LESSON XV

Little Tommy Tittlemouse
Lived in a little house;
He caught fishes

In other men's ditches.

I WRITTEN

Study the rime. couplets from memory, and verify.

Write the two

II WRITTEN Look thru your readers for examples of the use of the apostrophe with or without s to show possession. Copy several examples to read in class.

III ORAL Discuss with your teacher's help the various ways in which possession may be shown. Study your readers till you think you have mastered this point. Notice that the words yours, ours, hers, its, and theirs are not names, and so use no apostrophe to show possession.

IV ORAL

What words show possession in the

following sentences:

John lost his hat
Mary found her book
Clara kept Jack's ball
Is that yours?
We love our friends
The boys won their game

I will get my lessons

No, it is theirs

Are you thru your work?

This book is mine

The calf cried for its mother

The last one is ours

LESSON XVI

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Can not set Humpty Dumpty up again.

I WRITTEN Notice the possessive sign in king's. Can you guess this riddle? If you can not, see the Appendix. Write the rime from memory, and verify.

II WRITTEN Again look thru your readers for examples of the apostrophe with s used to show possession. Copy several examples, and bring them to class to read.

III ORAL Tell riddles in class to be guessed. Get as many new ones as you can, but be sure to get all the old ones that your father and mother can tell you. Write these, and read or repeat in class.

To the teacher: See Appendix note.

A GAME

"How do you do, neighbor?"
"Neighbor, how do you do?"..
"Very well, I thank you."
"How does Cousin Sue?"
"She is very well,

And sends her love to you;
And so does Cousin Bell."
"Ah, pray, how does she do?"

LESSON XVII

Come when you're called,
Do what you're bid,

Shut the door after you,
Never be chid.

I WRITTEN Study the rime with care. Note the apostrophe in you're, which shows that the letter a has been left out. The word you're is called a contraction, because two words have been drawn together, or contracted, into one.

A contraction is a shortened form in which one or more letters have been left out.

Rule 12 Use the apostrophe in contractions to show the omission of one or more letters.

II WRITTEN Tell in two or three carefully written sentences why nobody should leave doors open for someone else to close. May so small a thing as the closing of a door show gentle manners? Do you know anyone who rushes thru doors, leaving them open, or who shuts them with a bang?

III ORAL Read if convenient Alice Carey's The Calf Spot, or Who Shut the Barn-door.

Begin now to keep in a permanent form a list of contractions, giving also the full form. Do not begin these with caps, for they are not sentences nor proper names.

To the teacher: See Appendix note.

LESSON XVIII

Tulips in the garden grow;
Don't they make it gay?
I'm very fond of tulips;
I'll pick one if I may.

I WRITTEN Notice the new contractions, I'm, I'u, and don't. What letter or letters are left out in I'm? in I'll? in don't? Study carefully, and write from memory. Verify.

II WRITTEN Copy the following statements, and put a question-mark after each. Do they tell quite a different story after you have done this?

You are sorry.

You were told so.

You say you do not believe it.
You believe the cat ran away.

III ORAL If you have seen tulips, can you tell from what they grow? Are there many kinds? When do they blossom? What are their colors? Will a little time and trouble in the fall give you some of these lovely flowers in the spring? How do you prepare the soil? When and how deep do you plant the bulbs? Is it to keep them from freezing that you cover them with leaves and straw? Ask your parents about this. Why does it hurt a plant to freeze and thaw, over and over again? Does a blanket of leaves keep them from this?

To the teacher: See Appendix note.