The educational record of the province of Quebec, 1 mai 1909, Mai

[" MAY 1909.No.5 UCATIONAL RECORD OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC IUM THROUGH WHICH THE PROTESTANT COMMITTEE OF THE COUNCIL OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION COMMUNICATES ITS PROCEEDINGS AND OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS.The Protestant Committee is responsible only for what appears im the Official Department.JOHN PARKER, J.W.McOUAT, Editors.G.W.PARMELEE, Managing Editor.CONTENTS.ARTICLES : ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.The Study of Speech Sounds Preparation for Literature Suggestive Composition The Little Red School House at its Worst New York School for Cripples Pedagogy Rules for Your Note Book\u2014Acrostic Schoolday Blunders An Incident The Study Lesson Little Miss Lizzie OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT: Meeting of the Protestant Committee of the Council of Public Instruction Notices from the Official Gazette. Messrs.George Philip & Sons\u2019 \u201cComparative Series of Large School Room Maps\u201d are considered by geographical experts throughout the world to be the leading School Room Projections.Send for the convincing proof, our descriptive and illustrated circular, and reduced facsimile, Our new and complete illustrated catalogue of Geographical Publications is a work of art.Containing Globes, Model Test Maps, Map Building Sheets, Picture Map of the World, Memory Map, Atlases, Diagrams, Plani- spheres, Tellurians, etc.WRITE TO-DAY FOR A COPY Renouf Publishing Co, Canadian Agents 61 Union Ave., Montreal, P.O. 2 oe Educational Record of the Province of Quebec ot e May 1909 Vol.XXIX ARTICLES: ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.THE STUDY OF SPEECH SOUNDS.By Prof.Walter Rippmann, M.A.HI.(Concluded from April number.) There are many difficulties confronting a child when it begins the study of a foreign language; one of the greatest is the pronunciation.It 1s not merely that new sounds have to be learned, differing slightly or entirely from those in the mother tongue; the manner in which\u2018 sounds are represented is also different.The sound written sh in English is written ch in French and sch in German; the letters eu have a different value in each of these three languages.Just as the English spelling is an obstacle to the appreciation of English sounds, so the French and, to a less degree, the German spelling must be regarded as a difficulty in the way of the beginner. kiana 158 The Educational Record.It may be urged that for most pupils a reading knowledge suffices, and that if they should come to need a conversational knowledge they could soon acquire the pronunciation by a stay in the foreign country.Boys and girls are sent abroad in order that they may learn foreign languages.The result may sometimes be satisfactory; it is safe to say that in most cases they acquire fluency at the expense of accuracy, particularly in matters of pronunciation.They hear the foreign language constantly, yet for lack of suitable training they continue to speak the foreign sounds with an \u201cEnglish accent.\u201d It is the learner who has already acquired some knowledge of the foreign speech-sounds and a fair vocabulary that derives most benefit from a stay abroad.It is a dangerous thing to disregard the pronunciation in the belief that it can be learned later on.It would be safe.if it were possible for the learner, to acquire a reading knowledge without pronouncing the words: but if we do not supply the correct sounds the pupil will still attach some sounds to the words, and these are sure to be almost entirely incorrect.The pupil will utter the foreign language with what we call an \u201cEnglish accent\u201d \u2014that is, he will retain his old habits of speech, perhaps with a few slight modifications.Gradually there arises in his mind a powerful association between the foreign word and its \u201cEnglish\u201d pronunciation: and unfortunate indeed is he whose duty it becomes to destroy this association by the laborious work of training the pupil to pronounce correctly.He has to teach the use of long, pure vowels where the pupil has been uttering diphthongs (as in rose, méme, Rose, Schnee); he has to substitute a new stress for the faulty old one (as in commencer, répondre, strongly stressed on the second syllable): he has to teach the pronunciation of r (as in mère, partir, mir, hart); his task is heartrending.Perhaps the idea that French might be pronounced with English sounds is not unconnected with the customary pronunciation of Latin.It used to be the rule (and it is still too common) to begin Latin before French, and pupils thus unconsciously acquired the impression that re tp Sv = > rs DEE eee The Study of Speech Sounds.159 foreign languages had the same pronunciation as English.To one phonetically trained, the ordinary pronunciation of Latin 1s quite painful; it seems so needlessly ugly and so utterly wrong.Almost every vowel suffers in quality, and often in quantity too, and some of the consonants fare as badly.It is earnestly to be desired that the efforts of the Classical Association to improve matters will meet with success; yet it is to be feared that the day is still distant when our classical colleagues will gladly recognize the value of phonetics.Meanwhile they will continue their enthusiastic praises of melodious verse\u2014which they cannot read aloud! But to return to modern languages: the view more and more generally held is that the cultivation of the spoken as well as the written language is the best preparation for the study of the literature.It is argued that the beginner should obtain a good command of a fair vocabulary of common words and the essentials of grammar, and that this can best be obtained by a copious use of the foreign language both in its spoken and in its written forms.It is not my object here to uphold the reform method, which has been exposed to a good deal of unintelligent criticism ; I am confident that the main contentions of the reformers are based on general principles not likely to be assailed successfully.For my present purpose it is sufficient to state that those who believe in the reform method attach much importance to the spoken language and that those who oppose it have to confess that in this respect at least it marks an advance on the old \u201cgrammatical\u201d method.If the foreign language is to be spoken at all, it seems self-evident that it should be spoken as correctly as possible.How is this object to be achieved?For a long time it was thought that a foreign teacher was alone able to teach the pronunciation of his language; yet it does not require much thought to arrive at the conclusion that the teacher must have a knowledge of the sounds both in the pupil\u2019s mother-tongue and in the foreign language.Imitation alone has been proved to be insufficient.Occasionally a pupil taken by himself and possessing unusual ability has been taught by a clever etc.RE TCT OH 160 The Educational Record.teacher to pronounce the foreign language well by imitating the teacher\u2019s speech; but this is rare.Particularly in the case of languages like English and French, where the whole manner of speech is widely different, it is necessary for the teacher to be well acquainted with the pupil's mother-tongue.Again and again we see excellent foreign teachers of French and German whose pupils pronounce the foreign languages in an obtrusively English way.It is not that the teachers do not pay attention to the pronunciation; especially when they are new to the work, they show great zeal and perseverance in this respect.The attempts of the pupils to imitate their pronunciation do not satisfy them; they feel that something is wrong; but when the faulty pronunciation persists, they come to the conclusion that English children can get no nearer to the correct pronunciation than this, and so they reluctantly content themselves with what seem the best results obtainable.It is quite possible that no better results can be obtained\u2014Dby imitation.It is different when the teacher, native or foreign, has taken pains to acquaint himself with the phonetics of both languages.He is prepared for the mistakes which his pupils are likely to make, and he forestalls them by suitable exercises.Anxious to prevent rather than to cnre.he compares the English and the foreign sounds, and knows exactly on what he must lay special stress.If his pupils come to him with untrained ears, he proceeds to give them the power to discriminate sounds, which necessitates some acquaintance with the organs of speech; and in this he is encouraged by the interest which his words never fail to arouse.The pupils have been uttering speech-sounds for a long time.yet without knowing how they were uttered; and the new light shed on such familiar processes is like a revelation.It is sometimes suggested that \u201cpupils should not be bored with phonetics.