viii SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 



Of these two faults in method, the latter is the 

 more serious for the pupil. He gets not even a 

 mastering of the words. It seems to be taken for 

 granted that, after the first year, little or no drill is 

 necessary for the acquiring of new words, and that 

 the way to learn to read is to have a series of oral 

 language lessons based, to be sure, on the text. 



A middle course is recommended : 



Divide the time allotted to reading into two 

 periods as widely separated from each other as 

 possible. 



In the first of these teach all of the new words, 

 and drill upon them thoroughly. Too much em- 

 phasis cannot be laid on the importance of this 

 preparatory word study. 



In general, the following methods will be satis- 

 factory with second and third year pupils : 



I. Write upon the board a new word with all the 

 diacritical marks that may be necessary to enable the 

 pupil to pronounce it correctly. 



II. Teach the meaning of the word. 



III. Proceed in the same way with several other 

 words. 



IV. Drill on the instant recognition of these 

 words without diacritical marks. 



V. Let the pupils write the words from dictation, 

 marking the sounds and accents, and dividing it 

 properly into syllables. 



Later in the day let him read the lesson for the 



