The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 356–358 · Part 2: Part Second

102. The paragraph

Goal: Your child indents each paragraph and keeps each paragraph to one topic.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗ 🖨 Copywork sheet

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • Paper and pencil (a notebook kept just for this book works well)

What's in the book

Section 356 explains the paragraph using "Treasure-Boxes": each part begins a little to the right and holds one part of the thought. Section 357 asks the child to copy the first ten paragraphs of "The Mad Tea Party", indenting each. Section 358 asks for one paragraph on each of several topics (skating, fishing, a game, a book, your town ...).

The lesson, step by step

  1. Look at paragraphs

    Turn to "Treasure-Boxes" (page 221). Point to where each paragraph begins a little to the right.

    Each part, or section, is a paragraph.

  2. Name each paragraph

    Read "Treasure-Boxes" again together. For each paragraph, your child gives it a short name (the subject of the paragraph), as the book asks.

  3. Indent (Section 357)

    Your child copies four of the first ten paragraphs of "The Mad Tea Party", indenting each, with every quotation mark.

  4. One topic, one paragraph (Section 358)

    Your child chooses two topics from the list and writes one paragraph on each, 4 to 6 sentences, indented.

  5. Check it gently

    For each paragraph ask: Does every sentence belong to this topic? If one wanders, your child moves it or takes it out.

  6. What a good result looks like

    Example (written for this guide, not from the book):

    Fishing takes patience. You may sit on the bank for an hour without a single bite. Then, all at once, the cork bobs under and you must pull quickly. The best fishermen I know are quiet and never give up.

Answers to the book's problems

Paragraph names for "Treasure-Boxes", one possible set: 1. Everyone has a treasure-box. 2. Come to the orchard. 3. The peach tree's treasure is its seed. 4. Opening the peach's caskets. 5. The milkweed's treasure. 6. Autumn is the time to open treasures.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

@teddyrookbook GitHub