ORAL COMPOSITION 151 you put up on the lawn and in which you play during the summer. If you have made one, tell the class how you made it. If you have a real tent, tell the class how you set it up, or about one good time that you had in it. If you have never had a tent of your own, tell about one that you have seen. Where would be a good place to pitch a tent near your home? Tell about the largest tent or the prettiest you have ever seen. Find the Correct Word The words that belong in the blank places are mixed up in the list below. Find the right word for each blank space. Suppose that you went to Frank's home the morning after the wind had blown his first tent down. Make up a story about your visit. It may help you if you answer these questions: Where did you go? Did any one come out from the house? What did you see? What had the wind done? What did you and Frank do? WAS, WERE A GAME LESSON 2 Learning to Use Was and Were 153 Read the sentences and study the words that are in black letters: Mary was here. Mary and Tom were here. The bird was near her. The birds were near her. When we speak of one person or thing, do we use was or were? Which word do we use when we mean more than one? A Game The teacher will appoint a leader, who will leave the room. The teacher will lay one pencil on one of She will leave it for a few moments and then take it away. the desks. The leader will come back into the room and will try to find on whose desk the teacher put the pencil. This is the way the game goes: Leader: Mary, was the pencil on your desk? Leader: Harold, was the pencil on your desk? Leader: Ethel, was the pencil on your desk? The teacher will now appoint a new leader, who will leave the room. The teacher will lay two or three pencils on a desk this time, and the game will go like this: Leader: Hazel, were the pencils on your desk? Hazel: No, the pencils were not on my desk. And so on as long as the game is played. Practice Exercise Fill each blank space with was or were. Use the one that you think is correct. Should you like to play that we are in a tent and to act a story before the class? If you like, you may play that the pupils must buy tickets and present them at the door as they come in, just as they SPEAKING DISTINCTLY would if they were coming into a circus. 155 With the help of your teacher you may plan this part. Your teacher will read a story to you, and then she will choose some of the class to act it. It will not matter if the ones who act do not remember everything that is in the story. (The story is in the manual.) Can you think of another story that you would like to act some day? You may tell the story to the class. Spelling Game - Seat Work See how many words you can make from the letters in the words fourth grade. The one wins who finds the most words in the time that your teacher gives you. If you do not know how to play this game, turn back to page 85. LESSON 4 Speaking Distinctly It is said that in the Great War many men could not become officers because they had not learned to speak distinctly when they were in school. Your teacher will read you what one government official said about speaking distinctly. |