.

With one point more my paper ends. Another life-need that should be made an end in reading is the habit of judging reading as to its truthfulness, worth and beauty, in order that taste for good reading may be cultivated. No educational aim can be paramount to this, and at no time have teachers been provided with so many facilities for realizing it. Children today are in a paradise of books. In the primary grades children should have read to them many of the best of these, and should hear told by the teacher many of the classic stories which will later be set before them to read. How often have I been a witness to the enthusiasm of a child over a book in which he had discovered a story familiar to him through having heard it read by his teacher of primary days! Fortunate is the child who has enjoyed the conditions and who exemplifies the results of successful teaching of primary reading herein dwelt upon; for already

is power of acquisition started, that shall open to him the treasures of experience which have been written down for him in the best books.

MAKE YOUR AIM DEFINITE AND HAVE YOUR

IDEAL RIGHT.

While I do not in the least under rate the value of good devices in teaching, I am fully convincedi that definite aims and high ideals on the part of a teacher, are absolutely necessary in order to secure right results. I refer to a special, definite aim for each lesson. In reading it may be to have the children gain a clear mental picture of two little girls out in the woods, very much surprised at the appearance of a very small sister. Later the older girls take the little one to a bush and show her a bird's nest.

If the teacher succeeds, as she can very easily if she tries, there will be no trouble about expression when the lesson is read. There will be concern in

the voice of the older sister when she asks the lit

tle one how she came there. It will be so real she will no doubt take some child by the arm when she calls her attention to the imaginary nest. That actually happened in a little class in an institute this summer.

The Definite Aim in Reading.

Many teachers mistake a general aim for a definite one, and thus they go on from day to day with. indifferent results. Suppose, for example, the aim is "to secure good expression." Even granting that the teacher has in mind thoughtful, feeling reading, without a definite aim she will fail to help her pupils understand what she means. She will no doubt say, "I am sure you can read with better expression. Try that again." Since she does nothing to appeal to the child's feelings, or to give him a better understanding of what he read, he concludes that she wants him to put special stress on certain words or do something with his voice. He very often succeeds in satisfying her without becoming any stronger himself. Many superintendents can bear me out in this statement, that pupils can be trained to read with what appears to be good expression and yet know very little of what they have read.

I wish we might say with equal certainty that a perfect understanding of a sentence, or paragraph, would insure excellent oral reading. This would be true if the child had not already acquired a

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wrong ideal of reading. But even though we cannot succeed in correcting that ideal, it should be a great comfort to know that we are securing good silent reading. For, after all, the silent reading will be of greater value to the pupil in preparing other lessons and in adding to his knowledge after he leaves school. Let me say, however, that there are good and sufficient reasons why we should never relax our effort to get good oral reading in all grades, no matter how discouraging the problem. may be. But we must not allow our failure to worry us and thus unfit us for other duties. Have a Definite, Not a General Aim.

In history the definite aim may be to get the pupils to see a certain cause and its effect; in geography, the relation of the physical features of a certain region to the growth of a city or the making of butter and cheese instead of shipping milk.

The definite aim is a time-saver. After it is once found, the teacher has her lesson nearly, if not quite, mastered. She will then give definite assignments and her pupils will know when they have their lessons prepared. The definite aim will tend to make teachers original. The teacher who has clearly in mind what she wishes to present, can usually find some way to do it. She will be quick to adapt others' devices, or to try some new plan.

The teacher who works with general aims, or none at all, will try every device she reads without adapting it to her own class, and may not know that her lesson is a failure.

The Right Ideal.

As much, or more, might be said regarding right ideals. We know how a wrong ideal of an orderly school will create a disorderly one in the eyes of a person with higher ideals. Scrappy or partnership recitations are perfectly satisfactory to some teachers; while others conduct drills in numbers which are positively injurious. Think of the time that is wasted, the bad habits formed, the lack of valuable discipline, and the harmful ideals formed, under a teacher with wrong ideals.

Expect a great deal from all grades, but be careful that what you demand is suited to the and age development of your children. F. A. W.

THE SEASON IS RIPE FOR THE TEACHING OF CIVICS.

This is a great year in which to teach civics.

The interest aroused by the fall elections, primary and general, had scarcely died down when congress met and with it came the discussion of the tariff, inland waterways, preservation of forests and other important questions. (What congress is this? Which session? When will it end? Why?) Then came the meeting of the state legislature. (How often does it meet? Who represents your city or county?) Then came the meeting of the presidential electors. (Where did they meet and what did they do?) Next, the legislature must choose a United States senator. (Whose term expired and when?) Then will come the town meetings and spring elections. (When are they held? What officers are to be elected?) Help the future voter to become interested in these proceedings and to understand them. It seems as if one could almost teach civics from the newspapers this winter.

