LESSON 33

A Christmas Letter

Your mother will be very glad to find in your Christmas book a letter to her, telling about your school. She will be glad to have you tell her about your work and what you have done to make the Christmas book. You may like to tell her how you wrote a letter to Santa Claus, or how you told the story of the four pictures. Think of the part that you enjoyed most and tell her about it.

When you have finished your letter, hold it up in front of you to see if it looks like the picture of the letter to Santa Claus. Then look through the letter carefully to see if you have begun every sentence with a capital letter and have put the right mark at the end. Perhaps you will wish to copy the letter to make it look better and to correct everything that is not right. Of course you will be careful to spell every word correctly.

LESSON 34

Your Christmas Book

You have now four things to put into your book:

A Letter to Santa Claus

A Christmas Poem

A Christmas Story

A Christmas Letter

CHRISTMAS PROJECT - BINDING THE BOOK 87

If you do very neat work in arithmetic, you may like to put a page of examples into your book. Ask your teacher about it.

You have now to make the covers for the book. Two sheets of drawing paper cut the right size will make very good covers. On the front cover you will wish to draw or paint something that is neat and pretty. Your teacher or your drawing teacher will help you about this work. When your cover is ready, put the sheets between the covers and punch two holes through them. Tie the book neatly with ribbons or colored strings, and your book is finished. Haven't you enjoyed making it? Do not fold the book when you carry it home.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and we hope that you will have a pleasant vacation.

THE NEW YEAR

LESSON 35

The Names of the Months

As this is the first month in the year, it is a good time to learn how to spell the names of all the months. Then you can use each one as you come to it. Some of them are hard to spell, and some of them are very short and easy. The months that come in spring and summer have short easy names. In the cold months the names are longer and harder to learn, but you do not mind working harder in the cold days.

Pronounce each name distinctly and be careful to sound each syllable clearly. Watch for the r in February.

NAMES OF THE MONTHS

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You and your classmates may then spell the names aloud, making a slight pause between each syllable. Pronounce the name before you spell it, and again after you have spelled it.

Perhaps your teacher will ask you to write some of the longer names on the blackboard. When you are writing the names, remember:

The name of each month should always begin with a capital letter.

Written Exercise

This is a test to see whether you have learned to write the names of the months. With your book closed write the names of the twelve months in order. Then open your book and mark those that are not spelled correctly. correctly. At the top of your paper write the number that you have right. If you make any mistakes in spelling, master the words thoroughly; then write these names correctly spelled and in proper order, and hand to your teacher a perfect

paper.

The Game of Months

The teacher may choose the first leader, who will think of the month which he wants to be, but he is not to tell the other pupils what it is. He will tell the class what kind of weather he has, what fruits and flowers he brings, what he does to the trees, the

shrubs, what the birds do, what games the children play, and anything else that is true. Then he may ask the other pupils to think what month he is.

If a pupil thinks he knows, he may raise his hand, and the leader will ask him to go to the blackboard and write the name of the month. The pupil who thinks of the right month and spells the name correctly may be the next leader. If the leader should forget and use aint, he must go to his seat at once. The game goes like this:

Leader: I am a month that is very cold; the ground is covered with snow; the boys slide and build snow forts; the girls play games in the snow and go skating; and sometimes I have very hard storms, and the wind blows and piles the snow in great drifts that fill the roads and sidewalks and make it very hard for little boys and girls to go to school. What month am I?

(Helena raises her hand.)

Leader: Helena, you may go to the blackboard and write the name of the month.

(Helena writes December.)

Leader: No, it isn't December.

(George raises his hand.)

Leader: George you may go to the blackboard and write the name of the month.

(George writes February.)

Leader: Yes, it is February.