The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 383–387 · Part 2: Part Second
107. Nouns, including names of ideas
Goal: Your child finds nouns that name things we can see and nouns that name things we can only think about.
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 383 is Robinson Crusoe's own description of his goatskin clothes, to find nouns in. Section 384 explains that names of "thought-objects" (honesty, truth, friendship) are nouns too, with ten proverbs. Sections 385 to 387 ask for names of actions and sounds, and nouns in more sayings.
The lesson, step by step
Robinson Crusoe's clothes (Section 383)
Read the passage aloud. Your child pictures Crusoe and then names as many nouns as they can find (cap, goatskin, jacket ...).
Thought-nouns (Section 384)
Read the explanation.
Honesty is the best policy.
Ask: Can you see honesty? Touch it? Yet it has a name, so it is a noun. Find the nouns in the ten sentences.
Actions and sounds (Sections 385 and 386)
Your child writes five names of actions (rowing, leaping ...) and five names of sounds (a chirp, a rustle ...), then uses three in sentences.
More sayings (Section 387)
Read the nine sentences. Your child finds the nouns and makes a new sentence with two of them.
Check it gently
Check the lists against the Answers. If a word in the list is not a noun, ask: "Does it name something?" Let your child decide.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
Honesty: Honesty makes friends trust you.
A chirp: I heard a chirp from the hedge.
Skating: Skating is my favorite winter sport.
Answers to the book's problems
Section 383, the nouns include: Robinson Crusoe, cap, goatskin, flap, sun, rain, neck, climates, rain, flesh, clothes, jacket, goatskin, pair, breeches, breeches, skin, goat, hair, length, side, middle, legs, Stockings, shoes, pair, buskins, legs, side, spatterdashes, gaiters, belt, goatskin, thongs, buckles, kind, frog, side, sword, dagger, saw, hatchet, side, side, belt, manner, shoulders, end, arm, pouches, goatskin, powder, shot, back, basket, shoulder, gun. Section 384: 1. Honesty, policy. 2. Truth, fiction. 3. friendship. 4. obstacle, path, progress. 5. Flattery, deceit. 6. gifts. 7. Temperance, virtue. 8. Haste, waste. 9. Sloth, rust. 10. Youth, time, sowing, age, reaping. Section 387: 1. neglect, mischief. 2. Kindness, music, good-will, men. 3. Contentment, riches. 4. Worth, man, want, fellow. 5. anger, sun, wrath. 6. Pride, destruction. 7. thing, beauty, joy. 8. Visions, sugar plums, heads. 9. approach, night, tree.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.