29. The Little Rill

The lesson, step by step

1. Warm up

   Have your child reread a few lines of Lesson XXVIII, for example:

   One fine summer afternoon, Sam was walking home from school.

   Praise smooth reading and help with any word that sticks.

2. New words

   Point to the new words at the top of the lesson:

   rippling fringe stray thou mill village brink clear wild hill course bathe tiny pool rill

   Say each word and have your child say it after you. Clap the parts of long words. Then point to words in any order and let your child read them.

3. Read it aloud

   Look at the page together first. Then your child reads the poem aloud, a line at a time. Pause a little at the end of each line.

   Here are a few lines from it:

   Run, run, thou tiny rill;

   Run, and turn the village mill;

   Read it a second time, more smoothly.

4. Talk about it

   SayWhat is a rill?

   SayWhat jobs does the poem give the little rill?

   SayWho comes to bathe and drink at the pool?

   SayListen for rhymes: rill and mill, pool and cool. Can you find more?

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

5. Tell it back

   Close the book.

   SayTell me where the little rill runs, from start to end.

   Let your child talk without stopping them. Afterward, help with anything left out by asking "What happened next?"

6. Copywork

   Write this line from the lesson for your child to copy, or let them copy it straight from the book:

   Run, run, thou tiny rill;

   Check capital letters, commas and the mark at the end.

7. Spelling

   Say each word, use it in a short sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it: mill, pool, hill, wild, clear.

   Check together and fix any mistakes right away.