The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 292–296 · Part 2: Part Second
83. Using adjectives well
Goal: Your child uses many different adjectives correctly in spoken and written sentences.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and pencil (a notebook kept just for this book works well)
- A dictionary
What's in the book
Sections 292 to 294 give three long lists of adjectives (playful, glorious, studious, shrewd, quarrelsome, hospitable, porous ...) to use in spoken and written sentences, with a reminder to use the dictionary. Section 295 asks for fifteen sentences of different kinds. Section 296 asks for adjectives to describe a dandelion, an apple, a horse, a cent and other things.
The lesson, step by step
Spoken sentences (Section 292)
Take turns: one of you picks an adjective from Section 292, the other says a sentence using it. Do ten quickly.
Hard words (Section 294)
Your child picks four words from Section 294 they don't know and looks them up (hospitable, porous, fertile, surly ...).
Write (Sections 293 and 295)
Your child writes eight sentences, each with an adjective from the lists. Some should be questions and some exclamations, as Section 295 asks. The book says:
Make sentences which really tell something.
Describe (Section 296)
Hold up an apple (or another thing from the list). Your child names as many adjectives for it as they can. Then do a dandelion or a cent from memory.
Check it gently
Read the sentences together. Is each adjective used for something it can really describe? ("a porous sponge" yes; "a porous dog" no). Fix one or two.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
Is the soil in this field fertile enough for corn?
The surly dog growled at the mailman.
What a cozy room this is!