The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Sec. 325 · Part 2: Part Second
93. In School Days
Goal: Your child imagines the scenes of a poem and describes one of them in their own words.
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 325 is Whittier's poem "In School Days", with a plan for study: read for the story, imagine the scenes, describe the old schoolhouse, then the winter sunset and the two children, and imagine being the old man remembering.
The lesson, step by step
Read for the story
Read the poem aloud once, just for the story.
Still sits the schoolhouse by the road,
A ragged beggar sunning;
A gentle word
The poem ends sadly: the little girl died long ago, and the old man still remembers her kindness. Read it gently; let your child ask what they want to.
Follow the book's plan
- After the first three stanzas: describe the schoolhouse in your own words.
- The next four stanzas: describe the winter sunset and the two children.
- The next two: tell what happened (she spelled the word he missed, and was sorry).
- The last two: what do they tell us?
Write a description
Your child writes 5 or 6 sentences describing the old schoolhouse, inside and out, from the poem.
Check it gently
Read it aloud. Does every detail come from the poem? Did your child use some of their own words, not only Whittier's? Fix one thing.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
The old schoolhouse stands by the road, shabby and sunning itself like a beggar. Sumac bushes and blackberry vines grow around it. Inside, the master's desk is scarred, the floor is warped, and children have carved their initials in the seats. Someone has drawn pictures on the walls with charcoal.