McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XLIV · Part 5: Kites, sticks and kind deeds

44. The Seven Sticks

Goal: Your child reads the fable of the bundle of sticks and explains why the sons are stronger together.

⏱ 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
  • Six or seven thin sticks and a piece of string

What's in the book

A father of seven quarreling sons shows them a bundle of sticks that cannot be broken together but snaps one stick at a time. It ends with a two-line moral. Definitions at the end.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Warm up

    Give your child one thin stick or pencil-thin twig to break. Then hand over a bundle of five or six tied together.

    SayCan you break these now?

  2. Words and meanings

    This lesson's definitions are printed at the end, after the reading. Read a few of them together before you start:

    Cheat, deceive, wrong.

    Bundle, a number of things bound together.

    Prosper, succeed, do well.

    Union, the state of being joined or united.

    Then find each word in the lesson.

    SayCan you use one of these words in a sentence of your own?

  3. Read it aloud

    Your child reads. Read the father's speech slowly and seriously.

    Here is a line from it:

    A man had seven sons, who were always quarreling.

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

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhy were some men hoping the sons would keep quarreling?

    SayWhat did the father show with the sticks?

    SayHow is your family like the bundle of sticks?

    Then talk about the lesson of the reading:

    "Home, city, country, all are prosperous found, When by the powerful link of union bound."

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

  5. Tell it back or write it

    Close the book.

    SayTell me the fable of the seven sticks and its lesson.

    An older child can write two or three sentences instead.

  6. Dictation

    Show your child this sentence. Let them study it for a minute: the capitals, the commas, any hard words.

    As it is with these sticks, so is it with you, my sons.

    Then close the book and read it aloud slowly while your child writes it. Open the book and check together.

  7. Spelling

    Say each word, use it in a sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it: bundle, union, prosper, cheat, property.

    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.

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