McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson VII · Part 2: The good reader and the gentle hand
13. Do Not Meddle
Goal: Your child retells how each boy failed the old gentleman's test, and talks about curiosity, honesty and self-control.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pencil
What's in the book
A story, with no author named, about an old gentleman at the Old Hall who tests seven boys for a job by leaving each alone in a room full of temptations. Definitions follow.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Read some definitions:
Impostor, a deceiver.
Consternation, excessive terror, dismay.
Principle, a right rule of conduct.
Integrity, honesty.
Legacy, a gift, by will, of personal property.
Artificial, made by art, not real.
Before you read
There is no author's name for this lesson. Read the old gentleman's saying from the first page:
"The boy who will peep into a drawer will be tempted to take something out of it;
SayDo you agree with him?
Read aloud
Read it over one or two days. Each boy's test is a small scene, so take turns by boy.
So he lifted up the cover.
"Come, come," said the old gentleman, "one snake is quite enough to have in the house at a time;
Talk about it
SayName the boys and tell what trick caught each one.
SayWhy did Harry Gordon get the job?
Say"Harry had eyes in his head as well as the others, but he had more integrity in his heart;" What does that mean?
SayWas it fair for the old gentleman to set traps? Why might he have done it?
Tell it back
Your child narrates the story. A list of the boys and their traps on paper can help.
Copywork
Copy:
The boy that would take what did not belong to him, if no more than a cherry, was not the boy for him.
Write (optional)
Write a paragraph: Which test would have been hardest for you, and why?