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

15. To-morrow, by Mrs. M. B. Johnson

Goal: Your child reads a gentle poem aloud and explains why to-morrow never comes.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 7 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 poem about little Eddie, who keeps asking when to-morrow will come, and his mother's answer. A one-line note about the author, Definitions and Exercises are included.

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:

    Household, family, those living in the same house.

    Elf, a small fairy-like person.

    Pondered, thought anxiously.

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

  2. About the author

    The book's note says Mrs. M. B. Johnson wrote "To-morrow," one of a section of poems called "Poems of Home Life."

  3. Read it aloud

    Read the poem aloud to your child first, then let your child read it. The mother's answer is the heart of it:

    No, little Eddie, this is to-day:

    To-morrow is always one night away.

    Then have your child read it a second time, more smoothly: the first reading is for the meaning, the second for the sound and rhythm.

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhat troubled Eddie?

    SayCan you define to-morrow?

    SayWhat did Eddie's mother advise him to do?

    SayOf what name are "Eddie" and "Ted" nicknames?

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

  5. Tell it back

    Your child explains, in their own words, why Eddie could never catch to-morrow.

  6. Copywork

    Your child copies these lines as verse, with the dash:

    Some wait for to-morrow through many a year —

    It is always coming, but never is here.

  7. Words to learn

    Learn: household, elf, vex, pondered, awhile. Spell each aloud, then write it with its meaning.

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