"The pigs are in the pen."

"There are some animals in the farmyard." "The mother and children are in the house." "A flag is in the house garden." "The farmer made barrels for the apples." "The train was made by Donald," etc.

The second grade has suggested making a reading book for the first grade from this. It will be another project coming directly out of the first, and will have the greatest value.

The materials at the disposal of the children for this work were: blocks, boards, sticks, paper, scissors, weaving materials, clay, paste, thumb tacks, toy animals, milk bottle tops, collar buttons, boxes, clips, paper doll patterns, and as large a place on the floor as they needed. As our desks are movable we could easily meet the demand for floor space.

The interest which the children had in this project was keen, intense, vital. All the discussing and contriving and doing came out of their souls, and when they themselves discovered that a reading lesson could be made from it, the desire to read better than they had been reading from their books was quickened.

To quote from "The Play Way," by H. Caldwell Cook: "Interest must be the starting point in all we do, or we shall not do well. It is 'what matters,' the one thing needful. Once there, you have only to do as interest bids. The operation of interest is Play."

Let us see to it that we understand the interests of children more intelligently and that we make interest a center of correlation in all our teaching.

A Project in Carpentering

Allie K. Higgins

(Book rights reserved)

E have no tools and no wood, but we built a bird-house.

WR

My class of second grade pupils is made up largely of boys. They have taken a real interest in the study of birds and their methods of building their nests in the vines and trees in our school-yard. When discussing with them the use and pleasure that birds are to us, the question arose how can we show the

birds that we love them?

Various ways were mentioned. To make them a house' to live in, was one way suggested.

But we have no tools and no wood. Who can think of a way we can do it?

Various ones offered to bring a tool and some nails from home. One brought a large wooden box for a work bench. Several boys went with me to two of the department stores to ask for wooden wrapping boards, which were very kindly given us. It looked now as if we had overcome our greatest difficulties.

We next discussed our plan, and decided we would build a one-story apartment house to accommodate four families." The color was to be brown with white trimmings. The location was to be near our grade tree and in sight of our window. The only rent we charged was that the tenants sing us pretty songs while we worked. Then came a discussion of what we should name our apartment house. The names of various apartment houses in our city were mentioned; in this way the children noticed that many of them are named for well-known people. They were told of one that was named "The Wilson," from our President, the leading man of our country. What do we call the leading man in our public school system?" was asked. One little boy answered, "Our Superintendent." Two of them were very proud to say they knew his name. So they. were asked how they would like to name the bird house in honor of our superintendent, and the vote in favor was unanimous. So "The Chandler" was the name given it. With our plans now made we were ready to begin work.

I made a paper model the exact size. The size of each part was drawn on the board, the children doing the measuring. These were drawn on the wrapping boards by the teacher, the children doing the sawing. I also had to assist them in nailing the parts together. Sand-papering the rough edges and the entire post furnished work to many of them. Others assisted in digging the hole for the post, and still others did the painting. When the house was completed, climbing nasturtiums were planted around the post to add to the appearance and to furnish the birds with some seeds later on to eat.

This project gave the entire class pleasure and new experiences. Lessons in other subjects grew out of it. Perhaps its greatest value has been the part it has played in reforming a very troublesome boy. He was the leader in getting materials together and did the best work, and the fact that he could do something well has seemed to arouse his interest in other subjects, and so far I see a decided improvement in his work and behavior, which I trust and believe will carry over.

Spelling Project for Grade II

Lucile Hazard

The teacher prints forty spelling words upon the board. The children hunt for these words in discarded Second Readers. Each child cuts out the words he finds and mounts them upon a card. He cuts out a picture and places it at the top. The children take these cards home and write the words. They are asked to cut words from old newspapers and bring them to school. The children print these words with the rubber stamp set at school.

(The large letters were one inch high and the small ones were one-half inch high.)

We then folded three sheets of manila paper, 9 x 12, for the pages of our booklet. Two "dead heads" made the booklet secure. Many of the pictures used in making the booklet can be purchased from the Perry Pictures Company. Now we shall tell you about the arrangement of this material in our booklet.

