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

28. Strawberries, by J. T. Trowbridge

Goal: Your child reads a fanciful poem in which strawberries talk, and tells what they said to little Pearl.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 7 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

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

What's in the book

A poem: little Pearl Honeydew, six years old, lays her ear to the strawberry bed and hears the berries talk about the snow, the spring and the June sun. 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:

    Thrive, to grow well, to flourish.

    Mold, fine, soft earth.

    Runner, a slender branch running along the ground.

    Pelf, money.

    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 John Townsend Trowbridge was born at Ogden, N. Y., in 1827. It calls him a well-known author who has written much for children in both poetry and prose.

  3. Read it aloud

    Read the poem aloud to your child first, then let your child read it. Make the berries' voices tiny. It begins:

    Little Pearl Honeydew, six years old,

    From her bright ear parted the curls of gold;

    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 little Pearl ask of the strawberries?

    SayWhat did they reply?

    SayWhat did the berries not want to happen to them?

    SayCan you tell what name is given to this kind of story? (One where things talk: a fancy or a fable.)

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

  5. Tell it back

    Your child retells, in prose, what the strawberries told Pearl, from the winter snow to June.

  6. Copywork

    Your child copies these lines as verse:

    Tucked up snugly, and nestled below

    Our coverlid of wind-woven snow,

  7. Words to learn

    Learn: thrive, mold, runner, mellow, dial, feast, pelf. Spell each aloud, then write it with its meaning.

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