USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1891 > Part 16
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4. The aim in all reading lessons should be to secure a full com- prehension of the thought, distinct articulation, correct pronuncia- tion, fluency of speech and natural expression.
NOTE. In this and succeeding grades, paragraphs and selections should be occasionally read by the teacher to serve as models of good reading.
FIFTH GRADE. (8 hours a week.)
1. Reading from books of the grade of a Third Reader.
2. Supplementary reading from historical, geographical and in- formation readers should be given, the purpose being to aid in the in- struction of language, elementary science, and history, and to culti- vate in the pupils a taste for wholesome reading. 1
3. All the exercises of the lower grades to be continued in this and succeeding grades.
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SIXTH GRADE. (G hours a week.)
1. Drill reading from books of the grade of an easy Fourth Reader.
2. Supplementary reading from books for this grade.
NOTE. In this and following grades the classes should be divided into two sections, and each section should be taught separately.
SEVENTH GRADE.
(53 hours a week.)
1. Drill reading from books of the grade of a Fourth Reader.
Supplementary reading from books given to the grade.
EIGHTH GRADE. (4} hours a week.)
1. Drill reading from books of the grade of an Advanced Fourth Reader.
2. Supplementary reading from books given to this grade.
NINTH GRADE. (3 hours a week.)
1. Drill reading from books of the grade of a Fifth Reader ..
2. Supplementary reading from books given to this grade.
LANGUAGE.
FIRST GRADE. (1 hour a week.)
1. Familiar conversations about pictures, objects in the school- room. animals, plants, fruits, games, toys, and other things in which the children are interested, the purpose being to make the acquain- tance and gain the confidence of the pupils, and to develop their pow- ers of observation and imagination.
2. Lead the pupils to talk freely, to use simple language, and to express their thoughts in complete sentences, the purpose being to cultivate the habit of correct speech.
3. Little should be attempted in written language beyond copying easy sentences from the blackboard and from dictation.
SECOND GRADE.
(1 hour a week.)
1. Continue as in the first grade, the work being first oral and then written.
2. Simple thoughts suggested by pictures, or by places that the pupils have visited. No pupil should be called upon to say anything until he has a clear idea of what he is to say. .
3. Lead the pupils to observe the uses of familiar objects, and to state in correct language what they have observed.
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4. Pupils to reproduce short stories told .or read to them by the teacher.
5. Oral and written sentences containing words from the reading lesson, and the names of places, persons, and the days of the week.
6. Form sentences from words placed promiscuously on the board; fill blanks in sentences taken from the reading lessons.
7. The correct use of I and me; is and are; capitals for names of persons, places, and the days of the week; question mark and period.
S. A few common abbreviations, using them in sentences; correct use and orthography of son, sun; be, bee; red, read; to, too, two; see sea; by, buy; and similar common words.
Require correct spelling in written work, using only those words that the pupils have learned to spell.
THIRD GRADE.
(1 hour a week.)
1. ORAL AND WRITTEN EXERCISES. - Continue the work of the first and second grades; work should be first oral and then written.
2. Write sentences containing the new words in the reading les- sons; describe simple pictures and familiar objects, after making them the subject of conversation.
3. Reproduce observation lessons, stories told . or read by the teacher, stories read silently by the pupils, and the reading lessons.
4. Sentences containing the names of the months, of the legal holi- days, of the seasons. Those containing the name of our town, the names of the cities and towns bordering on it, the names and loca- tions of schools, and the names of the streets.
5. The correct use and orthography of this, that; saw, seen; did, done; no, know; right, write; sent, cent; ate, eight; four, fore; bow, bough; dear, deer; and similar easy words.
6. Continue the study of common abbreviations; exercises in fill- ing blanks in sentences; constant drill on whatever is likely to be used incorrectly.
FOURTH GRADE.
(2 hours a week.)
1. Continue the essential work of the preceding grades.
2. Synonymes of words in the reading and spelling lessons, the purpose being to enlarge the pupil's vocabulary; common contractions, using them in sentences; particular attention to be given to the use of capitals, the period, and the apostrophe.
3. Correct use of is, are, was, were, has, have; how to write the names of cities and streets, initials, the words uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs., and dates.
4: Give careful attention to letter writing, picture stories, quota- tions, etc.
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5. Carefully selected memory gems to be given in all the grades.
