Beginners' Book in Language Part 12

"It's just splendid! Now, one more, Jack!" cried the little girl, excited by the cheers of a sleighing party that pa.s.sed them.

"All right, Jill," answered he, and they started back up the hill.

Proud of his skill, Jack made up his mind that this last "go"

should be the best one of the afternoon. But they started off, talking so busily that Jill forgot to hold tight and Jack to steer carefully. No one knows how it happened. They did not land in the soft drift of snow or stop before they reached the fence. Instead, there was a great crash against the bars, a dreadful plunge off the steep bank beyond, and, before any one could see what was happening, a sudden scattering of girl, boy, sled, fence, earth, and snow, all about the road. There were two cries, and then silence. Down rushed boys and girls, ready to laugh or cry, as the case might be. They found Jack sitting up, looking about him with a queer, dazed expression, while an ugly cut on the forehead was bleeding. This sobered the boys and frightened the girls half out of their wits.

"He's killed! He's killed!" wailed one of the girls, hiding her face and beginning to cry.

"No, I'm not. I'll be all right when I get my breath. Where's Jill?" asked Jack stoutly, though still too giddy to see straight.--LOUISA M. ALCOTT, "Jack and Jill" (Adapted)

=Oral Exercise.= 1. Make believe that you are the Jack or the Jill in the story. Play that the accident has just happened. You are lying in the snow. Your cla.s.smates are standing around you wondering whether you are alive or dead. Slowly you sit up. What do they do and say? Let some of your cla.s.smates do and say these things. What do you say? What happens next? Play the story up to the time when the doctor looks you over and says that you will have to stay in bed a long time.[42]

2. Again make believe that you are Jack or Jill. Play that the accident happened some time ago. Tell your cla.s.smates about that afternoon's coasting and how it ended. Could you walk home that day? Did the other children lay you both on sleds and slowly draw you to your homes? What did your mother do and say when she saw you coming? Did they put you to bed at once and run for the doctor? What did the doctor do and say?

3. Do you own a sled? Tell the cla.s.s about this sled. Tell about going coasting on it.

4. What can one do with a sled besides go coasting? What was the best fun you ever had with your sled? Where were you? What did you do? After you have told the cla.s.s about the fun you had, you may make one or two pictures about it with colored crayons. Perhaps the following list will help you to remember some good times you have had:

1. The first sled ride that I remember

2. Hitching behind with a sled

3. A race down a hill on sleds

4. The toboggan slide

5. The longest hill I ever coasted down

6. The steepest hill I ever coasted down

7. Six of us on a bob

5. Did you ever have an accident with your sled? Accidents sometimes happen. Perhaps you are very careful and have never had any trouble. But you have probably heard of accidents and narrow escapes. Tell the cla.s.s of one, and explain how it might have been avoided.

=33. Explaining Things=

Winter is here. There are many games to play and many pleasant things to do after school and on Sat.u.r.days. You would enjoy talking with your cla.s.smates about these. Perhaps you can plan some good times together.

=Oral Exercise.= Make believe that your cla.s.s is having a meeting to plan some fun for after school and Sat.u.r.days. What games do you think would be best? Think out a clear plan. Then stand before your cla.s.smates and explain it to them. Tell exactly how it is to be carried out. Tell where, when, and everything else they must know. The following list may help you to make a good plan:[43]

1. A skating party some Sat.u.r.day

2. A skating race to see who is the best boy skater and who is the best girl skater in the cla.s.s

3. Building one or two snow forts

4. A s...o...b..ll battle between your cla.s.s and another

5. A straw ride

6. A game of s.h.i.+nny, or hockey, between your cla.s.s and another

7. A cla.s.s tramp with the teacher through the woods or parks

8. A basket-ball game between your cla.s.s and another

9. A cla.s.s party at some one's house

10. A coasting party

=Group Exercise.= After the plans have been told, you and your cla.s.smates must decide which one you will carry out. You may wish to ask some of the speakers questions. At last the cla.s.s may vote.

=34. Words sometimes Misp.r.o.nounced=

Some pupils do not know how to speak certain words correctly. If they did, their talks would be much more pleasing.[44]

=Oral Exercise.= 1. p.r.o.nounce the following words as your teacher p.r.o.nounces them to you, in a clear, strong, and pleasant voice. Then read the whole list as rapidly as you can without speaking any word indistinctly or incorrectly.

looking seeing walking running jumping smiling laughing crying teasing speaking talking hearing saying eating paying

2. Use in sentences each of the words in the list above. Try to make sentences that will give pleasure to your cla.s.smates. Anybody can use the word _looking_ to make uninteresting sentences like these:

Some one is _looking_ for me.

I am _looking_ for some one.

He is _looking_ at me.

Try to make sentences like these:

The boys were looking at Jack's big red sled.

The girls were looking for a story-book at the public library.

The hunter was looking at the panther, and the panther was looking at him.

Perhaps the teacher will write the best sentences on the board, or let the pupils who give them write them on the board.[20]