BROWN A NATURE-STUDY PROJECT 373 



Abbott — Christmas Out of Doors. 



Irving — Christmas in England. (Sketch-Book.) 



— Christmas Day. 



— Christmas Eve. 

 Poe— Bells. 

 Van Dyke— The Other Wise Man. 



The Fourth Grade 



I should divide the work of the fourth grade into the four 

 major divisions of Nature work, Legend, Conservation and 

 Patriotism. The first would have three distinct minor topics, 

 and these would play into and between the other divisions. The 

 program as outlined, therefore, would be much as follows: 



I should open the work of the term with a few days discussion 

 of pets. Children enjoy telling about their pets. They will 

 often go into quite detail about them, and they thoroughly under- 

 stand a person who can enthuse over a new rabbit or white rat, 

 or, on a larger scale, a pony, or a horse. I think that in our school 

 work we have neglected this interest whereas w^e might well 

 indeed, have turned it to good account. I should have the teacher 

 or the pupils read the story by Sydney Lanier, "Our Mockingbird." 

 This would lead to stories by the children of birds which they 

 have had. Again, John Burrough's "Squirrels and Other Fur 

 Bearers" might well be read. And certainly no more charming 

 account of pets can be found anyw^here than in Marshall Saunders's 

 volume entitled, "Our Pets." Use as illustrative art material 

 for this part of the work, such things as Rude's, "Neapolitan 

 Fisher Boy Playing with a Tortoise," Landseer's, "Saved" 

 and Troubetzky's, "Little Girl and Dog." 



This essay into the pet world will have afforded a good intro- 

 duction to the sort of work which I plan to follow it with. The 

 next phase of fourth grade work I have termed Animal Biography. 

 The former introductory work will have been mostly in telling 

 things, and in writing. The students may have written stories 

 on such subjects as "My Favorite Pet," "My most beautiful 

 pet," "My most troublesome pet," etc. Now we turn to a reading 

 phase. There need be Httle written work in connection with 

 animal biographies, but a great mass of reading. As a background 



