McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson IV · Part 1: Pretend farms, snow and castles

4. Castle-Building

Goal: Your child reads the first half of a two-part story and talks about losing your temper.

⏱ 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 long list of words, then the first part of a story: Herbert's block castle falls when the cat rubs against it, and he loses his temper.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Warm up

    SayHave you ever built something and had it knocked down? What did you do?

  2. Words and meanings

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

    anger castle foundation rattling tower dismay sofa interested passion pile mimic nodded exclaimed already spilled

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

    Explain a few in your own words: dismay is a sudden upset feeling; mimic here means pretend or make-believe; a passion is a burst of angry feeling.

  3. Read it aloud

    Your child reads. Model Herbert's cry at the start, then papa's calm voice.

    Here is a line from it:

    "O pussy!" cried Herbert, in a voice of anger and dismay, as the block-house he was building fell in sudden ruin.

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

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhat made Herbert's castle fall?

    SayWhat did Herbert do when he was angry?

    SayWhat did papa think was a better way?

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

  5. Tell it back

    Close the book.

    SayTell me what happened to Herbert's castle, and what he did next.

  6. Copywork

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

    "There is a better way than this, my boy," said papa.

    Show the quotation marks around papa's words, and the comma before the closing marks.

    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: anger, castle, tower, sofa, spilled.

    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

This story ends in the next lesson. Stop here and let your child guess what papa's better way will be.

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