The Ballad of the Oysterman New England Weather PROBLEM VIII-Fun Through Exaggeration The Ransom of Red Chief PROBLEM IX-Silent-Reading Comprehension American Workers and Their Work Pete of the Steel-Mills PROBLEM X-Study of Industrial Conditions The Way to Wealth. . 661 PROBLEM XI-Understanding the Content Work: A Song of Triumph . 661 . 663 . 663 . 663 The Thinker PROBLEM XII-Purpose of Work A Message to Garcia. PROBLEM XIII-Helps for Study The Building of the Ship PROBLEM XIV-Outlining A Review The Last Day with the Reader . INTRODUCTION READING FOR ENJOYMENT Because thoughtful men and women have long recognized the fact that the hours of freedom are fraught with more danger than the working hours, the school tries to awaken in the child a love of things ennobling and uplifting, to which in later years he may turn for recreation and comfort when released from toil. We talk a great deal about preparing a child to earn his living. But if we prepare him only to earn a living-by which is meant food, clothing, and shelter for the body-and starve and stunt the soul which animates that body, the bravest would shrink from being responsible for the results. SETTING UP IDEALS Thus the school is fighting the forces of ignorance and evil for the whole child, body and soul, and it summons to its aid for the uplifting of the child the most powerful influences which it can command. This is why we teach him music and art and bring to him the best in literature. The love of good books is the chain which binds man to the stars. The thing we long for, that we are For one transcendent moment. -Lowell. We are said to become like that which we admire, and so far as this relates to character or manners, we all know that it is true. No lesson affords greater opportunity for teaching a Ichild what to admire, for setting ideals before him, and for cultivating a pure taste, than does the reading period. We shall never have a better opportunity to teach the beauty of truth, of heroism, and of self-forgetfulness than in the reading lesson. It is good for teacher and children to read these stories together, for though we may forget very soon, yet for a little while we stand together on the heights, and we know that these things, only, are worth while, and it seems impossible to be false or mean. The child and the teacher may come very close together at this time. The teacher may catch glimpses of the child's heart, may read his little ambitions and disappointments or his great hopes and affections, and under the influence of the stirring or beautiful story the most reserved teacher will not be ashamed to let the child see how much she feels. LITERATURE INFLUENCES CHARACTER The influence of a great poem or a beautiful story is beyond our power to estimate. Whoever places a good book in the hands of a child does that child a lasting service, even though the giver may be ignorant of the value of his deed or indifferent to the child's welfare. But the teacher of reading cannot be ignorant and must not be indifferent. She must prepare the child to receive and retain, as far as his age and ability will permit, the brightness and sweetness, the intellectual and moral strength of the story or the poem. No outline in reading can be more than a suggestion-even the best outline is not good enough to be followed slavishly. The end and aim of the study of literature is enjoyment, and when the reading period does not yield its full measure of joy a teacher ought to feel at liberty to make changes in the method of work. Infinite variety is necessary to avoid routine monotony. SELECTIONS GROUPED ACCORDING TO THEME The following groups are not intended to indicate an order of reading, but to make the material readily available for festival or special exercises. The numbers in parentheses refer to pages of the Reader. LABOR DAY THE HERITAGE OF NOBLE LIVES (304) A MAN'S A MAN FOR A' THAT (311) WORK: A SONG OF TRIUMPH (475) THE THINKER (492) THE WAY TO WEALTH (493) A MESSAGE TO GARCIA (498) THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP (504) COLUMBUS DAY COLUMBUS (315) ROOSEVELT'S BIRTHDAY THE HERITAGE OF NOBLE LIVES (304) ARMISTICE DAY PINE-TREES AND THE SKY: EVENING (75) I HAVE A RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH (271) CHRISTMAS DAY A CHRISTMAS CAROL (149) HUMOR DAY JOHN GILPIN (116) THE DEACON'S MASTERPIECE (452) THE BALLAD OF THE OYSTERMAN (457) NEW ENGLAND WEATHER (459) THE RANSOM OF RED CHIEF (462) |