W. A. C.

CAN YOUR FOURTH GRADE DO IT?

A short time ago the writer attended a teachers' meeting at which a local teacher gave an exercise in geography with a class of fourth grade children. They stepped to the board and sketched a map of the village, showing the position of the railroad track, the principal street and buildings so clearly and accurately that the stranger, gazing out of the school house window had little difficulty in locating the station, postoffice, mills, etc., represented on the map. Can your fourth grade do that?

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STUDY THE WINTER BIRDS.

W. A. C.

Now is the time to commence the study of birds I you have not already done so. During the cold. weather have the children notice and describe the birds that remain over winter and try to find out their names. They are not numerous. That is why winter is a good time to begin. Are any robins to be seen? In rare instances they remain all winter in particularly sheltered places. I notice that the beautiful evening grosbeaks are with us again this winter. A year ago last winter they were here in great numbers. I frequently observed flocks of twenty or thirty together. Last winter I did not see one nor did I hear of any. This was probably due to the mild winter. The evening beaks are Canadian birds and come south only during cold weather. The box elder trees are loaded with fruit this winter. This is their favorite food,

so if the children will just keep watch of the box elder trees they will be pretty sure to be rewarded by a sight of these beautiful birds. They may be easily recognized by their yellow bodies and black wings and the peculiar twittering sound they make as they crack the box elder keys in their stout bills.

W. A. C.

LET US TEACH PENMANSHIP IN THE OLD WAY.

At one time the subject of penmanship received considerable attention, and ability to write a good hand was regarded as one of the requisites of an education. The pupil was taught to write with good position and movement and was acquiring fairly good form, when along came the craze for vertical writing which displaced existing forms and ideals of penmanship, throwing the teaching of this art into a chaotic condition as far as the common schools were concerned, from which it has not yet recovered.

Fortunately the old cherished ideals of the art were preserved for us by the business colleges and now we are gradually, by many circuitous routes, such as semi-slant, medium slant, etc., getting back to them. I am not clamoring for the restoration of the old main slant of fifty-two degrees nor for the Spencerian forms of letters, beautiful and graceful as they are. What I do plead for is that the present generation of pupils be taught the correct position and movement in writing, the position and movement described in the Manual (page 249) and which by some fortunate chance has been left untouched through all the years of reformed writing.

Even Teachers Are Poor Writers.

The need of greater attention to the teaching of penmanship has been impressed upon me by observing the positions and movements used, not only by children in the schools but by teachers in examinations and institutes. Set a group of teachers writing and then observe the position of the body, manner of holding the pen and movements of the hand or fingers and you will see an astonishing diversity of positions and an equally surprising absence of the correct ones. Why is this? The only explanation that occurs to me is that penmanship in the schools has been left to take care of itself so long that the teachers of the present generation have not themselves been taught thoroughly and systematically the principles of the

subject. Consequently they have little or nothing to give to their pupils and the writing exercise too often degenerates into a perfunctory performance in which, for a stated time, the pupils take their copy books and laboriously draw the forms set at the top of the page while, too often, the teacher does something else meantime. How can satisfactory results be expected from such teaching? The Remedy.

The copy book cannot teach penmanship any more than the text-book in arithmetic can teach arithmetic. There is needed to accomplish satisfactory results in this, as in any subject, the inspiring and directing force of the teacher. During the time set aside for writing the teacher's whole time and attention should be given to direction, criticism, and guidance of the children in their efforts.

The principles and directions which the teacher must master in order to do this are few and simple and are clearly set forth in the Manual, making it unnecessary to recite them here. The difficult thing, if the teacher does not already habitually use the correct position and movement, will be to practice himself what he is to teach. For the teacher to use habitually a cramped finger movement while trying to get the pupils into the habit of using the forearm or muscular movement would be to nullify by example the possible results of his teaching.

The first thing then for the teacher to do is to "get the habit" of writing with correct position and movement himself and then he may hope to get his pupils interested in them. To this end, penmanship should be taught in every normal and training school and in the teachers' institutes.

When to Begin Writing.

A question that is frequently asked in this connection is, "When would you begin to teach children to write this way?" My answer is, as soon as you begin to teach them to write at all. Very little writing is necessary in the primary grades, but what is done should be written large with the whole arm movement on the blackboard or with the forearm movement on unruled paper. Do not press them for too great a degree of accuracy in form at first. If you begin by laying emphasis on form you will put a premium on the drawing of letters instead of writing them. Position and

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