necessarily of a somewhat restricted and definite nature. Fifteen to twenty of these will go a long way toward taking care of those points which cannot be handled by the shorter quiz questions. The essays are not so popular and are necessarily more difficult to mark-but I feel that they are necessary and are as objective and as fair as the essay type of question can be.

The students with whom the writer has to deal are college sophomores; but this system of review cards and of constant check on these review cards would be even better suited to the high school. The college man is pretty well set in his methods of study, whereas the high school boy is not. If it could only be brought home to him that review is really the important thing, and if his teachers would attack the problem from this angle, I feel that we would make greater progress in the long run. The system of card notes here mentioned, can be worked with very little trouble, and with these notes the pupil has the real stumbling-blocks of his work always with him. Systematic review of these points can be made very rapidly, and the class marks arrived at by this means. A little care on the part of the teacher will make certain that all really important points are dealt with in these reviews, and that the pupils are kept up to the mark at all times.

Needless to say, such a system is admirably suited to some subjects, worthless for others. In the case of French vocabulary, or for the content of a course in history, it should be excellent; for algebra it would have but a limited use; while in manual training it would be a pure waste of effort. The writer's plea is for a regular, systematic, and thorough review in those courses having a "content" which lends itself to such an attack; and he has found the technique herein proposed very well suited for this purpose. Whether his contention that such a procedure would lead to a larger retention on the part of the ordinary student is correct or not, only time and experience will tell.

An Experiment in Oral English in the

R

Third Grade

MARY E. D. DEVEREAUX,

PRINCE SCHOOL DISTRICT, BOSTON.

EASON for Choice of Problem. The purpose in attempting this experiment in Oral English was to develop greater co-operative activities on the part of my pupils. After having formed teaching habits largely predicated on the theory that "the noses of the rising generation should be held to the grindstone of knowledge," and havsing practised many of these habits for almost ten years, the difficulty was where to begin.

Few subjects in every child's curricula lend themselves so well to guidance, because of its application to so many other subjects, as does English. Therefore English, and preferably Oral English (because in the third grade more time is given to oral than to written English) seemed to me to be the best subject in which to work out guidance problems.

A further reason for working out this experiment was to test the practicability of the entire guidance theory. The results obtained seemed to me to be the best evidence of its value.

Division of Time. The length of time in school weeks which could be devoted to the general problem was approximately ten weeks. About fifteen minutes per day of the English period (half) could be given to the direct presentation and class discussion which followed individual reports.

The first three weeks were given to guidance in education through oral reproduction for the purpose of developing study habits which would function in later divisions of the work. The second period, consisting of two weeks, was on vocational guidance. The third period, also two weeks, was on the topic

of citizenship. The remaining three weeks were assigned to health, training for leisure, and home membership. One week was considered sufficient for each of these topics, as many of their points were covered in the preceding compositions.

Preparation work was done during the following times: "seat work" periods (corresponding to study periods in the higher grades), before school periods, and when other assigned work was completed. As far as possible, the children were not encouraged to get help at home, for the reason that the preparation or suggestion of ideas might be given by an older person who would impose more mature ideas upon the child. Thus the pupil would be deprived of freedom in carrying out his task.

The reason I arranged my program this way, rather than spending so many weeks on news-article reporting, dramatizing, arguing, etc., was because with little children (seven to nine years of age) it seems unwise to develop the various forms of oral composition. However, all forms of expression did enter into the work.

Reproduction-for Study Guidance. The objective was for the children to be able to tell a story so that everybody in the class would enjoy hearing it. The suggestions for selections of stories which the children gave were:

1. Choose a story which has a point to it.

2. Select one you like yourself.

3. Pick one that does not take more than three or four minutes to tell.

4. Choose one you think other children will like.

The next step was where to find the story. The following places were used, based upon pupils' suggestions:

1. Library books which the Boston Public Library had loaned to us.

2. The teacher's cabinet.

3. Books to be drawn on our own cards.

4. Any books which children had at home and cared to loan.

After the child had browsed through books and had picked a story which he thought met the requirements we had set down, he showed it to the teacher for her final approval. If this were given he wrote his name and that of his story on a paper called the "Bulletin Sheet." In case of competition, the pupils agreed that the first child to choose the story should have the right to it.

In getting ready to tell the story each child put down the main point (the crisis), then the steps which led up to it, and the conclusion which followed. The teacher, assisted by four or five helpers, went over the outlines, helping children where help was needed. Topics were then arranged in a step fashion, leading up to the crisis.

The suggestions given to make the telling effective were: 1. Know your story (not by heart but in general). 2. Use good English.

3. Look at your audience.

4. Use a loud voice.

5. Speak with expression.

6. Swallow "and," "so," and "er-er."

After the story had been told to somebody at home, for help and criticism, then the child might volunteer to tell it in school. While he was talking, the rest of the class noted these three points:

(a). Good point.

(b). Suggestions for improvement.

(c). What the story teaches me.

During the telling, on several occasions I invited teachers to visit us. Both the visitors and I were amazed to see how often the class got just the point and knew what the story should teach.

When every child in the room had given his story, we tabulated on the board a list of things which the stories had taught us. We found they related to all walks and experiences of life. One of the tabulations was, "Be Interested in Worth

While Things." This gave an excellent starting point for vocational guidance, our second topic.

Vocational Guidance. "The reason why we must be interested in worth-while things is, so that when we grow up we will have learned how to do some worth-while things," said one member of the class.

In the two weeks devoted to this topic, we learned and told each other much about these mysterious "worth-whiles." We started with what we already knew and worked into new fields. First, we listed occupations for men and then for women, and gave two or three sentences on what we knew about each. Then we proceeded to gather new information.

On three different afternoons after school, we paid visits to near-by places in which we had shown some interest. These were: a large garage, a police station, the fire station, the ice cream parlor on the corner, and a near-by candy factory. In addition we watched the traffic officers who directed traffic on Massachusetts Avenue and Huntington Avenue. Whenever possible, we asked questions about the work and had intimate talks with the workers. On the day following each of these visits different children gave oral reports of the visits.

To emphasize certain points which we had not been fortunate enough to see in actual operation, I took the children into our kindergarten hall and showed them slides of activities such as grain farming, truck farming, tradesmen, and professional people at work. Things which we were to look for in each work were listed on the board. The next oral report was one in which the child presented the four or five most interesting points about the occupation which appealed to him most. Upon pure speculation I had thought this would be too hard, but I received a most pleasant surprise, for the children almost unanimously picked the essential qualifications.

In the final lesson, the pupil presented arguments or reasons, "Why I would make a good "(specific choice).