Description

The exercises in composition found in the numbered Lessons of this book are generally confined to the illustration and the practical application of the principles of the science as these principles are developed step by step. To break up the continuity of the text by thrusting unrelated composition work between lessons closely related and mutually dependent is exceedingly unwise.

The Composition Exercises suggested in this revision of "Graded Lessons" are designed to review the regular Lessons and to prepare in a broad, informal way for text work that follows. But since these Exercises go much farther, and teach the pupil how to construct paragraphs and how to observe and imitate what is good in different authors, they are placed in a supplement, and not between consecutive Lessons of the text.

To let such general composition work take the place of the regular grammar lesson, say once a week, will be profitable. We suggest that the sentence work on the selections in the Supplement be made to follow Lessons 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 77; but each teacher must determine for himself when these and the other outlined lessons can best be used. We advise that other selections from literature be made and these exercises continued with the treatment of the parts of speech.

For composition work to precede Lesson 30 we suggest that the teacher break up a short story of one or two paragraphs into simple sentences, making some of these transposed, some interrogative, and some exclamatory.

The pupils may be required to copy these, to underline the subject and the predicate, and to tell, in answer to suggestive questions, what some of the other words and groups of words do (the questions on the selections in the Supplement may aid the teacher). The pupils may then write out the story in full form. To vary the exercise, the teacher might read the story and let the pupils write out the short sentences.