\u201d This is the objection of the critic who attacks that of which he has no personal experience.The man capable of boring his pupils with phonetics is the man who bores them whatever he teaches.A keen teacher of languages who The Study of Speech Sounds.161 has once introduced phonetics into his teaching does not drop it again.If you wish to have an opinion as to the value of phonetics to the teacher of French or German, it 1s well not to go to one who has never made use of phonetics.The first condition of success in teaching the pronunciation is the teacher\u2019s competence; the second is practice on the part of the pupils.As was pointed out in the first of these articles, they have been speaking English until certain habits of speech were formed.These habits have become firmly rooted by the time when the foreign language is begun.They are now called upon to acquire entirely fresh habits of speech; muscles have to be brought into active play which previously took little or no part in the production of speech sounds.This demands much practice.The time devoted to a foreign language is limited; during the rest of the day the old habits of speech prevail.It seems all the more necessary to give to the foreign language as much of the time allotted to it as is possible.This is one of the reasons why the reformers urge that the mother tongue should be used as little as possible in the foreign-language lesson.They maintain that to utter alternately the foreign language and he mother tongue renders it more difficult to acquire the fresh habits of speech than when the two are kept apart.Their contention seems a sound one.The teacher who has studied phonetics is naturally anxious to utilize his knowledge 'in the class-room.He can do so by explaining the formation of the sounds; in all probability he will have recourse to the phonetic alphabet, which he has found so helpful in his own inquiries into the matter of pronunciation.Perhaps he will be content to use the signs when he is explaining the sounds, and for the purpose of drilling the organs of speech; he will find a printed sound-chart very useful.Perhaps he will go further, and let his pupils write in the phonetic transcription.If he decides to do so, he must make up his mind whether he will teach the phonetic signs exclusively in the early stages, or concurrently with the ordinary spelling.In the NN 162 The Educational Record.case of German, no disadvantage arises from teaching both at the same time; in the case of French, the best results are likely to be obtained with English pupils if they use the phonetic transcript exclusively during the first term.After three months they will have acquired the fresh habits of speech.They can speak corgectly, if not very fluently or about many subjects.It will still be necessary to practise the foreign sounds; even the foreigner\u2019s pronunciation of his language suffers if he speaks English much, yet in his case the habits of speech are much more firmly established than they can possibly be in the case of our pupils.When the attention has for a term been devoted to the sounds there is not much danger of the conventional spell ing misleading the pupil; but is it not likely that the habit of representing the foreign sounds phonetically will interfere with the spelling?This seems a valid objection; yet experience shows it to be groundless.Indeed, pupils who have passed in a methodical fashion from the phonetic to the ordinary spelling are found to spell quite as well as those who learn the ordinary spelling only, if not better.After all, this is not surprising.They do not learn the spelling in a hap-hazard way, but methodically; they realize the difference between the two systems of representing sounds, and when, for instance, they spell ombre and tante, they can supply a reason why there should be m and n in these words respectively\u2014a point which hardly occurs to the pupil who has had no phonetic training.Similarly, the ¢ in commencant, the qu in turque, cease to be exceptions, and gain a fresh interest as illustrating the inadequacy of the ordinary spelling.To those who wish to pursue the subject further, I would recommend Mr.Dumville\u2019s excellent \u201cElements of French Pronunciation and Diction\u201d (Dent) and Prof.Viétor\u2019s \u201cGerman Pronunciation\u201d (Reisland) and \u201cElements of Phonetics: English, French and German\u201d (Dent), my adaptation of his \u201cKleine Phonetik.\u201d As an introduction to the observation of the mother tongue I venture to call attention to a little volume entitled \u201cSounds of Spoken English\u201d (Dent), which I have just written with an eye to the requirements of our training colleges. Preparation for Literature.163 I do not know whether these articles will have converted a single reader who started with a prejudice against the study of speech sounds, considering it a subject only for the faddist.There are, however, among the readers of The Educational Record a large number of teachers who preserve an open mind and are willing to listen to the experience of others and to give a fair trial to what seems valuable in their suggestions.Iam hopeful that my words may induce some students to devote their energies to phonetics.It is a science which owes much to Englishman, but has for some time been neglected by them.The gain to be derived from the study of speech sounds is not inconsiderable.To establish a standard speech for the British Empire, and to enable every school-child to use that speech fluently beside its local dialect; to remove the great obstacle to intercourse with other nations, which our faulty pronunciation of their languages presents to us\u2014 these are objects requiring zeal and devotion for many a long year.Deep-seated prejudices must be overcome before success is attained.; but the cause is worth the struggle.The teacher of languages has a great responsibility : introducing the child into the language and the literature of its mother tongue, he is teaching it to think clearly and to feel finely; helping the learner to understand a foreign language, he renders possible the just appreciation of the foreign people, which is a powerful aid towards an enlightened patriotism.PREPARATION FOR LITERATURE.In discussing the question of what can be done in elementary schools to lay a firm foundation in literature, \u201cObserver\u201d in the Practical Teacher offers the following practical suggestions: \u2014 \u201cIn my judgment it is the business of the school to brighten the lives of the children; and not only should all the stories used for class work in the early years end happily, but many of them should be specially chosen to give real amusement, to raise the laughter that \u201cdoeth good like 16+ The Educational Recorda medicine,\u201d and to refine and train the sense of humour, which has more to do with real success and happiness in life than any quantity of heroics.Bring up a child to laugh at his own folly, and you arm him with a weapon with which he can cut many a Gordian knot.We have neglected this side of human nature carefully and systematically.Up to within quite recent years the hearty laugh in the schoolroom was a thing unknown.This is not surprising, seeing that it might have cost the school managers an appreciable sum of money.So far as I can judge, the atmosphere has now been cleared to some degree, and in the best schools the \u201ctone\u201d is no longer one of \u201chigh tension.\u201d It is rather distinguished by a freshness and vivacity which has a wonderful effect on the pace at which real solid work is accomplished, and which causes many old-time \u201cproblems of discipline\u201d to vanish altogether.Now our business, as educators, is not to raise the \u201cloud laugh that speaks the vacant mind.\u201d It is rather to show indirectly and without exhortation that there are certain things in life which are legitimate matter for mirth, and that many apparently great difficulties will disappear before a smile.I am aware that this atmosphere is difficult to create in schools where physical vitality is low, owing to poverty and semi-starvation, but something can be done even in schools of this class to lighten and brighten the labour of the day.The chief instrument is the teacher's own demeanor.Gratiano was surely thinking of our noble profession when he said: \u2014 \u201cThere are a sort of men whose visages Do cream and mantle like a standing pond, And do a wilful stillness entertain, With purpose to be dressed in an opinion Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit, As who should say, \u2018T am Sir Oracle, And when I ope my lips let no dog bark!) \u201d \u2014 = Preparation for Literature.165 The most successful disciplinarians are.those who dare to encourage a laugh.This is one of the tests of the suitability of a teacher for his work.Another powerful instrument is the use of the right sort of literature\u2014the story which laughs gently at folly, the story poem of a playful nature, the amusing fable which sums up the wisdom of the ages.There is a wealth of such lore in the fireside tales of various parts of the country, tales which have amused the simple rustics of bygone ages when the winter nights were long.Not all the material is suitable, for these same rustics were in a physical sense men and women; but many of their stories are very childlike in their directness of application and lack of subtlety, while others, can be adapted and made quite suitable.Our \u201cold favourite\u201d Red Riding Hood itself is an example of adaptation from a tale by no means suitable for children.Our school book purveyors have not yet drawn upon this store to any appreciable extent; but what of that?Let the teacher begin his literature work by carefully selecting tales of his own countryside, writing them down in simple language, and dictating them to his pupls, to be kept for reading purposes.As educators we are much too dependent upon the printed book.Here is an opportunity for laboratory work in literature.Why should we begin with the locality in history and geography, and not apply the same scientific method to literature?Fach of the stories employed ought to be examined by the children in such a manner that their power of judgment is trained and strengthened.Let me give an example of the use of this method, taken from The Teaching of History in Germany, by Miss Eva Dodge.to which a Practical Teacher reviewer made reference last month.The class under observation had been reading the heroic legend of Siegfried, of which national use is made in \u2018Germany.Miss Dodge goes on: \u2014 \u201cThe teacher began by revising the story of Siegfried\u2019s death.The children re-related it in sections.He was particular as to how they did it; they must make the \u2018hang\u2019 of the story clear first by the use of headings.OO EAN ARE EN 166 The Educational Record.\u201c \u2018We ought to get a general review first for a narration,\u201d said he; \u2018get the chief points and the most important.Then we have a thread right through which we can follow.\u201d \u201cThen he told them the rest of the story, recommending them, \u2018Say it to yourselves again this afternoon.\u2019 \u201cAfterwards came an animated discussion of the tale.\u201c \u2018So we have come to the end of this story.What has pleased or displeased you in it?\u2019 \u201c(Suggestions in plenty after this fashion.) \u201c\u2018It did not please me that Kriemhild betrayed her secret.