LANGUAGE 3322 



LANGUAGE 



On goes the river 



And out past the mill, 

 Away down the valley, 



Away down the hill. 



Away down the river, 



A hundred miles or more, 

 Other little children 



Shall bring my boats ashore. 



Autumn Fires 



ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 



In the other gardens 



And all up the vale, 

 From the autumn bonfires 



See the smoke trail ! 



Pleasant summer over 



And all the summer flowers, 

 The red fire blazes, 



And the grey smoke towers. 

 i 



Sing a song of seasons ! 



Something bright in all ! 

 Flowers in the summer, 



Fires in the fall ! 



The Brown Thrush 



LUCY LARCOM 



There's a merry brown thrush sitting up in a tree ; 



"He's singing to me ! He's singing to me !" 

 And what does he say, little girl, little boy? 

 "Oh, the world's running over with joy ! 

 Don't you hear? Don't you see? 

 Hush ! look ! In my tree 

 I'm as happy as happy can be !" 



And the brown thrush keeps singing, "A nest do 



you see, 



And five eggs hid by me in the juniper tree? 

 Don't meddle ! don't touch ! little girl, little boy, 

 Or the world will lose some of its joy ! 

 Now I'm glad ! now I'm free ! 

 And I always shall be, 

 If you never bring sorrow to me." 



So the merry brown thrush sings away in the tree, 



To you and to me, to you and to me ; 

 And he sings all the day, little girl, little boy, 

 "Oh, the world's running over with joy ! 

 But long it won't be, 

 Don't you know? Don't you see? 

 Unless we're as good as can be." 



The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs 

 Once upon a time there lived a man who had a 

 handsome Goose that every day laid a large 

 golden egg. The man thought the Goose must 

 have much gold inside of her, and so one day he 

 wrung her neck, and found that she was just 

 like any other Goose. Thinking to find wealth, 

 he lost the little he had. 



Third Year. 1. The Textbook. The third 

 year is often a critical time in language work, 

 for most courses of study call for the intro- 

 duction of a textbook, either at the beginning 

 or in the middle of the year. However meri- 

 torious the textbook may be it is at first a 



stumblingblock to the pupil a new tool which 

 he has not learned how to use. It is the 

 teacher's first duty to become thoroughly fa- 

 miliar with the book. She should know its 

 plan and scope so well that she can readily 

 adapt it to the class. Doubtless several pre- 

 liminary lessons will be necessary before the 

 book is regularly taken up. Most language 

 books now in use are well planned, and when 

 the book is introduced its plan should be fol- 

 lowed, otherwise the pupils will become con- 

 fused. This does not mean, however, that the 

 lines of work pursued in the previous years 

 should be abandoned. The textbook should be 

 a means of giving more definite plans for the 

 continuance of this work. 



2. Oral Composition. The work in oral 

 composition should be greatly amplified during 

 the third year. The pupils can now describe 

 quite fully and accurately flowers, clouds, ani- 

 mals and other natural objects. They will also 

 be able to tell how a house is built, what is 

 found in a grocery store, and to describe many 

 of the occupations common to the locality. 

 They can now reproduce such stories as Golden 

 Locks and the Three Bears, Cinderella and 

 Little Red Riding Hood. A goodly number 

 of myths and fairy tales should be given them, 

 the longer ones being told or read by the 

 teacher without any thought of their reproduc- 

 tion on the part of the pupils. Criticism can 

 now become more pointed, and the pupil may 

 be stopped in the midst of his recitation and 

 asked to correct his language without the 

 danger that such interruptions will affect his 

 fluency, provided it is done in a kindly spirit. 

 At thys age pupils are likely to wander from 

 the subject, and this tendency should be 

 checked as soon as it appears. Encourage the 

 children to be natural. 



The teacher can find no better source of 

 material for this work than in these volumes. 

 History stories and stories of the boyhood of 

 great men should be introduced this year. 



3. Written Work. The pupils should now be 

 able to give short, connected accounts, in writ- 

 ing, of what they learn, and the written exer- 

 cises should be increased in frequency and in 

 length. To the exercises in original composi- 

 tion should be added exercises in copying 

 stanzas of poetry and short paragraphs from 

 the reader or other books. These exercises 

 should be brief, but the teacher should insist 

 upon accuracy. The work here suggested is 

 supposed to be supplementary to the exercises 

 given in the language book. Many written 



