Stories to Tell to Children | Page 7

Hound Little Red Hen Five Little Rabbits Little Gingerbread Boy The Three Bears The Lion and the Mouse The Red-headed Wood- The Hungry Lion pecker The Wind and the Sun Little Red Riding-Hood The Fox and the Crow Little Half-Chick The Duck and the Hen The Rabbit and the Turtle The Hare and the Tortoise The Shoemaker and the The Three Little Robins Fairies The Wolf and the Kid The Wolf and the Crane The Crow and the Pitcher The Cat and the Mouse The Fox and the Grapes Snow-White and Rose-Red
SECOND GRADE The North Wind The Lark and her Little The Mouse Pie Ones The Wonderful Traveler The Wolf and the Goslings The Wolf and the Fox The Ugly Duckling The Star Dollars The Country Mouse and the The Water-Lil City Mouse The Three Goats The Three Little Pigs The Boy and the Nuts Diamonds and Toads The Honest Woodman The Thrifty Squirrel The Pied Piper How the Robin's Breast King Midas became Red The Town Musicians The Old Woman and her Raggylug Pig Peter Rabbit The Sleeping Apple The Boy who cried "Wolf" The Cat and the Parrot
THIRD GRADE The Crane Express How the Mole became Little Black Sambo Blind The Lantern and the Fan How Fire was brought to Why the Bear has a Short the Indians Tail Echo Why the Fox has a White Piccola Tip to his Tail The Story of the Morning- Why the Wren flies low Glory Seed Jack and the Beanstalk The Discontented Pine The Talkative Tortoise Tree Fleet Wing and Sweet Voice The Bag of Winds The Golden Fleece The Foolish Weather-Vane The Little Boy who wanted The Shut-up Posy the Moon Pandora's Box Benjy in Beastland The Little Match Girl Tomtit's Peep at the World
FOURTH GRADE Arachne The First Snowdrop The Porcelain Stove The Three Golden Apples Moufflou Androclus and the Lion Clytie The Old Man and his The Legend of the Trailing Donkey Arbutus The Leak in the Dike Latona and the Frogs King Tawny Mane Dick Whittington and his The Little Lame Prince Cat Appleseed John Dora, the Little Girl of the Narcissus Lighthouse Why the Sea is Salt Proserpine The Little Hero of Haarlem The Miraculous Pitcher The Bell of Justice

STORY-TELLING IN TEACHING ENGLISH
I have to speak now of a phase of elementary education which lies very close to my warmest interest, which, indeed, could easily become an active hobby if other interests did not beneficently tug at my skirts when I am minded to mount and ride too wildly. It is the hobby of many of you who are teachers, also, and I know you want to hear it discussed. I mean the growing effort to teach English and English literature to children in the natural way: by speaking and hearing,--orally.
We are coming to a realization of the fact that our ability, as a people, to use English is pitifully inadequate and perverted. Those Americans who are not blinded by a limited horizon of cultured acquaintance, and who have given themselves opportunity to hear the natural speech of the younger generation in varying sections of the United States, must admit that it is no exaggeration to say that this country at large has no standard of English speech. There is no general sense of responsibility to our mother tongue (indeed, it is in an overwhelming degree not our mother tongue) and no general appreciation of its beauty or meaning. The average young person in every district save a half-dozen jealously guarded little precincts of good taste, uses inexpressive, ill- bred words, spoken without regard to their just sound-effects, and in a voice which is an injury to the ear of the mind, as well as a torment to the physical ear.
The structure of the language and the choice of words are dark matters to most of our young Americans; this has long been acknowledged and struggled against. But even darker, and quite equally destructive to English expression, is their state of mind regarding pronunciation, enunciation, and voice. It is the essential connection of these elements with English speech that we have been so slow to realize. We have felt that they were externals, desirable but not necessary adjuncts,--pretty tags of an exceptional gift or culture. Many an intelligent school director to-day will say, "I don't care much about HOW you say a thing; it is WHAT you say that counts." He cannot see that voice and enunciation and pronunciation are essentials. But they are. You can no more help affecting the meaning of your words by the way you say them than you can prevent the expressions of your face from carrying a message; the message may be perverted by an uncouth habit, but it will no less surely insist on recognition.
The fact is that speech