METHOD OF STUDYING MATERIAL. 219 



individually or in class, and afterwards a second draw- 

 ing made. After pupils have made a careful drawing, 

 they are much better prepared to write a good descrip- 

 tion, if that is thought necessary. The drawing is fre- 

 quently so much better than the word picture that it is 

 not necessary or wise to ask for a written description. 

 But it must be remembered that the most common", and 

 usually the most convenient means of expression and 

 communication is language ; and children must learn 

 to express by language as well as by drawings. 



It is helpful to have each pupil make a drawing on 

 the blackboard, and have the class select the best draw- 

 ings, and tell why they are best. This makes them 

 more careful and critical. The writer's experience has 

 shown that even children in the first grade usually se- 

 lect the best drawings, and can tell why or wherein they 

 are best. 



We must remember that drawing from nature in- 

 volves a more or less careful analysis of the thing- 

 drawn, a study of the relative position of its different 

 parts. Pupils who have not been trained in this kind 

 of drawing rarely have the power of careful analysis. 

 If we simply place an object before the pupils, and tell 

 them to draw, the resujts will be poor, particularly if 

 the object is complex. The teacher must show her pu- 

 pils how she draws it, lead them to analyze it with her, 

 measuring (as when drawing the crayfish) the length of 

 the body, and laying off this length, or some multiple 

 of it, on the board, determining where the division line 

 between the two main parts of the body comes, and meas- 



