HISTORY READER FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ARRANGED WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HOLIDAYS AUTHOR OF BY L. L. W. WILSON, PH.D. "NATURE STUDY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. PART I: MANUAL New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD, 1918 All rights reserved HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY GIFT OF ALBERT BUSHSELL HART DEC 5 1923 COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. get up and electrotyped November, 1898. Reprinted January, August, 1899; March, July, 1900; March, 1901; February, 1902; January, June, November, 1903; May, 1904; January, Decembe 1905; February, 1906; February, September, November, 1907. New edition September, 1906; February, May, 1909; January, September, 1910; January, December, 1911; June, 1912; January, August, 1913; February, 1914; June. December, 1914; May, October, 1915; February December, 1916; August, 1917. PREFACE A MANUAL for teachers on History in the Elementary School is now in process of publication. Until this is issued the following suggestions may be of some value to the teachers who wish to make a profitable use of the reader. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS Children like best to read about things of which they already know. Therefore fill the children's minds with the central thought for the month, with other stories, and occasionally with these same stories amplified, before their own reading begins. With colored crayons put on the board, in September, drawings of the Indians; in October, the ships of Columbus and of the Vikings; in November, the wild turkey; in May and June, the flags. Stencils of Washington, Grant, Lincoln, Franklin, and the other American worthies make large graphic likenesses on the blackboard. Prang publishes a number of inexpensive color reproductions of famous historic scenes. More interesting than even the largest and most brilliantly colored of pictures are impromptu games and plays based on the stories, in which the children are the happy actors. Let the stage properties be few. And just here a hint may be sufficient; viz. children like to be trees almost as well as to be wild Indians ! In regard to the use of these stories for reading, I would suggest the following method as one of the many ways in which children may be taught to become fluent, intelligent readers : — 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 emphasis cannot be laid on the importance of this preparatory word study. In general, the following methods will be satisfactory 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 |