McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson VIII · Part 2: Perseverance, fairy tales and kindness

12. The Monkey

Goal: Your child reads an informational piece about monkeys and retells its stories in order.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 6 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook or lined paper and a pencil

What's in the book

A piece about the monkey: a mischievous pet that cleans its teeth with a lady's tooth-brush, one that washes Maria's doll with soap, and a monkey taught by two Italians to fight a dog with a stick. Definitions and Exercises follow.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    The new words are at the end of the lesson, under Definitions. The small number in front of each word is the paragraph or verse where it is used. Read them together before the lesson. A few of them:

    Cunning, sly.

    Resisted, opposed.

    Missiles, weapons thrown.

    Gravity, seriousness.

    Ask your child to find two of these words in the lesson and read the sentence each one is in.

  2. Read it aloud

    This lesson is mostly true information, with little anecdotes (short true stories) mixed in. Your child reads it aloud. It begins:

    The monkey is a very cunning little animal, and is found in many parts of the world.

  3. Talk about it

    SayWhere did the lady find the monkey one day? What was he doing?

    SayWhat did he do with Maria's doll?

    SayDo monkeys in their native state know how to use sticks as weapons? Can they be taught?

    SayWhat is the meaning of "etc." in the seventh paragraph?

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

  4. Tell it back

    Close the book. Your child tells the three monkey stories in order: the tooth-brush, the doll, and the fight with the dog.

  5. Copywork

    Your child copies this from the book, slowly and neatly, minding every capital letter and mark of punctuation:

    This monkey, like all others, was very fond of mischief and of doing whatever he saw others do.

  6. Words to learn

    Learn: cunning, resisted, missiles, exhibitions, gravity, instruction, senseless. Spell each aloud, then write it with its meaning.

Afterwards

Look up monkeys in a picture book or encyclopedia and find one fact the lesson doesn't give.

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