Chapter 14

FORM II

MY SHADOW

(Second Reader, page 3)

AIM

The aim of the lesson is to make the poem so lifelike that it will seem to each pupil as though the shadow and the words were his own.

PRESENTATION

After the poem has been read to give a general idea of the story, the teacher should proceed with it in detail, much in the same spirit as he would carry on a bright conversation with the pupils about something in which they were all equally interested.

Stanza I

How do I know my shadow is very fond of me? He "goes in and out with me".

What does that mean? It means he goes wherever I go.

What is "the use of him"? That "is more than I can see".

What is he like? He is just "like me from the heels up to the head".

What does he do when I go to bed? He jumps into bed "before me".

MEMORIZATION

Now, children, four of you may each recite one line. What have you, Susie? "I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me."

What is the use of your shadow, John? "And what can be the use of him is more than I can see."

What is he like, Mary? "He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head."

When do you see him jump ahead of you? "And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed."

NOTE.--Each pupil's expression should reveal an active imagination and hearty response to the spirit of the selection. The whole should be very lifelike and real. Some pupil should be asked to recite or read the whole stanza.

Stanza II

What is there funny about the shadow? "The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow."

How is that? "He sometimes shoots up" very tall all at once, and then he dwindles down to nothing.

How would you expect him "to grow"? I would expect him "to grow" as I do.

How is that? Oh, that is "very slow".

The author says "like proper children". What does that mean? That means like real children.

What shows that he sometimes grows up very, very quickly? The poet says he "shoots up".

What other words tell the same thing? "Like an india-rubber ball."

How is that? The ball goes up quickly with a bounce, and the shadow seems to spring up in the same way.

READING AND MEMORIZATION

Let two or three children read the stanza. In the first line, the voice should show how funny it all is; in the second, the demureness of the "proper" child and the slowness of the growth should be revealed in the reading; in the third and fourth lines, there should be an imitative response to the sudden up-growth of the shadow and to the childish surprise at his dwindling into nothing.

Memorization should be conducted as shown in Stanza I, above. There should be no evidence of task or effort in the recitation; it is very necessary that it be spontaneous and full of enjoyment for the pupils.

Stanza III

The shadow knows very little about one thing. What is that? He has no "notion of how children ought to play".

How does he "make a fool of me"? "In every sort of way."

Well, give one way. He mimics me.

Where does he stay? He stays right "close beside me".

Why does he do that? He does that because "he's a coward".

How would you feel about doing the same thing? I would feel ashamed of myself.

Reading and recitation of this stanza should now be conducted as indicated in Stanzas I and II, above.

Stanza IV

Did you ever manage to get away from your shadow? Yes, I did.

Tell us about how you did it. Well, "One morning, very early", I got up "before the sun" did, and went out in the flower garden. I looked around for my shadow, and I found he "had stayed at home behind me" in bed.

What is he called for doing that? He is called "an arrant sleepy-head".

Give another word in place of "arrant" that will mean the same thing. He was a thorough and shameless "sleepy-head".

What was the real cause of his staying behind? There was "none of him at all", because the sun was not up.

What will happen when the sun does come up? Then my shadow will suddenly show himself again.

Now, if you would like to have another stanza, telling about what happened when the sun came up, just try your best to write one.

Here is another that was written once at the end of the lesson:

But when the dear old sun came up above the trees, My frisky little shadow came out into the breeze; I didn't see him coming, but, when I turned around, His head was at the window, and he lay along the ground.

ONE, TWO, THREE

(Second Reader, page 21)

AIM

To enable the pupils to understand the beauty and pathos of the selection.

To arouse in them a sympathy for those who are weak.

PREPARATION

How many of you like to play games? Everybody.

Name some of the games you play. Ball, tag, hide-and-seek, etc.

With whom do you like to play? With boys and girls of our own age.

PRESENTATION

Here is a story that tells about two people playing a game. (The selection is read aloud by the teacher.)

What is the story about? An "old lady" and a little boy playing "Hide-and-Go-Seek".

What relation were they? The old lady was the boy's "Grandma".

Let us look at the story again, and see if they enjoyed their game as much as you do yours. Is there anything in the first stanza that tells us they were having a good time? "The way that they played together was beautiful to see."

What was beautiful about it? They were so kind to each other. It was pleasant to see an old lady and a little boy having such a happy time playing together, and understanding each other so well.

How do you feel, as you read the second stanza? I feel sorry for the boy because he is lame.

Any other reason for feeling sorry for him? He is "thin", as though he had been sick a long time.

In what way are he and his Grandma alike? Neither of them can run or jump.

