26 NATURE-STUDY 



planned as if derived from a study of the illustrative material, 

 for that is what the children must do in the recitation. 



Giving the development lesson. The teacher is fore- 

 armed with a well thought out lesson plan. If the lesson is not 

 particularly related to preceding ones, it may be introduced 

 by a few bright remarks about the object to be studied, to 

 awaken the interest and direct the attention of the children. 

 Perhaps it may be well to refer to some experiences of the 

 pupils with the object. It is always well to form a basis of 

 previous knowledge for the new facts to be acquired. If 

 this is done, and the new knowledge properly related or 

 connected with the old, it is more apt to stay with the learners. 

 If there have been previous related lessons, then quickly and 

 briefly call to mind some of the essential facts of those lessons, 

 such as are to be made use of in the new lesson or are needed 

 as a basis. The basis having been established, the new lesson 

 is then presented. 



In the development method this is done by showing the ob- 

 ject or other illustrations, and by means of questions directing 

 the observation of the pupils in such a way that they see for 

 themselves, or reason out for themselves from these observa- 

 tions, all the points the teacher had planned to bring out. 



This questioning is an art. Hit or miss questions without 

 any definite order will leave the knowledge gained by the pupil 

 in a chaotic state, from which he cannot see many relations 

 or make the generalizations he should. Therefore, follow the 

 outline of the lesson-plan and thus ask the questions and 

 direct the observations in an orderly fashion, and then from 

 their logical order the pupils can easily make the inferences 

 required. 



Of course the information could be imparted more quickly 



