McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XIX · Part 3: Courage, the sea and the frost

23. Two Ways of Telling a Story, by Henry K. Oliver

Goal: Your child reads a story told from two sides and talks about whether thoughtlessness excuses rudeness.

⏱ About 30 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 story in two halves: boys tell their teacher about the fun of pelting an old sleigh with snowballs; then the teacher tells the same event from the old man's side. 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:

    Excursion, a pleasure trip.

    Incidents, things that happen, events.

    Capsized, upset.

    Venerable, deserving of honor and respect.

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

  2. Read it aloud

    Your child reads the story aloud. Read the boys' part in an excited voice and the teacher's part slowly and quietly. It begins with the sleigh-ride:

    The sleigh was a very large one, drawn by six gray horses.

  3. Talk about it

    SayRepeat the boys' story of the sleigh-ride. Now the teacher's story.

    SayWho was the old man in the rusty sleigh?

    SayWere the boys ill-natured or only thoughtless?

    SayIs thoughtlessness any excuse for rudeness or unkindness?

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

  4. Two sides

    SayThe same thing happened in both stories. Why did it sound so different?

    Ask your child to think of a time something looked funny to one person and frightening or unkind to another.

  5. Tell it back

    Close the book. Your child tells the story the old man would tell his son that night.

  6. Copywork

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

    His sight and hearing were somewhat blunted by age, and he was proceeding very slowly;

  7. Words to learn

    Learn: populous, excursion, incidents, warrant, capsized, venerable, blunted. Spell each aloud, then write it with its meaning.

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