McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LII · Part 6: By the sea and in the snow

52. Nero, puss and the rat

Goal: Your child reads a two-page talk and tells the story in order.

⏱ About 20 minutes · 7 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A slate, small whiteboard or lined paper and a pencil

What's in the book

Fifteen new words, a picture, and a two-page talk between Frank and Hattie about a rat in the shed.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Warm up

    Have your child reread a few lines of Lesson LI, for example:

    Ellen, do look at Fido!

    Praise smooth reading and help with any word that sticks.

  2. New words

    Point to the new words at the top of the page:

    puss shed pain way stole saw hid eat Hattie suffer sorry something caught tried Nero

    Say each word and have your child say it after you. Sound out the short ones together, then point to words in any order and let your child read them.

    For longer words, clap the parts together, then say the whole word.

  3. Read the lesson aloud

    Look at the picture together first, and ask what your child sees. Then your child reads the lesson aloud, one sentence at a time. Help with any word by pointing to it in the word list.

    Here are two lines from it:

    O Hattie! I just saw a large rat in the shed; and old Nero tried to catch it.

    Did he catch it, Frank?

    Read it a second time, more smoothly.

  4. Talk about it

    SayWho tried to catch the rat first?

    SayWho caught it in the end?

    SayWhat did Hattie say about the rat?

    Let your child look back at the page to find answers.

  5. Copywork

    Write this line from the lesson for your child to copy, or let them copy it straight from the book:

    Did he catch it, Frank?

    Check for a capital letter at the start and the mark at the end.

  6. Spelling

    Say each word, use it in a short sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it on the slate: shed, saw, way, pain, hid.

    Check together and fix any mistakes right away.

  7. Tell it back

    Close the book.

    SayTell me the story in your own words.

    Help with "What happened first? Then what?" if your child gets stuck.

Afterwards

Reread this lesson aloud on the next day before starting a new one. Read the new words from the list in any order until they come quickly.

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