Do you feel more sorry for the Grandma or for the little boy? I feel more sorry for the boy, because he may never be able to run around, and his Grandma could when she was young.

Describe the picture you see in the third stanza. I see an old lady and a little boy sitting "under the maple tree". The little boy has a pair of crutches beside him. The "sunlight" is shining through the leaves, and it is a warm summer's day, or they would not be sitting out. There is a house near them.

What game were they playing? "Hide-and-Go-Seek."

Would you know it from looking at them? No, because they are sitting still, and when we play the game, we run around and hide.

How did they play it? They thought in turn of some place to hide and imagined they were hiding in it; they had three guesses to find out the place.

Whose turn was it to hide? The old lady's, because the boy is guessing where she is.

Where did he find her at last? In "Papa's big bed-room", in "the clothes-press".

Is there anything else spoken about that was in the bed-room? There was a "little cupboard".

Why does he mention the cupboard? He often thinks of it. He likes it.

Why? His mother's "things used to be" in it.

Why does he say "used to be"? That tells us that they are not there any longer.

Why? I think his mother is dead.

Who takes care of him now? His grandmother lives with him and looks after him.

Why does the boy say "It can't be the little cupboard"? They both think too much of it to want to use it in connection with their play.

How did the boy enjoy the game? Very much, because it says he laughed "with glee".

How did the Grandma enjoy it? She was glad to see the boy happy.

Do old ladies usually like to play games? No, they generally prefer to read or sew.

Why was she playing with the boy? She loved him and was sorry he was lame.

Could he do anything for his Grandma? He could talk to her, and keep her from being lonely. When he grows older, he can read to her.

Describe the picture you see in the ninth stanza. I see the old lady, with her hands covering her face, while she guesses where the boy is hidden.

In the last stanza, why does the author use so many "olds", in speaking of the Grandmother? He wants to make us feel she is quite old.

Why does he say "dear" so often? He wants to show how very kind she was to the lame boy.

Why does he say the boy was "half-past three", instead of three and a half years old? It sounds better the way he says it. It suggests the clock's time.

Give me some other titles for this poem. "The Chums", "A Queer Game", "The Two Playmates".

DANDELIONS

(Second Reader, page 30)

AIM

To lead the pupils to perceive and appreciate how the poet uses personification and comparison.

PRESENTATION

This poem should be studied in the spring, when the dandelions are in bloom. A nature study lesson should precede the literature lesson. The pupils should be required to observe when the dandelions begin to make their appearance; at what time of the day they are most conspicuous; after what kind of night they are to be found in greatest profusion; what change occurs in the structure of the flowers as they grow older; how long a time usually elapses between the first appearance of the flowers and this change; what the white, downy part of the flower constitutes; what eventually becomes of this part.

Introduce the lesson by a brief conversation about military operations. Describe how one army tries to seize a strategic position, sometimes a hill, where the men can fix their guns and command the surrounding country. If this lesson could be presented without the pupils knowing the title (by writing the poem on the black-board, for instance), there would be the added interest of solving a riddle, namely, what the poet is describing.

What is a real "trooper band"? A band of soldiers on horseback.

And what are real "veterans"? Old soldiers who have seen much service in war.

What is actually meant by the "trooper band"? The dandelions when they first come out.

What is the phrase that suggests that they are dandelions? "Yellow coats."

What does the author actually mean by the "veterans"? The dandelions, when they have gone to seed.

What phrase suggests this? "Their trembling heads and gray."

Where did the "trooper band" make their appearance? On the hillside.

When? On a "showery night and still".

Why is such a night selected? Because it makes the dandelions bloom in great numbers.

To what is the coming of the dandelions compared? To an army taking possession of a hill.

What words tell how they came? "Without a sound of warning", "surprised", "We were not waked by bugle notes", "No cheer our dreams invaded".

Explain "surprised the hill". Marched upon it when they were least expected, and seized it.

Give the meaning of "held it in the morning". Had undisputed possession of it.

Tell, in your own words, how the dandelions came. Suddenly and unexpectedly.

How did this attack differ from a real military attack? There were no notes of the bugle or shouts of the soldiers to announce the capture of the hill.

Change "No cheer our dreams invaded" into prose order, and explain the meaning. No cheer invaded our dreams. Our sleep was not disturbed by the victorious shouts of soldiers.

How did the coats of the soldiers you have seen differ in colour from those of the dandelions?

What is the meaning of "at dawn"? The first appearance of light in the morning.

"Green slopes"? Grassy hillsides.

"Paraded"? Marched up and down.

About what time has elapsed between the incident of the first stanza and that of the second? Probably a week or thereabouts.