\u2019 \u201c\u2018It did not please me that Gunther agreed to Siegfried\u2019s murder.\u2019 \u201c \u2018Tt did not please me that Hagen should kill Siegfried.\u201d \u201c \u2018Tt did not please me that Hagen was so crafty.\u2019 \u201cYes.If he had met Siegfried openly in fair fight, that would have been right; would it not?Does nothing please you in Hagen?Why did he do the deed?\u2019 \u201c \u2018He had to obey the king.\u2019 \u201c\u2018Had to?Anyhow he did so.That is a good quality of the old Germans\u2014their faithfulness.They stuck to their lord through thick and thin, and did his bidding, too, as we see, even when it was something bad \" \u201c \u201cWas Siegfried blameless ?\u2019 \u201c\u2018No.He should not have fought Brunhild for Gunther.\u201c\u2018That was deceit.\u2019 \u201cWas Kriemhild blameless?\u2019 \u201c \u2018No.She should not have betrayed the secret.\u2019 \u201c \u2018Does nothing please you in Kriemhild?It seems as though you only wanted to throw stones at her! \u201c\u201cYes\u2014that Kriemhild loved her husband so verv dearly.\u201d \u201d There is a fine strengthening power in this kind of work, a training in discrimination, an emphasizing of the deep spiritual lesson that in life we must be definite in judgment and yet ready to make allowance and to think the best.In some such manner should every story worthy of being enclosed within the pages of a school book be used.But m our schools we have not yet even begun to work on this plan. Preparation for Literature.-167 Think what it means in the mental training of the young reader.The effect of consistently using such a method will be to cause the pupil to form a habit of thinking carefully about any story he may read out of school; to check the present feverish reading of fiction, which is as yet the only effect of the cheapening of good books; and to create unconsciously a standard of right living of a werthy character.Even in a Second Standard of a primary school we can be working for such lofty aims, and forming habits of mental and moral vigour.Besides the imaginative literature employed for reading and study in this standard, a beginning might be made with that reading for information to which I made some reference last month.The child ought to learn that it is possible to get from books a great deal of interesting and suggestive information; but it is not easy to find the right kind of literature for this purpose.Books which tell of an encyclopaedic uncle and abnormally inquiring nephews soon disgust the child, as they ought to do; for he cannot work up any human interest, and would much prefer to have the information given in a straightforward manner.One wishes that some writer of repute would do for our children what Carl Ewald did for the little ones of Den- mark\u2014that is, humanize some of the wonders of the natural world in a manner which charms while it instructs.Here and there one meets, even in English books, with Nature stories of the right kind, but they are few and far between.The reading and telling of stories begun in the infants\u2019 school ought to be continued in this standard.Suitable material will be found in Hans Andersen, Carl Ewald, and Grimm, rather longer tales being chosen and doled out in portions.A simplified Robinson Crusoe, or Gulliver's Travels, or a volume of \u201cUncle Remus\u201d tales is suitable for this stage.Other material will be found in Messrs.Jack\u2019s \u201cTold to the Children\u201d and \u201cShown to the Children\u201d Series; in Messrs.Nelson\u2019s \u201cGolden River\u201d Series; and in Stead\u2019s \u201cBooks for the Bairns.\u201d Pupils might be encouraged to buy the easier volumes fromm the last-named and other similar series with their spare pennies, the 168 The Educational Record.teacher naming the volume which he has examined and found suitable, and occasionally giving one as a prize.In this way a great deal can be done to put the young reader on the right track, as well as to help the school work and raise the general level of intelligence.Fortunately the penny series of the railway bookstall are now for the most part made up of worthy material, and form a pleasant contrast to much of the popular literature (save the mark) at a higher figure.SUGGESTIVE COMPOSITION.Perhaps no subject in the whole curriculum receives such varied treatment as composition does.The same methods applied to the other branches of the curriculum would lead nowhere.In these other subjects, a course of study directs; in composition, a subject equally important, scarcely more than a suggestion of the types of work exists to guide the teacher.Consequently there is frequent overlapping, repetition and lack of knowledge of the ground previously covered, the teacher taking nothing for granted, and the pupil, the victim of the same story told in each year of his school life.If progress is to be made from year to year, composition work should articulate throughout a school.Fach grade should have its particular work, its own descriptions, stories, and reproductions.Only under some such condition as this will growth be evident.In planning the work, the two phases of composition.matter and form, must be distinguished.Under form may be considered spelling, punctuation, syllabication, paragraphing, choice and use of words, grammatical errors, general arrangement.These elements may be taught in connection with spelling.reading, grammar, and dictation.During the composition the major portion of the time must be devoted to the subject matter; the remainder to correction and consideration of form.Undue attention to form makes composition work a dreary task to pupil and teacher; a neglect of form results in an unfinished product, despite the beauty of the subject matter. Suggestive Cimposition.169 It is the subject matter that is of the greatest concern to the teacher.The question, What shall the class write?confronts her every time a new composition is planned.Generally.children enjoy writing about their games, their work, and their travels and experiences\u2014something from their own lives outside of the class room.The stumbling block in the way for many teachers is lack of sympathy for the child's modes of thoughts, his likes and dislikes.The practice of assigning topics from other branches of study for composition is pernicious.The pupil\u2019s interest is side-tracked.He regards the composition period as the dumping ground for left-over portions of his other studies.He loses the breath of freshness which is so essential in producing good work.Undoubtedly pleasure in work affords the best condition for the development of power.In actual practice it has been found most valuable to allow the class to suggest the subject matter from time to time, and the teacher to select the most appropriate.In looking over the field of subject matter the teacher will distinguish three types.First, descriptions based upon the child's observations and experience; second, creations of his imag- ination\u2014a truly rich source of supply to the child; and lastly, reproductions, in which the teacher alone decides on the material to be considered.In these three types of composition work it is surprising the great number of subjects that may be secured.A helpful device is to note on cards the subjects considered during the term, and adding to them the results of successive years.In regard to descriptions the following may be suggestive: How I Save Money.A Vacation Experience.An Interesting Stranger.+ Shinny (or any other game).A Ride on the Trolley.My Little Brother.The First of April.Our Cat.A Stamp Collector.A Peculiar Personage.A Knight of the Road. 170 The Educational Record.In the field of imagination the source of subject matter is unlimited, and even more delightful to write about.Under this head may be considered stories from pictures, making of stories, and imitation of stories.Take Hawthorne\u2019s \u201cThe Town Pump\u201d as an example.Point out the quaint drollery of this \u201cguardian of the best treasure.\u201d Let the pupils weave about their corner lamp-post a personality just as charming.Many subjects as the following will receive interesting treatment, and their reading will furnish rare entertainment to teacher and class alike: My Old Hat.The Meditations of a School Desk.The Experiences of a Snowball.Some Tales My Pencil Could Tell.Meeting Ben Franklin.Our School Room in 2009.Were I a Song?Our Cat\u2019s Autobiography.The Feelings of a Door Mat.A Trip to Mars.The third source of material is from choice bits of literature and biography.These must be selected primarily for their form and style, but the matter must nevertheless be interesting.It is in this phase of the subject matter that composition work assumes the nature of a study.In the autobiography of Franklin, we find him closely applying himself to his Addison, scrutinizing every word, sentence and paragraph, and then attempting to reproduce, then further comparison with the original to note deficiency or improvement.It is this method the teacher must lead the pupil to adopt.The pupil must try to make the extract studied his own.One word of caution, however, in passing.In the practice of reproduction there is much good and much evil.As examples of style and choice words the extracts selected may prove the best means of producing growth.The evil lies in too much stress being laid on reproductions, to the exclusion of other forms of composition.The originality of the pupil is sapped thereby.The lives of painters, musicians, poets, statesmen, fables, short stories, and paraphrases of à Suggestive Cimposition.171 poetry may be considered in the selection of material.Many books containing the gems of literature in story and verse are obtainable.To illustrate the nature of this work, the following titles of reproductions will give an dea: An Incident of the Oregon Trail.The Bottle Imp (Stevenson).The Chase (Lady of the Lake).Readings from Dewey's \u201cLessons in Manners.