‘LJYANUARY__3_, 194g

Li‘

THE GUARDIAN. CHARLUTTETUAWN

THE EDU€A TIONAL HORIZON

' PIISENTING NEWS AN - - . D VIEWS OF [INTEREST TO TEACHERS AND ALL OTHERS SEEKING

IMPROVEMENT IN EDUCATION

material contained in this] n" was contributed by the

A SHORT TEST IN

Ilia former Canadian Prime Insist!‘ who died recently in Greet Britain.

DJ. Manion, R. B. Bennett, Bl: new: Borden, w. 1. Mackenzie ling.

l. The llg Five are:

Russia. Oenada. China, Germany. United States. Japan, Britain, Aus- tralla, Franco.

3. The present Russian Foreign Minister is:

' Bldeault, Lenin, Marshall Stalin,

teachers of th "ch 1 Urban lsocai." ' uomww“

CURRENT EVENTS

Molotoff, Gromyke.

4. The peace treaty talks for Ger. many were held in Paris, Moscow, Washington, Berlin, London.

l. Peace treaties have already been made for: Germany, Austria. Bunsen’. Japan. ltely. Finland. Ro- mania, Spain, Bulgaria, Holland.

Answers:

1. R. B. Bennett. 2. Russia. China, United States, Britain, France.

3. Molotoff. 4. Moscow. a. Hun- gary, Italy, Finland, Romania, Bul- gas-Ia.

ALPHABET OF ATTRIIUTES

Tile following has been given as an alphabet of desirable attributes of Lauccessful teacher: (a) adap- telility (b) bravery (c) charity (d) determinalion (e) effort (f) faith (g) generosity (h) halllliness

kindness (l) love (m) modesty (n) nervousness (o) observation (p) prejudice (q) queerness (r) resis- tance (s) sincerity (t) tact (u) understanding (v) versatility (w) wisdom (x) xenomania (y) youth-

(i). imagination (j) Jealousy (k)

fulness (z) zeal.

FORM OF AN ENGLISH COMPOSITION '

When a pupil reaches Grade IX or X, ho should know at least how a good composition should look. However, usually the $enlor Class teacher has to take time out to teach what should have been leamed from Grade IV on through the Intermediate grades. Having fairly well mastered form. the p11,)- lls can profitably put more time on learning the more difficult gram- matical constructions.

Some good rules to be adopted In the form a composition should take may be summed up as follows:

(l) The tllle should be wel. centred on the top line; or if two or more lines are necessary. ar- range as well as possible for bal- ance. Capitalize the first word and all other important words ex- cept the article and short prepo- sltions and conjunctions. Use no punctuation at the end unless s question mark or exclamation point is needed

LANGUAGE AND

The first requisite in the suc- cessful teaching oi composition is the desire to create in the minds of the pupils the ambition to ex~ cal in the expression of their thoughts, and above all to want to speak and write correctly. 1n order to reach this much-desired goal, we must have variety,—variet,- of subjects and variety of methods in teaching these subjects. This cul- tivation of the spirit of ambition to speak and write must be begun in the lower grades. Composition begins with, language work in Grades I and II and must be con- tinued through the grades.

In the teaching of composition the followlngare some of the im- portant polnts to be stressed; vocabulary building, correct speech, sentence tructure, paragraphing. topics, correction of errors. and punctuation.

Developing Vocabulary

Iupils will inever he able to speak or wrilo \vell unless they have a plentiful supply of words at their corhmand. Vocabulary building, ther More, forms an im- portant factol in the training of every child.

As vocabulary training for the little ones. Oil mlflllli 85k "W" V‘ name a number of objects they see in the clan. findlnfl I Wold l0 describe each objects seen in their living r hm, and objects seen en their way o school. .

Another mcnod might be to give the children l list or words 11kt good, pretty, ‘Hill, etc., and have them write clr opposites. A8!"- theteuchel- wright write senten- ces such as. ‘The dog barks" ano have the pill ils make similar sen- tences tclllllr what sounds other animals mull. Or. QUE-lull“ w“? this could be given, “What do you call the rnilll nr woman who has i! store where t cse things are mad. or sold—hrca . shoes, meat, ctr? Again, in a story such as, "Old Mother Hubbard." write or namc all the place to which the olli

(2) Always leave a blank line ai- tor the title, that the title may stand out more clearly.

(3) leave about a one-inch mar- gin at the left, keep the margin even.

(i) On the right avoid extremes oi over-crowding or too big gaps.

(b) At the end of a line divide a word only between syllables, placing a hyphen at the end of the line to show the division. Avoid unnec y breaking up of words.

