McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson II · Part 2: Lessons I-XII: Storms, dawns and old tales
8. The Needle (Samuel Woodworth)
Goal: Your student reads a light poem with good rhythm and explains the contrast it draws.
You'll need
- The book, or the scan beside this guide
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
A one-page poem that sets the showy accomplishments of fashionable young ladies against the homely virtue of a woman who sews and loves her home.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: belles, cotillon, quadrille, whist, vauntingly. Cotillon and quadrille were dances; whist is a card game.
Read it aloud
Read the opening lines together:
The gay belles of fashion may boast of excelling
In waltz or cotillon, at whist or quadrille;
Your student reads the whole poem aloud, keeping the bouncing rhythm without a singsong.
Talk about it
SayWhat do the "belles of fashion" boast of?
SayWhat does the poet praise instead?
SayDo you think the poet is fair to the young ladies of fashion? Why or why not?
SayWhat would a poem like this praise today instead of sewing?
Tell it back
Your student explains, in three or four sentences, the contrast the poem makes and which side the poet takes.
Copywork and memory
Copy the first two lines of the poem.
Write (optional)
Write a short paragraph or a few lines of verse praising a quiet, useful skill you admire.