McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XXI · Part 3: Ballads, battles and Abou Ben Adhem

27. "I Pity Them"

Goal: Your child retells the story of the stranded emigrant and explains the difference between pity in words and pity in deeds.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 6 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook and pencil

What's in the book

A story, with no author named, of a poor family moving west whose horse drowns when a bridge breaks, and a rough Westerner who shows the crowd what real pity is. Definitions follow.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    Read some definitions:

    Emigrate, to remove from one country or state to another for the purpose of residence, to migrate.

    Predicament, condition, plight.

    Destitute, needy, poor.

    Destination, end of a journey.

  2. Read aloud

    Take turns by paragraph.

    A poor man once undertook to emigrate from Castine, Me., to Illinois.

    his horse broke through the rotten timbers of the bridge, and was drowned.

  3. Talk about it

    SayWhat trouble did the family face after the horse drowned?

    SayWhat did the crowd say? What did the Westerner do?

    Say"I would beg leave to ask each of you how much." What did he mean by asking how much they pitied them?

    SayHow did the story end for the emigrant?

  4. Tell it back

    Your child narrates the story from the bridge to the happy ending.

  5. Copywork

    Copy:

    It is needless to state the effect that this active charity produced.

  6. Write (optional)

    Write about a way your family could turn pity into action this month.

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