McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XXVIII · Part 3: Fables and things to remember

28. The Clock and the Sun-Dial

Goal: Your child reads a fable and explains why the boastful clock fell silent.

⏱ About 20 minutes · 7 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook or lined paper and a pencil

What's in the book

A list of words and a fable: a church clock boasts to a humble sun-dial, until the sun shows the clock is wrong. A moral is printed at the end.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Warm up

    SayA sun-dial tells the time by the shadow of the sun. What would happen to a sun-dial on a cloudy day?

  2. Words and meanings

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

    stock spirit humble gloomy sun-dial folly steeple stupid boasting modesty

    Read them together a few at a time. Clap the syllables of the long ones. The book prints these words without meanings.

    Explain in your own words: humble means not proud; boasting is bragging; folly means foolishness.

  3. Read it aloud

    Your child reads. Give the clock a proud, bossy voice.

    Here is a line from it:

    How stupid it is in you to stand there all the while like a stock!

    Then let your child reread a favorite part, more smoothly.

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhy did the clock think it was better than the sun-dial?

    SayWhat happened when the sun came out?

    SayWho was wiser, the clock or the sun-dial?

    Then talk about the lesson of the reading:

    The book's moral: "Humble modesty is more often right than a proud and boasting spirit."

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

  5. Tell it back

    Close the book.

    SayTell me the fable of the clock and the sun-dial, and its moral.

  6. Copywork

    Your child copies this from the book in their best handwriting:

    Humble modesty is more often right than a proud and boasting spirit.

    Check capitals and marks together.

  7. Spelling

    Say each word, use it in a sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it: humble, spirit, gloomy, steeple, folly.

    Check together and fix any mistakes right away. Keep missed words for tomorrow's warm-up.

Afterwards

Reread the lesson aloud tomorrow before starting the next one, and review any missed spelling words.

Tip

Make a simple sun-dial with a stick in the ground on a sunny day, and mark the shadow each hour.

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