6. Practical Lessons in the use of English, by Mary F. Hyde, First Book to Part Second.
Note: In this and the following grades, memory gems and special dictation exercises should be written with great care in blank books provided for that purpose.
FIFTH GRADE. (2 hours a week.)
1. Review the essential work of the preceding grades.
2. Continue the reproduction of stories, description of pictures or other objects placed before the pupils, places familiar to the pupils; also real and imaginary journeys.
3. Write short letters on familiar subjects selected by the teacher or the pupils.
4. Synonymes of words in the reading and spelling lessons; correct use of bread, bred; led, lead; sale, sail; our, hour; etc.
5. Division of words into classes; construction of sentences con- taining the parts of speech taught.
6. Subdivisions of the parts of speech; changes in the forms of words, as in nouns to express number, etc.
7. Exercises in combining two or more statements in one simple sentence.
S. Complete First Book, Practical Lessons in the use of English.
SIXTH GRADE. (4 hours a week.)
1. Letter-writing continued: letters descriptive of persons and places, and letters of friendship.
2. Correct use of rap, wrap; due, dew; seem, seam; and similar words.
3. Subdivisions of the parts of speech: nouns - common and proper; verbs - transitive and intransitive, etc. Changes in the forms of words; in nouns, to express number; in personal pronouns, to express number, gender, person, case; in verbs to express present and past time.
4. Correct pronunciation and use of words frequently mispro- pounced and misused. Compound words. A few roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
5. Exercises in combining statements by means of a conjunction.
6. Recitations of choice selections in prose and poetry.
7. Hyde's Second Language Book to lesson LVII., and from page 187 to 203.
SEVENTH GRADE. (4} hours a week.)
1. Oral and written reproduction of stories, fables, and brief biog- raphies. Description of imaginary journeys and voyages.
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2. Letter writing continued; business letters, bills, notes, advertise- ments for articles lost, for help, for situations; notices for public meetings, telegraphic despatches; invitations.
3. Synthesis of simple sentences. (a) The simple subject and predicate; (b) enlarge the subject by the use of adjectives, nouns in the ,possessive case, nouns in apposition, and adjective phrases; (c) enlarge the predicate, by the use of adverbs and adverbial phrases; (d) enlarge the object by the use of adjectives and adjective phrases.
4. Analysis of the simple sentence, naming the simple subject and predicate; the modifiers of the subject and predicate, the comple sub- ject and predicate, the connectives and the independent words.
5. Recitations of choice selections in prose and poetry.
6. Complete and review Hyde's Second Language Book.
EIGHTH GRADE. (4 hours a week.)
1. Oral and written reproduction of stories, brief biographies, and historical incidents.
2. Continue letter writing as in seventh grade.
3. Abstracts of current events, the purpose being to interest the pupils in the reading of the newspaper and the magazine.
4. Analysis of words; synthesis of words, using common roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
5. Classification and forms of words reviewed and extended. Careful study of phrases and clauses; changes of words, phrases and clauses from one form to another.
6. Synthesis and analysis of complex and compound sentences; uses of words in sentences.
7. Recitations of choice selections in prose and poetry.
8. Complete and review Hyde's Second Language Book with Sup- plement.
NINTH GRADE.
(3 hours a week.)
1. Study simple, complex and compound sentences; review of all the parts of speech, with careful study of the properties and inflec- tions of words; principles of syntax; punctuation; synthesis; analysis.
2. Reproduction of such supplementary reading matter as may be used; narratives; descriptions of real or imaginary objects, scenes and experiences; oral and written exercises on carefully studied poems; paraphrasing; business letters, notes of invitation, of application, etc., also letter writing on historical, geographical, and other subjects.
3. Synonyms, homonyms, paragraphing; exercises in correcting false syntax.
4. Recitations of choice selections in prose and poetry.
5. Careful use of grammars supplied for this grade.
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GEOGRAPHY.
FIRST GRADE. (1 hour a week.)
1. Relative position of objects as expressed by under, on, before, behind, above, right, left, between, inside, outside, and similar words.
Relative position of objects in the school-room.
3. Representation of the position of objects in the school-room on the blackboard, the pupils copying the same on their slates.
4. The cardinal points of compass: north, south, east, west. Direction of objects and places relative to the school-house.
SECOND GRADE. (1 hour a week.)
