Beginners' Book in Language Part 20

8. the next picture in this book shows what they did

9. what should you have done

=Game.= The cla.s.s is divided into two equal sides. Five pupils of one side go to the board. Each pupil writes a question. The questions may be about dogs or horses or Indians or anything that the cla.s.s may choose.

When they are written, the whole cla.s.s reads them carefully to see whether there are any mistakes in them. Every mistake that is pointed out counts one score for the side that finds it. When the questions have been corrected, five pupils of the other side write the answers. These, in turn, are read by the cla.s.s for mistakes. Then five more questions are written by five other pupils, and so on. When one of the two sides has made a certain score, twenty-five or more or less, the game ends.

The side first reaching that score wins.

=51. Another Study of a Picture Story=

Of course you remember the two boys whose dog followed them out into the lake. When they rowed back to land, they found the bicycles untouched.

n.o.body seemed to have pa.s.sed there. Still, the boys were afraid to leave them, and of course they could not take them along in the rowboat.

=Oral Exercise.= 1. What plan are the boys carrying out in the first picture on the next page? Do you think it is a good plan? Could you think out a better one? Explain it to your cla.s.smates.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A STORY TO FINISH]

2. Look at the second picture and tell what has happened since the boys tied the dog to the bicycles. How did the boat happen to upset? Is this dog a good swimmer? Could he probably save the drowning boy if he were not tied? What will happen next? This exciting story might end in several ways. Tell the cla.s.s how you think it ended. Begin your story with the tying of the dog.

=52. Letter Writing=

It is over a month since you mailed a letter in the cla.s.s post office.

Shall we have another letter-writing day? It might be fun for all the pupils to send short letters to each other.

=Written Exercise.= 1. Think of a question that you would like to ask one of your cla.s.smates.[60] It may be something you really want to know, or it may be a question that you are asking just for fun. It does not matter. Write a short note asking the question.

2. Before mailing the letter, read it over several times with one of the following questions in your mind at each reading:

1. Have you begun the letter correctly? If it begins with a greeting like _Dear Tom_ or _Dear Mary_, there should be this mark (:) after the name of the pupil to whom you are writing.

2. Have you written your own name in the right place at the end of the letter? No mark should follow your name.

3. Does the first line of the letter begin a little more to the right than the lines below it?

4. Did you place a question mark at the end of the question you are asking?

5. Would it be a good plan to write your letter over so that it will be one of the best and neatest letters in the cla.s.s post office?

3. The cla.s.s letter carrier will bring you the letter that one of your cla.s.smates has sent you. Write a letter[61] answering the question you have been asked. You know how to write dates. Place in the upper right-hand corner of your letter the date of your writing. The following letter shows the date written in the right place and in the right way:

March 25, 1919 Dear Tom:

The question you sent me is the same as the one my letter asks you. I wonder whether the answers will be the same. My answer is, Yes, I do want to go to the woods next Sat.u.r.day.

Fred

=53. Words sometimes Misp.r.o.nounced=

It is very pleasant to listen to speakers who make no mistakes in p.r.o.nouncing words. In the list below are some of the words that give trouble to some pupils.

=Oral Exercise.= 1. Listen carefully as the teacher p.r.o.nounces the words in the following list. Then read the whole list as rapidly as you can, p.r.o.nouncing no word incorrectly or indistinctly.

again Tuesday picture I wish drowned you threw Italian could have window into chimney to-morrow nothing February just

2. Ask your cla.s.smates questions in which the words above are used. The answers, too, should use words from the list.

=54. Story-Telling=

THE DAUGHTER OF CERES

Long ago there lived on the earth a good G.o.ddess or fairy whose name was Ceres.[62] It was she who made the corn and the gra.s.s and the flowers grow. She drove over the fields in her magic chariot and waved her wand. Then the trees put forth green leaves, the grain sprouted, and the fruits glistened in red and gold colors.

She was the queen of all growing plants.

Ceres had an only daughter, of whom she was very fond. Her name was Proserpina.[62] One day Proserpina begged her mother to allow her to go into the meadow to gather flowers.

"You hardly ever let me wander in the fields, Mother," she said.

"Other girls go. Do let me go to-day. I shall be gone only a short time."

Ceres did not like to let her daughter go. She feared some harm might come to the little girl. But Proserpina begged so piteously that, finally, Ceres agreed.

"But," she said, "you must not go farther than the brook that borders the meadow. Do not cross that. I want to be able to see you when I look out of my window."

Proserpina promised gladly. In a minute she had put on her bonnet and had kissed her mother good-bye. With a basket on her arm she ran gaily toward the near-by fields. They were dotted, on this sunny morning, with the most beautiful flowers. Ceres at her window watched the happy girl for a time. Then she returned to her work, for she was always very busy.

Proserpina, like a b.u.t.terfly that is glad to use its wings, wandered delightedly from flower to flower. Never had the suns.h.i.+ne seemed brighter and pleasanter. Never had the birds sung more happily. Never had she seen such beautiful flowers. The violets seemed larger and sweeter than ever before. The roses, the pinks, and the lilacs seemed to be wearing holiday clothes. In a short time she had filled not only her basket but also her ap.r.o.n with the choicest blossoms. Then she sat in the tall gra.s.s and clover to make some wreaths. She decided to make one for herself and a large, beautiful one for her mother.

As she sat there in the suns.h.i.+ne and twined the stems of flowers into pretty wreaths, she suddenly heard a low murmuring. It seemed to come from near by. She listened. The sound kept steadily on. She arose to see what it was. A few steps showed her that she had heard only the murmuring and splas.h.i.+ng and babbling of a little brook. It bordered the meadow in which she had been gathering flowers and was the very brook that her mother had told her not to cross.

And now a strange thing happened. As Proserpina stood beside the running water, she saw, just a little distance on the other side, a large shrub such as she had never set eyes on before. It was completely covered with the most wonderful flowers in the world.

Before she knew what she was doing she had stepped lightly across the brook. The nearer she came to the beautiful plant, the more attractive it looked; and when she stood close to it, its beauty seemed richer than anything she had ever seen. There were a hundred flowers on it. Each had a color of its own. All together they made one beautiful bouquet.

Proserpina was so charmed with what she saw that she did nothing at first but look and look at the magical sight. At length, however, she made up her mind to pull the shrub up and carry it home.

"I will plant it in our garden at home," she said.