same dream he told his mother? Read again what he told her. Now point out where he made it better. What did he add? Which additions do you like most?

4. Study of a Poem

Some say that one of the fairies brings the dreams. They say that it is Queen Mab, a queen of the fairies, who brings them. The following poem tells about this good fairy, who flutters down from the moon. It tells how she waves her silver wand above the heads of boys and girls when they are asleep. Then, at once, they begin to dream. They dream of the pleasantest things. They dream of delicious fruit trees and bubbling fountains. Sometimes, like Tom, they dream of an elf or a dwarf who leads them over fairy hills to fairyland itself.[9]

QUEEN MAB

Thomas Hood (Abridged)[10]

Oral Exercise. 1. Let us make sure that we understand this poem. Find the following words in it and tell what you think each one means:[11]

2. Have you ever read about fairies? Tell the class how you think a fairy looks. If you tell it well, you may draw on the board with colored chalk your picture of a fairy. Explain your picture to the class.

3. Play that you are holding a wand in your hand. Wave it as you think the fairy waved it round the head of a sleeping child.

Written Exercise. Copy that part of the poem which you like best. Copy all the little marks that you find. Write capital letters where you find them. Every line of the poem begins with a capital letter. Perhaps you can do this copying without making a mistake.[12]

Memory Exercise.[13] Read the poem aloud over and over until you can say it without looking at the book. Then stand before the class and recite it. If you make a mistake, you must take your seat. The pupil who saw your mistake may then recite the poem.

5. Story-Telling

Oral Exercise. Think of some dreams you have had. Choose the one that the class would probably like to hear most, but not one that will take long to tell. Explain to the class how the dream began, what came next, what after that, and how it ended.

If you cannot remember any dream, make up one. It may be that you can make up one that will be more wonderful than any real dream of your classmates.[14] But do not make it too long.

Group Exercise.[15] After you have told your dream, your classmates will point out what they liked in the story itself and in your way of telling it. Then they will explain to you how you might have told it better. Perhaps, like Tom, you left out many interesting little points.

Oral Exercise. Make believe you dreamed that, as you were on your way to school one morning, you came upon a big elephant standing on the sidewalk. Tell the class what you did in your dream and how you got to school.

Or play you dreamed that a smiling elf met you on your way to school. He gave you a pretty box. He told you to open it when you reached the schoolroom. Tell your classmates what you found in it.

Or make believe you dreamed that a lion came into the school. Tell the class what you did. Were you and the teacher the only brave ones in the room? Tell what some of your classmates did in your dream.[2]

Or play you dreamed that you found a gold coin in the schoolyard. When you could not learn who the owner was, you made a plan for spending the money for the school. Tell the class about this plan.

Perhaps the teacher will ask you and the other pupils to play some of these dream stories, if they are very interesting.

Written Exercise. 1. The teacher will write on the board one or more of the stories told by you and the other pupils.[16] The class will read them carefully and point out where each could be made better.[17] Copy one that the teacher has rewritten. The next exercise, which you may read at once, will tell you why you should do this copying without making mistakes.

2. Now the teacher will cover with a map the story on the board that you have copied, and will read it to you, while you write it again.[18] This exercise will show whether you can write a story without making any mistakes. You will need to know where to put capital letters and the