1. Review cardinal points of the compass; also relative position and direction of objects and places.
2. Semi-cardinal points of the compass: northeast, southwest, northwest, southeast. Horizon.
3. Map of the school-room and map of the playground to be drawn on the blackboard and slates.
4. Relative distances of objects in the scliool-room from each other. Measurements and representations of distances on blackboards.
THIRD GRADE. (1 hour a week.)
1. Review relative position, direction, and distance of objects and things, drawing map of the same on board, slate and paper.
2. Make a map of the school-house and vicinity, locating the homes of the pupils, railroad station, stores, and all points of interest.
3. Lead the pupils to describe the different localities and their direction and distance from other points; the uses of the streams and ponds; uses of streets, railroads, bridges; uses of articles manufac- tured in mills, shops and factories.
4. Familiar talks in regard to the geography of the vicinity of Weymouth. Hills, valleys, meadows, plains, right and left banks of streams. coast, shore, beach. Modeling in sand, forms and surfaces observed.
5. The purpose of these lessons is to give the pupils good concep- tions of home and its vicinity, and to enable them to conceive of other places similar in kind but on a larger scale.
6. The earth as a whole: its shape, the hemispheres, continents, grand divisions, oceans, the large islands, peninsulars, capes, gulfs, etc .: relative position and size of continents and oceans; position,
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climate (hot, cold), form, outline, surroundings, largest rivers, lakes, mountains, most important countries and productions of the conti- nents. Modeling forms as studied. Define geography.
FOURTH GRADE.
(2 hours a week.)
1. Study of globes and maps; to develop the size of the earth, its shape and daily motion; definitions of the different forms of land and water; the position and climate at the equator, poles and tropics.
2. Study climate of the continents as determined by their position relative to the equator and poles.
3. Review the study of each continent according to the following scheme: (a) Shape and outline. (b) Position and climate. (c) Moun- tains and rivers. (d) Islands, peninsulars and capes. (e) Seas, gulfs and bays. (f) Straits and isthmuses.
4. The pupils to sketch on the blackboard and paper or slate, an outline map of each continent, adding the details each day as they are learned. The descriptive portions of the text-book should be care- fully read, and the leading facts reviewed in connection with the map study.
5. United States. Size, surface, soil, climate, productions, river systems, lakes, surrounding waters, projections, islands, interesting places and cities. Point out and name the States and Territories. Give capital, largest city, and general characteristics of many of the States. Locate and describe prominent cities, as Washington, Brook- lyn, etc., also cities of Massachusetts.
FIFTH GRADE.
(2 hours a week. )
1. Study of the principal countries of each continent, the conti- nents to be taken in the following order: Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, North America.
2. Study each country according to the following scheme: (a) Position and climate. (b) Shape, outline, boundaries. (c) Compara- tive size. (d) Mountains, rivers, and lakes. (e) Capes, peninsulars, islands. (f) Seas, gulfs, bays. (g) Isthmuses, straits. (h) Chief productions, animals. (i) Inhabitants, occupations, manners, cus- toms. (j) Chief cities, noted places, historical facts.
3. Progressive map sketching as in the fourth grade.
NOTE. - The work in this and preceding grades must be accom- plished chiefly by oral instruction. Note-books do more harm than good. The work may be facilitated, however, by placing in the hands of the pupils a suitable text-book on geography after the lesson has been given orally by the teacher; but in no case should the pupils below the sixth grade be required to study a lesson in a book before the subject
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of it has been presented orally by the teacher. Teachers' talks, pictures, and books treating on geographical subjects, are necessary to clothe the study with life and interest.
SIXTH GRADE. (4 hours a week.)
1. Study the earth as a globe. Simple illustrations and statements with reference to form, size, meridians, and parallels, with their uses; earth's motions, and their effects; zones; climate as affecting the life of man (occupations, manners, and customs.)
2. The United States in detail, and special geography of New England.
3. Study sections rather than States. The following scheme is suggested for the study of a section: (a) Position and bounda- ries, States comprising the group. (b) Coast; rugged, low. (c) Sur- face; mountains, slopes, plains. (d) Drainage; river systems, uses of rivers, full description of important ones. (e) Climate. (f) Produc- tions; vegetable, including forest products; animal, domestic and wild, mineral products. (g) Chief industries in detail; commercial routes. (h) Cities and towns, capitals, description of important cities, location of other places of note. (¿) Special lessons upon such topics as the mountain scenery of New Hampshire, the coal fields of Penn- sylvania, the cotton plantations of the South.
