In a similar manner write the following:

1. Your own name, your father's name,

and your

2. The names of your brothers and sisters.
3. The names of five of your schoolmates.

mother's.

4. The name of the President; of the Governor of your State; and of the Superintendent of Schools in your State, city, town, or county.

5. The names of five great men.

5. Composition Exercise.

Select one of the following subjects, and write all that you can remember of any story relating to it that you ever read or heard:

1. Story about a Dog.
2. Story about a Lion.

3. Story about a Bear.

4. Story about a Wolf.

6. Composition Exercise.

Write any story told to you by your mother or your father. Exchange and correct.

Note. If it is possible for pupils to provide themselves with a small blank-book, it is a good plan to require the most interesting of the exercises to be copied into it; otherwise pupils should be required to preserve and file their exercises.

7. Composition Exercise.

Write a short account of your last vacation; stating where you went, what you saw, what you did, and what kind of a time you had.

DIRECTIONS.

Begin each word of the heading of your composition with a capital-thus: "My Last Vacation." Begin each new sentence with a capital and end it with a period.

Exchange and correct the misspelled words, the mistakes in writing the word I, and the errors in the use of capitals.

8. Criticism.

Write the following child's composition on the board, and let the pupils criticise it:

MY LAST VACATION. [Sixth Grade, age 8.]

I had a very plesant time in vacation. I went to a picnick and i had a very plesant time, and i went to see the Forth of July to a ladies house, i did not go to the country.-Louise.

9. Apostrophe and 8 ['s].

Rule III.—When a noun denoting but one person, place, or thing is used to express ownership, the noun must be written with the apostrophe and s added—thus: Mary's book; the horse's mane.

EXERCISES.

Copy the following examples, and be careful to write the apostrophe and s:

1. I have Henry's slate, George's pencil, and Harriet's readingbook.

2. That is my father's horse.

3. My grandmother's pies are good.

4. I found a robin's nest in my father's orchard.

5. Everybody's business is nobody's business.

Rule IV.-When nouns denoting more than one person, place, or thing, and ending in s, are used to express possession, the nouns must be written with only an apostrophe added-thus: Horses' manes; birds' nests.

EXERCISES.

Copy the following examples:

1. My sister attends the Girls' High-school.

2. My brother goes to the Boys' Grammar-school.
3. The girls' compositions were very good.
4. The boys' papers were neatly written.
5. Ladies' shoes and men's boots.

EXERCISE.

Copy all the nouns denoting ownership from a reading. lesson assigned for this

purpose.

10. Sentence-making.

Write with each of the following nouns a simple declarative sentence by using one verb to express the characteristic sound made by each of the kinds of animals named.

DIRECTION.

Each sentence must consist of only two words. Each sentence must begin with a capital and end with a period.

Exchange exercises and correct one another's mistakes;

then rewrite your corrected sentences.

EXERCISE.

Change each of the sentences that you wrote in the preceding lesson into an interrogative sentence; that is, one that asks a question.

DIRECTION.

Use only three words in each sentence. Each sentence must begin with a capital and end with an interrogation point.

Model Sentence.-Do bees buzz?

EXERCISE.

Change each of the sentences that you wrote in the preceding lesson into an exclamatory sentence; that is, a sentence expressing wonder or surprise.

DIRECTION.

Use only four words in each sentence. Each sentence must begin with the word How, and end with an exclamation mark.

Model Sentence.-How the bees buzz!

11. The Cries of Animals.

Make simple sentences by placing the name of the proper animal before each verb.

12. Letter-writing.

Require the pupils to write a short letter about their school to their father or mother.

CRITICISM.

Put the following first attempt, by a child nine years old, upon the blackboard, and let the pupils point out the mistakes:

My Dear Mamma

I am a good girl in school And I know my lessons well. This is the first time I ever wrote a letter to you. And I want to write well. I like to come to school. And get my lessons well. We write on the blackboard with chalk and we draw. I am nomber fourteen in my class. I am going to try to get promoted by Christmas. I would like to get some Christmas presence If I can. Please exquse my writing as my ink was black.

Your affectionate child

13. Punctuation.-The Comma.

Emma

Rule V.-When only two nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs are joined by and, they are not separated by a comma; but when more than two are so connected, they must be marked off by commas.

Copy the following examples of the rule:

1. Men and women work in the mill. [No comma.]
2. Men, women, and boys work. [Use commas.]
3. Boys run and play. [No comma.]

4. Boys run, play, jump, skate, and slide.

5. The apples are large and red. [No comma.]
6. The apples are large, red, mellow, and sweet.
7. Hattie writes neatly and correctly.
8. Hattie writes neatly, correctly, and rapidly.

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