(6) indent the first line of every paragraph about an inch.

(7) Writing your name, your class. and the date may vary ac- cording tn the directions of the teacher. Possibly, these latter may be inserted at the end of the es- say; so as not to detract from the title.

(8) leave subficieni. space be- tween words, and e. double space between sentences.

COMPOSITION

lady went to get something for her dog, and tell what she got st each place. _

Here is a game which might be used to advantage. The teacher pre- pares two sets of cards. one white. and the other colored. On the wihite cards she writes certain \vords and on the colored cards their synonyms. For example, on the white cards -naughty. little. broad. and on the colored ones- bad, small, wide. The teacher then gives a card to each pupil (per- haps the white to a boy and the colored to a girl) and says: Each word on your card has a partner word. l. e. a word-which has the same meaning. (The word "IYBPYP ym" should not be used below Grade V.) The game today will 51! to match up these word partners. Any child may begin the game by holding up his card so that all members will ace it. ‘llhe child who holds the partner word will im- mediately come forward and stand beside him. The two will then move out to the front. YEPBBWIK their words. When all are matched. the first couple will be leaders in a march. When the teacher calls. “Halt!” the line will stop and the boy in the first couple will make a story using his word. Ex. ha)‘ kitty u naughty. ins partner W111 repeat his story usine h" WW‘!- Ex. My kitty is bad. Several set! of stories may be given before the order to march is repeated. At the next order to halt. the stories will be continued from the point where the last one was given. when all the synonyms have been used, the children march to their places.

To drill “l have". "l shall". "1 bought" and to eliminate "Have you got?" "I will", the [Julius might play ‘The Game of the Gro- cery Store." One boy. appointed R! grocer, alts behind a table on which are laid a number of cards bear- ing the names of articles to be found in a grocery store. These names may be printed or written and. oi course, should have been drilled previously to assure famil-

lIrlty-Thlsllstiaeug u ; P°Pl’"-"'"- "ll- aovlac: Jifhliffiii "'9 curds have duplicates. one of

' which is given to each child in

the class. To tributed. mo}; mfixlideylnu cum: :0‘: 33° ‘mt’ ""1 "if. "Mr. Grocer,

W“ "l? tea? (or whatever mil’ be named on his card.) The grocer replica. “Yes. I have some m- il" mlleh do !0u_wlsh m buy? The child names any quan- tity he desires, pay; M‘ mongy. receives the duplicate or hi; “m "m" "l9 Zrocer and returns home, that is. to his seat. The game con. tinues until all the articles have been acid. After all are seated and before the cards are collected, the teacher should ask each child 1n turn_ What did you buy at the store?" "l bought a, pound o; t“... "What shall you do with m" "r shall drink lt," etc.

For older children the following has proved successful. a. With the assistance of the teacher, the pup- ils collect as many words as they can w describe a given noun.

b. Some of the words are then

used in sentences after the spell- ing and meaning of each have been mastered.

c. The same worvk are used in a paragraph. -

First Step. Accumulate words de- scribing the noun father. (kind, generous, erect, tall. sturdy, happy, witty, cheerful, extravagant, weal- thy.)

Second Step. Apply the words in sentences. (Extravagant men will soon empty their purses.)

Third Step. Get the pumls to build up a paragraph using these words. The- teacher might write the paragraph on the board while the pupils give it. (My father is tall. erect and sturdy. Although he is very wealthy, he is not ‘at all extravagant. Because he is kind and generous to the poor, they frequently appeal to him for aid. I like him because he is cheerful and witty. and I am happy to call him my father.)

In the upper grades the pupils are old enough to realize that there are certain words to which they are partial but which do not sde~ quately expres their ideas. How many use nice to describe any- thing and everything! What can be done about it?

An exercise such as this might at least make them conscious of the fault and perhaps correct it.

List a number of expressions as; nice soil, a nice open fire. a. nice audience, a nice sermon. a nice harvest. In a separate column have a numlber of adjectives like abun- dant, appreciative, fertile, cheerful, inspiring, from which the student may choose a modifier more suit- able than nice. The average pupil will reallze that fertile soil. a cheer- ful open fire, an abundant harvest, an inspiring sermon, an apprecia- tive audience. will express their ideas more exactly than the abused "nice."

Correct. speech

Along wilds the development o1 a good vocabulary, correct speech habits must be inculcated from the first day in school. Little games on the use of saw. did and such words are very profitable. For in stance, each child might be asked to tell in a complete story, which

An interesting way to learn the use of Punctuation marks is: ist. Draw a. hand l5 inches or more in length with white chalk, and ‘ell the pupils it is a Traffic Officer's hand.

