Catherine T. Bryce

“ All forward! all forward! our old flag is flying.
When liberty calls us, we linger no longer.
Ye tyrants, come on! Tho’ a thousand to one!
Hurrah for the banner, the flag of the free! (Enter Italy, dressed in National costume.)
FRANCE:
Now, welcome, Sister Italy. I have looked for thy coming.
BELGIUM:
Twice welcome art thou, for I, too, hoped for your aid.
BRITAIN:
Thrice welcome art thou. For well I know that in thee still lives the greatness that was Rome. ”

“ I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign nation of many sovereign states; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, [43] and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. ”

“ FRANCE:
Arise, my Sister. All is not lost! Thine honor and thy truth and thy loyalty are all untarnished. Pure and white they shine before the eyes of all the world. Till the stars fade and the sun dies, all men shall say of thee, “Belgium’s is a consecrated,—Belgium’s is a holy ground!”
Lift up thy flag. It has never trailed in the dust, and it never shall. Together, shoulder to shoulder, we will face the foe, and They Shall Not Pass. On, on my Sister, on to Victory!
[Pg 6]
NO. 2. CHORUS: “The Marseillaise” ”

“ Leghorn has fallen into the brook and is drowned; Mrs. Leghorn is screaming and cackling; Wind-Mill is swinging his arms and creaking; the Big Barn Door is slamming and banging; the Old Red Ox is pawing and bellowing; the Watch Dog is barking and whining; and the Old Gray Horse is prancing and neighing. That’s why I am whirling and pointing so.”
“O, how sad!” said Pussy Cat. “I’ll waul and squall. That’s the best I can do.” And she fell to wauling and squalling with all her might. ”

“ Syllabication makes the spelling more obvious, promotes clear enunciation, and assists in making a clear mental picture of the word. If the word is composed of two words, as “somewhere,” he sees more readily that the long word is only made up of the two short words with which he is already familiar. Throughout the book all words of more than one syllable are so syllabicated when first taught. It is unwise to require children to divide such words in a written spelling lesson.
Much time and much thought may wisely be given to the enunciation of children. ”

“ We pronounce thee guiltless.
(The last strains of the Russian Hymn are heard and Russia enters, followed by Poland. Russia is clad in National costume and carries the Russian flag. Poland is in characteristic costume, but carries no flag.)
BELGIUM:
O Russia, dost thou too love Freedom?
RUSSIA:
I’ve dreamed a dream—a wondrous dream—
I’ve dreamed it long—aye, long;
And in my dream, my people stand—
Brave freemen, true and strong.
No men have longed for Liberty
As Russia’s sons have yearned,
In the hearts that know oppression,
Freedom’s light most fiercely burns. ”

“ I will show you my dream for the future education of America, and I can make the dream come true if you will lend your aid. Come.
Education leads, and Any City eagerly follows her behind the curtain.
[52]
Eleventh Glimmer: Education’s Dream
When the curtain is raised, the stage is almost in darkness, only the light of Education, from the lamp hung near the front, streams across the stage. A searchlight should be arranged to suggest the brightening of Education’s light, turning the glimmer into a broad gleam. Into this bright light march those who are a part of Education’s dream. ”

“ Then the cow began to bellow.
The dog began to howl.
The cat began to waul.
The raven began to caw.
The pony began to prance.
And Billy Binks began to shout with all his might.
[129]
Such a frightful din that old hob-goblin had never heard! He picked himself up from the sharp rocks where he had fallen, and dashed away with might and main through the forest. If he hasn’t stopped, he is running still.
“Ho, ho!” cried Billy Binks, springing from the gray pony and running to the mouth of the cave. “This heap of gold and this pile of jewels will do for my fortune. ”

“ But there is no magic about the Aldine method, if it can be called a method. Like the marvellous modern achievements of applied science, its success depends upon the simple principle of understanding and utilizing, instead of ignoring and antagonizing, nature. The child’s nature furnishes the key, the sure guide to all the method there is in Aldine reading. ”

“ Object of Teaching Spelling Ever since the school of early days spelling has accompanied “reading, ’riting, and ’rithmetic” as a part of the curriculum. The day when reading was taught by the “spelling method,” so called, is not far back in the past. “How can one learn to read if one does not know his letters, that he may be able to spell out the words that he meets in his reading?” Not until recently has the question been asked, “Why do we study spelling at all?” Do we need it in our reading? Modern methods have shown us that we do not. We need to know how to spell only when we wish to write. ”

“ Often the spelling of words is forced upon the child before he has properly mastered the alphabet. This is the cause of much poor spelling, much guessing in the primary grades. Before a child is allowed to spell orally he should be absolutely sure of the name of every letter, and he should be able to recognize and name it at sight. Before he is allowed to write one word in a dictated spelling lesson, the pupil should be able to write any letter of the alphabet from dictation. ”

“ Any City. Good for the Old Woman! I believe in sticking to old well-tried things. So many people believe that just because a thing is new, it is the only good thing in the world.
Education. But a greater number believe that just because a thing is old, it is sacredly all sufficient. If everybody had thought with you and the Old Woman, how would the world be fed to-day? ”

“ The lion was proud of his voice and he roared with all his might.
“No, no,” cried the ant, “I’ll not marry you, Mr. Lion. Your loud roar frightens me. It shakes the very hills. Go away.”
The lion had not been gone long when a proud rooster came strutting along that way.
“How pretty you are, Miss Ant! Will you marry me?” said the rooster.
“Sing,” said the ant, “so I may hear your voice.”
[49]
The rooster was very proud of his shrill voice and he crowed with all his might.
“No, no,” cried the ant, “I’ll not marry you, Mr. Rooster. Your shrill crow frightens me. Go away.” ”