What deed is referred to in the first stanza? The seizure of the hill.

What is meant by "idly walking"? Without any definite purpose in view.

"Marked"? Noticed.

About what were the veterans probably "talking"? About their military exploits in years gone by.

What words are suitably used in describing these veterans? "Trembling" and "gray" suggest old age.

Arrange "their trembling heads and gray" in ordinary prose order. Their gray and trembling heads.

Why should the veterans be filled with "pride"? Because of the brave deeds they had done.

Why did they laugh? Perhaps, because of some amusing occurrences they had seen.

What characteristics of the dandelions suggest these fancies regarding the veterans? The heads of the dandelions are white. As they sway in the breeze on their slender stalks, they incline their heads toward one another in much the same way as people do in conversation.

Why is the "laughter" said to be "noiseless"? Because human beings could not be expected to hear the laughter of the dandelions.

What expression would you be likely to use, instead of "welladay"? Alas!

What is meant by "they blew away"? The seeds of the flowers were scattered far and wide.

What do you like about this poem? (1) Its charming poetic fancies. (2) The fitness of the comparisons.

Point out clearly how the appearance of the dandelions resembled a military attack, and how, in the later stage of their life history, they resembled veteran soldiers.

THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT

(Second Reader, page 56)

AIM

The aim of the lesson should be, not only to lead the pupils to enjoy the humour of the poem, but also to appreciate the lesson it teaches. It affords a fine opportunity for the development of conversational powers in the pupils.

The pupils should be encouraged to talk freely, and the questions should often call for quite lengthy answers.

PREPARATION

Who has seen an elephant? You have, Henry? Well, tell us something about him. He was very large. One of our barn doors is twelve feet high and six feet wide, and father said the elephant would just be able to go through that door. If he was in the school-room, his back would reach almost to the ceiling. His ears were bigger than the top of my desk. His trunk was twice as long as father's cane, and was nearly as big around at the upper end as a bag of wheat, and the lower end was as small as my leg is below the knee. His tusks were hard and white, one on each side of his trunk, and were longer than father's arm. His tail was small. It did not seem to be as long as one of his tusks. His legs were larger around than the trunk of the biggest apple tree in our orchard. His skin was something like a hog's skin, only thicker, and he had no hair. His whole body was a dirty, dark colour.

That is a fairly good description, Henry. You have helped us to picture a very large elephant.

PRESENTATION

As you have read this poem to yourselves, tell me what it is about. It is about six blind men "Who went to see the elephant".

As they were blind, how could they see him? They couldn't see him as we do, but they could feel him, and that was to them what seeing is to us.

In what way was feeling the same to them as seeing is to us? It was their way of knowing the animal, and that is just what seeing is to us.

Where did this happen? It happened in Indostan.

I told you to look for Indostan in Asia. Point it out on the map. (A pupil points to it.)

What are we told about these men? They gave much of their time to study.

What do you suppose was their favourite way of finding out things? This lesson makes me think that they liked to find out things by their own efforts.

Why do you think that? Because it says that they wanted to "satisfy" their minds by their own "observations".

In what other ways do boys and girls satisfy their minds about new things? By asking questions about them until the answers satisfy them.

What other way do you use sometimes? We read books to learn about many new things.

What did the first man learn? He thought he had learned that the elephant was "like a wall".

Why do you say thought? He hadn't really learned it. He stopped making observations just as soon as he had one idea.

Why do you think he did that? I think he was in a hurry to be the first to state what he knew.

What words in the poem suggest that idea to you? The words "At once began to bawl".

How did this man come to think the elephant was "like a wall"? He fell against the animal's huge side, and it made him think of a wall.

What was the second man's opinion about the elephant? He thought the animal was "like a spear".

Account for that idea. He felt one of the elephant's tusks, and formed his opinion without going any further.

And what about the third man? The third man put his hands on the elephant's trunk and felt it all over, but as he did not go any further, he declared that the elephant was "like a snake", because it was the only thing, as far as he knew, that squirmed about as the trunk did.

What did the fourth man do? The fourth man felt the big front legs and declared the elephant was "like a tree".

Tell us about the fifth man. The fifth man happened to touch the ear. He felt all over it but nowhere else, so he said the elephant was "like a fan".

And what had the sixth man to say? The sixth man had caught hold of the elephant's tail, and when he had felt all over it, he declared the elephant was "like a rope".

What conclusion did they come to in the end? They didn't come to any conclusion. They argued and argued for a long time, and each man was stubborn and stuck to "his own opinion".

GENERALIZATION

In what respects were they all alike?

