Beginners' Book in Language Part 10

We are a band of fairies living in our cozy little home. Each of us wears in his cap a feather of a different color. What are we?

I am a piece of the rainbow caught and put in a little tight jail.

A little schoolgirl uses parts of me when she draws pictures. What am I?

We are a company of soldiers. Each of us wears a cap of a different color. We spend most of our time in a small pasteboard fort. When we go out, we are sure to make our mark. What are we?

=Oral Exercise.= 1. Of all the riddles of the box of crayons, which do you think is the best? Which is the second best? Which is the poorest?

2. Now again make riddles about toys and Christmas presents. But you should now be able to make better ones than you did before.

=Group Exercise.= 1. The cla.s.s, after a riddle has been guessed, should point out what is good in it and then should tell how it might be made better. Should it be made shorter? Should it be made longer? How could it be made brighter?

2. The best riddles should be repeated slowly, so that the teacher may write them on the board. Now these may be read over, and the cla.s.s may try to make each one better.[20] The teacher will rewrite each in its improved form.[35]

=Written Exercise.= 1. Copy the riddle that the cla.s.s likes best. As you copy, notice the spelling of the words, the capital letter at the beginning of each sentence, and the mark at the end of each sentence.

This careful copying will prepare you for the next exercise.

2. Write from dictation the riddle that you have copied. Then correct any mistakes.[36] These questions will help you to find out whether you have made any:

1. Is every word spelled correctly?

2. Does every sentence begin with a capital letter?

3. Is every sentence followed by the right kind of punctuation mark?

=27. Study of a Poem=

You read in the story of Peter's visit to Santa Claus's workshop that the fairy workers sometimes sang while they worked. At recess too they had songs. One of these you will probably enjoy very much. As you read it you can see the fairies dancing in a ring in the moonlight.

THE LIGHT-HEARTED FAIRY

Oh, who is so merry, so merry, heigh ho!

As the light-hearted fairy? heigh ho, Heigh ho!

He dances and sings To the sound of his wings With a hey and a heigh and a ho.

Oh, who is so merry, so airy, heigh ho!

As the light-headed fairy? heigh ho, Heigh ho!

His nectar he sips From the primroses' lips With a hey and a heigh and a ho.

Oh, who is so merry, so merry, heigh ho!

As the light-footed fairy? heigh ho, Heigh ho!

The night is his noon And the sun is his moon, With a hey and a heigh and a ho.

UNKNOWN

Would it not be pleasant to dance in a ring with your cla.s.smates? You might play that you are all fairies, and you might say this poem while you dance. Each pupil could make a red cap of paper. He might stick a white owl's or a white chicken's feather in it as fairies do. He could wear it while reciting the poem. But, first of all, you must make sure that you understand every line of the song, else you cannot say it well.

=Oral Exercise.=[37] 1. What do you like about this poem? Have you noticed that the fairy is called _light-hearted_ in the first stanza of the poem, but light-headed in the second and _light-footed_ in the third?

2. What do fairies drink? The second stanza tells. They find this delicious sweet drink in the cups of flowers.

3. As you know, fairies are rarely, if ever, seen in the daytime. The night is their day, when they dance and sing and do good deeds. What is meant in the poem by the line, _The night is his noon_? What is the fairies' sunlight?

=Memory Exercise.= 1. Read this poem aloud a number of times. You will not have to read it often before you will be able to say it without the book. When you know it, recite it to the cla.s.s as well as you can. Wear your red cap and think of the merry, airy, light-hearted fairy as you recite it. That will help you to say it in a lively way.

2. Perhaps the teacher will permit the five or six pupils who have recited best to form a ring in front of the cla.s.s and dance round and round as they recite the poem. Then the cla.s.s may point out what might have been done better. Perhaps other bands of fairies will recite, each trying to recite best.

=28. Correct Usage--_Rang_, _Sang_, _Drank_=

The story about Peter does not tell us the words with which some of the fairies had trouble. If some fairies are like some pupils, then they need to learn how to use the words _rang_, _sang_, and _drank_ correctly.

=Oral Exercise.= 1. As you read the following sentences, notice that _rang_, _sang_, and _drank_ are not used with _have_ or _has_ or _had_.

Are _rung_, _sung_, and _drunk_ used with _have_ or _has_ or _had_?

1. I _rang_ the bell for the teacher.

2. Have you ever _rung_ it?

3. I _sang_ the Christmas song.

4. Have you ever _sung_ it?

5. I _drank_ the grape juice.

6. Have you ever _drunk_ apple juice?

7. The fairies danced and _sang_, and _drank_ nectar.

8. They had _rung_ the bell.

9. They had _sung_ that song before.

10. He has never _drunk_ nectar.

2. Which of the six words that you have been studying in this lesson are used with _have_ or _has_ or _had_? Which are not used with them? Make these two lists. Would it be right to make the following rule?

Never use _rang_ or _sang_ or _drank_ with _have_ or _has_ or _had_.

3. Using what you have just learned, fill the blanks in the following sentences with the right words, _rang_ or _rung_, _sang_ or _sung_, _drank_ or _drunk_:

1. The strange little old man had already ---- his morning coffee.