Designs and borders of squares and triangles formed the next panel.

The center of attraction was a picture of the children taken in the school-room one happy afternoon. This was surrounded by language work, illustrated nature stories and reproduction stories.

A panel of weather reports separated the language work from another group of illustrated poems: "Come, Little Leaves," "Jack-in-the-Pulpit, "Piccola," and "The Pasque Flower."

The special joy and pride of the boys was a kite. One of them brought the frame, which was covered with white paper on which a large bird was pricked. A narrow border was folded from triangles, and every child folded a fan for the tail.

The A spelling papers were arranged under the kite. Another group of writing papers and a panel of paper cutting filled our space.

The window garden made an attractive center piece for the table. The box was covered with fancy paper and paper foldings. The nasturtiums kindly blossomed just in time, while the peas and beans showed that the stories were written from nature.

Booklets were scattered over the table covered with

rough lavender-tinted paper. The titles were, "The Barefoot Boy," "Writing, Sept. '96 June, '97," "Original Stories," and "Drawing."

The teachers had a "bee" one Saturday, and decorated the covers. There were also specimens of peas work and forms of life in paper folding were mounted on matting paper and could be handled without injury.

The pupils were very much interested in doing their best work, and the pleasure of the parents fully repaid the extra effort that it cost.

The Sound of th

MARGARET A. O'BRIEN Chicopee Mass

I can sympathize with "Country Teacher" and every other teacher who is struggling with the pronunciation of th by our foreign children; but in my second grade, with a large percentage of French pupils, the difficulty is gradually disappearing.

First, I show that the point of the tongue is pressed against the edge of the upper teeth and that, with the tongue in this position, we blow our breath hard against it. I then ask the children for a word beginning with th, telling them that if they pronounce it correctly, I will write it upon the board; each child is eager to have his word written and so tries his best to pronounce it distinctly.

The little people enjoy giving large words, like Thanksgiving, Thursday, thousand, thirty, etc., as well as the small words which play so important a part in our every day reading, as the, this, they, that, them, etc. I usually get about forty words in this way. We then pronounce the whole list in concert.

Besides the value of the exercise for pronunciation, the frequent presentation of the words upon the board aids in fixing the word forms in the children's minds. I do not know whether this will benefit others or not, but it has helped my work greatly.

A drill upon words ending in th, as north, south, birth, etc., has been conducted in the same manner; also upon words in which those letters occur in the middle of the word, —like father, mother, brother, etc.

One Teacher's Way

LOLA C. HINE

What teacher is there who does not sigh as spring comes on, "O, if I only knew how to keep this room clean?"

With little folks, leaves and buds will drop; paper scraps will not stay on the desk, and with the returning life of spring, the door-mat has not attractions strong enough to counteract the desire to be out as long as possible in the open air.

We do not wish to keep continually talking about cleanliness, which means, in the abstract, nothing to a child.

I suggest a device I found helpful: One morning I said to a little boy, "You live on Washington Street in Our Town,'" and to another, "You live on Main Street." To each aisle I gave a name, and then said, "Main Street is the

The University of Chicago.
School

Hand Work.- In the shop the older pupils have made a set of measures out of soft tin. These run in size from one to eight cubic inches in capacity and are to be used in the pupils' laboratory experiments in evaporation. The tin, after being measured and laid out, was shaped over blocks of wood of the desired form and shape. The younger children have made candlesticks, cake cutters, small bake tins and bath tubs.

In the sewing room the small loom made in the shop has been set up and the children have wound the warp from the skeins into sixty balls. From these it has been set on the beam of the loom. The other material for weaving has been furnished by the children consisting in a large part of old neckties which have been cut into strips and sewed together. This work has been in the hands of the four older groups; in connection with this and the actual weaving that has been done there have been lessons on materials, comparing different kinds, as linen, cotton, woolen, silk and hemp. Especial attention has been given to the silk industry, some very good specimens have been examined. representing all stages of the process of silk manufacture. Various economic conditions related to the industry and its spread from China to other countries have been studied. Especial interest has been manifested in the geography and history of China. Group IV has also been working on sleeve protectors, aprons, etc., for use in the kitchen. Groups I and II have worked on doll's clothing and bedding, including pillows, pillow-cases, mattresses, blankets, etc. Some jelly bags being needed on Wednesday, Group VI in half an hour, cut, made and washed them.