After learning all we could about Edison's contributions to the world, we dedicated page three of our booklet to him. At the top of the page the children wrote "Feb. 11." Below this was pasted a picture of Edison and under the picture was written the word "inventor." Then came a picture of the Edison machine.

Next came the study of Lincoln. Page five was Lincoln's

order:

February 12

Lincoln's picture

The word "president"

A picture of the birthplace of Lincoln

February 22

A picture of Washington

The word "president"

A picture of Mount Vernon

A picture of Washington as Commander-in-chief of the American Army

A picture of Washington crossing the Delaware

When page nine was finished it contained this material:

February 27

A picture of Longfellow

The word "poet'

A picture of Longfellow's home

On account of the scarcity of materials and in order to promote the thrift idea, one booklet can be made by the entire room. How eagerly the children will search for pictures belonging on the different pages! They may be able to find other pictures than those found in our booklets and their collection will contribute much to ideas being worked out. But how shall we manage the written work on each page?

Here is a chance for motivation. The words on each page, as it is worked out, can be written by every member of the class and put up for inspection. The child whose work is accurate and neat will be chosen by the children to transfer his or her writing into the booklet. Writing is

motivated.

Thus a good booklet can be made, a booklet representing the combined efforts of the children. Material can be conserved and money saved without spoiling the enthusiasm of the pupils. In fact, it may stimulate enthusiasm as each pupil vies with the other in contributing something worth while to the class booklet. The teacher can contribute

February, 1918, journal.

The children who were in the second grade last year preferred to show Lincoln as a wood-chopper and the poster portrays their ideas of him as such. They wished to have Abraham Lincoln's name and the date of his birthday in writing, so the words were cut out in one piece and are free hand work.

Words of Abraham Lincoln'

(An Exercise for Twelve Children)

First Child Let us recall to mind this day some of the many immortal words uttered by Abraham Lincoln. These words in their tenderness, sympathy and beautiful simplicity reveal the heart of Abraham Lincoln.

Second Child "A government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth." Third Child Let us renew our trust in God and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts."

Fourth Child Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."

Fifth Child Let us remember the words uttered by President Lincoln in response to a clergyman who ventured to say in his presence that he hoped "the Lord was on our side." "I am not at all concerned about that," replied Mr. Lincoln, "for I know the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side." American citizens are brothers of a common country and should dwell together in bonds of fraternal feeling."

Sixth Child "Let us at all times remember that all

Seventh Child "Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it."

Ninth Child "Stand fast to the Union and the old flag." (Continued on page 125)

Primary Seat Work, Sense Training and Games (75c)

By Laurs R. Smith. 160 pages. Cloth. A new book that solves the seat work problem for the primary teacher. It presents simple and definite instructions for carrying out a great variety of interesting educative exercises, with over 300 helpful illustrations.

Number Games for Primary Grades (75c)

By Ada Van Stone Harris and Lillian McLean Waldo. 125 pages. Cloth Illustrated. Contains 58 number games designed to create an active interest in number and to make the child skillful in applying it directly and naturally through the "make-believe" element and the idea of friendly contest.

What a Supervisor of Music
Wrote in Her Report on the

Hollis Dann Music Course

"The Hollis Dann Course appeals to me for the following reasons: "1 The just balance between the song method' and the 'reading method.'

"2 The proper development of the upper tones of the child's voice.

"3 All material, both in the Manual and in the readers, encourages and promotes good tone production. There are no words which are unworthy or which injure or prevent good tone production.

"4 The attractiveness of the songs, their musicianly and artistic quality, and their appeal to children. The thoughts and words are perfectly in accord with the spirit of song.

"5 The really wonderful way in which the rhythmic accents of the poetry coincide with the musical accents. I have not found this important feature in any other series.

VOLUME XXVIII

D

ID you ever have it, the blaming habit? Are you justified in it? Might not some one have the same criticism regarding your work? What shall we do about it?

