30. LANGUAGE LESSON ON THE USE OF A DICTIONARY The dictionary is very necessary in learning to use our language correctly. No one knows all the words in our language there are about two hundred thousand of them. So we are all likely to hear or see words we do not understand. The dictionary will tell us what they mean. We often see words in print that we cannot pronounce. The dictionary will tell us how to say them. If we are in doubt about the spelling of a word, again we go to the dictionary. EXERCISE: Find out from the dictionary the meaning and pronunciation of the following words. Ask your teacher to explain to you, if you do not know, how to find the words, and about the accents and the diacritical marks. Make a point of spelling correctly whenever you write. Don't allow yourself to form any bad habits in spelling. Perhaps your teacher will choose the words that you have misspelled for your lesson in spelling. Thanksgiving Day Over the river and through the wood - It stings the toes And bites the nose, As over the ground we go. Over the river and through the wood, To have a first-rate play. Hear the bells ring, "Ting-a-ling-ding!" Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day! Over the river and through the wood Spring over the ground, Like a hunting hound! For this is Thanksgiving Day. Over the river and through the wood, Extremely slow, It is so hard to wait! Over the river and through the wood Is the pudding done? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie! - LYDIA MARIA CHILD. 25 Who is supposed to be speaking in the poem? What day is it? Where are they going? What will they do there? Why does the horse "know the way"? What is meant by 66 carry the sleigh"? Do they say this in your part of the country? What is the weather like? How do you know? What bells are meant in the third stanza? What is a "dapple gray"? Whom do the children see first at grandfather's house? How will they spend the day? Where was Thanksgiving Day first observed? How did it come to be observed? At what time of year is it now held; on which day of which month? Who appoints the day every year? Read the poem aloud. Read it as if you were yourself in the Thanksgiving party. 32. WRITTEN LESSON Tell how you spend Thanksgiving Day, and what makes it interesting for you; with whom you spend it; where you spend it; what things you do. Select a title for your composition. Write the title on the first line of your sheet. The principal words of a title begin with capitals. Write carefully, and try to make your account interesting. Let some of the class read the compositions aloud. Whose is most interesting? Which shall go into the class story book? Your teacher may prefer to make this an oral lesson. Which of these words name single things only? Which name more than one thing? What letter do you add to bed so as to make it mean more than one? How do we change names that mean one thing so that they will mean more than one? A word that names only a single thing is singular. A word that names more than one is plural. These name-words are called nouns. Singular nouns are made plural by adding s. Spell the plurals of the following nouns: Give the plural forms of the singular nouns in the follow ing selection: There's tempest in yon horned moon And lightning in yon cloud. The lightning flashes free While the hollow oak our palace is, Our heritage the sea. Some plural nouns do not end in s. What are the plurals for man, woman, child, mouse, ox, sheep, foot, tooth? 34. ORAL LESSON TWO DOGS SCENE: A Roadside. Enter two dogs, Rover and Tyke. Rover Good morning, Tyke. Where are you going? Tyke. Very well. How are you getting along? Rover. Oh, well enough. But life gets a little tiresome, some times. Tyke. Why, I thought a rich man's dog never could be un happy. Rover. You'd think differently if you were in my place. This fine collar on my neck is a great bother. It's too heavy, and it often chafes. When I dig a hole for mice or moles, the collar is in the way. When I go for a walk with Master in the park, he fastens a chain to It is very it and leads me. tiresome to have to trot along in the walks by his side, when the air is full of interesting smells that I want to find out about. Tyke. But when I go into the park the boys throw stones at me because there's no one to take care of me. My master is away at work all day; if he could go with me the boys would not dare molest me. |