A visit to the Walker Museum at The University supplemented the farm visit and the pupils have modeled plows, also some of the simpler dishes. They have attempted modeling and painting Greek vases and lamps. Some models of the more common domestic animals have been reproduced. All of this work has been quite successful. The plows seen at the Museum as well as more modern ones have been drawn and differences noted. Group VI

Science:-Groups I and II cooked a luncheon making cocoa, toast and strawberry jelly. Group I, after discussing what parts of a plant bear buds and leaves, dug up in the vacant lot some underground stems which they called roots until they noted the buds upon them. They painted a cocoon of a cecropia moth with better result in color than in form. The results of the same work in Group III were not as good. Group II examined carefully the microscope and learned something about the simple adjustments. Under the microscope they examined some cells of a leaf containing chlorophyll, also the cells of a leaf from which the chlorophyll had been extracted by alcohol. They have also noted the manner of growth of corn, the roots above the ground acting as props to support the plant; the twining of the morning-glory, the turning of the plants toward the light. Some lilies of the valley were put in a carmine solution to illustrate capillary attraction. In order to prepare

for this, tubes of different sizes were put in the solution showing that the smaller the tube the higher the liquid rose. Similar work has been done by Groups III and IV using also mercury and noting the convex surface. Filter paper and the wick of a lamp have been used to illustrate the same principle. Sections of wood were studied with special reference to the size of the tubes and the greater height to which sap could rise in the wood on account of the small tubes. Group V examined iron crystals and found that they had changed color and lost their crystalline form. In order to explain this, they weighed and heated a small quantity of copper sulphate finding that steam came off, and the substance changed to a white powder; by weighing they found a loss of two-twenty-eighths. Water was added to copper sulphate and the resulting blue solution was put away, to see if it would recrystallize.

Group VI tested different rocks for limestone and planted seeds on a piece of limestone to see if there was any acid in the rooks of plants. Each pupil has a special compartment in which to keep the materials of any experiments that may be in progress and also the records which are regularly written during and after an experiment. Group VI has been occupied for the most part this week in completing some experiments which had been left unfinished. University Record

Protective Coloration in Birds

F

E. B. G.

OR a long time it has been known that many birds were protected from sight by their coloring, and most persons have said, "Oh, yes, quails and grouse are the color of the dead leaves and brush among which they walk," and have thought little more about it.

It was left for Mr. Abbott Thayer to study out the law of protective coloration, and formulate it for us. In an article in the Auk, he says that this law may be thus stated: "Animals are painted by Nature darkest on those parts which tend to be most lighted by the sky's light, and vice versa, that is on those parts which are thrown in shadow by the substance of the animal."

Think of the birds you know and see how many have light under parts and darker upper parts. You see that the fact is as stated. Now think why this should be. To help you, take two potatoes, and stick into each one three or four short bits of stick to serve as legs, and hold the potatoes off the ground. Now paint the underside of one potato white, put the two on the ground and try which one is the more easily seen. Walk away to a distance from them and turn back to look for them. You at once see the unpainted one, while the other needs a little search, for their upper sides are about the color of the ground.

You would have thought that the potato which was wholly of the ground-color would be less easy to find. Why was it not? Look at them well.

The unpainted one seems much darker on its underside than the ground, because of its shadow-or the absence, on its underside, of the light which falls both on its upper side and on the ground. This darkening of the underside breaks the continuity of the ground color, and prevents the potato from seeming a part of the ground.

Now look at the painted one. Its underside is made darker by the absence of sky-light on it, and this absence of light just about balances the lighter color, and gives a general effect of continuous ground color.

