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

24. Freaks of the Frost, by Hannah Flagg Gould

Goal: Your child reads a playful poem aloud and describes the things the Frost does in one night.

⏱ 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 in which the Frost, like a mischievous person, frosts the mountain, the trees and the lake, draws pictures on the window, and plays a trick in the cupboard. A 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:

    Crest, the top.

    Margin, edge, border.

    Bevies, flocks.

    Sheen, brightness, splendor of appearance.

    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 Hannah Flagg Gould was born at Lancaster, Vermont, in 1789. She published several volumes of poems (one for children) and a collection of prose articles called "Gathered Leaves."

  3. Read it aloud

    Read the poem aloud to your child first, then let your child read it. Read it in a sly, whispery voice. It begins:

    The Frost looked forth one still, clear night,

    And whispered, "Now I shall be out of sight;

    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 did the frost say? What did he do to the mountain? The trees? The lake?

    SayWhat did he do to the window? The pitcher?

    SayWhat is a "coat of mail"?

    SayWhat does "freaks" mean in the title? (Pranks or odd tricks.)

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

  5. Tell it back

    Your child describes the Frost's night's work in order, as if it were a list of mischief he did.

  6. Copywork

    Your child copies these lines as verse:

    But he did one thing that was hardly fair;

    He peeped in the cupboard, and, finding there

  7. Words to learn

    Learn: blustering, bustle, crest, quivering, margin, bevies, sheen. Spell each aloud, then write it with its meaning.

Afterwards

On the next frosty morning, look at the frost on a window together and name what pictures you see.

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