350 NATURE STUDY. 



they should be gained from the children as much as is pos- 

 sible, not merely written out by the teacher ; should be based 

 upon, but not limited by, what the children have seen ; 

 should generally be in a narrative form, or use personifi- 

 cation, to appeal to the imagination of the little folks ; and 

 should be clear, truthful, connected, and orderly. 



Some such stories as the following may be gained from 

 the boys and girls, with help from the teacher, and read to 

 them, rather than by them. If copies of such " stories " 

 are made by the hektograph or other copying process^ they 

 will form excellent reading lessons for the children, later 

 in their course. 



I. THE MALLOW AND THE SUN. 



We have seen so much about the mallow plant. 



The leaves look at the sun in the morning. 



John saw them. 



They look at the sun when we go home from school. 



Mary says she saw them. 



The leaves of the mallow look at the sun all day. 



They turn to the part of the sky where the sun is. 



They grow up above the grass so that they can see the sun. 



The mallow leaves must love the sun. 



Can you tell why the leaves like the sun so well ? 



II. THE MALLOW AND THE GROUND. 



We went out doors to see how the mallow lives. 



Henry tried to pull up a big mallow plant. 



He could not. Its roots kept it in the ground. 



Miss Grey pulled up a plant. 



It had a big root and many little roots. 



The little roots are its fingers. 



Our fingers help us to hold fast. 



The little roots spread out under the ground. 



They help the big root to hold the mallow fast. 



I think the mallow likes the ground, 



Do you know why ? 



