Vol. 73, No. 5 Lehighton high school is overcrowded. More than 60 per cent of its pupils are non-residents. Palmerton borough is erecting a fine high school building that will cost about $300,000. Mauch Chunk township transports pupils to its well-equipped high school building at Nesquehoning in its own school bus. Mauch Chunk borough high school has an unusual collection of good framed pictures and a large reference library. The Mahoning township school board has held a number of conferences with County Superintendent J. J. Bevan, on the matter of establishing a local vocational school and a consolidated school. In Summit Hill borough all pupils of the first five grades are on half-time. A vote on a school loan to relieve the crowding is in prospect. The kindergarten enrolls eighty children. Luzerne County Superintendent F. P. Hopper organized his big County Institute of 1,800 teachers into four sections this year. 140 teachers of one-room schools were given instruction on the new rural school course of study. Kingston borough school board is planning for a public vote on a loan for a much needed new school building. Its 650 high school pupils are now housed in two widely separated buildings. Expansion of the Foster township high school has forced Supervising Principal Harvey Hoffman to turn his office into a classroom and seek office quarters elsewhere. Butler and Sugarloaf townships and Conyngham borough school boards are considering the establishment of a joint high school. Pringle township high school is now using its new well equipped high school building. This building is provided with an unusually fine gymnasium and library. Slocum township voters recently authorized a $12,000 loan to consolidate all their schools in one building. West Hazleton borough has established a high school of its own, enrolling this year 84 pupils in its freshman class. E. S. Teter is the new principal. New Holland borough will soon occupy its remodeled high school building and operate a At present some standard four-year course. of its schools are in temporary quarters. Fulton township has enlarged its two-teacher high school. Drumore township high school has added a high school teacher and can now do standard three-year high school work. Strasburg borough high school now has commodious quarters in a recently completed an nex. Manheim borough celebrated Education Week by inviting the parents of its pupils to attend a regular session of all the public schools. The session was held from 7 to 9 p. m. The building-auditorium, corridors and classrooms-was packed with visitors eager to learn more about their schools. The Quarryville high school is well housed. One additional teacher was added this year. The large reference library is being re-catalogued. West Lampeter township is erecting a fourroom consolidated school building at Willow street. A high school chorus from Marietta borough furnished delightful music at the county school Between 200 and 300 directors' convention. directors were present. County Superintendent A. P. Mylin is a musician and is promoting the teaching of music in all his schools. Mary Coffman.... for Deaf, Ptg.. Allegheny. .Hazleton. . . . . . .Luzerne.. 344 52 David Smith.. D. P. Stapleton. Alice N. Tisdale.. . Philadelphia. ..Herndon... Carter W. Trow... Erie... Cynthia M. Walker... Oil City.. Alice M. Alcorn....... West Consho hocken.......Montgomery.... 34 Martha J. Anstiss.... Whitaker... Emma H. Colegrove. . Columbia Twp. . Bradford. 22 45 44 18 4116 43 33 42 10/1 42 22 31 Elizabeth M. Connor.. Philadelphia. Nelissa Coolidge......Farmington... .Tioga...... Mary S. Dalrymple... Philadelphia.. .Philadelphia.... 421 Mary E. Dwier.. Augusta R. Miller....Covington Twp..Lackawanna.... 42 Fannie Moore........Tower City.. .Schuylkill. D. F. Smith... Ida Patton Smith.. Rochester....... Beaver.. .Susquehanna Tp.Cambria. ..Antrim Twp....Franklin. .Logan Twp.. ..... Blair... ...Indiana S. N. S.. Indiana. Warrington.. Bucks... J. L. Moser... New Castle.....Lawrence.. Kate C. Nannah... Harry N. Price.. 34 38 50 362 40% 44 Margaret Smith. 25 D. W. Smyser... 321 Levi Weidman. Pittsburgh.. Ellen T. Glenn.. Warren... Mrs. Mary Smith..... Pittsburgh.. Norristown..... Montgomery.... 33 . Upper Mt. Bethel....... .Northampton... 41 James G. Williams.... Wilkes-Barre....Luzerne.. Sarah G. Williams....Scranton. . . . . . .Lackawanna.... 43 Robert M. Zeigler.... Pa. Inst for Deaf Philadelphia.... 37 Louis Baker.... 2811 .Allegheny.. Warren........ ..Allegheny.. 20 47 35 vey, Kansas City, Missouri, a publication containing many carefully colored illustrations, large full page size. Grade 4-A story of the wild life of the British Columbia coast, "The Tale of the Tusitala"-Nature Magazine, November 1924. Grade 5-For beautiful pictures see, "Flashes of Color throughout France"-National Geographic Magazine-November 1924. "Latvia, Home of the Letts," M. O. Williams-National Geographic Magazine, October 1924. "Crossing Asia Minor, the Country of the New Turkish Republic," Major R. W. Imbrie -National Geographic Magazine, October 1924. Grade 6-"Seeing South America," booklet of 90 pages, 50 illustrations-Pan American Union, 25 cents. For complete list showing other recent publications of special interest write to Pan American Union, Washington, D. C. Picture Sheet Series "Chinese Boys and Girls," 16 pictures-For complete list including life in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, North 160 Fifth America write Everyland Press, Avenue, New York City. Grades 7 and 8-Do you know what imported materials are used in making shoes, lead pencils, tooth brushes? What ore must be imported by the steel industry and whence it comes? What imports are essential in our principal sports and games? How