The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 98–99 · Part 1: Part First
33. The Bell of Justice
Goal: Your child tells a story with a lesson and uses new words in sentences.
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 98, "The Bell of Justice": a good king hangs a bell that anyone who is wronged may ring; years later a starving horse, turned out by a greedy knight, rings it while eating the vine tied to the bell-rope. Section 99 lists twenty-four words from the story to use in sentences.
The lesson, step by step
Read the story
Read "The Bell of Justice" aloud together.
It pleads the cause even of the dumb, who cannot speak for themselves.
"The dumb" here means those who cannot speak, like animals.
Tell it back
Close the book. Prompts:
- Why did the king hang the bell?
- How did the vine come to be on the bell-rope?
- What had the knight done to his horse?
- What did the judge decide?
Talk about it
Ask: Why do you think the people lived happily under this king? Is it fair that the knight had to care for the horse?
The book says Longfellow told the same story in a poem, "The Bell of Atri". You might read it together sometime.
New words (Section 99)
Go over the harder words together (see Answers). Your child writes sentences of their own with eight of the words.
Check it gently
For each sentence ask: Does it show you know what the word means? If a sentence only uses the word without showing its meaning ("I saw a steed."), help your child add a bit ("The knight's steed was a tall black horse.").
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
The steed stood patiently while the farmer brushed his mane.
The old knight grudged every oat he gave his horse.
The bell hung high in the belfry, out of reach of children.
Answers to the book's problems
Some meanings: steed, a horse; belfry, a bell tower; grudged, did not want to give; forsaken and abandoned, left alone and uncared for; gravely, seriously; righteous, just and right; decrees, orders by law; abide, live or stay; pleads, begs or argues for; dwelt, lived; provide, give what is needed.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.