\u201d Fentainbleau., Jules Breton.One Phase of Webster's Character.An Anecdote of Stephen Girard.Beethoven and the Blind Girl.These three divisions\u2014description, imagination, repro- duction\u2014cover the field of writing adapted \u201co pupils of grammar school age.Letter writing should fare a fourth part of the course.In itself it is distinctive only in form, the subject matter being derived from the other three d= visions.Where the composition work is properly graded throughout the school the four divisions could be taken up in one month.The first week, a description; the second week, an imaginary incident; the third week, a reproduction; and the fourth week, a letter.Occasionally a fifth period will occur in one month.This period will afford an opportunity for outlining a description or imaginary incident, or abstracting a story for reproduction.With ninety minutes per week allotted to composition work, two-thirds should be spent in writing, the remaining time in correction and explanation.In all cases the pupils should acquire the habit of making only one draft.This will give more time to original work.They should be taught to write as much as they can in the prescribed time.When this plan is followed it will be found more progress will be made by four short compositions occurring at frequent intervals than by one long composition a month, laboriously worked over, outlined, and planned by teacher, and then taken home and further elaborated by the pupil.Where the composition work is not articulated throughout 172 The Educational Record.the school, it has been found more practical to vary the method.Instead of a weekly composition, daily themes are resorted to.These are usually one or two paragraphs in length.The first week is devoted to descriptions; the second, to imaginary incidents; the third, to reproductions; the fourth, to short letters.With eighteen minutes a day, ten minutes may be devoted to writing, and the remaining eight minutes to reading and criticism.It is surprising how much may be accomplished by this method.After two months of this work, the class having gained a readiness in handling the tools of composition work, the former scheme may be used.\u2014Leonard A.Lettinger in \u201cThe Teacher.\u201d Note.\u2014 The titles suggested in this article have been used in actual class room work.THE LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE AT ITS WORST.I hesitate to confess what a wretched school room ours is.but some time we shall have a new one if Mr.Sykes, our biggest and stingiest tax-payer, gets converted or goes to heaven or somewhere.As I write this I can look right up through a hole in the roof and see the sky.When it rains we put a water pail under it, and move away.There are three places in the walls where we can look through and see the ground; one summer afternoon last June a snake crawled through the hole in the west side and frightened Mary Beardsley almost into convulsions.I suppose the plaster went all over the walls once, but it was a long time ago\u2014there are only little dirty streaks of it now.The desks were made by the trustee himself when the house was built, boards sawed and nailed together; I wonder if he has to sit on something like them up there or down there among the clouds.I certainly hope he doesn\u2019t have to keep up the fires where he is, if he is there, if it takes as much wood in proportion as it does for this box stove.The teacher\u2019s desk is in the corner, only it isn\u2019t a desk\u2014 New York School for Cripples.173 + just a small table.On the same side of the room is the blackboard, two feet by three, with four inches of cracks, covered years ago with black paint, and probably greasy then; now the lump of chalk will hardly make a mark on it.We have a map\u2014O yes, we have a map: Pelton\u2019s United States, 31 States and 7 Territories, with the Great American Desert, all painted in colors like a drunkard\u2019s stomach in an \u201capproved\u201d physiology.There is a motto nailed up over the door, \u201cThe way of transgressors is hard.\u201d Sometimes it is; sometimes the way of the teacher is hard, according to the size of the transgressor; in fact, we have one transgressor in school whose way is very easy \u2014the teacher doesn\u2019t dare speak to him except with a propitiatory smile.\u2014School Bulletin.NEW YORK SCHOOL FOR CRIPPLES.This mission of mercy was established in 1901.The city takes entire charge of these children, while philanthropic persons do all the rest.This makes possible for them healthful play with congenial companionship, gives fitting instruction to their special needs in a natural cor- petition with children similarly handicapped, and gives them the means of self-support, thus inspiring in them a spirit of self-respect in place of the spirit of helpless dependence in which they have been wont to live.The chief effort is for the physical relief and development of these unfortunates.To this end there were last year 7,573 tub baths administered under expert direction as to temperature and rubbing.A trained nurse with assistants is always at hand.Regular surgical, medical and massage treatment is provided.An oculist and dentist regularly investigate the condition and needs of the children.There were 4,935 cases attended to last year by various specialists.The children are conveyed to the school daily with the greatest regard to comfort.They are given some warm broth or milk each hour, and the mid-day meal is prepared under scientific direction.All who need it have a nap in the early afternoon. 174 The Educational Record.Secondly, they are given the education that will mean most to them, with no waste of energy on the frills and with no needless fatigue.[Finally, they are given such manual and domestic training as will enable them to be self-supporting.This is entirely feasible with many boys and girls.Fach child is scientifically studied to find the chair that is every way best for him, and regardless of cost it is provided.These chairs are adapted to them in the work that each can do under his affliction.Last year twelve girls of fifteen and upwards earned for themselves $1.351 by needle work.There are 116 crippled children cared for in the present home.The total annual cost of this noble work for 116 children, physically, medically, socially, industrially, is but $15,000.\u2014Journal of Education.PEDAGOGY.A few years ago there was a general acceptance of the conclusion that there was such a thing as pedagogy, that is, a well-defined body of educational principles and doctrine.Once that fact was established, a host of educators began to contribute their views in a flood of literature that has continued to increase as time goes on.Every institute has its expounder of methods.The school journals are full of information regarding the \u201cscience and art\u201d of teaching.The literature of pedagogy is growing rapidly.Much of it is good; a good deal of it is poor; some of it is pernicious.We might be nearer to the truth if we should say that very much of it is imbecilic and silly.One may read much and hear much that is the refinement of pedagogic nonsense.Writers and speakers are prone to make the subject ridiculous by attempting to carry it to a point where its operations are so subtle as to be beyond the comprehension of ordinary teachers.One may listen to extended exhortations upon the child, his capacities and method of treatment, etc., that are simply ridiculous to the experienced teacher. Rules for Your Notebook\u2014Acrostic for Teachers.175 This tendency is to be regretted.There is always room for conservative, well-thought-out, sensible, pedagogic methods, but we have a surplus of froth that availeth nothing to the earnest teacher trying to do his best for those coming under his instruction.Pedagogy is a means, not an end; a servant, not a master.It should help the teacher, and not be made a cumbersome, complex tool in his hands.Common sense and wisdom are twin sisters, and are found no farther apart in teaching than in any other avocations.When will the influential ones raise their voices against the abuses of pedagogy >\u2014H.M.Rowe, Baltimore.RULES FOR YOUR NOTEBOOK.1.Never continue the use of your eyes at fine work, such as reading or fancy work, after they have become tired.2.Do not try to read or use the eyes with a poor light \u2014in the twilight, for instance, before the lamps are lighted.3.In reading or studying, do not sit with the light from either lamp or window shining directly upon your face.Have it come from behind and shine over the left shoulder if possible.4.Never expose the eyes to a sudden, bright light by looking at the sun or at a lamp on first awakening in the morning, or by passing quickly from a dark room into a lighted one.5.Do not read while lying down, or when riding on a street car or railway train.6.If any object gets into the eye have it removed as soon as possible.7.Many persons hurt their eyes by using various kinds of eye-washes.Never use anything of this kind unless told to do so by a good physician.\u2014Selected.ACROSTIC FOR TEACHERS.Attention is the condition of memory.Building moral character is the highest aim.\u2018Children are doers rather than learners of book knowledge. 176 The Educational Record.Do not expect the class to arouse the interest.Effects are modified by controlling the causes.Fault finding has no place in education.Grant children their rights.Happiness is a genuine, powerful tonic.Intelligence and virtue are the uplifting forces in society.Judgment is the most deficient faculty.Keep the class thinking.Lead the children to do what they ought to do as men and women.Meanings of things are better than meanings of words.Never hear \u201crecitations.\u201d Observe the operations of child mind.Pupils are willing to let the teacher do the talking.Quit wrong methods as soon as discovered.Repetition forms habit.School work ought to be in line with life work.Training is leading to do, till the habit of doing is formed.Union of natural history and natural science broadens.culture.Vary devices to suit the needs.While insisting on truthfulness and self-control, set no example to the contrary.\u201cX\u201d austive observation is an element in all great success.Youthful instincts are more trustworthy as a guide to interest than our reasoning.Zeal is born of ideas rushing from vivid and complete impressions.