Suggestions on Elementary History[4]

Suggestions on Elementary History[4]

BY PROFESSOR FRANKLIN L. RILEY, UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI.

Outline for Oral Lessons on Westward Immigration.

(Adapted to the Third or Fourth Grade.)

1. The Western Country and How It was Reached—Virginians and their neighbors moved oftener than the colonists to the north. Attracted by “mineral springs,” “salt licks” and “blue grass.” Buffalo paths converge at Cumberland Gap. Wilderness Road, two hundred miles long, from Virginia through this gap to Kentucky, made by Daniel Boone in charge of thirty men. At first only a narrow path for horsemen and footmen. Pack saddles, how made and used.

2. Daniel Boone, “Columbus of the Land.”—Born in Pennsylvania, father settled in Wilkes County, North Carolina, when Daniel was about 13 years old. Early life on frontier farm, used gun almost as early as hoe. Little log home. Married at 20; five years later he decided to move, wanted “elbow room.” “If these people keep coming, soon there will not be a bar in all this country.” Prospecting trip across the mountains, with two or three backwoodsmen at the time of the French and Indian War. Up a tree to escape from a bear. “D. Boone cilled a bar on this tree in 1760” on a beech tree in Eastern Tennessee.

3. New Homes in the Wilderness—Nine years after killing the bear in Tennessee he went to Kentucky to find a new home. Wild game, deer, bear, buffaloes, wolves. Shelter of logs open on one side. “Dark and Bloody Ground.” Indian tricks, imitating turkeys and owls. “Killed” a “stump.” Captured by Indians. Escape after seven days. Alone in the wilderness, 500 miles from home. Forty new settlers from North Carolina. Capture of Boone’s daughter and two other girls by Indians and their rescue. Elizabeth Kane and the grapevine swing. Boone a prisoner in Detroit. Indians refuse $500 for him. His escape. Removal to Missouri. Death and burial at Frankfort.

4. A Frontier Home—Log cabin in a clearing near the fort. Ladder against wall for stairway and pegs in wall for clothing. Rough boards supported by four wooden pegs for dining table. Dirt floor.

5. Life of a Pioneer Boy—Taught to imitate notes and calls of birds and wild animals, to set traps and to shoot the rifle. At 12 he became a fort soldier, with a porthole assigned to him. Taught to follow an Indian trail and to conceal his own when on the warpath.

6. Suggested Topics for Other Lessons:

(1) The Story of James Robertson.

(2) The Story of John Sevier.

(3) The Story of George Rogers Clark.

(4) Stories of the French in America and the Struggle for the Mississippi Valley.

7. Bibliography—Gordy’s “American Leaders and Heroes” (Charles Scribner’s Sons); McMurry’s “Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley” and Hart’s “Source Reader in American History,” No. 3, and Eggleston’s “Stories of Great Americans” and “First Book in American History” (A. B. Co.); Catherwood’s “Heroes of the Middle West,” and Blaisdell and Ball’s “Hero Stories from American History” (Ginn & Co.); Aunt Charlotte’s “Stories of American History” (D. Appleton & Co.).

Methods of Primary Instruction.

1. Oral presentation. These stories should be given by the teacher in a simple, animated style, adapted to the mental status of the child. They should abound in narration rather than description. Children like action. During the first two years they should be related rather than read.

2. Illustrations. Frequent use should be made of blackboard illustrations. Printed pictures, objects, etc., should also be used.

3. Construction. Children should do constructive work along lines suggested by the lessons—draw pictures, make log houses, bows, arrows, wigwams, etc.

4. Reproduction. The stories should be frequently repeated by the pupil until they are thoroughly mastered. They should also be reproduced in written form as soon as the child is sufficiently advanced.

5. Note books. The children should copy their stories after they have been corrected into their history note books. Neatness should be emphasized.

6. Memory work. The children should memorize historical poems and brief extracts from historical literature, which are thoroughly comprehensible to them.

7. Reading. The children should be encouraged to acquire new facts for themselves from books that are easily comprehensible to them.

8. Reviews. There should be frequent reviews. These exercises should be varied as much as possible and should be often held at unexpected times. Call on different members of the class to tell of their favorite characters; give characteristic incidents not already related, in the life of a person, and let the children guess who it is; let them guess what certain pictures represent, etc.

9. Rewards. The child should be occasionally rewarded with something to read about his favorite character. Reward the mind, but do not permit it to be surfeited.

10. Problems. In the latter part of the primary course special attention should be given to historical problems. See McMurry’s “Special Method in History,” pp. 66-74.

Suggestions on Primary History.

1. Have the purpose and outline of the story well in hand before presenting it, and let your presentation be independent of the book. The outline of your story should be very carefully prepared.

2. Avoid complex details. Tell story vividly. “The educational value of these stories does not depend upon literal accuracy.”

3. The sequence of events and their relations are more important than dates. “A long time ago” means more to a child than 1492.

4. Lay special stress on ethical teaching; cut down wars and military campaigns as much as possible.

5. Go slowly. Haste is a poor policy. A teacher may sometimes devote weeks to a single character to advantage. Do not cram facts indiscriminately into children’s minds.

6. Do not repeat stories to the same children from year to year.

7. For directions “How to Select Stories,” see McMurry’s “Special Method in History,” pp. 34-40.

8. For directions “How to Tell Stories,” see Ibid, pp. 54-56.

9. For directions “How to Have Stories Reproduced,” see Ibid, pp. 57-58.

10. For a discussion of the difficulties of oral instruction, see Ibid, pp. 59-66.