“ Men have called me Experience, Tradition, Discipline, Invention, Culture, Ambition, Knowledge, Training, Learning, Teaching, Instruction, Development, Information, and many other names, and I answer to all. But I am more commonly called Education.
Any City starts up, snatches up the tax budget, and holds it behind his back. ”

“ The best possible preparation for teaching to spell is thoughtful, intelligent drill in phonics. As all modern methods of teaching reading give systematic phonic drills, and thus most children have had some preparation before spelling is begun, the phonetic lists in this book will be found to be easy. Not only will they be easy, if intelligently taught, but they will serve the double purpose of teaching the children to spell intelligently and independently, and of enabling them to recognize new words. ”

“ Review Lists Throughout the book, review lists are common. The time usually allotted to the spelling lesson is short and, therefore, only those words which have been shown by investigation to need reviewing occur in these review lists. Words presenting the most difficulty are often repeated in the same and succeeding grades. The words which are recurring constantly in the written vocabulary of children are the words which they need to be sure that they have mastered. Including only such words for review will enable both teacher and pupil to conserve the time of the school day. ”

“ He is taught to observe, to analyze and to compare words; he is taught to apply constantly his growing knowledge of sounds and of letters used to represent sounds. These exercises are scarcely less interesting to the child than are the rhymes, stories and dramatizing, for the child understands what he is doing and why he is doing it, and he feels the joy of increasing mastery. So rapid and sure is the child’s progress and growth in independent power that he reads at sight and reads well any interesting Primer long before he has completed this First Reader. ”

“ May Russia’s sons be free!
FRANCE:
And Poland’s, too. Brave men whose hearts have ever yearned for Freedom’s crown!
[Pg 15]
NO. 12. CHORUS: Poland Fair:
Poland Fair, thou bright and lovely land,
Ne’er to be forsaken;
Loyal sons obey thy proud command:
Ev’ry soul awaken!
Sacred land, we love thee well,
Our hearts unite beneath thy spell;
Take, O Country, all thy sons can give,
Poland fair, thy name shall live! (A trumpet call sounds.)
FRANCE:
Hark! Another friend approaches from the fair South!
NO. 13. CHORUS: Garibaldi’s Hymn:
All forward to battle! ”

“ Use of the Dictionary The “dictionary habit” is a most desirable one. Those children are fortunate who have instant access to a dictionary when they begin the work in the fourth grade. However, children must be taught how to use the dictionary. Suggestions for teaching the use of it may be found in the suggestions for each grade. (See pages 37, 42, 46, 55, etc.) Do not deaden the interest by requiring the pupils to look up every word in the lesson, but rather have them look up all words whose spelling or pronunciation is uncertain. ”

“ As the curtain goes up, the Dame is speaking to the girl who brought her puppet to school.
[30]
Dame. Thou hast stood on the stool now for thirty minutes—time enough for thee to repent. Sit thou now on the stool for another thirty minutes as an example to others.
Child obeys, crying. She lifts her apron to wipe her eyes.
Dame. Put down thine apron at once. (Sarcastically.) Wouldst cover thy beautiful placard? Let us all see thy shamed face and thy repentant tears. They are a sign of grace.
While she is talking, a little girl whispers behind her book to another. Dame spies her. ”

“ But it never stops.
It must flow ever on and on.
Bright flowers are hiding along its banks.
They peep out from the grass.
They look into the clear flowing water.
“Stay, little brook, play with us,” they whisper.
“Why do you always hurry so? Are you not weary?”
“No, no, I am never weary, never tired,” murmurs the brook.
“I never stop to play.
It is play for me to rush swiftly down the steep hill.
It is fun to flow gently across the meadow.
I like to see you peeping over my banks as I pass.
But I cannot stop.
[57]
I must hurry on to meet the river. ”

“ Written Spelling Ability to spell a word means the carrying out of certain habits which have already been formed. If these habits are right then the word is spelled correctly. If children have not formed the right set of habits, if their pronunciation is wrong, if their mental picture is distorted, if imperfect vision causes them to see the word indistinctly, if their hearing is not normal, or if the coördination of the muscles is poor, any or all of these things will lead to the misspelling of a word. ”

“ Thinkst thou that thou art better or wiser than they? I have no patience with thy dreams, born of thine own laziness! Get to work, maiden, and let me hear no more of thy better ways! Better ways, forsooth!
While the Old Woman speaks, the light burns dimmer. The other maidens stop their work to listen, all showing their approval of her words, and their condemnation of her who dared to dream of better things. As the Old Woman finishes, they resume their task and their monotonous tune.
Curtain
Education and Any City appear before the curtain. ”

“ Put life and interest into the lesson by variety, and let the children see that the building up of a vocabulary can be an exciting game.
The Teacher’s Opportunity Perhaps with no class has the seventh grade teacher a greater opportunity for a fine and helpful influence than she has with the spelling class. Her pupils will be judged, in later years, by their speech. She may, by careful teaching, expand their vocabularies so that they have a broad range, and she may likewise secure an accuracy in enunciation which will reflect great credit on her teaching. ”

“ It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. ”

“ We do not know how well children could spell fifty, or even twenty-five, years ago. As time goes by there is a glamour thrown over the past and we see only the high lights. We remember that in spelling a match there was a certain boy, or girl, who spelled down the entire school time after time, or possibly had a reputation for being the best speller in the entire county. When a spelling match was announced it was a foregone conclusion that the victory lay between two or three pupils. How many children of the eighth grade could spell the following list of words? ”