After the High School has blamed the grammar grades for deficiencies in certain lines; after the higher grades have loaded deficiencies on the lower grades, and so on down to the first grade teacher, who, if there is no kindergarten, has put all shortcomings on the parents and home; what have we done to remedy the evil? The fact that the above criticism is often justly given makes the thoughtful, efficient teacher stop and consider whether each child knows just what he is required to know for her grade; though we as teachers are not responsible for what the child brings to us mentally, we are responsible for the developing of what he brings and for what he has when he leaves us. Just imagine the result if each teacher from the kindergarten and first grades up, knew absolutely that each child had comprehended and mastered, to the best of his ability, the lessons of each and every day. If the teacher were an efficient one she would remember that to-day certain ones were not well grounded in the new subject taught and would make conditions such that those pupils would again have a chance to see the same subject in a new guise. This may sound hard, but it is practical, and no teacher has any right to deprive any child of his right to know certain things as part of his work, neither has she any right to send pupils unprepared to another teacher, who must then be burdened with the work of the grade below when she needs all her time for her own grade.

Think what it would mean to have each child, according to his own ability, rooted and grounded in what he has been taught. The teacher ought to hold each child responsible on every occasion for what he has been taught; e. g., after the use of the comma has been thoroughly taught, everything written by the pupil should use the comma, otherwise it is wrong for the teacher to accept it. Concert work, too often not wisely used, is a good way to hide ignorance of a subject. Who does not remember his own experiences? How glad we were, when not prepared, to have every one in the class "yell" out the answer. My, what a relief! How afraid we were that we might hear our own name! No teacher can be sure that every child knows the table of sevens if day after day the work is given in concert.

Again a teacher may be sure that something is very radically wrong with herself and methods when the greater part of a class fails to grasp the point and the recitation falls flat; too many times teachers do not take time to plan their work, they trust to luck. Have you ever known

NUMBER 2

a teacher to sit at a desk, book open in front of her, asking question after question from the book? Have you ever known teachers to not even have an aim for any one lesson of the day? On the other hand, have you not known teachers who spent time on preparation and were ready to assign certain topics in certain books for a pupil or pupils to look up and report? No teacher can be thinking about her clothes, social engagements, or debts and be doing justice to each pupil, for as sure as she does, the unprepared pupils will slip through to-day's work; neither can these pupils secure by a quick review what was missed, and so these pupils go on with that one thing a weak link in the chain. A certain child got to the eighth grade, where the teacher soon discovered him trying to subtract by beginning at the left. The seventh grade teacher too was aware of this deficiency. Why was he allowed to get as far as the eighth grade with that wrong method? What shall we say about such a condition? Does it not seem probable that some where it may be down in the second grade where this child learned subtraction without "borrowing". though he had the answers correct on paper handed in, or even at the blackboard, he did not know the process? Who knows if this child had been taught the value of units, tens and hundreds, etc? Had this been made definite and plain he would never have tried to take thousands from hundreds and so on. But you ask, "How can a teacher know all these things about every child?" Had each teacher felt that she was responsible for what each child has when he leaves her, this boy would never, never have reached the eighth grade with such results. Here is little John, who did not have as good a start in life either physically or mentally, as William. Shall more time be put upon William because he eagerly absorbs what is taught and makes it part of himself. than upon little John? If the fact is true that the test of a teacher's ability is not in teaching bright children, because they will learn in spite of a teacher, then we see that little John needs all he can get. Shall it be taken. for granted that those new words presented to-day sank as deeply into John's mind as William's and never an opportunity made to see just how much is part of John? These opportunities are golden for the good teacher, for to-morrow she says, "We will make a garden (Children in circle) and plant some flowers" (words on paper). Different children pick as many flowers as they know: then comes John's turn, who only picks up two words which he knows. To-morrow John must be given a chance to review these two words he knows and also learn a new one. To-day Bernice does not know bed because she does not know the sound of "b." The wise teacher immediately