McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson CXVI · Part 11: Country, sea and the great classics

122. The Bible the Best of Classics (T. S. Grimke)

Goal: Your child states Grimke's reasons for calling the Bible the best of classics and practices reading formal prose aloud.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook or lined paper and a pencil

What's in the book

A short essay by Thomas S. Grimke praising the Bible as the greatest classic: its age, its truths, and the blessings it brings in this life, calling it "the best of classics" and the noblest guide. Definitions follow.

The lesson, step by step

  1. About the author

    The book says Thomas S. Grimke (b. 1786, d. 1834) was born in Charleston, South Carolina, graduated from Yale in 1807, and was a lawyer and scholar, best known as an advocate of peace, Sunday schools and the Bible.

  2. Words and meanings

    The words and meanings are printed at the end of the lesson. Read a few together before the reading, so they don't trip your child up:

    Classic, a work of acknowledged excellence and authority.

    Versatile, readily applied to various subjects.

    Vindicated, defended, justified.

    Seraph, an angel of the highest order.

    Your child reads each meaning aloud, then uses the word in a sentence of their own.

  3. Read aloud

    This is formal, rolling prose, written to be spoken. Your child reads it aloud slowly, pausing at the commas and semicolons. Listen for a phrase like:

    lovely and spotless, sublime and holy as God himself

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhat is a "classic"? Use the book's definition.

    SayWhat reasons does Grimke give for calling the Bible the best of classics?

    SayHe uses many pairs and lists ("lovely and spotless, sublime and holy"). How does that change the sound of his writing?

  5. Tell it back

    Close the book.

    SayTell me Grimke's main idea and two of his reasons.

    Older children can write their narration in a short paragraph instead. Don't correct while they talk; just listen.

  6. Copywork

    Your child copies:

    unchangeable as his nature, durable as his righteous dominion

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