have been spelled. (An excellent exercise it demands attention.)

2. It will be well in oral spelling to make all the members of the class responsible for the accurate spelling of each and every word.

If the first member of the class misspells the word given to him, let the teacher proceed and give out the next word, without intimating whether the first word was correctly or incorrectly spelled.

If the second pupil thinks the first word was not spelled correctly, he will spell it instead of the one given him, and so on through the class, each being expected to correct any error that may have been committed. If the first pupil spells a word incorrectly, and no one corrects it, let all be charged with a failure. This mode will amply compensate for its frequent adoption.

Two-thirds of the words in the English language need but little study. The remainder can be mastered only by study. The pupils

Put your hard work

on the diffi

cult words.

should be urged to study the difficult words. 3. Another mode of conducting the exercise of spelling is the following, and we may add that for more advanced schools it possesses some advantages.

Let the teacher write legibly on the board twenty or more difficult words, and allow them to remain long enough to be carefully studied by the school. A few minutes before the exercise let all the words be erased from the board. Let each pupil provide himself with a slip of paper, following the order as directed in the previous exercises. The teacher will pronounce the words and the pupils will write them.

After the words have been written, let the slips be collected and taken by the teacher, who may himself— aided by some of the pupils-examine the slips, and mark the words spelled incorrectly. Subsequently, let the teacher read the result to the whole school, stating the number of errors committed by the several pupils; after which the papers may be returned for correction. If there is a good board in the room, a few pupils should write the lesson on it.

4. An attractive mode, which may answer for oral or written spelling, is the following:

The instructor pronounces a word which is to be. spelled by the first in the class, who will name immediately another, commencing with the final letter of the first word which is to be spelled by the next pupil; and he in turn will name another word, and so on through the class. It will awaken thought and interest.

5. Another mode which has its advantages is the following:

Let the teacher dictate some twenty or twenty-five words to the class, requiring the members to write them on their slates. These words are to be carefully examined and studied by the pupils, who are also to be required to incorporate each word in a sentence which shall illustrate its meaning and show that it is understood by them.

After these sentences have been read and erased from the slates, let the words be dictated again, to be written and examined with special reference to the orthography.

The teacher should keep a copy of all words dictated to the pupils and hold them responsible for the correct spelling in review.

Importance

Teachers should give close attention to this important subject, for truly it has been said, "To spell of spelling. one's own language well is no great credit to him, for he ought to do it; but to spell it ill is a disgrace, because it indicates extremely poor attention and loose scholarship."

We have a great number of spelling-books, grammars, and other aids, but with all these, poor spellers greatly abound.

One cause of the frequency of poor spelling may be found in the neglect with which the spelling lesson is treated in schools. It is often crowded into a few minutes and passed over in a very hurried and imperfect manner, and if any exercise must be omitted the spelling lesson is the neglected one. Another cause may be found in a feeling, not very uncommon, that spelling is undeserving the attention of any but very young pupils.

From the beginning let your pupils understand that the spelling lesson will always receive its due share of attention, and its due time. Hold your pupils responsible for the correct spelling of every word at the regular recitation and upon reviews.

As soon as the pupils can write, which, in a well-conducted school, is about as soon as they can read, special instruction in spelling with script letters should be introduced, and children should be required to write and to spell orally every word in their reading, and the difficult words in other lessons. If accuracy and neatness in every particular be required, habits of careful attention will be formed.

The child must be taught to spell correctly before twelve years old, as this habit is seldom acquired after that age.

ing and writ

ing.

A good speller is one who habitually gives the correct form to every word in his written exer- spelling used cises. It is only in printed and written lan- only in printguage that correct spelling possesses any value. Oral spelling is not a test of accuracy. It is impossible to memorize by their letters all the words in our language. If we wish to make pupils excellent spellers, we must cultivate the powers of observation and memory. If habits of carelessness and inaccuracy are allowed to be formed in childhood, no ordinary efforts in after life can overcome the defects or supply the deficiencies that result from such habits.

GENERAL RULES FOR SPELLING

Rule 1. Write no word unless sure of its orthography and signification.

Rule 2. Consult the dictionary in case of doubt.

Rule 3. Apply the rules for derivatives.

Rules for spelling are of but little use in primary

classes, or in fact in any classes. It may be

well to memorize them, as they may prove

of a little use in spelling of derivatives.

EXERCISES IN ORTHOEPY

Remarks.

NOTE. The teacher should write these words on the board, and let the pupils pronounce them.

1. sacrifice,

2. memoriter,

3. pedagogy,

4. equable,

5. truths,

6. torrid,

P