McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XXVI · Part 4: Lessons XXV-XXXVI: Orators and soldiers

32. The Teacher and Sick Scholar (Charles Dickens)

Goal: Your student reads a moving scene from Dickens and talks about the kindness of the old schoolmaster.

⏱ About 40 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, or the scan beside this guide
  • A notebook and pen
  • A dictionary

What's in the book

From The Old Curiosity Shop: a gentle village schoolmaster, his noisy pupils, the half-holiday he gives, and his visit to his favorite pupil, who is dying.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: forms (benches), dog's-eared, remorseful, chafed.

  2. Read it aloud

    Read the opening together:

    Shortly after the school-master had arranged the forms and taken his seat behind his desk,

    Your student reads on. The scene at the end is very quiet; read it slowly.

  3. Talk about it

    SayHow does the schoolmaster treat the boys, even when they are noisy?

    SayWhy does he show them the sick child's writing?

    SayWhat does the sick boy ask for at the window, and why?

    SayThe last sentence says the master "could not lay it down." What does Dickens leave unsaid?

  4. Tell it back

    Your student retells the school day and the visit, in order.

  5. Copywork and memory

    Copy:

    He felt that; and yet he chafed it still, and could not lay it down.

  6. Write (optional)

    Write a paragraph about the schoolmaster: what kind of man was he? Use two details from the story.

Tip

Another sad Dickens scene. Read ahead and choose the right day for it.

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