McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson VI · Part 1: Pretend farms, snow and castles
6. Lend a Hand
Goal: Your child reads a lesson printed in handwriting (script) and copies it neatly.
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, then a short lesson printed in script (handwriting) instead of type. Children read it and copied it.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Show your child the page.
SayThis lesson is printed in script, the joined-up handwriting children used to learn. Let's see if we can read it.
Words and meanings
Point to the words at the top of the lesson:
tear daily honor tongues suspicion envy forced prompt malicious to-morrow
Read them together. Talk about a few: envy is wanting what someone else has; malicious means wanting to hurt; prompt means quick and on time.
Read the script
Read the script lesson together slowly. When your child is stuck on a letter shape, compare it with the same letter in print. Then your child reads it alone, a second time, more smoothly.
Talk about it
SayWhat is this lesson telling us?
SayWhich line do you like best? Why?
Copywork
Your child copies the lesson, or its first few lines, in their best handwriting, looking closely at the script letters as a model. Check capitals and end marks together.
Spelling
Say each word, use it in a short sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it: tear, daily, honor, prompt, envy.
Check together and fix any mistakes right away.
Afterwards
Reread the script page tomorrow and copy one more line in your best hand.
Tip
The script page has no machine-readable text in the scans we used, so read it from the book page itself.