composition of simple statements have developed a fair ability in constructing sentences, the children may be expected to write little compositions of from three to five sentences on one subject. The child will take great pride in preparing a little composition that is to be handed to the teacher. After the

Jan 15. playing

The mother cat is loving the little kittens

The sun is coming through a

Grack.

The cats are

playing in the barn

SECOND-GRADE ORIGINAL COMPOSITION

oral discussion, which should always precede the written work, has put the child in possession of many facts connected with the subject, the teacher may write several questions on the board. The pupil, by answering these, will have his statements arranged in logical sequence. The following is a suggested series on the subject, "My Father's Horses": your father?

How many horses has
What color are they?

How does he use them?

Do you ever ride on any of them?
What do they eat?

Who takes care of them?

Do you like horses?

After the preliminary oral work the children should mention the words which they wish to use in the written work and which they cannot spell. These

Nina

Our Beans.

April 25.

We soaked our beans in water
all night. In the morning we
took the beans out of the water.
Then we split them open and we
found in them a leaf and a root.
The white of the
bean is the food
for the root. Then we planted some
beans in sawdust and we are going
to watch them grow.

SECOND-GRADE ORIGINAL COMPOSITION, LANGUAGE AND NATURE

STUDY CORRELATED

are placed on the board, that misspelled words may be as few as possible. The children should be taught to leave blank spaces for words they cannot spell. The papers should be taken up, and all mistakes of importance and those that are common to several

papers should be discussed with the class. The habit of placing the subject in the proper place in the center of the paper at the top, and of indenting the first line, should be formed from the first. The letter form should be used most of the time in all of the written work. For the requirements in capitalization, punctuation, etc. see Technical Matters, page 79.

The subject matter of these little compositions will consist of narration, description, and informational exposition, as outlined in the discussion of oral composition work. Some work in observation reports and in writing stories, both original and reproduced, may also be given here. Full directions as to the choice of subjects for written composition work were given in the discussion of the oral work.

IMITATIVE EXPRESSION

1. Copying Work. This work, usually done at the desks, gives practice in language and writing. As a language drill this work tends to impress correct usage. Sentences and short passages taken from the reader, and poems that are being memorized, may be copied by the children. From time to time sentences may be placed on the board with blank spaces left, in which was' or 'were,' 'is' or 'are,' 'a' or 'an,' 'has' or 'have,' 'saw' or 'seen,' 'took' or 'taken,' etc. are to be inserted when the sentences are copied. Words and expressions incorrectly used by the children should be made the basis of this kind of copying work.

2. Dictation Work. This exercise teaches correct usage through the eye and the ear as well as through the motor images required in writing. It will prove The Fox and the Grapes.

*I am so hungry and so thirsty" said the fox as he came along the dusty road. Wh, there are some fine jucy grapes!" What luck! I will have those grapes."" So he gave one great leap up towards the

vines.

But he could not grist reach them.
Again and agrin hi jumpit,

But each time he fill lack mou and more
out of breath

Thin hu sat and looked at them.

"Your old things." he said: Iwould not eat

REPRODUCED STORY. FIFTH MONTH, SECOND GRADE

a valuable aid in written composition work. Sentences containing troublesome words, and the correct forms of words and phrases incorrectly used by the children, should be composed by the teacher or chosen

from some good source. They should be read clearly and slowly once or twice, and the children at the board and in the seats are expected to write them from memory. For this work the board should be used most of the time, and, in order that the children may not be tempted to copy, it would be well to give a different sentence to each child at the board. Frequent drills in this work are necessary. The sentences should be corrected by the children themselves if possible. The teacher should keep a record of the words most commonly misused by the children, and let them appear often in the sentence dictated.

III. GENERAL WORK

DESK WORK

The use of letter cards, which formed so prominent a part of the language work in the first grade, may be continued during the first half of this year. After the regular language lesson the children may be asked to compose at their desks with the letter cards two or three sentences on the subject discussed in the lesson. If there is not enough room on the board for all the children to write the sentences, half of them may remain at their desks and compose their sentences with letter cards. Later in the year pencil and paper may be used instead. All sentences composed with the cards should be corrected as carefully as those on the board.

As suggested above, the copying work is done as language desk work. Children may prepare at the