The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 168–170 · Part 1: Part First

49. The Barefoot Boy, and commas for the person spoken to

Goal: Your child sets off the name of the person spoken to with commas.

⏱ About 25 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 168 is an extract from Whittier's "The Barefoot Boy", to learn by heart and talk about. Section 169 introduces the comma and its first rule: the name of a person addressed is set off by commas. Section 170 gives twelve sentences to study and write from dictation.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Read the poem

    Read the extract from "The Barefoot Boy" aloud.

    Oh, for boyhood's time of June,

    The book asks: What do you learn from it about the poet's boyhood? (He grew up on a farm, rich in flowers, birds, berries and brooks, though he was barefoot.)

  2. Read about the comma

    Read Section 169 together and its examples.

    Come here, Frank, and let me brush your coat.

    In every case the name of the person addressed is set off by commas.

  3. Find the person spoken to (Section 170)

    Read the twelve sentences. In each, your child names who is being spoken to and points to the commas around those words.

  4. Dictation

    Your child studies six of the sentences, then you read them aloud and your child writes them.

  5. Check it gently

    Your child compares with the book. Look only at the commas around the name. If one is missing, your child adds it.

  6. Make your own

    Your child writes three sentences speaking to someone in the family by name, once at the start, once in the middle, once at the end.

  7. What a good result looks like

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

    Hurry up, Tom, or we'll be late.

    Mother, may I go outside?

    Thank you for the book, Aunt Lily.

    The commas set off the name of the person spoken to.

Afterwards

Learn the Barefoot Boy extract by heart over a week or two.

Answers to the book's problems

Section 170, the person addressed: 1. my pretty maid. 2. Santa Claus. 3. pretty robin. 4. little Bess. 5. My fairest child. 6. sweet thrush. 7. Boatman. 8. my child. 9. sir. 10. little one. 11. my friend. 12. Lady Moon.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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