\u2014 Alberta School Report.Since the welfare of a self-governing country depends upon the intelligence of its citizens, measures to insure the growth of intelligence in the rising generation are necessary.Compulsory school attendance has been provided in Massachusetts and Connecticut since the middle of the seventeenth century, and nearly every state has more or less effective laws at the present time.These require attendance from three to seven months, between the ages of seven and fourteen, or sixteen.A penalty of fine or imprisonment is provided for disobedience. Schoolday Blunders.SCHOOLDAY BLUNDERS.(Ben R.Winslow, Mt.Rainier, Maryland.) The inability of the mind of growing children to retain more than a fragment of their tutor\u2019s instructions is evidenced in the little blunders we all have made when called upon to answer questions.Facts, their answers show, have been retained, but they have not been properly classified in the mind, and, therefore, when the student seeks to use them, he finds them somewhat disassociated and his answers become a trifle mixed.Especially is this true of the young student of the Bible.There are too many characters, and the facts concerning them are entirely too numerous for his undeveloped mind to classify.Therefore we are not surprised to learn from one youngster that Moses was an Egyptian who lived in an ark of bull- rushes, kept a golden calf, and worshipped brazen snakes, and \u201cate nothing but kwales and manna for forty years,\u201d or that he was caught by the hair of his head while riding under a bough of a tree, and was killed by his son Abso- lom as he was hanging from the bough.To the question \u201cWho was Jonah?\u201d one lad replied :\u2014 \u201cHe was the father of Lot and had two wives.One was called Ishmael and the other Hagher ; he kept one at home and he turned the other loose in the desert, and she became a pillow of salt in the day time and a pillow of fire at night.\u201d \u201cWhat did Moses do with the tabernacle?\u201d was asked by another Sunday School teacher, to which one boy replied that he chucked it out of the camp.The teacher, in surprise, asked him where he obtained this information, and the boy promptly quoted the first sentence of the seventh verse of the thirty-third chapter of Exodus: \u201cAnd Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp.\u201d Another lad informed his teacher that Elijah was such a good man that he went to heaven without dying, and that while he was going up he threw his coat down for Queen Elizabeth to step on.\u201cEsau,\u201d he said, \u201cwas a man who wrote fables and sold the copyright to a publisher for a bottle of potash.\u201d 178 The Educational Record.The blunders of youth are not, however, confined to sacred history, as these answers, vouched for by the several teachers who have saved them to posterity, will testify :\u2014 \u201cTobacco was introduced into England by Sir Walter Raleigh, and as he sat smoking a pipe he shouted: \u201cThis day, Master Ridley, we have lighted such a fire as shall never be put out.\u201d \u201cThe reign of Queen Ann was the time in which the Spanish Armanda took place.She married Philip, of Spain, who was a very cruel man.The Spanish and English fought bravely against éach other.The English wanted to conquer Spain.After several battles were fought, in which hundreds of English and Spanish were defeated, they lost some very large ships and were at a great loss on both sides.\u201d \u201cWolsey was a famous general who fought in the Crimean war, and who, after being decapitated several times, said to Cormwell, \u2018Ah, if I had only served you as you have served me, I would not have been deserted in my old age\u201d \u201cThe Homeric poems were not written by Homer, but by another man of the same name.Gorilla warfare was when men rode on gorillas.The puritans found an insane asylum in the wilds of America.Johnson died from a chronic disease\u2014there was something the matter with his chrone.\u201d The class in geography has furnished these choice blunders: \u201cIn Austria the principal occupation is gathering Aus- trich feathers.\u201d \u201cIreland is called the Emigrant Isle because it is so beautiful and green.\u201d \u201cA fort is a place to put men in and a fortress is a place to put women in.\u201d \u201cClimate lasts all the time and the weather only a few days.\u201d \u201cThe Nile is the only remarkable river in the world.It was discovered by Dr.Livingston, and it rises in the Mungo Park.\u201d An Incident.179 \u201cConstantinople is on the Golden Horn; a strong fortress; has a university, and is the residence of Peter the Great.Its chief building is the Sublime Porte.\u201d\u2019\u2014 Education.AN INCIDENT.(Samuel E.Harwood.Southern Illinois State Normal University.Some time ago a meeting of teachers was held.It was the annual meeting of the county association.The officers of this association had planned for a three days\u2019 programme.The county superintendent had little to do with it beyond giving advice.The exercises were at least of average value.The instructors were much in earnest and tried to give profitable suggestions.They strove for hearty co-operation from the teachers.They showed they were present for business.Not all the teachers were present during the meeting.Some attended only one day.Many were late at the sessions, an hour or so later than they would be at their own schools.A few had come to town apparently to visit, after securing their registration cards.Some were indifferent to the exercises and conducted themselves as visitors.When Saturday came and prospect of pay vanished, so did most of the teachers.Hardly enough gathered to manage the business of the association.What does it mean?Presence long enough to secure a certificate of attendance to attach to the month\u2019s schedule.Absence when no money value is obainable ! Will the clamor for increased salaries continue?Will the good-natured patrons uncomplainingly grant it?Is this an isolated case?What will teachers do about it >\u2014School News and Practical Educator. The Educational Record.THE STUDY LESSON.Bad habits of study are a serious handicap to any one engaged in school work.In spite of this well-known truth, teachers generally have very crude ideas of the processes involved in logical study.And what is even worse, little is being done to train children in the acquisition of the proper habits of study.Assignments are too frequently by chapters, topics, or pages with no words of advice, of caution, or of assistance ; and the children at their seats read what the books say in preparation for the recitation to follow.During the recitation the teacher questions the pupils to see how well they remember the statements of the text.It would be untrue to affirm that no good results from such a procedure; for by it children have, ever since the establishment of schools, learned,\u2014 that is, stored their memory with a great mass of unassim- lated, or at least only partially assimilated facts.The conventional methods of the ordinary schoolroom have made for rote learning and verbalizing.Certainly in many cases time has not been taken to point out to the children the dangers of inattention and of a lack of concentration.Bad habits have necessarily resulted, and bad habits not only represent the line of least resistance, but the line of least worth also.Dawdling through lessons must make all later school life, and life in general, a drudgery instead of an inspiration.Such habits are the marks of the vagabond and the criminal.They bar the road to intellectual pursuits.It is not enough, however, simply to point out the dangers of inattention.of listless work.The child is entitled to definite help which provides a method of attack.To allow him to wander through his lesson with no ability to discriminate, to distinguish between essentials and non- essentials or to test results, means woeful ignorance or unpardonable shiftlessness on the part of the teacher.The manner in which one studies is really more important than the matter which he studies.The manner, the mode or the method of attack, becomes one\u2019s permanent possession: the matter is transient.and likely soon forgotten. Little Miss Lizzie.181 It is significant to note that practically all the tests or examinations of the school are conducted to find out what the pupil knows about some subject.How he gained his knowledge is ignored.Teachers must not forget that the child who seems to be getting nowhere in his study 1s really getting somewhere.He is making habits for himself which must forever close the door of studentship.Time must be taken and assistance must be given to show the child how to study or else energy will be wasted and opportunity lost.\u2014The School News.LITTLE MISS LIZZIE.5 It was the little Pupil-Teacher\u2019s last day in the elementary school.Soon she was to go to college, to be trained into the Ideal Teacher of the Mistress of Method.\u201cShe is not a disciplinarian,\u201d said the Head Mistress disparagingly to the First Assistant; \u201cI could not give her a really good testimonial for the college.I hope the authorities will insist that she is firm with her classes.I have called the Principal's attention to her weakness.1 felt it my duty.\u201d \u201cBut her children all love her,\u201d said the First Assistant, timidly, for she was much in awe of the Head.\u201cThat may be,\u201d snapped the Head, contemptuously; \u201cbut they don\u2019t know their multiplication table, and their spelling is shocking.She has no head for accuracy.\u201d Meanwhile there was gloom in the little Pupil-Teacher\u2019s room.Was it not her last day?And Standard II.refused to be comforted.What would they do without their beloved Miss Lizzie?Standard II.cared nothing for the Beauty of Accuracy as seen in the multiplication table and spelt \u201cplease\u201d p-l-e-e-z-e with cheerful unconcern (probably preferring the modern phonetic spelling), but thev adored Miss Lizzie with all the fervour of their undisciplined little souls.The beauty of her pretty blouses, her dainty shoes, her fluffy hair framing her gentle girlish face, meant more to them than all the Beauties of Nature which the Head Mistress so often urged them to appreciate. 182 The Educational Record.And now she was going.And life had lost its savour for Standard II.