Immagini della pagina
PDF
ePub

WORD LESSONS

FOR INTERMEDIATE AND GRAMMAR ᏀᎡᎪᎠ Ꭼ Ꮪ

DESIGNED TO TEACH THE CORRECT SPELLING, PRONUNCI-
ATION, AND USE OF SUCH WORDS ONLY AS ARE MOST
COMMON IN CURRENT LITERATURE, AND AS ARE
MOST LIKELY TO BE MISSPELLED, MISPRONOUNCED, OR
MISUSED, AND TO AWAKEN NEW INTEREST IN THE
STUDY OF SYNONYMS AND OF WORD ANALYSIS

BY

ALONZO REED, A. M.

Joint author of " Primary Speller," "Graded Lessons in English,”
"Higher Lessons in English," etc.

[blocks in formation]

CHARLES E. MERRILL CO., PUBLISHERS 44-60 EAST TWENTY-THIRD STREET

HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY

GIFT OF

GINN & CO.

DEC 11 1930

A COMPLETE COURSE IN SPELLING, LANGUAGE, GRAMMAR, and COMPOSITION

SPELLING

Primary Speller. By ALONZO REED, A.M., and EDNA H. L. TURPIN.

[blocks in formation]

These two books offer a complete course in spelling for primary, interiediate, and grammar grades. They are designed to teach the correct spelling, pronunciation, and use of such words only as are most common in current literature and as are most likely to be misspelled, mispronounced, or misused, and to awaken a new interest in the study of synonyms and of word analysis.

LANGUAGE LESSONS

Introductory Language Work. By ALONZO REED, A.M. A simple, varied, methodical series of exercises in English to precede the study of technical grammar.

GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION

Graded Lessons in English. By ALONZO REED, A.M., and Brainerd Kellogg, LL.D.

An elementary English grammar, consisting of one hundred practical lessons in analysis and composition, carefully graded and adapted to the class

room.

Higher Lessons in English. By ALONZO REED, A.M., and BRAINERD KELLOGG, LL.D.

A work on English grammar and composition, in which the science of the language is made tributary to the art of expression. A course of practical lessons, carefully graded and adapted to everyday use in the schoolroom.

COPYRIGHT, 1884, 1894, 1897, BY ALONZO REED.
COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY FRANCES M. REED.

PREFACE

Is there a substitute for the spelling book?—In the lower primary grades, the primary speller can be supplemented with the work of copying words and sentences from the blackboard and of writing exercises in connection with "oral language lessons."

For the more advanced grades, copying from the reading book, writing compositions, and making abstracts of daily lessons in geography, history, etc., afford good practice in spelling; but will and can the average teacher, without sacrifice of the time belonging to the subject-matter of the "lessons in geography, history, etc.," exercise that unremitting vigilance in criticism, correction, and recorrection which is necessary to make these "abstracts" in any measure a substitute for daily exercises in the spelling, pronunciation, and use of short lists of judiciously selected words?

There are certain difficulties in spelling which are well known to be common and almost universal. So far as these are found in words that are, or should be, in the pupil's vocabulary, is it not more economic to meet them directly and persistently than to wait for them to occur incidentally at long intervals in the work of copying or of general composition?

This book was made with the conviction:

1. That the faults of the average spelling book could be avoided, and that a book of word lessons could be made so interesting and suggestive as to become an indispensable aid in the all-important work of learning to express thought correctly. 2. That the pronunciation and use of words should be taught in connection with their spelling.

3. That, after excluding the unusual words of the "oldtime speller," more than one half of the modern spelling-book words should be dropped as not likely to be misspelled by the average learner.

4. That all exercises should be graded with reference to the natural growth of the child's vocabulary.

5. That there should be variety in the character of the lessons and in the methods of classification.

6. That the principles of association, or of comparison and contrast, should be regarded in meeting such difficulties as arise from the use of different symbols for the same or similar sounds.

7. That the homonyms (or homophones) are among the most useful and most troublesome words in the language.

8. That, as the child is likely to carry through life what is copied or repeated from school books, illustrative sentences should, as far as possible, present the richest thoughts and the choicest gems of expression that can be gathered from literature.

9. That pupils in the common school should be so introduced to the study of word analysis that they will be encouraged to consult the dictionary for the derivation of words, and to trace the links connecting the original with the current meaning.

10. That there is no more valuable intellectual discipline than the study of synonyms, and that a series of lessons may be so presented as to lead the pupil almost unconsciously into the habit of weighing words and making nice, yet sound, distinctions.

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

THIS edition of Reed's "Word Lessons" conforms to Webster's International Dictionary, imprint of 1909, with respect to spelling, pronunciation, and syllabication.

The entire book has been reset in new type, and whatever typographical changes have seemed helpful in securing a more open and attractive page have been made.

Nothing has been omitted, but a number of new words which have recently come into general use have been added, so that Reed's "Word Lessons" (of which over four million copies have already been sold) is now the latest of the books designed to teach the correct spelling, pronunciation, and use of such words as are most common in current literature.

NEW YORK, July 1, 1909.

METHODS OF TEACHING SPELLING

Words without thoughts are dead sounds; thoughts without words are nothing. MAX MULLER.

-

SPELLING is chiefly a habit of the eye, and is of practical use only in writing. The pupil should therefore be trained to see word-forms correctly, and to reproduce them on paper till correct writing becomes easy and natural. The large, clear type, the open page, and the variety of exercises in this book are designed to this end.

For the lower grades, copying the choice selections found in the following pages will afford excellent practice in spelling and in the use of capital letters and punctuation marks; but such exercises should be subjected to rigid examination, and no careless work should be accepted.

In assigning a lesson the teacher should see that the pupils are able to pronounce all the words correctly, and that they know something of the use of each word. The following lessons are so arranged as to present a thorough and carefully graded course in the principles of pronunciation without defacing the page or confusing the. eye to any considerable extent with diacritical marks. The spelling, pronunciation, and use of words are so associated that they can better be taught together than separately. Pupils should be required to illustrate the use of all words except names grouped topically.

The usual method of dictating written exercises in spelling is a good one. The teacher pronounces the words, which the pupils write on paper or in their spelling-blanks. Papers are then exchanged, and the teacher or one of the pupils gives the correct spelling of each word, while every pupil checks the mistakes found on the paper which he holds. The papers are then returned, the number of errors reported, and corrections made by rewriting the words in a separate column.

« IndietroContinua »