HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 7 



Paragraphing. — One of the best means of securing clearness 

 of expression is to have the pupils write in paragraphs, placing 

 the title of each paragraph at its beginning. By this method 

 the whole essay is divided into smaller compositions which 

 are of such a size that a pupil can readily judge of their clear- 

 ness and unity. 



Personal Help. — Each composition should have in it some- 

 thing that originates with the writer, and that is not developed 

 from the general class exercises. In both composition and 

 nature study the best and most original work will be done 

 when each pupil works individually. In this book the work 

 is designed to be done by the pupils without direct assistance 

 from the teacher ; but bright as well as dtdl scholars sometimes 

 have difficulty in beginning to write, and therefore, during each 

 lesson, the teacher should go among the pupils and give a few 

 words of personal help to those who are in immediate need of it. 



Each pupil should also regularly receive criticisms of his 

 work, and definite suggestions for its improvement. It will 

 be well to make only one criticism and to suggest only one 

 improvement at a time, so as to avoid confusing and discourag- 

 ing the pupil. 



Notebooks. — Early in the course of the lessons a dispute is 

 likely to arise concerning the exact appearance of a specimen 

 that some pupil has seen. Then the finder should be encour- 

 aged to look again, and while he is looking to write his observa- 

 tion as evidence of the reliability of his statements. If this 

 exercise is done in a natural and informal way, other pupils will 

 be eager to record their home observations, and to report them 

 to the class. When interest has been aroused, have all the 

 pupils keep notebooks in which to make a daily record of 

 observations upon any object, whether it is mentioned in the 

 book or not. Suggestions from the notebooks may often be 

 developed into lessons for the whole class. 



The Specimens. — In most of the lessons there should be 

 enough specimens so that each pupil may have one, and some 