4. Pupils should learn to discriminate between important and unimportant facts.
5. Progressive maps of the several sections should be drawn upon the blackboard, slate and paper, whenever the class is engaged in studying them.
SEVENTH GRADE. (4 hours a week.)
1. Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Arctic regions. Countries to be studied according to the scheme presented in the fifth grade, but much more closely, taking imports, exports, etc.
2. Mathematical geography, and the geography of Massachusetts should be kept thoroughly reviewed.
3. Unimportant details should be merely read over. Progressive, rapid map drawing is imperative in this grade, if good results are secured.
EIGHTH GRADE. (4 hours a week. )
I. British America, Mexico and Central America, South America, West Indies and British Isles.
2. Mathematical geography, and the geography of New England kept thoroughly reviewed.
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3. Comparative physical geography. The continents, islands, mountains, plateaus, and plains to be compared with each other as to form, size, etc. Uses of mountains, lakes, oceans, rivers, forests. Formation of glaciers and icebergs.
4. Outline and relief map drawing.
NINTH GRADE.
(¿ year, 4 hours a week. )
1. General review of mathematical and physical geography.
2. Industrial and commercial geography of the United States. Leading industries and their chief places; most important products, their distribution and uses. Foreign commerce, and the means by which it is carried on. The principal exports and the countries to which they are sent. Principal imports and the countries from which they are brought. Chief inland cities and seaports through which exports and imports pass. Study the great commercial and industrial cities. The leading railway and water thoroughfares of the United States and the principal lines of commerce of the world: where com- merce goes and where it does not go, and why.
HISTORY.
(1 hour a week.)
The main object in teaching history is not the acquisition of infor- mation, nor merely the development of the faculties; it is, or should be, the awakening of a love for historical reading that will grow as the mind of the pupil grows. This desirable object can best be reached by beginning the study of history very early in the school course and con. tinuing progressively through the grades.
In the first, second and third grades, as a preparation for history, stories should be told .by the teacher that embody the essential truths of general history. The material may be taken from mythology, fable, romance or poetry, and adapted to the capacity of the pupils. Describe visits to historic places and buildings in and near Boston. Anything that partakes of the nature of a ghost story should be avoided.
The following books will be found useful for the teacher: Tangle- wood Tales, Hawthorne; Fairy Tales, Stickney; Folk Stories and Fables, Scudder; German Popular Tales, Grimm; Wonder Book, Hawthorne.
FOURTH GRADE.
(1 hour a week).
Continue story-telling, and make such a study of the Indians as is suggested by the following topics. Use sketches on the blackboard, and pictures.
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Life in tribes: chiefs, warfare.
Indian child : dress, cradle, pets, games, toys.
Homes: how made; fire: how built; food. "furniture, work of women.
Manners and custonis. Trade. Money. Justice. Medicine men. The Great Spirit. Happy hunting grounds. Treatment by the white men.
FIFTH GRADE. (1 hour a week.)
Continue story-telling. review study of the Indians, and study the E-quimaux as indicated. Use pictures and sketches on blackboards.
Appearance and dress.
Hou-es: shape, size, how built, how warmed, and how furnished.
Food: kind, how obtained, how used.
Dogs: description, food, how used, characteristics.
Sledges: how made, size, how used, boats, weapons, utensils.
Arctic animals: bear, deer, seal, walrus.
Child: dress, games, pets.
Social customs: schools, money, laws, home life, books.
Country: climate, summer and winter, day and night, sunset and moonlight.
Vegetation : forests, what grows.
The following books will be found useful for reference in the fourth and fifth grades: Famous American Indians, Edward Eggleston; Manners and Customs of the American Indians, Catlin; Among the Indians, Boller; Indian History for Young Folks, Drake; The Story of the American Indian, Brooks; Polar World, Hartwig; Adrift in the Ice Fields, Hall; Children of the Cold, Schwatka; Houses and House Life of American Aborigines, Morgan; World of Ice, Ballan- tyne.
SIXTH GRADE. (1 hour a week.)
An elementary American History should be used in this grade as a supplementary reading-book. Review the work of previous grades by having pupils tell the stories they have read. Encourage pupils to gather facts from outside books. Study the stories of Columbus and Queen Isabella. The Discovery of America. Captain Jolin Smith and Pocaliontas. The Pilgrims. Stories of the Revolution.
Read lives of persons famous in American history. Life in the col- onie -. Brave Men and Women. The Quakers - William Penn and the Indians. The Boston Tea Party.
