McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson CXVII · Part 11: Country, sea and the great classics
123. My Mother's Bible (G. P. Morris)
Goal: Your child reads the last poem in the book with feeling and explains why this old Bible is so precious to the speaker.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook or lined paper and a pencil
What's in the book
The last lesson in the book: George P. Morris's poem about a family Bible, all that is left of the speaker's mother. He remembers the family names written in it, his father reading it aloud and his mother's face, and says it taught him how to live and how to die. (The page also has the end and definitions of Lesson CXVI.)
The lesson, step by step
About the author
The book says George P. Morris (b. 1802, d. 1864) was born in Philadelphia, became an editor of the "New York Mirror" in 1823, and in 1846 founded "The Home Journal" with N. P. Willis.
Read aloud
Read the poem aloud slowly and gently. It begins:
This book is all that's left me now,
and later:
For many generations past
Here is our family tree;
My mother's hands this Bible clasped,
She, dying, gave it me.
Talk about it
SayWhy is this book "all that's left" to the speaker?
SayWhat memories does the Bible bring back? Find the father and the mother in the poem.
SayDoes your family have an old book, Bible, photo or object that holds family memories? What is its story?
Tell it back
Close the book.
SayTell me what the speaker remembers when he holds the book.
A few sentences are enough.
Memorize
Learn the "For many generations past" stanza (above) by heart.
Celebrate
This is the last lesson in the Fifth Reader. Let your child choose a favorite poem or passage from the whole book to read aloud or recite for the family.