Maud Summers

“ The reading of poems aloud should be a regular part of the school program, not only to stimulate the imagination, but also to give the enjoyment that comes from the cadence of rhythmic language and to train the ear to make fine discriminations. Ear training and voice culture are so intimately related that it is impossible to cultivate one without cultivating the other, for they sustain to each other the vital relation of impression and expression. ”

“ An understanding of the parts gives a fuller meaning to the whole. The mind analyzes in order to reach a better synthesis. When we wish to make known to a child a coat, for instance, we do not show him separately the sleeves, the lapels, the pockets, the buttons. We hold up the whole garment and say, "Here is a coat." It is necessary to do the same in teaching reading. Give the child first an image of the whole situation which he is to think himself into, and then come to the details to make the whole clear. ”

“ Let each child read the entire lesson silently to get the thought (whole to parts) . When the child does not recognize a word and cannot get it from the context or the sound elements, tell him what it is, in as simple a way as he would be told about a new object in the home. When he has finished reading the child may show that he is ready to give the thought. The teacher requests a pupil to give in his own language what he has just read. ”

“ The teacher may write on the blackboard simple sentences based upon these observations and descriptions. Anything in the environment of the home or the school which interests the child should be utilized. Encourage the children to observe their household pets and to tell the other children about them. Whatever the child makes in the time devoted to handicraft, or observes in the nature lessons, or plays in the recreation period may be used as material for reading lessons. Color is so intimately connected with the emotional life that its value and importance should be recognized. ”

“ Freedom of expression usually accompanies the reading of interesting thought. The child will usually use natural, clear tones in reading, as he does in talking, if he understands what he reads. Many children read poorly because they neither understand nor feel any meaning in the words. Both gesture and language will be spontaneous if prompted by right thinking and right feeling. The dramatic presentation of a story, however crude, becomes a great aid.
Word Repetition. Many repetitions of words, phrases, and sentences are necessary in mastering the symbol. ”

“ Phonic drill and reading are distinct processes and should be taught at different periods of the day during the first two years of school. The purpose of the elementary reading lesson is to associate permanently the thought and the symbols which represent it, so that the thought can be gained from the written or printed language. The purpose of the elementary phonic lesson is to associate permanently sounds and the characters which represent them, so that new words can be readily recognized. ”

“ It is important, therefore, that in the beginning the child should form the habit of grasping sentences. In the first reading lessons it is necessary to find subjects which interest the child and furnish clear mental pictures. Children are interested in actions. They like to move and will read for the purpose of performing an action. Action sentences appeal to all children, because that which a child does makes a deep impression and involves large self-activity. ”

“ It is of the utmost importance that children be given a broad experience with sound in the way of ear and voice training exercises for a few weeks before the formal study of phonics is begun. These exercises may be carried on in connection with the thought development in learning to read and in the music work. In the nature work the children should be trained to listen to bird note, insect hum, and other sounds of nature. Story-telling is most helpful in this ear training. ”

“ Have the children learn the rhymes by ear and recite them with no thought other than that they are to be enjoyed. Incidentally, they will afford valuable exercise in pronunciation, articulation, and tone modulation, if the teacher is careful about these matters, for children are great imitators. Later the children will read these rhymes and poems with great pleasure, thus associating a valuable thought content with its printed symbol in a way that will make the association abiding. ”

“ In the Primer, the First Reader, and the Second Reader, the words of the vocabulary are arranged in the order in which they first occur, and are grouped by pages in a word list placed in the back of the book. Since teachers usually write unfamiliar words upon the blackboard and develop them in a word drill preceding the reading lesson, it has not been thought necessary to place the new words at the beginning of each lesson. ”

“ In a wider sense all means of social communication, material and pictorial expressions, as well as spoken and written words, may be called language. Thought, through symbol, to thought, is the whole social process of language, spoken and written, for every meaning has a symbol and every symbol has a meaning.
The Problem in Learning to Read. The problem in teaching reading is to bring the symbol and its meaning into vital unity in the mind of the learner. Hence it is necessary that the teacher distinguish clearly between these elements. ”

“ Word Drill. Drill upon the words learned is necessary to mechanize ear, voice, eye, and hand in the reading process so that the child may be left free to attend to the subject-matter. Have the children pronounce, write, and spell the unfamiliar words found in the reading lesson. Insist upon exact pronunciation and a natural, pleasing modulation of the voice. Later the children should use these same words in spoken and written sentences. After children have learned the names of the letters, both oral and written spelling should be used, since they are correlative processes. ”

“ The child is an active, creative agent, vitally concerned in adjusting himself to his physical and spiritual environment. Self-activity manifests itself in some external form, which in language is the symbol of the self-active thought. Success in teaching reading depends upon the amount of self-active response the symbol awakens in the thought of the child. ”

“ A loud, harsh voice makes purity of sound impossible.
3. Cultivate the attentive ear in children. Teach them to hear, and then to image, the song of the birds, the patter of the rain, the sound of the wind, the hum of the bee, the puff of the locomotive and other familiar sounds. ”

“ Uncover the whole word and ask the children to put the two sounds together to make the word, run.
If the children cannot do this the teacher may do it for them, making the sound r prominent. The ability to blend one sound with another should not be a difficult phase of the work. The teacher's attitude toward blending is the influence which makes it hard or easy for the child.
To associate the sound r with its written symbol the following method is suggested:
The teacher writes r upon the blackboard, giving the sound, not the name. ”

