LITERATURE IN GRAMMAR GRADES 2/ 



use. Again we go through the poem to see the pictures to 

 be found there. The pupils look for the number of changes, 

 the "pictures," which they can find and describe. Some- 

 times the passage is read to them while they sit with eyes 

 closed, and then they tell all that they have imagined, going 

 even into details. What one does not see, another sees ; and 

 many times, when ideas do not agree, very animated dis- 

 cussions are brought out as one pupil tries to convince 

 another about the right interpretation. Finally, out of a 

 combination of the suggested ideas and of those clearly ex- 

 pressed, a very definite word picture is brought forth. The 

 child has been made to see with his mind's eye, and has been 

 led to stand and express himself in words coming from 

 independent thinking, not in the language of reproduction. 

 Personal study along various lines is carried on every day. 

 The dictionary is to be used, words are to be studied, papers 



are to be written. The greater part of the 

 Personal , , , . , 



Study * lme these purposes comes from periods 



set aside for the more formal language work 

 and for penmanship. Sometimes the pupils are asked to 

 copy a poem, especially for training in punctuation, spelling, 

 and accurate transcribing. 



Finally, the poem is read through carefully, considered 

 line by line, stanza by stanza, in order to leave with the chil- 

 dren a clear understanding of the complete 

 Hvipfll 

 Reading thought. Then an outline is made by the 



class. The pupils suggest the topics, the 

 best ones are chosen, written on the board in proper arrange- 

 ment, and 'copied during the next study period. Part, or 

 often all, of a poem is learned, and in some cases written out 

 from memory. In such poems as "Excelsior," where a 



