Part 3

We will go over the hill to the brook. Bossy knows where to find water. She knows where to find the big trees. There! I see Bossy in the brook. Let me drive her out, Frank. I will go into the brook. Very well, Max. Drive her out.

Knows Kn knows kn

[Music: M. S. WILLIS.

1. Tin-kle, tin-kle, tin-kle, Bos-sy’s lit-tle bell. Tin-kle, tin-kle, tin-kle, Bos-sy likes it well.]

PHONIC JINGLES

PHONIC DRILL

1. Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle! Bossy’s little bell. bell Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle! Bossy likes it well. well

2. Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle! Where she is ’twill tell. tell Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the shady dell. dell

3. Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, Where the green grass grows, grows Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, Where sweet water flows, flows

4. Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, Where the soft wind blows, blows Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, All this Bossy knows. knows

Play “Two Little Black Birds,” Baby. I will show you the birds. Here are two black birds on a hill. One is Jack. The other is Jill. The two black birds will fly away. Then they will come again.

Two little black birds Sat upon a hill. One was Jack. The other was Jill. Fly away, Jack! Fly away, Jill! Come back, Jack! Come back, Jill!

Jack back quack black pack lack rack track crack tack stack knack

Let us play “Hickory, dickory, dock.” O Alice, Baby can not run! Can she play that she is the mouse? No, but she can watch us run.

Hickory, dickory, dock, The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one. The mouse ran down. Hickory, dickory, dock!

dock lock clock flock block rock cock shock stock knock mock sock

Watch us play “Pease-pudding.” When is the pease-pudding in the pot? When is it hot? When is it cold? When is the pease-pudding old? Max and I keep time like a clock.

Pease-pudding hot, Pease-pudding cold, Pease-pudding in the pot, Nine days old. Some like it hot. Some like it cold. Some like it in the pot, Nine days old.

cold told hold gold fold bold sold mold

We will play “Jack and Jill” now. Alice will be Jill. Max will be Jack. Jack fell down on his head. Jill came tumbling after. Max, come tumbling to the ground. Then Alice must come tumbling after. Oh you did it very well. Now sing.

Jack and Jill Went up the hill To get a pail of water. Jack fell down And broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after.

Jill hill mill fill still quill sill rill

The children are playing “Jack and Jill.” Alice says, “I must have a pail, Grace.” Grace says, “Frank will get a pail. Thank you. Here is the pail, Alice. Mother says she will sing with us.” “Thank you, Mother. Thank you.” Jack, come tumbling down. Now, Jill, you must come tumbling down.

Frank says, “Sing some other song. Let us sing about the cunning mouse. Mink is black all over. Baby loves her. Do you love Mink very much, Baby? Well, we will sing a song, Baby. We will sing about your kitty.”

Thank Th thank th

“I’LL SING A SONG”

Ding-dong, ding-dong! I’ll sing you a song. It’s not very long. It’s about a little mouse. He looked very cunning As I saw him running About my father’s house.

Ding-dong, ding-dong! I’ll sing you a song. It’s not very long. It’s about a little kitty. She is black all over, And I know you’ll love her, For she is very pretty.

dong song long strong wrong prong

[Music: M. S. WILLIS.

_With animation._

1. We’ve a lit-tle kit-ty, Just as black as ink; She is ver-y pret-ty, And her name is Mink.]

PHONIC JINGLES

PHONIC DRILL

1. We’ve a little kitty Just as black as ink. ink She is very pretty, And her name is Mink. Mink

2. She’s a silly kitty, See her sit and blink! blink Isn’t it a pity She knows how to wink? wink

3. She’s a lazy kitty Till there’s milk to drink. drink Then she is so busy She’s no time to think. think

Jack, be nimble! Jack, be quick! Jack, jump over the candlestick! Don’t kick the candle over, Max. The clock has struck bedtime. Good night, children.

quick chick kick brick tick stick wick lick

A SONG

Merry have we met And merry have we been. Merry let us part And merry meet again. With a merry ding-dong Happy, gay, and free, With a merry sing-song, Again we’ll happy be.

[Music: SONG OF THE LETTERS

a b c d e f g h i j k A B C D E F G H I J K

l m n o p l m n o p q L M N O P L M N O P Q

r s t l m n o p q R S T L M N O P Q

r s t u v w x y z R S T U V W X Y Z

That’s the way to say your A B C.]