\u201cBut you can all write to me,\u201d said little Miss Lizzie.They cheered up a little at this, till Joseph Muggins who.was given to seeing the realities of life with relentless fidelity of vision, remarked lugubriously, \u201cYes\u2014but they'll never give us no penriy for the stamp, not our farvers and.muvvers won't.\u201d Gloom settled once more upon Standard II., and it was.in vain that Miss Lizzie promised to visit them at Christmas time.: The little cripple of the class, whom even the roughest and noisiest had been taught to care for by little Miss Lizzie, now spoke\u2014his face whiter with suppressed emotion.\u201cAnd I\u2019ve got to go to \u2019ave my bad leg seen to, at the \u2019orspittle, and you won\u2019t be \u2019ere to come and see me when I'm in bed next day!\u2019 Depression could sink no lower, and even Miss Lizzie was at a loss to console the little sufferer.Suddenly a bright thought came: \u201cBut, Johnny, your train goes past the college where I shall be, and you can wave your handkerchief to me, and I will watch for it, and blow you a kiss, and you can tell all the other children that you saw me.\u201d This was a positive inspiration and served to keep the children full of interest and expectation, so that Miss Lizzie got away without the outburst of tears she had rather dreaded.Little Miss Lizzie sits in the classroom, listening somewhat half-heartedly to the lecture on Applied Psychology which is to give her the necessary firmness she so sadly lacks.\u201cAnd, remember,\u201d says the Mistress of Method severely and impressively, \u201cthat habits of concentration and careful accuracy should be practised by the teacher, and inculcated in the children with firmness and persistence.\u201d Just then little Miss Lizzie, furtively glancing out of the window, sees a grimy handkerchief fluttering from a passing train.Oblivious to the habits of concentration Dominion Educational Association.183 she should be forming, but full of loving sympathy for little crippled Johnny, soon to be in the hands of the surgeon who \u201c\u2019urts \u2019im hawful,\u201d she rises in her seat, and\u2014yes\u2014 actually throws a kiss at the departing train ! The lecturer stops aghast\u2014such levity is beyond her comprehension.Then she demands with acerbity the reason for the untimely outburst.\u201cIt\u2014it\u2014was a sudden\u2014impulse,\u201d falters little Miss Lizzie, much abashed at her own temerity.\u201cSudden impulses should be inhibited by those who set up to be trainers of the young,\u201d coldly replies the Mistress of Method, who knows much about the Abstract Ideas of the Mind, but less\u2014far less\u2014than little Miss Lizzie of little living, loving, faulty boys and girls.And Miss Lizzie subsides blushingly into her seat, while the Mistress of Method continues the lecture and mentally classifies her as \u2018\u2018unbalanced\u2014lacking in power of abstract thought.\u201d But crippled Johnny, bravely smiling as he recalls the vision of his beloved Miss Lizzie kissing her hand \u201cto make him brave.\u201d bears his pain at the hands of the busy yet tender-hearted, young house-surgeon so manfully that he is called \u201ca regular brick,\u201d and flushes all over his thin ° little face at the unexpected praise.And next week, some forty little scamps whose multiplication is faulty and whose spelling is weak, but whose hearts respond loyally to the love of those who understand them, talk hopefully of their Miss Lizzie, whom Johnny has really seen and who will surely come to visit them when Christmas comes.The Little Miss Lizzies have their place in the busy school world.Tet us not despise them.\u2014Journal of Education.DOMINION EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION.The seventh convention of the Dominion Educational Association will be held in Victoria, B.C., on July 13, 14, 15, 16, 1909. 184 The Educational Record.The programme, upon which will be found the names of the leading educationists of Canada and the United States, contains a variety of subjects which will prove interesting, instructive and helpful to the teaching profession.In the elementary section the views of the representative educationists from the different Provinces will be presented on \u201cWhat is aimed at as an elementary education in our common schools ?\u201d In the department of Inspection and Training among the subjects for discussion are found the following: The Teaching of Latin, The Preparation of the Teacher for the Rural School, The Work of a State University, The Proper Conduct and Value of the Teachers\u2019 Institute.| At the general meetings addresses will be given on: The Future of the Rural Schools, Modern Tendencies in Education, Comparison of General Methods of Instruction in Canada and the United States.Competent committees at Victoria are making arrangements for the reception of visiting teachers.Reduced rates will be given on the railways, with stop-over privileges both ways, and plenty of time allowed on ticket.This trip will prove to be a most enjoyable holiday to all who can attend.1908 SUPERIOR SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS.PHYSICS (GRADE I.ACADEMY.) All the questions are to be answered.1.(a) Define the British and the French Standard Units.(b) Which is the better system?(c) How many millimetres are there in each of the following :\u2014centimetre, decimetre, and metre?10 2.Along rod floats vertically in water.It is pushed down, and then let go.Why does it come up again.10 3.À dairyman is suspected of watering his milk.How would you prove if the suspicion is correct?10 185- Superior School Examinations.4, Why does an empty tin can float in water?10: 5.(a) Distinguish between mass and weight.(b) Write down the difference in meaning of (a) mass of a : book; (b) weight of a book.10 i 6.With the same stove will it take the same time to boil a pan of water at the top of a high mountain as at the foot?At which place will it be easier to boil potatoes?7.Why are the ends of rails on a railway not placed closely together?10 8.(a) State all the conditions necessary for a good thermometer.(b) What do you mean by a \u201cfixed point\u201d on a thermometer?How many are there?How would vou find if the fixed points on a thermometer were cor- rect?20 9.Describe fully what takes place when moderately dilute nitric acid is poured upon copper.10 BOTANY (GRADE II.ACADEMY.) Any five questions constitute a full paper.1.How would you distinguish a root from a stem?Enumerate the more important varieties of roots, giving examples.2.Describe the functions of leaves.Flow are leaves classified as to their veining?3.What is meant by inflorescence?Distinguish between racemose and cymose inflorescences.4.Define and describe six methods of dehiscence, giving an example of each.5.Describe the modes by which the fertilzation of a flower is effected.6.Define the following terms: bract, pome, drupe, pericarp, spathe, scale, oestivation, tuber, corn. The Educational Record.CHEMISTRY (GRADE II.ACADEMY.) All the questions are to be answered.1.(a) What is the difference between elements and compounds?(b) Give some examples of elements, of compounds.(c) In general, what is meant by chemical action?15 2.(a) What does burning oxygen consist in?(b) Is burning in air the same chemical act as burning in oxygen?(c) How is this proved?(d) Why do substances not burn as actively in the air as they do in oxygen?15 3.(a) Are nitrogen and oxygen chemically combined or mixed together in the air?(b) What reasons can you give for your statement?10 4.(a) What are the common acids?(b) What do they contain?(c) What takes place when they are treated with metallic elements?15 5.(a) What are the most common causes of impurities in water?(b) What precautions should be taken in regard to the position of wells?Why?(c) How can water be purified?(d) Describe the process of distillation.15 6.(a) Compare the action of hydrogen on oxygen and on chlorine.(b) What are the products?(c) What are chlorides?15 7.(a) How are the chief compounds of chlorides, hydrogen and oxygen obtained?(b) What is potassium chloride?potassium chlorate?(c) What takes place when these compounds are treated with sulphuric acid?15 187 University School Examinations.UNIVERSITY SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS.(Quebec.) ENGLISH DICTATION.Morning, 10.30 to 11.re prt Monday.June 15th, 1908.The starved and ragged English seamen, so ill furnished by their sovereign that they were obliged to take from their enemies the means of fighting them, decided otherwise; they and the winds and the waves, which are said ever to be on the side of the brave.In their victory they conquered not the Spaniards only, but the weakness of their Queen.Either she had been incredulous before that Philip would indeed invade her; or she had underrated the power of her people; or she discerned that the destruction of the Spanish fleet had created at last an irreparable breach with the Catholic governments.At any rate, there was no more unwholesome hankering after compromise, no more unqueenly avarice or reluctance to spend her treasure in the cause of freedom.The strength and resources of England were flung heartily into the war, and all the men and all the money it could spare were given freely to the United Provinces.The struggle lasted into the coming century.Elizabeth never saw peace with Spain again.One more great attempt was made by Philip in Ireland, but only to fail miserably, and the shores of England were never seriously threatened again.Note for the Presiding Examiner.\u2014The Deputy Examiner will read the extract three times, the candidates writing it out during the second readng.The first and third readings are respectively intended to give the candidates a general idea of the character of the passage, and to guide them in punctuating.As it is of great importance that candidates should not be left in a state of uncertainty, the Deputy Examiner will repeat, on request, any word or phrase.Full stops and semicolons are to be indicated by the Deputy Examiner, but not commas, nor interrogation, exclamation and quotation marks.The candidates should be informed of this before commencing to write. 188 The Educational Record.DICTATION AND SPELLING (GRADE III.MODEL SCHOOL.) 