McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XLVII · Part 5: Work, wonder and the world
51. The Horse, by Bingley
Goal: Your child reads an informational dialogue about horses and retells the stories of the Arab's mare and the brave planter.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook or lined paper and a pencil
What's in the book
Uncle Thomas tells Frank and the boys about horses: wild herds in South America and how they are caught, Arabian horses and an Arab who would not sell his mare, and a planter who rescued shipwrecked sailors with his swimming horse. Definitions and Exercises follow. The contents name Bingley as the author.
The lesson, step by step
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:
Cavalry, a body of military troops on horses.
Dexterously, skillfully.
Toman, a Persian coin valued at about three dollars.
Deliverance, release from danger.
Ask your child to find two of these words in the lesson and read the sentence each one is in.
Read it aloud
Your child reads it aloud. Uncle Thomas does most of the talking. It begins:
"Well, boys, I am glad to see you again."
Talk about it
SayWhere are wild horses found? How are they taken?
SayIn what country are the finest horses raised? Why are the horses so excellent there?
SayWhy would not the Arab sell his horse?
SayRelate the anecdote of the planter and the shipwrecked seamen.
Let your child look back at the page to find answers.
Tell it back
Close the book. Your child tells one of Uncle Thomas's stories, as Uncle Thomas would tell it.
Copywork
Your child copies this from the book, slowly and neatly, minding every capital letter and mark of punctuation:
His horse swam safely to land, but its gallant rider sank to rise no more.
Words to learn
Learn: immense, inhabited, cavalry, impetuosity, dexterously, originally, symmetry, desperate, deliverance, gallant. Spell each aloud, then write it with its meaning.
Afterwards
The book asks: Are not animals always made better by kind treatment? Talk about how your family cares for animals.