2nd. Above the hand print the word STOP. Then in each finger and thumb draw with yellow chalk the Comma, Semicolon. etc, and on the palm the Question Mark, etc.

3rd. The younger pupils seem to

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON

The average senior pupil is not able to cope with arithmetic suc- cessfully. Those handling problems fairly well on paper often cannot do simple mental arithmetic rap-

PUNCTUATION IN GRADE III

in Grades l and ll would be a sen- tence, varlous things he saw on his way to school, thus drilling the word saw. Smilax- games mlgllg bg made up for stressing the use o1 did. lie, lay. etc.

m- establlshingcorrect halbits in l tbe'use of the , l prongung liter is and are. Habit Drills wll. be of some assistance. EmI-tIsLIsitHlt‘ Isn't it l? m" L

It la we. etc.

It is he. etc. It Is she. etc, 1* l! they. etc.

These drills could be placed an tabs blackboard or on a pqgfgy, Th. Dag-gag! vgsenlcalendfi: serve the

ce . . habit drill is: y other good I ' Between you and me. l

Between him and me.

Between John and me. i

No doubt it is the task of many l teachers to correct the muqh M“ l I done, I seen. One might tell the

two old gentlemen who are un. able to go about without canes, these canes being the auxiliary verbs.

A 800d language contest ls an excellent device for teaching cor- rect speech. Divide the class 1mg two sides with a captain for each side. Have iihe pupils correct one mother's mistakes in speaking and keep an account of them. At the and of the week, the captain of each team will make a report, and the side winning might receive a small reward.

Oral answers in History and Geogfaphy and in other subjects even in Arithmetic, should be given in correct English. Pupils, however, should not be interrupted to cor-

are endeavoring to express their thoughts. Such action tends to make them timid and self-conscious Another time should be set aside to develop correct language forms.

Sentence Structure

Much of the Language work in Grade I maybe correlated with the reading lesson. Every lesson in the readers on the curriculum for Gil-dc I has its accompanying pic~ ture. . In- the preparation of the morrow’s lesson, each child might be asked to tell the story of the picture. In the early days of the year, answers will be in mollosyl- lables only, but these will gradual- ly be replaced by complete senten- ces. As soon as the child is able to tell his story in a complete sentence; it should be printed or written on the blackboard. Thus the transition between the oral rad the written composition is made immediately.

The health lesson provides an excellent opportunity for oral ex- pression. As each health rule is taught. qeustions can be asked to which the children answer in a complete story. For instance, "Whst should we do to the window at night?" to which the child answers, "We should open the win- dow wide." “What should we drink at meal time?" "We should drink milk at meal time," etc.

children that done and seen arc I

rect faulty forms of speech, when | they are reproducing or when they ,

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S. A. McDonald's

January Clearance

This Ia the Sale you have been- weltlng for! Listed below are lest e few of the departmental

Ii visit, to our store will ‘be well wertb ‘your lvllile. You will flail It pays to III] at 3.13;.

e Ladies’ Winter Goats elaring at1/3 off e Children’: Winter Boats at v e 25 Only ladies’ Grape Dresses

Glearing at )2 Prloe e Balance Ladies’ Wool Dresses e Balance 0hiliren’s Snow Suits

e Mews and Boys’ Winter boats

SPECIAL PRICES

0n many other winter ..lin'os- are ollorod in this great Store-wide Value Saving lolo.

we are teetering.

clearing clearing Clearing at lied

accounted fol", at least in part, by

The language lesson may also take the form of a. game. Have the pupils choose partners.

To be continued

understand about pausing very much better by keeping this Draw- ing on the board.

4th. Later in the year draw 4 hands each one a little smaller. than the preceding one. In the largest hand place the Period. Ex- clamation Mark and longest pause marks. In second larger hand the colon. in third-semicolon and 'n 4th. (smallest) the Comma.

A.W.

COMMERCIAL ARITHMETIC.

really -know the meaning o! per- centage and can apply it. to prac- tical situations.

Why is this so? Each teacher) has his or her own theories to

idly and accurately. Only a few

advance; but it would seem to be

(d) children being given work be- yond their experience. especially in the lower grades. (2) each WP)! 91' problem not being explained thor- oughly when it first appears. (3) inaccurate reading and lack of mental picturing on the part oi the pupils. (4) pupils not thinking through the problem as it would actually develop "in real life. (5) the poor system used in solving problems. (6) lack of facility in handling the fundamental opera- tions.

But let us look at the positive rather than the negative aspect and consider each of the above in n constructive w-ay.