1.On arriving at the tribunal, where the judge was.administering justice in the Eastern manner, they found that there were two trials which had precedence of theirs.The first was between a philosopher and a peasant.The peasant had carried off the philosopher\u2019s wife and now asserted that she was his own, in the face of the philosopher who demanded her restoration.What was very strange, the woman remained obstinately silent and would not declare for either.This rendered the decision extremely difficult.The judge heard both sides attentively, reflected for a moment, and then said, \u201cLeave the woman here and return to-morrow.\u201d 2.Immediately, business, separate, gnarled, luxurious, extremely, compelled, enormous, knowledge, palisades, implements, famous, occupied, sovereign, curiosity, competitors, proclamation, reverence, sorceress, champion.DICTATION AND SPELLING (GRADE II.MODEL SCHOOL.) 1.[Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.We are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation can long endure.We are met on a great battlefield of that war.We are met to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.2.Standard, ghastly, jungle, scepter, caresses, champion, glorious, dais, seneschal, effulgence, business, separate, magnificent, audacious, transfigured, disconsolate, semblance, piebald, disguise, serene. - 189 Official Department.DICTATION AND SPELLING (GRADE I MODEL SCHOOL.) 1.So he came near: but when he came, it was no statue, but a maiden of flesh and blood; for he could see her tresses streaming in the breeze; and as he came closer still.hie could see how she shrank and shivered when the waves sprinkled her with cold, salt spray.2.So preposterous a disposal of his kingdom, so little guided by reason and so much by passion filled all his courtiers with astonishment and sorrow: but none of them had the courage to interpose bewteen his incensed king and his wrath except the Earl of Kent, who was beginning to speak a good word for Cordelia, when the passionate Lear, on pain of death, commanded him to desist.3.Sincerity, usurer, exhausted, accomplished, counsellor, deliverance, leisure, valuable, resentment, execution, cunningly.ashamed, children.sacrifice, trembled, unrighteous.immortality.pleasant, wrestlong.treasure.DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.Quebec, February 26th, 1909.On which day the regular quarterly meeting of the Protestant Committee of the Council of Public Instruction was held.Present: \u2014The Rev.W.I.Shaw, LL.D., D.C.L., in the chair: George L.Masten, Fsq.; Prof.A.W.Kneeland, M.A., B.C.L.; Rev.A.I.Love, B.A.; H.B.Ames, Esq.B.A.M.P.: Principal William Peterson, LL.D., C.M.G.: \\W.S.Maclaren, Esq.: Gavin J.Walker, Esq.; John C.Sutherland, Esq., B.A.; S.P.Robins, Esq., LL.D, D.C.L.; John Whyte.Esq.; W.I.Shurtleff, Esq., K.C., LL.D.and Miss Georgina Hunter,, B.A.RETRACT Trane en ia aah] ER RE URN ARIANA, 190 The Educational Record.Apologies for the enforced absence of the Lord Bishop of Quebec; Hon.S.A.Fisher, B.A., M.P.; Dr.James Robertson, C.M.G.; the Hon.J.K.Ward, M.L.A,, and P.5.G.Mackenzie, Esq., K.C., M.P.P., were presented.The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.The Secretary reported that an order in council in relation to the distribution of the released Normal School grants had been approved on the 26th of November, 1908.the conclusions of the said order in council reading as follows :\u2014 ; { CTY \u201cTherefore the Honorable the Secretary recommends that out of the said sum of $16,866.67, which was voted by the Legislature at its last session.and out of the said balance of the McGill Normal School Fund, there be expended by the Superintendent of Public Instruction the following amounts :\u2014 \u201c1, A sum sufficient to pay to each teacher-in-training follewing the course for the vear 1908-09 in the School for Training of Teachers at Macdonald College the sum of five cents for each mile of travel that his home in the Province of Quebec is distant from the said Macdonald College.\u201c2.A sum sufficient to pay the bonuses granted by the regulations of the Protestant Committee of the Council of Public Instruction to each graduate of the said Mc- Gill Normal School and the said Macdonald College teaching in the schools of the Province during the year 1908-09, under the terms and conditions of the regulations of the said Protestant Committee of the Council of Public Instruction which have been duly approved by the Lieuten- ant-Governor in Council.\u201c3.That the sum of $5.000.00 be added to the Protestant share of the Poor Municipality School Fund to be distributed as part thereof.\u201c4.The sum of $10,000.00 to be distributed to Protestant school boards of rural schools not participating in the Poor Municipality School Fund, in such amounts to each Official Department.191 board as will be recommended by the Department of Pub-' lic Instruction, after obtaining reports from the school inspecters on the following matters viz.:\u2014 \u201c(a) The rate of local taxation in relation to the equitable valuation of property in each municipality.cry \u201c(b) The employment of qualified teachers.É \u201c(c) I'he salaries paid to teachers.1 \u201c(d) \u2018The consolidation of weak schools wherever 4 approved by the local school boards and ratepayers.\u201c(e) I'he improvement of school buildings premises and equipment.\u201c(f) \u2018The length of the school term.\u201cI'he Superintendent shall report the recommendation of the Department under this head to the Protestant Committee of tie Council of Public Instruction and to the Honor: ble the Provincial Secretary.\u201c5.That any balance of the said sum of $16,866.67 and of the amount remaining undisposed of from the Mec- Gill Normal School Funds shall be specially deposited by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for future distribution by the Government in accordance with the intent of Act 7 Tid.VII.ch.26, and of the law of the Province.\u201d The Secretary reported that the regulations of the Protestant Committee had been approved by order-in-council with minor changes which the Committee then confirmed.The sub-committee on the distribution of the poor municipality fund reported that the sum of $13,551.00 had been allocated to the poor schools, being $5,387.61 more than last year.\u2019l'his increase was due to an increase in the marriage license fees and to the $5,000.00 transferred from the released Normal School grants.The lists of grants as submitted by the sub-committee were approved.The sub-committee on the purchase of equipment last year from the released Normal School funds reported progress and was continued. 192 The Educational Record.Professor Kneeland reported progress for the sub-com- mittee on examination and inspection of superior schools.Professor Kneeland reported progress for the sub-com- mittee on examination and inspection of superior schools.Professor Kneeland reported for the text-book sub-com- mittee that there is a difficulty in getting the trade to sell the Ontario Copy Book at two cents each.Mr.Whyte moved, seconded by Professor Kneeland, that the price of the book be three cents a copy, provided another cover be used for this Province and that a piece of blotting paper be inserted in each.The Committee resolved that the circulation of the Catechism of Tuberculosis in our schools be approved.I'he Honorable Richard Turner appeared before the Committee in order to enlist its sympathy in this regard, and at the close of his remarks was thanked for the information he had given.The sub-committee on the course of study recommended minor changes which were approved and ordered to be printed in the course of study.Dr.Robins moved, and Mr.Walker seconded the motion, that the Secretary be instructed to request all who have business with the committee to place it in his hands at least seven days before the date of any meeting.Carried.Mr.Walker spoke to his motion previously given, seconded by Mr.Whyte, to the effect that contribution to the \u2018Teachers\u2019 Pension Fund be made optional.The motion was lost on division.Dr.Shaw presented documents that had been placed in his hands by representatives of teachers\u2019 organizations in regard to the Pension Fund.It was moved by Mr.Sutherland and Mr.Love that they be referred to a subcommittee consisting of Dr.Shaw, Dr.Robins, Miss Hunter, Mr.Walker and Mr.Sutherland. Official Department.193 Mr.J.A.Nicholson submitted recommendations from tlie University School Leaving Examination Board, which were referred to the sub-committee on the course of study and on examinations.A communication from Mr.A.P.Stevens, B.Sc., recommending the establishment of a correspondence college was read and laid on the table.A letter from Mr.\\V.Desjardins asking for amendment to the law so as to elect school commissioners by ballot was read and laid on the table.A letter from the Rev.E.M.Taylor recommending an amendment to the school law so as to make the reading of notices by secretary-treasurers unnecessary was read, but the recommendation was not entertained.A letter from Mr.James E.Randlett asking aid for the support of a private school was submitted, but the committee was unable to grant his request.A letter from Mr.George Calder in regard to the course of study was read and held over for consideration along with the report on school examination and inspection.Messrs.Renouf & Co.submitted \u201cHigh Roads of History\u201d for approval.