McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson IV · Part 2: The good reader and the gentle hand
10. The Grandfather, by C. G. Eastman
Goal: Your child reads a quiet poem about an old farmer and his grandchild with feeling, and notices how the poet tells a story in pictures.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pencil
What's in the book
A short poem about a farmer resting in his easy-chair after dinner with his granddaughter on his knee, until both fall asleep. A note about the poet and a few definitions follow.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Read the definitions:
Hale, healthy.
Mantel-tree, shelf over a fire-place.
Plodded, went slowly.
Heaving, rising and falling.
About the author
The book says Charles G. Eastman was born in Maine but moved young to Vermont, where he worked for newspapers in Burlington, Woodstock and Montpelier. He published a volume of poems in 1848 that faithfully pictured rural life in New England.
Read aloud
Read the poem through to your child, then let your child read it.
The farmer sat in his easy-chair
Smoking his pipe of clay,
And near the end:
Fast asleep were they both on that summer day.
Talk about it
SayWho is in the room, and what is each one doing?
SayWhy do tears come to the old man's eyes? What does the little girl think is the reason?
SayThe poem has no big events. What makes it interesting anyway?
SayWhich picture in the poem do you see most clearly?
Tell it back
Your child describes the scene as if painting it: the room, the farmer, his wife, the child, the end of the afternoon.
Memorize
Learn the first stanza, which begins:
The farmer sat in his easy-chair
Read it with a calm, slow voice, as the scene is calm.
Write (optional)
Write a short description of a grandparent or older friend in their favorite chair.