VOCABULARY

1. run now stop

2. see Frank Alice

3. do you I

4. the ball get

5. and can

6. pitch to

7. said me

8. catch it

9. did a yes

10. bounce like

11. saw him

12. toss up

13. have with

14. kick high

15. play boy not

16. Grace will hide

17. them he

18. sister find

19. us she

20. come jump rope

21. has children

22. here walk baby

23. is your

24. dance may

25. does no her

26. sing for

27. hear too

28. whistle little

29. am glad

31. what my

32. show hen chicks

33. white are black

34. Jet mother duck pretty

35. name Ducky Bet

36. Dot kitty but

37. how look Mink

38. make sweet cake

39. cousin Max must

40. Father let

41. live this home

43. drum doll give

44. his big

45. march tap rub-a-dub

46. quick ran that say

47. Lad dog at go

48. rats

49. stick over

50. spot on bat then

52. rabbit Bun apples an

53. away keep pen

54. bed sleep in

55. where oh into

56. they we

58. town

59. barn horses says

60. red pull oxen drive

61. through woods know were

62. tell trees birds as

63. head there sap hole

65. school write way nests

66. which came another

67. hop quit chickadee tomtit

69. cows pigs greedy be

70. Piggie Wee Piggie Wig curly tail goes

71. funny rimes about

73. pond under violets after

74. day water lay all

75. bloom brook sheep lambs

76. don’t of

77. other back cluck quack

80. caught shoo peep bow-wow

81. frog eggs some

82. went made watch

84. again out time please

85. ground

86. was thank one

88. fly hat mouse

89. when bake

90. down hay

91. owl flew cat

93. window

95. shook so

97. much

98. swing

100. very Mr. Mrs.

101. well

103. orchard flower

104. bees hum

107. meadow clover

108. Bossy bell

109. tinkle hill

112. two Jack Jill sat

113. hickory dickory dock clock struck

114. pease pudding pot hot old cold

115. fell tumbling pail broke crown

117. song love cunning

120. nimble candle night good

TO THE TEACHER

The teacher who realizes the value of motor activity will be glad to find early in this book such words and phrases as _run_, _march_, _jump_, _sing_, _whistle_, _bounce the ball_, _toss the ball_, etc. She will know how to utilize these in “action sentences” developed in the blackboard lessons that usually precede reading from the book.

The vocabulary consists of 274 words, listed on pages 123 to 126, with the number of the page on which each first occurs. They are printed in clear type that they may be used at will for word drills.

Children vary much in their power to learn and apply phonic facts. With some, slowness to perceive these facts is due to lack of ear discrimination. With some, lack of power to apply the facts is due to lack of reasoning power. The child who writes, “I like the fresh _ear_,” and justifies her spelling by the analogies _bear_, _tear_, _wear_, hence, _ear_, has too much reasoning power for the language she inherits.

It is expected that most teachers will teach this book by the “story” method, supplemented by the “word and sentence” method, with recourse, where needful, to the “phonic” method. The various combinations of any or all of these methods, and the various devices employed will depend upon the training, the experience, and the pedagogic faith of each teacher. The book can be thus taught throughout without the use of phonics.

It is expected that the wise teacher will watch her class, and present to the whole class, to the class by groups, or to individual children, the phonic facts, when she thinks they can be best assimilated. The teacher who presents them to all her children just as and when they occur in the book, will do much less harm than in handling any of the purely phonic readers, since the phonics are so easily graded, so successfully divorced from any injurious modification of the sense of the text, and so skillfully associated with melody and rhythm that they will never, as presented, produce the baleful effect of correlating the sight and sound and motor centers, with the intellect left out, under the name of reading.

The sounds of the single consonants, of the digraphs, _ch_, _sh_, _th_, _wh_, _wr_, and _kn_, that are treated as single letters, and the short sounds of the vowels are learned first as the initial letters of certain words that are well known as wholes. For instance, _run_ has already become thoroughly known as a word when the child finds it at the bottom of page 3 printed thus:

Run R run r

It will be seen from this that the word _run_ is not to be analyzed at this stage into the two parts _r_ and _un_. Only the sound of the letter _r_ is to be taught. This is done by having the sound of _r_ associated with the letter. The printed symbol (given here in its two forms, the capital and the small letter) is to be known to the child as representative of the _sound_ of the letter, not of the _name_ of the letter. It requires but little effort to teach the child how to sound an initial letter. The teacher may request him to “start to say” some familiar word, as _run_, but to utter only the first sound of the word. To facilitate the process, she may do this herself and afterward have the child do it. When he has learned to give the sound of _r_, she shows him the letter, which from this time is known by its sound. In this way the sound of each letter may be taught. The names of the letters will be learned later in the year.

The next step toward making the child self-helpful is developed in the primer by means of phonic jingles such as will be found on page 51. The rime is to be read aloud by the teacher and repeated or sung by the children. Many teachers will prefer to write the rime on the blackboard. The simple, artistic melody given with each rime helps the child to memorize it. The appropriate story which precedes the rime and upon which it is based, together with the picture that illustrates it, invests the rime with interest for the children.

As will be seen, these phonic jingles contain words that are alike in symbol as well as in sound. It is confusing to the child at this early stage of the work to have before his eyes different symbols for the same sound, as is the case, for instance, when he has _high_ and _sky_ to rime with _I_, or _see_ and _me_ to rime with _sea_. His riming words at this time should aid the eye as well as the ear. For this reason the phonic jingles have been given.

