The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 160–163 · Part 1: Part First
47. Daffydowndilly
Goal: Your child talks through a story-poem, writes sentences from dictation, and describes a spring flower.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and pencil (a notebook kept just for this book works well)
- A spring flower or a picture of one, if you have it
What's in the book
Section 160 is Miss Warner's poem "Daffydowndilly", about a daffodil that pushes up through the frozen ground in March, with questions. Section 161 asks for sentences using words from the poem; Section 162 gives five short passages for dictation; Section 163 asks for a description of the daffodil or another spring flower.
The lesson, step by step
Read the poem
Read "Daffydowndilly" aloud, with your child reading Daffy's words.
"Now then," thought Daffy,
Deep down in her heart,
"It's time I should start."
Talk it over
Ask the book's questions: When did Daffy come up? What had she heard underground? What were the "white winter chains" of the streams? Why did she think it was time to start? What did she see and say? How did she look at the end?
Dictation (Section 162)
Your child studies passages 1 and 2 in Section 162 for a few minutes, noticing the quotation marks. Then close the book and read them aloud slowly while your child writes.
Check it gently
Your child compares with the book and marks their own mistakes, then fixes them. Talk about only one kind of mistake.
Describe a spring flower (Section 163)
Look at a real flower or a picture. Your child describes it aloud: where it grows, its leaves, its blossom. Then writes 4 to 6 sentences, perhaps comparing it with the daffodil.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
The crocus comes up very early, sometimes through the snow. Its leaves are thin and grassy with a white stripe. The flower is shaped like a little cup and may be purple, yellow or white. It is shorter than the daffodil and blooms even sooner.
Answers to the book's problems
Talk questions: Daffy came up in March, while the white snow still lay about. Underground she heard the sweet rushing sound of the streams breaking from their white winter chains (ice), the whistling spring winds and the pattering rains. Words for winds: keen, whistling; for rains: pattering. She pushed her soft leaves through the hard frozen ground. She saw snow, gray clouds and dead-looking trees and said "Cold weather!" but kept on: "I do what I can." At the end she stood robed in spring green and gold.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.