Teaching Reading Then and Now

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." —Sir Richard Steele

The following excerpt is from "A Reading Lesson," an article by Cora Stanton Brown, published in School and Home Education (formerly The Public-School Journal), September, 1901.

In default of a report on any school exercise witnessed by myself, I take the following report of a peculiar reading lesson, from Dr. Schaeffer’s book, "Thinking and Learning to Think." Any teacher who will read it carefully will be likely to get some valuable practical ideas and suggestions. . . .

"The teacher had called the class in second reader. As soon as all the pupils were seated, she said, ‘You may read the first paragraph.’ Instead of reading orally, the class became so quiet that one might have heard a pin drop. After most of the hands were raised, she called upon one pupil to tell what the paragraph said. The second paragraph was read, and the substance of it stated in the pupil’s own words. An omission was supplied by another pupil; an incorrect phrase was modified by giving the correct words for conveying the thought. In the course of the lesson, it became necessary to clarify the ideas of some. This was accomplished by a few pertinent questions, which made the pupils think for themselves.

"After the entire lesson had been read in this way, she dismissed the class without assigning a lesson. Every member of the class went to his seat, took out his slate, and began to write out the lesson in his own language. The interest and pleasure depicted in their faces showed that it was not a task but a joy to express thought by the pencil. The teacher had given them something to think about; she had taught them to express their thoughts in spoken and written language; her questions had stimulated their own thinking; and when, later in the day, the lesson in oral reading was given, the vocal utterance showed that every pupil understood what he was reading. There was no parrot-like utterance of vocables, but an expression of thought based upon a thorough understanding and an appreciation of what was read. The silent reading was an exercise in thought-getting and thought-begetting; the language lesson upon the slate was an exercise in active thinking through written words; and the oral expression furnished a test by which the teacher could ascertain what she had accomplished in getting her pupils to think."

Reminder

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