(1) Arithmetic in the early grades should he very simple, and pvac- tically all done mentally, using sit- uations familiar to the child. such as problems dealing with trips to the store, sharing things with play- mates aud using numbers as the

‘ child uses them in his games. Chil-

drcn enjoy setting up shops of dif- I

Prince ‘Street School Scholars

COMIC

; Audfl! ha")

. v .- "Olml l“! "MI WIN!

(‘lleschkl Marie‘ flanallnlelen fewer, Ilisabeth Campbell. June lliaabetn Anderson

,' Florence Vail, Thelma

ma» "smut. Donne runs, nose lavidant, m... ilardo nasal.

male ‘ s. ~ i , 4mm by Garniaue. l

GRADE V —- Mrs SWIM.

ferent kinds in the school room and thinking up ways to repre- sent the goods they have to sell. Imitation money will servo and pupils will learn the relative val- ues of the different denominations of silver and bills. In grades seven and eight the idea can be expand~ ed to include applications of per- centage such as trade discount, profit and loss, banking, insurance. commission, duties and taxation; in short, every type oi’ commercial arithmetic can be made "reel" in this way. But some will say, "How can we do this with a large class?‘ Change the system of everyone do- ing arithmetic at the same time to , one of a few doing arithmetic

while the rest are engaged in other I work such as supplementary read- I ing or composition. It is not neces-

sary that all do the same problems , as long as all understand the var- ; lous types and do a sufficient nunl- i ber of problems from time to time 1 to impress each business proced-I uro on their minds.

Perhaps the sreaiest mistake a teacher can make is to give pupils o! any age arithmetic which is beyond their understanding. 1f in the early grades pupils are requir- ed to do problems which are be- yond their experience. they build up an incorrect concept of school arithmetic and soon divorce the whole subject from real life. ’l‘hen it becomes an unreal computation existing on paper only; and, there- fore, the most récllcrllous answers are accepted. ery problem, no matter how simple, is dealt with in the most complicated and round- about manner, and so the “mon- ster" grows until by the time grades nine and ten are reached, many pupils are quite convinced that arithmetic is utterly beyond their comprehension. After that they consider it a subject that the few very smart ones can llan- dle, but one that is not within the scope of the average pupils‘ know- ledge. When we realize how sim- ple and straightforward the prob-

A DEVICE FOR SEAT WORK

IIOI._ Ponies 0f 6%“ plgcgg u; beet to begin with. later on a twelve-piece series may be used, 1'°11°W¢d by one or fourteen or more. Small children may need to be told to match colours in the bieces. to find parts of figures, and to be sure the completed pic- ture has straight edges.

whim "l9 llllPll has completed u" Pill-IN. ask for an oral one- sentence story. Rule out beginnings such as "'I'here is," "1 have", “My picture ia." Have the child begin b1 ill-filing the most important. thing in the picture as subject. When his sentence is complete ask him to write it on a paper slip, wins capital and period.

After a few days, oral work may N fifllwfli- Pupils who hand in a correct sentence may be “gag 1°.- a second one, and finally rol-

three-sentence story. This brings

Numb" same: are not to take the place of the regular lrlthmatlg Willi‘. but are to enliven it and to create an active interest in

(lleaober)

hoot My, loft to right: Roma Korrcy. Edith sherren. Lorna lesser. Oarol Nicolle, Ann Creamer.

Ia-neatine Mills, turtle Garnhum.

Mary Fielding, Carol Oemeron.

Oeatar my. left w mm: Robert amiss. Alec Hewett. only ‘“°1*~n. ma eiunm. Dorm Dul- leti». liars llacdailuaa, Betty Reid, IarrBcl-uiageour, ‘Jack rtou, Rollie Diamond.

Beck new. left to rilit: Gerald Ac Hubert Hrguson. Andrew Mac Auley. stealer list.

IIIILIIIUIA“,

da, Rdllfile Diamond. accel- rema- "We lay. David Mu-

-PhotA n Ciarnbum _

tr

number work by ‘pplyjn. l- through experienu. All numbe;

‘facts must have a lflnlflggncg i

‘l

which comes only through childe experience; equlvglenu should instantly come to mind without the slow and labo our pro-

the

a used so a test in selecting workers.

NUMBER GAMES FOR PRIMARY GRADES

I

1/30"

at 20%‘ o

at 2096oif

uoed Prloee

19ml ill our tut are, surely w; inu-stlsee that there is something m“ ""11 sohoob where only a m!“ 5:09AM“ of the pupm n. grade one continues inoe senior work, ma; lmk o‘ “ma” metlo sense" is not so obvious as la In?" ""9915: wecially in tonal, "M" "w" Pupil! proceed ta senior grades.