McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXVII · Part 7: Lost and found

71. Dare to do Right, part 1, by Thomas Hughes

Goal: Your child reads about Arthur's first night at Rugby and explains what took courage.

⏱ 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

From "School Days at Rugby": young Arthur's first night at boarding school. When he kneels to say his prayers, the boys jeer and a bully throws a slipper, and Tom Brown throws his boot at the bully. A note about the author and Definitions 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:

    Ablution, the act of washing.

    Sneered, showed contempt.

    Bully, a noisy, blustering fellow, more insolent than courageous.

    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 the story is adapted from "School Days at Rugby," by Thomas Hughes, an English writer well known through that book and its sequel, "Tom Brown at Oxford." The author was born in 1823. A later note explains that Rugby is a celebrated grammar school founded at the town of Rugby, England, in 1567.

  3. Read it aloud

    Your child reads it aloud. Here is the moment it all turns on:

    It was a trying moment for the poor, little, lonely boy;

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhat were Arthur's feelings the first night at Rugby?

    SayRelate what happened when he said his prayers.

    SayWhat do you think of the boy who threw the slipper?

    SayWas Tom right in defending Arthur from insult?

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

  5. Tell it back

    Close the book. Your child tells the bedroom scene from Arthur's side.

  6. Copywork

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

    It was no light act of courage in those days for a little fellow to say his prayers publicly, even at Rugby.

  7. Words to learn

    Learn: waistcoat, overwhelmed, novelty, ablution, sneered, bully, tingling. Spell each aloud, then write it with its meaning.

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