\u2019l'hese books were referred to the sub-committee on text-books.The sub-committee on June examinations was re-ap- pointed.The chairman stated that he had examined the reports of Inspector Parker, who has inspected thirty superior schools during the past quarter.He reports the progress of most of them good, of many of them fair, and of Lachute excellent.In Bury a new school house has been erected on the site of the one burned last May.In Gould an excellent new school has been built, and in Waterloo also.In La- chute a new room has been added.In Sutton a new room, 194 The Educational Record.new furnaces and new closets have been provided.In- suficient accommodation is reported from Aberdeen and Verdun (in which Miss Wain has charge of 109 scholars), Lachine, Brownsburg and Beebe Plain.In general the condition of premises is reported as good or fair, but in the following there is noted a want of cleanliness: Aberdeen, Windsor Mills, Megantic and Hatley.There is need of improvement in the condition of the closets in Brownsburg, Clarenceville, Stanbridge Fast and Farnham.No flags are reported in Brownsburg, Bury, Scotstown, Farnham, Knowlton, Dunham, Beebe Plain and Hatley.Want of flag pole in Granby, and of halyards in Lacolle and Mansonville, so that eleven schools out of the thirty do not raise our nation\u2019s flag.Additional hylo- plate blackboards are required in Aberdeen, St.Johns, Frelighsburg and Granby.The head teachers in St.Andrew's and Farnham are without model school diplomas and the teacher of the elementary grade in Clarenceville is without any diploma.The committee expressed its regret that so large a number of schools should be unprovided with the national flag, and directed that attention should be called in a special manner to this matter when the department sends the usual letters to the school boards regarding the deficiencies mentioned in the Inspector\u2019s report.Moved by Mr.John Whyte, seconded by Mr.Gavin Walker, and resolved: \u2014\u2018\u201cI'hat the government be requested to extend the bonuses now granted to elementary teachers for meritorious work so as to include teachers of the elementary grades in model schools and academies.\u201d Financial Statement of the Protestant Committee for the RECEIPTS.1.Balance on hand 23 Unexpended balances from the Department 59 $4,908 82 1908.July 3.July 15.July 17.July 25.Aug.27.Sept.25 Oct.6 Oct.13.Oct 18 Dec.1.Official Department.Expenditure.Dr.S.P.Robins, second payment on 195 pension .$ 500 00 G.W.Parmelee, salary for six mos.200 00 I\".J.Moore & Co.printing and supplies for superior schools.242 75 Payment of Asst Examiners and incidental expenses for June exami- NATIONS Lotte ee eee aa a sea ee 1.056 70 John Parker, on salary.20 00 W.G.I.Paxman, extra work on the Regulations of the Protestant Com- MITE vrei eee 25 00 F.C.Wurtele, cleaning, etc., room after superior school examinations.15 00 Chronicle Printing Co.timetable forex.%$4 00 Mav minutes .6 00 \u2014\u2014$ 10 00 Renouf Pub.Co.500 Dexter and Gar- lick Primer of School Methods.30 00 G.W.Parmelee, expenses to attend meeting of sub-committee on released Normal School fund .25 00 John Parker, Cartage and express, telegrams .a.20 76 Robert Rocher.translation and proofreading, etc.\u2026 Cee 2 220 15 OC T.J.Moore & Co.Central Board printing, etc.iL.24 25 Dailv Telegraph.printing.etc.14 55 F.M.Shaw, making and sending A.A.certificates .12 50 G.W.Parmelee.expenses of Inspectors\u2019 meeting .LL.100 00 Daily Telegraph, printing circulars of Protestant Committee meeting.27 01 G.W.Parmelee, balance expenses of Tnspectors\u2019 meeting .1 35 John Parker, December salary.140 00 196 The Educational Record.Dec.9.Chronicle Printing Co., minutes and tabular statements .24 25 Dec.21.G.W.Parmelee.on Central Board salary 22221221 L La ae ea eee 150 00 Dec.24.John Parker, January salary.140 00 Balance on hand .2,114 90 Audited and found correct.$4,908 82 (Signed) WILLIAM SHAW, March 3, 1909.The meeting then adjourned to Friday, May the Z8th.unless called earlier on the order of the Chairman.G.W.PARMELEE, Secretary.NOTICES FROM THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.His Honor the Lieutenant Governor has been pleased, by order in council, dated the 29th of March, 1909, to erect into a separate school municipality, under the name of Saint Albert, county of Gaspé, the territory belonging to the two school municipalities of the village of Gaspé and the Bay of South Gaspé, in the county of Gaspé.This erection shall only concern the Roman Catholics comprised in such territory.His Honor the Lieutenant (Governor has heen pleased, by order in council, dated the 3rd of April, 1909, to detach from the school municipality of Saint Jerome de Matane.in the county of Matane, the properties bearing on the official cadastre of the parish of Saint Jerome de Matane.the numbers 68 and up to 76 inclusively.the numbers 289 and up to 300 inclusively, the numbers 304 and up to 316 in- Notices from the Official Gazette 197 clusively, and part of the properties bearing on the said official cadastre the numbers 78, 86, 89, 90, 91, 93, 95, 105, 106, 111, 112, 120, 121, 131, 146, 157, 182, 183, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 301, 302 and 303, and to annex them to the school municipality of the village of Saint Jerome of Matane, in the same county.His Honor the Lieutenant Governor has been pleased, by order in council, dated the 3rd of April, 1909, to detach from the school municipality of Saint Cyprien, in the county of Napierville, the lots bearing on the official cadastre of the parish of Saint Cyprien, the Nos.157 and following to 260 inclusively, and to annex them to the school municipality of Saint Blaise, in the county of Saint Jean.His Honor the Lieutenant Governor has been pleased, by order in council, dated the 3rd April, 1909, to erect into a distinct school municipality, the new parish of Sainte Sabine, in the counties of Bellechase and Dorchester, with the limits assigned to it by the proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor of the province of Quebec, dated the 7th March, 1907, His Honor the Lieutenant Governor has been pleased, by order in council, dated the 17th April, 1909, to detach from the school municipality of Saint Edouard of Wake- field, county of Ottawa, the lots Nos.28 and 30, of the eleventh range of the township of Wakefield, and to annex them to the school municipality of \u201cPortland West,\u201d in the same county.His Honor the Lieutenant Governor has been pleased, by order in council, dated the 4th of May.1909, to detach from the School municipality of Saint Jude, in the county of Saint Hyacinthe, the lots bearing on the official cadastre of the parish of Saint Jude, the numbers 2 and following up to 36 inclusively, the numbers 137 and followng up to 206 inclusively, the numbers 210, 211, 213, 215, 217, 221, 223 and and following up to 293 inclusively, and to erect such territory into a school municipality, under the narhe .of Saint Bernard. 198 The Educational Record.His Honor the Lieutenant Governor has been pleased, by order in council, dated the 4th of May, 1909, to erect the new parish of Saint Fabien de Panet, in the county of Montmagny, into a district school municipality, under the name of \u201cPanet,\u201d comprising the ranges 1, 2 and 3 of the township Panet, the ranges 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the township Talon, and the ranges 6 and 7 of the township Rolette, minus, however, the lots bearing the numbers 36 and up to 46 inclusively of the two latter ranges, and of the ranges 1, 2 and 3 of the township Panet. Rady eis this A CANADIAN FLAG SCHOOL \u201cTHE WITNESS\u201d FLAG OFFER.No one questions the fact that every school should have a flag; the only difficulty is, that there are so many other things a school must have.The publishers of the Montreal \u201cWitness\u201d have arranged to continue their offer whereby it is easily possi- \u2018ble for the children of every school district to earn a flag without spending money.The offer is no money making scheme.The flags are of the best quality, and while the hope is to cover expenses the intention is to stimulate patriotism.These Naval Flags, sewn bunting, standard quality and patterns.are imported by the \u201cWitness\u201d in large quantities for the Canadian schools, direct from the best British manufacturers.If your school does not need a flag, we will give instead patriotic books for your library.Write for particulars.This offer is made specially for Schools, public or private, but Sunday Schools, Clubs, Societies or communities are free to take advantage of it.Assist us by making this widely known.For full information, flag cards, testimonials from schools that have tried this plan, etc., address FLAG DEPARTMENT, \u201cWitness\u201d Office, Montreal, Que.Do it Now and be Ready for EMPIRE DAY. at | bi ee HK: i oH Pi À Hu J 3 i | 4 i A i J À A a 0 A 0 is A LE; 1 MH A WH J] 3 A A a a 5 2 fa 3 3 3 # A 4 A te 2 a Ly no nn mon FBI on LL | School Desks Johnson's Maps~Globes Hyloplate Blackboards Kindergarten Material WRITE TO GEORGE M.HENDRY CO.Ltd.20 Temperance St., TORONTO ee a A TT SPC N the manufacture of School Cs Furniture we are many laps a ahead of our competitors.For durability, honesty of construe- tion, and superior points of merit, our goods EXCELL ANYTHING IN THE SCHOOL FURNITURE LINE.Our New Patent \u2018Ball Bearing\u201d School Desks lead all others.They are absolutely the ONLY School Desks ever made having a Permanently Noiseless Ball Bearing Seat Hinge., This device is NOT an experiment, but has been thoroughly tested, and its practicability proved.Qur Combination \u2018Ball Bearing\u201d Adjustable School Desk is the greatest success ever achieved in Desk construction, & Write for Catalogue.The time has passed when students must adjust themselves } to fit the desks.Health and comfort demand that the desks Ki should adjust themselves to fit the students, That is why our Adjustable Desk should be in every school room in the land.Canadian Office and School Furniture Co, Ltd.& PRESTON, ONTARIO CANADA.Pa AE UT ET TER 2 RES ss à 4 Fa qu ER fi Modern English Grammar | a gts By H.G.BUEHLER and PELHAM EpGar, Pu.D.New revised and corrected edition Price 25 cents Authorized for use in Ontario \u2014 The Story of the Canadian People | By D.M.DuncaN, B.A., Winnipeg New revised and enlarged edition Price 50 cents Authorized for use in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia lees Second Reader | The very best to be had Price 25 cents RO Morang\u2019s Modern Geography Part I\u2014Our Home and its Surroundings, Price 40 cents Authorized for use in Ontario and Manitoba Part II\u2014Our Earth as a Whole, Price 60 cents Authorized for use in Ontario and Manitoba Price, in one volume, 75 cents MORANG & Co., Limited 90 Wellington St.West TORONTO.HEE EEN RARE ANNEE LE + = MNNNENEE ££ RYE GS 3: .mn i mu N | | nu pe A0\u201d PRE EE SO TR RRA D CO A RT IAW, "]