But there is one defect. There is a line where the paint stops, and this line shows. How about that?

finding it again, it is so blended with its background and surroundings.

Protective resemblance "makes an animal seem other than it is, while protective coloration makes it seem to cease to exist at all," by making it coalesce with its surroundings. Look down upon a brooding robin, and you seem to see just a nest or a mass of gray-brown something, with a bit of stick at one side, and a few gray-brown projections on the other. The robin's back is just about the color of the nest, and its darker head is up enough higher to catch the. light and seem of lighter color than it is.

If the nest were empty it would look much as it does now with the robin flattened down in it.

If the grouse were transparent its background, seen through the transparent body, would look much as the actual grouse does.

That is, the marks on the grouse's feathers are a sort of copy of the ordinary background against which the bird is likely to be seen, a background full of lights and shadows. Think how many birds have bright breasts, and many of these have a black mark, or marks, on the breast, probably to break the contour line of so much brightness, which would otherwise catch the eye at once.

But all birds are not so marked. Many are not at all protected by their coloring, for instance, the male tanagers, the cardinal grosbeak, the Baltimore oriole, the thistle-finch, and others. But their females are very differently colored and blend with the coloring of their nests and surroundings.

Mr. Thayer's articles in the Auk are much more interesting than this one, and are illustrated from photographs showing birds and their backgrounds.

This article is intended merely to put before you the law of protective coloration and advise you to look up the articles in the Auk for 1896.

You see

The New

Look at a bird, a quail, partridge, or grouse. at once that the color on the sides is not a solid color, that there is no line where the light color ends and the dark begins. The two are shaded into each other.

Try that with the potato, shade the white paint into the darker side of the potato, irregularly, and then put it down on the ground again. You see at once that the potato is far harder to find than before. This is Mr. Thayer's great point, that the gradation of coloration is the source of protection. The color is darkest where it is neutralized by most light, lightest where it is neutralized by shadow, and between these two parts, where neither light nor shadow is strong, there is every degree of light and dark color.

Without this gradation of color the potato shows a solid mass, and stands out clearly from the ground, although its actual color is that of the ground.

With the gradation the different parts seem to be blotted into the ground, and attract little or no attention, although in this case a large part of the actual color is not that of the ground, but is made to seem so by the light and shadow.

Look at a quail or grouse against the underbrush and dead leaves. You can hardly see it while it is still, and if you take your eyes off it for a moment you have difficulty in

(Having the good fortune to be present at the meetings of the teachers of the first, second and third primary grades of the St. Paul schools, conducted by Miss Brooks, primary supervisor, I jotted down hasty notes for the benefit of all other primary teachers who could not be present. For suggestiveness, breadth, and yet careful detail, these meetings were among the best ever attended by the - EDITOR.)

ILL you please tell the second grade teachers (said Miss Brooks), who are preparing for the hero work upon Lincoln to give these three leaflets to the children: The Boys of Sparta, Nahum Prince, and Cedric. These reading lessons are, of course, to be preceded by language lessons upon the same topics. Two years ago much time was devoted to flag and hero topics in the first and second grade meetings. Outlines upon these subjects may be found in all buildings, and new teachers are requested to go to their principals for

these outlines.

In taking up our own grade work, let us consider

Primary Exercises in Writing

We must not forget the natural development of the muscles of the child's arm and hand. The muscles of the arm develop much earlier than those of the hands and fingers; to begin writing exercises with finger movements in cramped space with pen or pencil is doing violence to the natural order of development. The blackboard furnishes the best slate, the crayon the best pencil. Give the children the free arm movement, and plenty of it, before the finer work is attempted. By the painful cleanness of the board in some of your rooms I fear board writing is more of a myth than it should be, still. It is a physiological fact that the child's natural movement in making circles or ovals is outward, or towards the right. Penmanship requires the opposite movement. The Germans have a good plan for obviating this difficulty. The teacher stands before the pupils with pen or pencil in the left hand. She makes the proper motions before the school; pupils facing her, with pencils in the right hand, imitate the motion. After this exercise the pupils pass to the board and make ovals or circles in imitation of the correct motion. This is a prac tice well worthy of adoption.