the safety of our railroad trains depends on imported material? Read "Our Imports and Who Use Them" National Foreign Trade Council, 1 Hanover Square, New York. 10c. Abundant maps and graphs as well as interpretative verbal matter are offered in Finch and Baker's "Geography of the World's Agriculture," U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. One dollar; also in Lobech's "The Trade of the World," Wisconsin Geographical Press, Madison, Wisconsin, 35c. PRE-PROFESSIONAL EXAMINATIONS Pre-Professional Examinations will be conducted by the Department of Public Instruction at Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton and Harrisburg on February 5 and 6, 1925. The program will be as follows: February 5, 1925 8:00 Physiology to Plane geometry 10:00 French I French II 10:00 English I to English II 12:00 214 12:30 Physics Logan Twp..... Blair... Wilkinsburg..... Allegheny. 39 to American 17 2:30 history AIDS IN GEOGRAPHY TEACHING Teachers of geography will find the follow ing references helpful: Grade 3-"American Indians" by Fred Har 2:30 European history to 4:30 German I German II Arithmetic February 6, 1925 8:00 Biology to Physical 10:00 geography Algebra NEW BOOKS Editorial Note.-In this section we announce a few of the new books sent us by publishers. We include only those that we commend to the favorable attention of our readers, who can decide what books they want to read, and at the same time gain a passing acquaintance with many other books which they may never have the time to read. The following announcements, unless signed, do not purport to be critical reviews, but are intended to supply enough information to enable readers to determine whether they wish secure the books. to TEACHING AGRICULTURE. By James B. Berry, M. S., County Vocational Supervisor, Pennsylvania State Department of Public Instruction. Illustrated. 227 pp. Published by World Book Co. In this valuable contribution to the literature of teaching agriculture, the author has emphasized that the mere acquisition of facts is not the highest educational objective, but that this objective is the use of facts in the stimulation of purposeful thinking. The project or problem method of teaching is presented as the method which is most productive in stimulating purposeful thinking by the pupil. The steps in this process of teaching are enumerated as follows: (1) Presenting a problem which is in some way related to the experience of the pupil. (2) Presenting to the pupil the sources of information from which the knowledge necessary to solve the problem may be drawn. (3) Requiring the pupil to work out a plan for applying his knowledge and experience in the solution of the problem. (4) Testing the pupil to determine whether he can really use the knowledge gained to solve a real life problem. While the material used in the book to develop these four steps in the teaching process is drawn almost entirely from the field of agriculture, the method presented will be as suggestive to the academic teacher as to the teacher of vocational agriculture. The chapters on "The Community Survey" and "Educational Objectives" make a real contribution to the solution of the problem of developing a type of education suited to the needs of the pupils of any farming community. The book is well illustrated and contains lesson plans, outlines for surveys and suggestions for community program which will be welcomed by hundreds of men engaged teaching agriculture.-L. H. Dennis. in THE HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL. By Leonard B. Koos, 120 pages. Houghton Mifflin Company. $1.20. This book, which is a treatise on the high school executive, gives a clear picture of the high school principal as he is his qualifications, his duties and their claim on his time and energy. It is a comprehensive study, enriched by a wealth of valuable statistics, in which specifications for training are made available and a definite measuring standard set up. The book should prove particularly helpful to superintendents and school officers who are called upon to select high school principals. It should also be of interest to principals-in-service in that it affords opportunity to compare themselves in a number of significant respects with others holding similar positions.-C. F. H. PROBLEMS IN ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING. By F. G. Elwood. The Manual Arts Press. 131 pages, 46 plates. Persons interested in beginning architectural drawing will be pleased with this book. It may readily be seen that it is the product of one who on the one hand knows architectural drafting practice and construction and on the other hand is familiar with what is equally essential for a book of this kind-namely, a thorough knowledge of the teaching problems and requirements. The author has shown good judgment in omitting the more difficult or advanced aspects of the work such as perspective, shades and shadows and architectural rendering, and has given major emphasis to a group of problems especially suitable for beginners, such as boys in secondary schools, adults in evening trade extension classes, and carpenters, builders and contractors who may wish to get assistance in architectural drawing. For the teacher of drawing the author has included worth-while suggestions on what needs most to be emphasized, and how to get results. The bibliography of reference material found in the book is carefully chosen. The book is 8" x 11" in size thus affording good space for the plate reproductions.