ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE 83 



II 



A story about the raindrops, written after a friendly class 

 conversation on the subject; that is, after oral composition 

 came the individual writing. The paper is uncorrected, just 

 as it came in the first draft from the pupil, except that the 

 effective original illustrations are omitted. 



THE RAINDROPS 



The little raindrops were playing merrily on their velvet 

 carpet one day long, long ago when all of a sudden they 

 began to sing, hop, and dance because they were leaving 

 their home and were going to live on the earth. 



"Oh! such fun we will have," exclaimed one little rain- 

 drop. Another said, " we will dance on umbrellas, and play 

 hide-and-seek on the house tops." 



These little raindrops were merry wee creatures dancing, 

 jumping, and singing to one another. 



One little raindrop flew on a wee baby plant and it sent 

 the raindrop down deep into its roots to help it to grow tall 

 and pretty. 



The paper was handed back to the child for personal 

 correction, and the most noticeable errors were seen and 

 corrected by the writer herself. Some changes were made 

 in the language of the last paragraph by the teacher, in order 

 to avoid repetition of words; but the original paper, where 

 the creative power was at work and the mechanical accuracy 

 was slumbering a little, is the one given above. 



SIXTH YEAR GRADE 



Formal grammar from a textbook begins in this grade, 

 but it should develop so continuously from the applied 



