Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition · Lesson 120 · Part 2: Part II: The parts of speech in full
87. Composition: a hurricane
Goal: Your child reads a vivid description several times and writes it from memory, then describes another natural event.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and a pencil (or a slate)
What's in the book
Lesson 120 is a reading, "A Hurricane in the West Indies," to reproduce. Page 138 gives a plan for describing an earthquake and a general plan for other natural events.
The lesson, step by step
Review
Ask: What is the logical subject of "My little brother laughed"?
Read it
The book says:
Read the following description a number of times, then reproduce it from memory.
Read the hurricane description together.
Write from memory
List the stages together (the approach, the storm, the aftermath), then your child writes the description.
Another event
The book's general plan: indications that it is coming, cause, progress from beginning to end, consequences. Choose one from the list: a hail-storm, formation of dew, a sunset, a snow-storm, a thunder-storm, an eclipse of the sun.
Write it
Write a paragraph for each part of the plan, on this day or the next.
Use it today
Watch the sky for a few minutes and describe the weather in three sentences.
Afterwards
The book also gives a plan for an Earthquake (definition, cause, movements, duration of shocks, effects, where most frequent, connection with volcanoes). Use it for a short research composition.
Answers to the book's problems
Compositions will vary.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.