McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXX · Part 7: Lost and found
74. Anecdotes of Birds, by Hall
Goal: Your child reads three true-seeming bird stories and retells the one they liked best.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook or lined paper and a pencil
What's in the book
Three anecdotes: Yarico the hen, saved from a fox by the mastiff Jock, who becomes his friend; Poll the parrot, who whistles for dogs then scolds them away; and martins that come back each spring to the room where they were raised. Definitions follow. The contents name Hall 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:
Copse, a grove of small trees or bushes.
Sagacious, quick in discernment.
Migration, change of place, removal.
Domicile, the home or residence of any one.
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. The stories are separated in the book by stars (* * *). Here is a line from the first:
Yarico certainly was a most grateful and interesting bird.
Talk about it
SayWhy did old Norah worry about the copse?
SayHow did Jock save Yarico? How did she treat him afterward?
SayWhat tricks did Poll the parrot play on the dogs?
SayHow did the boys know the martins were the same birds?
Let your child look back at the page to find answers.
Tell it back
Close the book. Your child retells the anecdote they liked best.
Copywork
Your child copies this from the book, slowly and neatly, minding every capital letter and mark of punctuation:
How wonderful is that instinct by which the bird of passage performs its annual migration!
Words to learn
Learn: copse, sagacious, impertinent, kennel, vehemence, migration, domicile, recognition. Spell each aloud, then write it with its meaning.