The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 141–144 · Part 1: Part First

41. Winter Jewels, and a letter home

Goal: Your child uses new winter words in sentences, learns a short poem, and writes a friendly letter full of news.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 7 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 141 lists winter words (chill, shiver, silvery, frosty, sleet, crystal ...) to use in sentences. Sections 142 and 143 are the short poem "Winter Jewels", to learn and write from memory. Section 144 asks for a letter to your mother while visiting a friend in the country at Christmas.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Winter words, aloud

    Read the twelve winter words together. Your child says a sentence about winter for each of six of them. (If you live where it is warm, imagine a snowy place.)

  2. The poem

    Read "Winter Jewels" aloud.

    A million little diamonds

    Twinkled on the trees;

    Ask: What were the "diamonds" really? Who stole them away? (Frost or ice on the branches, melted by the sun.)

  3. Learn it

    Learn the poem by heart (it is only eight lines), then write it from memory (Section 143), with a capital at the start of each line and quotation marks around what the maidens said.

  4. Plan the letter (Section 144)

    Your child imagines visiting a friend in the country over Christmas. Talk about what to tell Mother: games outside, sleigh rides or snow forts, long evenings, popcorn, stories. Remember to ask about the family and send a message to a brother or sister.

  5. Write the letter

    Your child writes 8 to 10 sentences with all the parts of a letter.

  6. Check it gently

    Ask: Did you ask about home and send a message, as the book says? If not, add a sentence. Then check one punctuation habit your child often forgets.

  7. What a good result looks like

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

    Dear Mother,

    I am having a wonderful Christmas at the farm. Yesterday we went for a sleigh ride, and the bells jingled the whole way. In the evenings we pop corn and Mr. Shaw tells stories by the fire. How is everyone at home? Please tell Sam I am saving a pine cone for him.

    Your loving son,

    Will.

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