The brook makes some very pleasant sounds. What words show you that? "Rippling", "Bubbling", "singing", "ringing".
When does the water make these sounds? When it is running "over pebbles" or down the steep places.
You must fancy you hear the brook make its gentle music when it is running over the pebbles. What does the water look like when it ripples? It is not smooth; it has tiny waves upon it.
You have heard the water bubble and gurgle, and then, when the stream grows large and runs faster, you can hear it "singing" and "ringing"
in the distance. The poet tells us some pretty things about the brook. Tell me some of them.
It was "Cool and clear and free".
Why was it "Cool"? It had flowed among the gra.s.ses and had come from a spring in a mountain.
Why was it "clear"? It was such pure water that you could see the stones at the bottom of the brook.
Why does the poet say it was "free"? There were no logs nor big stones to stop its course. It ran freely on its way.
Do you see any other words that describe its appearance? It is "Flecked with shade and sun".
Now "Flecked" is a hard word. It means _spotted_ or _striped_. Can you tell me what that means? Sometimes the brook is bright and shining and, in some places, it is shaded by the trees or by the clouds. You can see bright patches on the water.
Now you have told me many wonderful things about this brook; where it began and where it ended, how it grew, how it sang, how glad it was to see the children, and how the children played with it, and how it looked. What does it tell us at first? It tells us where it began.
In the next stanza? It runs a little faster.
In the next? It was glad to see the children.
In the next? The children were playing with it.
In the next? It ran bubbling and singing into the sea.
MEMORIZATION
Now we shall learn the words of this pretty lesson, taking the first stanza to-day. Let us take the first three lines. Now all the lines.
Let each one be ready to repeat it. See whether you can say the first stanza to-morrow, and then we shall learn some more.
CHAPTER V
FORM II
MY SHADOW
(Second Reader, page 3)
AIM
The aim of the lesson is to make the poem so lifelike that it will seem to each pupil as though the shadow and the words were his own.
PRESENTATION
After the poem has been read to give a general idea of the story, the teacher should proceed with it in detail, much in the same spirit as he would carry on a bright conversation with the pupils about something in which they were all equally interested.
Stanza I
How do I know my shadow is very fond of me? He "goes in and out with me".
What does that mean? It means he goes wherever I go.
What is "the use of him"? That "is more than I can see".
What is he like? He is just "like me from the heels up to the head".
What does he do when I go to bed? He jumps into bed "before me".
MEMORIZATION
Now, children, four of you may each recite one line. What have you, Susie? "I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me."
What is the use of your shadow, John? "And what can be the use of him is more than I can see."
What is he like, Mary? "He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head."
When do you see him jump ahead of you? "And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed."
NOTE.--Each pupil"s expression should reveal an active imagination and hearty response to the spirit of the selection. The whole should be very lifelike and real. Some pupil should be asked to recite or read the whole stanza.
Stanza II
What is there funny about the shadow? "The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow."
How is that? "He sometimes shoots up" very tall all at once, and then he dwindles down to nothing.
How would you expect him "to grow"? I would expect him "to grow" as I do.
How is that? Oh, that is "very slow".
The author says "like proper children". What does that mean? That means like real children.
What shows that he sometimes grows up very, very quickly? The poet says he "shoots up".
What other words tell the same thing? "Like an india-rubber ball."
How is that? The ball goes up quickly with a bounce, and the shadow seems to spring up in the same way.