McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXXII · Part 7: Courage, temper and work
78. The Old House-Clock
Goal: Your child reads a lively poem with good rhythm and says what the clock "says" to the family.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook or lined paper and a pencil
What's in the book
A cheerful poem about an old clock in the house that seems to speak: "Tick! tick!" it calls the children to bed and to rise early, and it reminds the reader that time passes. (The page also holds the end of Lesson LXXI and its definitions.)
The lesson, step by step
About the poem
The book does not name an author for this poem. Look at the page together and find where Lesson LXXI ends and the poem begins.
Read aloud
Read the poem aloud together. Let the rhythm swing like a pendulum. It begins:
Oh! the old, old clock of the household stock
Was the brightest thing, and neatest;
Its hands, though old, had a touch of gold,
And its chimes rang still the sweetest.
Listen for the rhymes inside the lines: clock and stock, old and gold.
The clock's voice
Have your child find every line where the clock "speaks." Read those lines in a clock-like voice:
"Tick! tick!" it said, "quick, quick, to bed:
Talk about it
SayWhat does the clock tell the family to do, at night and in the morning?
SayThe poet calls the clock a "monitor." What is a monitor? Who else in your life does that job?
SayAt the end, the poem is not only about a clock. What else is it about?
Tell it back
Close the book.
SayTell me what this poem is about, and how it changes from the beginning to the end.
Let your child try a short narration of each stanza in turn.
Memorize
Learn the first stanza by heart:
Oh! the old, old clock of the household stock
Was the brightest thing, and neatest;
Its hands, though old, had a touch of gold,
And its chimes rang still the sweetest.