The words of the jingle that are arranged in a column at the right of the page, are easily separated into two parts, showing that they all belong to the same “phonic family,” thus, _c-at_, _m-at_, etc. Such separation of words into parts is not shown in the primer for the reason that it is not considered best to present to the child’s eye, at this early period, printed words that are disfigured in any way. His first book should show the words as wholes. This fact, however, need not prevent the teacher from using the phonic jingles for word analysis. The words in the column having been shown as wholes to the child, he sees that they not only rime to his ear but resemble each other to the eye. Moreover, the words in the column look exactly like the same words when he finds them in the sentences he reads. Before he reaches the phonic jingle on any given page, the child has learned to know by sight and sound the consonants that are the initial letters of the words he is to sound in the jingle. For instance, he has learned to know and to sound the consonants _c_, _m_, _b_, _th_, _r_, _p_, _f_, and _s_ before the phonic jingle on page 51 is given to him. It is then an easy matter to lead up to a simple analysis of the words. The rime has been read by the teacher and repeated or sung by the child; the words in the body of the rime, which are repeated in the column at the right of the page, have been seen by the child in both places. He may now be taught to cover the unlike parts (the initial consonants) of the words in the column and show the like parts (the phonogram that indicates the “family” to which each of the words belongs). He may then cover the like parts, showing, in turn, the unlike parts.

UNLIKE PARTS LIKE PARTS

c- at m- at b- at th- at

More ambitious teachers, and those who emphasize phonics earlier in the reading process, may wish to continue this analysis of words even further, by separating each word into three or more parts, having the child give the sound of each letter, thus,

c a t, m a t, b a t m a t b a t

The jingles lend themselves to both treatments. But it will be more in keeping with modern pedagogy if the separation of words is limited at this stage to analyzing words into phonetic families, as, for instance, the family of “at,” the family of “ap,” etc. This treatment is advised for primer work.

Mother Goose rimes may be read later in the book where several of them are given. Before they are read by the children the rimes should be memorized and then dramatized in the simple childlike way in which the young actors in the book are represented as playing Jack and Jill. A short phonic drill is then deduced from the Mother Goose rime in much the same way as from the phonic jingles.

When the children have learned to sound _cat_, _mat_, _hit_, _sit_, etc. (pages 51 and 68), and to find, from these words, the stems _at_ and _it_, the teacher should reverse the process, leading the children to build words from such stems as _an_, _am_, _and_, _end_, _in_, _on_, _up_, _all_, _is_, _as_, etc.

an can man pan tan Dan am dam ram and hand sand end bend mend

in pin thin shin

up cup pup sup

on con Don pond

all ball call fall

wall tall stall small

Next the children should be required to build lists of words that are similar in sound and spelling to other words that are known at sight.

lad glad had sad bad

did hid rid lid slid

him dim rim swim vim

hen men pen when wren

bed red fed led sled

went bent lent sent

but cut nut shut

hum drum gum chum

pitch ditch hitch witch

catch match hatch scratch

During the first school year the effect of the final _e_ on the preceding vowel should be taught by means of words already well known to the children, thus:

cat fat fate mat mate hat hate

lad glad glade fad fade mad made

can fan fane pan pane van vane

sap cap cape nap nape tap tape

it bit bite quit quite whit white

did hid hide rid ride

him dim dime rim rime

in pin pine shin shine

got not note cot cote

stop hop hope pop pope

but cut cute

rub cub cube

dub tub tube

jet pet Pete

bet met mete

All this work may be given from the blackboard.

Some teachers will probably prefer to have the child read through the primer before attempting to apply the knowledge of letter sounds and phonic analysis that he has gained. Such teachers will rightly consider it as more important than anything else that the child be led to regard the book as a storehouse of attractive stories, and each sentence as expressing a thought which he can get and express again. But when this object is attained the teacher will be wise to let the child find out how he may help himself to the thought getting by the power the initial letter gives him of “feeling for” the new word, and later by the power the jingles give him of “making sure” of the words.

The author has found that a vocabulary limited in quantity is a sufficient impediment to writing interesting stories for young children. She has, therefore, eschewed in the text any such sacrifice of sense to sound as would limit her vocabulary in quality also. She has, however, realized the value, in giving independence, of introducing simple phonics early. She has, therefore, taken advantage of the natural tendency of children to make and to repeat alliterations and rimes. In the interest of veracity, all attempts to beguile the child into believing that “Wag the rag in the bag” is either an interesting or an instructive “story” are avoided; it is frankly acknowledged _to the child_ that the alliterations and rimes in this book are “nonsense-jingles” from the side of reason, though capable of affording enjoyment on the side of musical appreciation.