NA TURE-STUD Y AND EXPRESSION ; 5 9 



Do you think it was? 



Another said : " Oh, they want to get the pineapples." 



He thought the cones were pineapples. 



That was a joke. Do you know why? 



We went to see the man plow a field. 



It took three horses to draw the plow. 



The plow-knife was round like a wheel. 



It cut through the sod. 



The plowshare was behind the wheel. 



It was made of bright steel. 



It turned the soil over. 



It was a long, long field, but we went to the end of it. 



The soil by the house was sandj', but this soil was black. 



We brought some of it home. 



It is not like our garden soil. 



At four o'clock we all got into the hay-wagon again. 



" Good-bye, pretty woods," said one girl. 



" Good-bye, nice farm," said another. 



" Good-bye, and thank you," we all said to the kind people. 



Then we came home. 



Was it not a nice day? 



In summing' up this lesson as to its educational place and 

 function, the following- points may be noted : 



1. The day's observations of a widely varied character, enlisted 

 the equally varied interests of the pupils. 



2. When the pupils returned for days, perhaps weeks, they were 

 permitted — invited — to tell the stories of their experiences. 



3. They were confronted by the fact that the oral story could not 

 be held strongly in mind, and they at once appreciated the real 

 function of writing as a means of keeping a record. 



4. The teacher at first wrote these stories, as they came to her, 

 on the blackboard. This was the strongest possible stimulus for 

 the pupils themselves to make the effort to write. It is of the 

 utmost importance that the teacher be a clearly legible and rapid 

 writer, so that the pupils may have as nearly as possible the perfect 

 copy. 



As to the method, the teacher wrote the entire sentence or story. 

 After the opportunity of a minute or two had been allowed the pupils 

 for examination, it was erased and they were permitted to try to 

 reproduce it from memory. If they failed, as they always did at 