-F. T. Struck. TEACHING, A BUSINESS. By Marion Greenleaf Kirkpatrick, Teacher, Lecturer, Superintendent, Author of "The Rural School from Within." Little, Brown and Company. This is a resumé of a series of addresses on "Teachers I Have Known" having "A desire to bring before the young teacher men and women worthy of imitation, or so unworthy as to be a danger signal to any one who is tempted to be like them." The human interest stories are such as impress the reader with the opportunity to do good and a desire to make good. It is a book that will inspire any teacher to make the most of his opportunity to help make real citizens by being a real citizen with them.-Lee L. Driver. EXERCISES IN ACTUAL EVERYDAY ENGLISH. By P. H. Deffendall. Macmillan Company. A tablet of 86 pages on which are printed exercises for sentence formation. The exercises deal with parts of speech, grammar, sentence structure, punctuation and unity, clearness and emphasis in the sentence and the paragraph. The tablet has spaces for writing the correct forms and a perforation for detaching each page. are delightfully original. Mr. Schlichter's poems tell quaint stories with vivid imagery and marked rhythm. Elementary teachers should find the book desirable for many purposes. OPEN GATES. Compiled by Susan Thompson Spaulding and Francis Trow Spaulding. 384 pp. Houghton Mifflin Company. $1.20. A book of poems for boys and girls of junior high school age. As indicated in the story-prologue and the epilogue, the book's aim is to introduce the children to poems of many types by many writers and then to allow them to wander through "Open Gates" reading whatever they choose. The poems are recognized English and American classics. JUNIOR ENGLISH. By Rose Buhlig. Books One, The Two and Three. 222, 258 and 321 pages, respectively. D. C. Heath and Company. Junior English is a three-book series for seventh, eighth and ninth grades. The books may be used separately or in series. books have the merit of simplicity: assignments and explanations are easily understood. Technicalities are avoided when possible, the interests of junior high school pupils are considered and the work is mapped out on the socialized recitation basis. Certain definite requirements for each grade are stressed. APPLIED BUSINESS ENGLISH AND APPLIED BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE. By Hubert A. Hagar and Rupert P. Sorelle, respectively. 144 pp. The Gregg Publishing Company. This text is the result of a careful study of committee reports on the subject of English teaching. By using the "minimum essentials" recommended therein, the authors have interpreted these "committee reports" in terms of English for the commercial student. MOBY DICK. By Herman Melville. Abridged by Hattie L. Hawley. 432 pp. The Pocket Classics. Macmillan Company. Melville's "Moby Dick" is the greatest whaling novel ever written, but in its original form it has long digressions on many subjects. The author has abridged this giving it a form more adaptable for class use. The text includes a biographical introduction and notes. A MESSAGE TO GARCIA. By Elbert Hubbard. 48 pp. Thomas Y. Crowell Company. 50c. This inspirational essay gives all workers fresh determination to "carry on." With it are two other characteristic messages of that interesting personality, Elbert Hubbard. In the Apologia the author tells how the title essay came to be written. ELEMENTS OF COMMERCIAL ENGLISH. By J. L. Zerbe, A.M., Assistant Professor of English, University of Pittsburgh. Edited by F. G. Nichols, Cambridge, Mass. XVIII+ 414 pp. American Book Company. A teachable book with a wealth of material adaptable to varying abilities in English. The author gives helpful suggestions and a wide range of instruction material for teaching word-study, sentence structures and composition. In the editor's preface, F. G. Nichols of Harvard University commends the text for its division into comprehensive units of instruction, each containing an abundance of teaching material, so arranged that the teacher may lay the emphasis just where each pupil needs it. SILENT READING EXERCISES. New Castle Public Houck Law. Illustrated. 429 pp. The All of these plays for class use will interest young people in modern drama. Since the book aims to interest not in any one division of the drama, but in the drama as a whole, the author has chosen different types: the oneact play; the full length play; the puppet play; the satirical play; the comic opera; the allegorical play. The text is intended to supplement the study of Shakesperean drama, not to supplant it. The suggestive questions and assignments will stimulate greater interest in the plays by bringing interpretation and opportunity for creative work to the individual pupil. STORIES AND SKETCHES. What People are Doing. By Nellie B. Allen and Edward K. Robinson. Illus. 30 pp. Ginn and Company. 44c. Not only do these stories of occupations give geographical information along lines of work for the lower grades, but they afford material for lessons in language, penmanship and spelling. The tracing of the pictures furnishes busy work and fixes the information gained. NEW STORIES TO TELL CHILDREN. By Sara Cone Bryant. Illus. 175 pp. Houghton Mifflin Company. $1.50. Stories that awaken interest in nature and inculcate kindness to animals and helpfulness to less fortunate folk. OUTLINE GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE. By Paul' Kaufman, American University. 326 pp. Illus. The Century Co. $1.75. Contains a chronological outline of Shakespeare's age, documentary evidence about Shakespeare, synopses of his plays, the sources, index of the characters of the plays, time analysis, vocabulary of important difficult words, a digest of Shakespeare's grammar, his pronunciation, index of songs, familiar quotations, Shakespearean actors, the quarto editions and a working bibliography for study of Shakespeare. Truly a most helpful volume for lovers and students of Shakespearean drama. |