The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 471–473 · Part 2: Part Second
131. Building sentences, and figures of speech
Goal: Your child builds rich sentences from bare frameworks and explains comparisons and figures of speech.
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 471 gives sentence skeletons (Ships sail, wind blew, boy ran ...) to build up with word, phrase and clause modifiers. Section 472 explains description by comparison (as green as an emerald) with five examples. Section 473 gives eight figurative expressions to put into plain words.
The lesson, step by step
Build sentences (Section 471)
Your child builds five of the skeletons into full sentences, adding a modifier to the subject and to the predicate. Try at least one clause modifier.
Then compare with yours: the book says each person's sentence will be different, because each thought is different.
Comparison (Section 472)
Read the book's example about the meadow as green as an emerald. Then read the five examples. For each, your child says what is compared and how they are alike.
A white and shining flower glittered like a star.
Figures of speech (Section 473)
Read the eight expressions. Your child tells the thought in plain words, then says which is more beautiful.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet.
Write your own
Your child writes three descriptions using a comparison (with "like" or "as").
Check it gently
Does each comparison help you see the thing better? Praise the freshest; ask your child to sharpen one that is plain.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
Ships sail. / The tall white ships sail slowly out of the harbor at dawn.
The lake was as still as a sheet of glass.
The dry leaves skittered across the road like mice.
Answers to the book's problems
Section 472: 1. green creeping plants and an embroidered carpet (soft, patterned covering). 2. a white flower and a star (glittering). 3. the stars and clear, gentle eyes (sparkling, gentle). 4. trees covered with hoarfrost and white coral (white, branching). 5. faraway ships and sea gulls (small and white on the sea). Section 473, possible plain meanings: 1. Our lives are shaped by our deeds and thoughts, as iron is shaped on an anvil. 2. The brook wears away its bank as it winds along. 3. The snow covered fields and roads and made everything silent. 4. The bright moon moved across a sky full of stars. 5. He will be strong and fruitful. 6. God's word guides me. 7. Sparks ran quickly here and there. 8. Glow-worms shone green in the grass and fell like shooting stars when she touched a twig.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.