McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXXVII · Part 8: Truth, wisdom and work

81. Alfred the Great

Goal: Your child reads a short history of King Alfred and names the things he did in war and in peace.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 6 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 short history: Alfred, born in 849, loves the harpers' songs, wins his mother's book of poems, becomes king at twenty-two, hides from the Danes and burns the cow-herd's wife's cakes, spies on the Danes as a harper, defeats them, and then builds schools and translates books for his people. Definitions follow.

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:

    Invasion, the warlike entrance of an army.

    Disguised, hidden by an unusual dress and appearance.

    University, a school of the highest grade, in which are taught all branches of learning.

    Enlightened, well-informed.

    Ask your child to find two of these words in the lesson and read the sentence each one is in.

  2. Read it aloud

    Your child reads it aloud, a few paragraphs at a time. It sets the scene:

    In those days the common people were very ignorant; few of them could even read and write.

  3. Talk about it

    SayHow did young Alfred win the book of poems?

    SayWhat happened at the cow-herd's cottage?

    SayHow did Alfred find out about the Danes' camp? What did he do with the Danes he defeated?

    SayWhat did Alfred do in time of peace? How did he divide his day?

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

  4. Tell it back

    Close the book. Your child tells two stories about Alfred: one from wartime and one from peacetime.

    For a written narration, your child writes a paragraph: Why was Alfred called "the Great"?

  5. Copywork

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

    He thought that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.

  6. Words to learn

    Learn: monastery, invasion, disguised, university, translated, enlightened. Spell each aloud, then write it with its meaning.

Afterwards

Find England on a map, and talk about how long ago 849 was.

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