Books recommended for teachers' use :
Stories of American History, Dodge. United States History in words of one syllable. Pollard. American History Storie-, Pratt. The Boston Tea Party and other Stories of the Revolution. Watson.
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SEVENTH GRADE. (1 hour a week.)
History of the United States continued. Earliest inhabitants, Mound Builders and Indians; discoveries, and explorations. First settlements in Nortlı America.
The pupils to sketch maps representing the results of the discov- eries of explorers and the possessions and claims of European nations in North America.
Stories of noted men before Revolutionary period.
Books suggested:
Book of American Explorers, Higginson. Story of discovery, Hale. Old Times in the Colonies, Coffin. Stories of American History, Wright ; - Yonge. Boys and Girls of the Revolution, Woodman. Historical Readers, Gilman. The Story of Grandfather's Chair, Hawthorne.
EIGHTH GRADE. (3 hours a week.).
Theories of the first peopling of America.
Mounds and Mound Builders.
Indians: their right to the land.
Explorers : most prominent of each nation.
Colonizing: particular attention given to Massachusetts and Virginia.
Study the characters of the leading men of the times, John Smith, Miles Standish, William Penn, etc.
Manners and customs in the colonies.
Objects of the intercolonial wars: condition of the colonies at their close, forms of government, manners and customs.
Revolutionary War: time spent on this topic should be devoted chiefly to the principles involved, to the study of the character of leading men, and to the results of the war.
Learn the Preamble.
NOTE. Physiology will take place of history the last half of the year.
NINTH GRADE. (3 hours a week).
The administrations may be studied in the manner indicated by the following outline: (a) political issues and changes; (b) industrial changes; (c) foreign relations; (d) extensions of territory and settle- ments.
Maps should be drawn by the pupils, showing the several acquisitions of territory.
War of 1812 and Civil war: principles involved, causes, one or two. prominent battles studied, character of leading men, results.
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Biographical studies: Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown, Lincoln, Grant, Lee, Sherman, Sheridan.
Books recommended: The Courtship of Miles Standish, Longfellow; Leather Stocking Tales, Cooper; The Virginians, Thackery; Evange- line, Longfellow; Franklin's Autobiography; Irving's Life of Wash- ington; Lowell's Bigelow Papers; Lossing's Eminent Americans; Whittier's Angels of Buena Vista; Days and Nights on the Battle- field, Coffin.
NOTE. For more complete outline in history for grades eight and nine, see prepared pamphlet.
Civil Government will take the place of history the last half of the ninth year.
ARITHMETIC.
FIRST GRADE.
(4 hours a week.)
1. Add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers, with objeets and figures, from one to ten, inclusive. Take halves, thirds, and quarters of numbers evenly divided.
2. Applications of numbers from one to ten.
3. Coins from one cent to ten cents, inelusive; pint, quart; quart, peck; inch, foot, yard.
4. The signs X -, x, +, =; and the terms add, subtract, multiply, and divide.
5. Count, write, and read numbers to 100; Roman numerals to ten.
6. Many original eonerete problems should be composed and solved by the pupils.
7. In Colburn's First Lessons take to Seetion II.
SECOND GRADE
(4 hours a week.)
1. Add, subtraet, multiply, and divide whole numbers, with objeets and figures, from one to twenty-five, inelusive, with halves, thirds, quarters, and fifths of numbers evenly divided.
2. Applications of numbers from one to twenty-five.
3. Practical measurements with the gill, pint, quart, gallon; quart, two-quart, peck, half-bushel; inch, foot, yard, rod; ounee and pound, - having the measures in hand; coins to dollar.
4. Write and read integers of one period. Increase and diminish numbers by 2's, 3's.
5. Write and read Roman numerals to twenty-five.
6. In written work, no multiplier or divisor greater than 12 is required. Continue original conerete problems.
7. In Colburn's, take to Section III.
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Suggestions: Rapid mental work, abstract and concrete, through- out the course, - a daily exercise. The addition, subtraction, multi- plication, and division tables to be taught each year as high as the development. Figures should be made well and neatly arranged. Frequent exercises upon the addition of columns of figures. An addition chart or tablet is recommended. Let the children buy and sell. Lead pupils to find their own errors. To point out mistakes is to encourage careless and lazy habits.
THIRD GRADE. (4 hours a week.)
1. Complete development of numbers through 100.
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