“ The training of the eye and the hand is, therefore, more important in learning to spell than the training of the ear and the voice, although oral spelling sometimes helps by bringing in the auditory and the vocal memory to assist the visual and the manual. ”

“ They observe the sentence as a whole, image it as a whole, and read it as a whole. Comprehension of the thought leads to freedom of expression. In consequence, pupils will not be heard pronouncing disconnected words in unnatural, artificial tones.
The development of the lesson is as follows:
First: Children observe and express.
Second: The teacher writes this expression on the blackboard. When a story of three or four sentences is complete the order of interpretation is as follows:
First: Children observe and image. (Silent reading.)
Second: Each child in turn expresses the whole thought. ”

“ When a child forms an image of a word burdened with diacritical marks, he must later form an image of the word without these. When children are taught to look for diacritical marks their imaging power is centered upon the markings of the words instead of the thoughts for which these words stand; hence it takes longer to get the thought, and as a consequence they are apt to be slow readers. Rapid readers are usually thoughtful readers, because they have the power to grasp quickly a large number of words and to interpret them in mental pictures.
Phonic Drill. ”

“ The rhymes and poems are suggestive, not final. The teacher may choose others if they better meet her need. Those selected from song literature have a tone quality that will interest children and prove helpful in training the ear. Read the poems aloud in a well modulated voice, with clear articulation, that the children may become sensitive to the beauty of the human voice.
5. Ear training should precede the formal study of phonics for a few weeks. ”

“ In the beginning children should learn to spell by writing, not as a drill in penmanship, but for the purpose of calling attention to the form of the word.
Elements. Spelling is a complex and difficult art and requires (a) training in elementary sounds and their symbols, or phonic drill; (b) training of eye and hand in forming the letters of a word, or written spelling; (c) training of ear and voice in naming the letters of a word, or oral spelling. ”

“ Slow Pronunciation of Names. Children are interested in their own names; if they pronounce these slowly they will begin to distinguish sounds. The teacher first pronounces her own name as the children watch, making prominent the initial sound. She then calls upon different children to pronounce their names. ”

“ If necessary precede a lesson in the First Reader with a development lesson on the blackboard. (See page 39, Part II, Lesson XXI.)
3. A Supplementary List of Poems is given to be read in connection with the lessons in the First Reader. Do not ask children to retell the poems read aloud. To develop an appreciation of poetry is the object. Children who have been accustomed to hearing poetry will read and enjoy the poems in their readers as much as the stories. The teacher's attitude toward poetry is the suggestion that influences. ”

“ Language is the conventional means by which man communicates his thoughts. It is a complex unity composed of thought and symbol, spoken or written. Because it is the means by which different minds are identified in thought, it becomes an essential factor in social organization. ”

“ All thought which rises to the plane of self-consciousness is communicated by means of a material, a pictorial, or a lingual symbol. The thought element and the symbol element are two sides of the same thing, namely, language. ”

“ Children express in action, and ultimately in character, the influences which they receive from stories. Therefore, stories containing true and good ideals should be selected. Children appreciate and love what appeals to the best and the highest in them. ”

“ The analysis of these words into their sound elements will determine the number of phonograms to be taught. Proper drill upon both the phonic series and the word lists leads to sight recognition of words, by means of their sound elements. This is the purpose of phonic work.
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Phonic Cards. All drill work should train the mind to observe accurately, to image vividly, and to express quickly. In every exercise aim to secure, first, clear images; second, rapid work. It interferes with normal growth and development to reverse this order. ”

“ As soon as the children can read the words arranged in a series, take them irregularly. When they have power quickly to perceive and blend the sound elements, refrain from covering the parts. The goal is instant sight recognition. ”

“ Those given in the Manual indicate the order of development, not the time. American children will master the lessons given in from six to eight weeks. Foreign children will require a little more time, since they must learn to associate thought with both the spoken and the written symbol. When children read lessons written on the blackboard with ease, put the Primer in their hands. ”

“ She then calls upon other children to read them. A child may pretend that she is Kitty and dramatize the action. This dramatic instinct is universal in children and should be recognized throughout the school life. ”

“ Consonant sounds are recognized as initial, final, and medial. Next the phonogram element is analyzed into its vowel and consonant sounds. By means of familiar symbols the child has the power to pronounce new words. A knowledge of individual symbols is the foundation upon [Pg 14] which the sight recognition of words rests; hence the necessity of rapid and varied drills.
The method suggested in this Manual for phonic lessons is as follows:
1. ”

“ Do not teach it as a separate sound. Call attention to the difference in form and the corresponding difference in sound.
REVIEW.
X.
x.
1. x = ks as in milks. x is not one of the simple elementary sounds.
2. x in ax, fox, six, next, Foxy, Loxy, wax.
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XI.
i (short) .
1. Separate it into the sound elements i and t. (Give sound, not name.)
2. Combine i (short) with consonants to form the phonograms in, im, ip, id, ib, it, ig, ill, iss, ish, ick.
3. Word List:
Give a short drill each day at the close of the lesson upon the phonic list. ”