Reading and Language

All interested in the acquisition of language and in reading should make a study of the chapter entitled "The Little Linguist," in Sully's Studies of Childhood; also Phonics and Reading, by Van Liew and Lucas (Public School Publishing Company, Bloomington, Ill.). The last two chapters are especially helpful.

Before leaving the first grade, the pupils should not only know the letters, but know them in their order. It takes little time and is a great satisfaction to the parents to have them know these, and it also helps in dictionary and reference work later. Special attention should be given in this beginning work to the correct position of the organs of speech in giving difficult sounds.

Primitive Man

Find an

The work of January was upon the Esquimau. interesting article in Cosmopolitan, in July number, 1896, to add to our list of references. It is entitled "A curious Race of Arctic Highlanders."

Hiawatha's Childhood forms the literary basis of this month's work. We all want to remember how much good pictures and Indian relics add to the vividness of this study. We want to make much of sand, paper and sticks, bits of evergreen, glass lakes - whatever is available for making Indian life a reality to the child. A portion of the regular drawing time may be devoted to the making of wigwams, canoes, and sleds. The wigwam is made by drawing a circle with circle-markers, cutting the circle in half, folding and pasting the half, and pasting sticks in the smaller opening to represent the poles of the wigwam. The paper for sleds is first folded, or drawn in squares to cover surface. The first row of squares on either side are folded down for the runners of the sled. Two squares at the back are cut parallel with the runners and folded upward for the upright piece of the sled. (Miss Brooks now called on one of the teachers to show how to fold and cut a canoe before the other teachers present.) In this connection I want to say that I appreciate the pains and taste exercised by teachers of the first grade in making collections of pictures to illustrate important topics in the course of study.

Number Work

In the preparation for number work with pupils entering the first grade at the beginning of this semester, teachers will find it very helpful and very important to consult with kindergartners respecting the gift work, occupations and games with which the children are familiar. A very delightful review of the sense-games is afforded in the first work done in the Speer number. These games with the music, may be found in the kindergarten song books of Eleanor Smith, Kate Douglas Wiggin, and Walker and Jenks, but the spirit of the games must be caught in participation in them, and by frequent conversations with the kindergartners, who are all familiar with these games. Tests of sight, touch, hearing, taste, smell, and judgment in muscular activity, may all be made with these games, and at the same time they furnish a means of connection in the child's mind with what has been done and what is at present undertaken.

The Play Spirit

This is the month (February) for the play of the Knights in the kindergarten, with its accompanying stories, games, and occupations. The play spirit is of such great educational importance that primary teachers can no longer afford not to give it a thought. Its application to this particular topic is valuable because it furnishes the best and most effective supplement to the hero studies begun in this grade. Do not neglect to consult with the kindergartners of your building. Before the meeting is over I want you to see the play of the Knights in its completeness, to be studied at your leisure. The child interprets through play, and is by this means and others, led to an understanding of the natural, social and civil institutions.

The play of the Knights was then taken up, to give the teachers an idea of its purpose and spirit. Miss Brooks had copied the three songs of the knights, and these were placed in the hands of the teachers. One kindergartner was at the piano and another led the play. A few primary teachers were prevailed upon to follow the kindergarten leader upon the platform and enter into the play, even though they were unfamiliar with it. Then followed a scene to be remembered. The shadows gathered in the large assembly hall, wrapping us all in the half-darkness of the short winter twilight. But every teacher stayed on to watch the gallant knights as they circled gaily upon the platform, floating white handkerchiefs to the breeze, and singing the delightful music of the play.

And all this effort at representation was to inspire primary teachers with the play spirit to carry back to the little ones whose vivid imagination would make of every knight a