1. Each one felt just one part of the animal and took the part for the whole.

2. Each was in a hurry to give his opinion and did not take time to form a good one.

3. Each man was stubborn and probably refused to feel where the others had felt.

If they could be in your place, how would they see themselves? They would see how foolish they had been, and each would see that the others were as nearly right as he himself was.

What lesson for ourselves can we learn from this? It teaches us not to be in a hurry in giving our opinions.

What do we learn from the dispute mentioned in the last verse? We learn from it that, when our own opinions about anything are firmly fixed, it does no good to argue about the matter.

In what way could they have arrived at the same conclusions? If each had done all that each of the others did, they would have agreed about the elephant.

In what way were these men really blind? They could not, or would not, see the viewpoint of others. There may be a mental blindness, as well as a physical blindness.

Here are two lines that you may memorize, as they fit the lesson very well:

Convince a man against his will, He's of the same opinion still.

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

(Second Reader, page 203)

AIM

To lead the pupils to appreciate the beauty and power of the language of this Biblical lesson, and to feel a confidence in God's protection and support.

PRESENTATION

The teacher should talk with the pupils about the great flocks of sheep in Eastern lands. They require a shepherd to lead them to pastures where the grass is long and sweet, and to protect them from the wild animals.

This Psalm is called the "Shepherd Psalm" because it was written by David, after he became a king. He remembered the time when he was a shepherd boy and used to spend his days and nights in the fields with the sheep, and how he once killed a lion and a bear that came to attack his flock; and he thought to himself that God had cared for him all his life just as he himself used to care for his little lambs, so at last he put his thoughts into the words of this Twenty-third Psalm.

There are two metaphors in this Psalm. In the first is developed, through the figure of a shepherd and his flock, God's care of His people.

What are the feelings of the sheep toward the shepherd? They feel confident that he will supply them with food; he will lead them to the "green pastures" and to the "still waters" by the wells and fountains, where they will neither hunger nor thirst.

What does the expression "lie down" infer? A sense of rest and security. The sheep can lie down in the "green pastures" and feel confident that the shepherd is able and willing to protect them from danger.

In what way do we resemble the sheep? We are dependent upon the Lord for our supply of spiritual and material needs, and for guidance and protection along the path of everyday life.

What does the Psalmist mean when he says: "He restoreth my soul"? "Soul" means, in Hebrew, the "life," or "one's self". The Lord restores and brings back His people, when wandering into forbidden places.

Explain the next line. As the shepherd goes before and leads his sheep by the right paths, avoiding all dangers, so the Lord leads His people into "the paths of righteousness".

What does "for His name's sake" mean? He has undertaken to guide His people safely and will do it for the honour of His name.

In the next section, whom is the Psalmist addressing? He is speaking to the Lord.

What words show that he is still using the figure of the shepherd and the sheep? "Through the valley"; "Thy rod and thy staff".

What does the first line mean? Some paths that are right paths for us to walk in still lead through perilous places; and this is the way the Psalmist refers to this fact in shepherd life.

How should we feel? The Lord accompanies us, and we should "fear no evil". The sheep follow the shepherd with absolute confidence, and our attitude toward "the Good Shepherd" should be the same.

What words show that danger is sometimes close? Death sometimes comes so close that it almost seems to cast a shadow.

What does the "rod" represent? The rod is the sign of authority, and represents the defence and protection afforded by the shepherd to the sheep, when in danger from robbers or wild beasts.

What does the "staff" represent? The staff denotes support and guidance, and is used for aiding the sheep in places of need, even along peaceful ways. The expression "Thy rod and thy staff" covers the whole round of protecting care.

Here the figure is changed. In the second metaphor God is represented as a host with the Psalmist as a guest at a banquet.

"Thou preparest a table before me." The Lord makes provision for man's needs. He does so openly, publicly ("in the presence of mine enemies").

In what other way does the Lord show His care for His people? The Psalmist says: "Thou hast anointed my head with oil."

To what does this refer? In the East, it was the custom to pour an ointment of great fragrance on the heads of the guests of honour at a feast.

How does the Psalmist further picture the goodness of God? He fills our "cup" till it is overflowing.

What is the thought in the last two lines? The confidence of the Psalmist in the Lord, that as He has led and guided him in the past, so His "goodness and mercy" "shall follow" him "all the days of his life," and he will live forever in intimate communion with Him.

What do you like about the selection? The spirit of gratitude and confidence in those who enjoy God's benefits. The nature of some of these benefits is made plain to us by the pictures of the "green pastures", the "still waters", "the rod and staff", and the prepared "table".