REFOR I RESUMES - ERIC

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REFOR I RESUMESED 1)17 410 TE 000 309THE ADVENTURES OF BROWN SUGARI'ADVENTURES IN CREATIVEWRITING.ST- STEGALL, CARRIENATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENG.ICHANPAISNIILL

PUB DATE 67

MS PRICE NF-$0.50 HC NOT AVAILABLE FROM EONS. 103P.

DESCRIPTORS- *CREATIVE WRITING, *ELEMENTARY EDUCATION,*ENGLISH INSTRUCTION, *LANGUAGE ARTS, *STUDENT DEVELOPEDMATERIALS, INTEGRATED ACTIVITIES, CREATIVE ACTIVITIES,COMPOSITION (LITERARY), COMPOSITION SKILL (LITERARY),SPELLING, GRAMMAR, LANGUAGE USAGE, VERBAL DEVELOPMENT,VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT, GRADE 4, PUNCTUATION, CAPITALIZATION(ALPHABETIC), LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION, WRITING SKILLS, NCTE,

A TEACHER'S EXPERIENCE IN GUIDING A GROUP OF 40FOURTH-GRADERS IN WRITING A BOOK IS REPORTED, AND THE BOOK ISINCLUDED. PROVIDED ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF--(1) THE STEP-BY-STEPPROCESS OF WRITING EACH CHAPTER OF THE BOOK, (2) THE

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENTS' "OWN ENGLISH BOOK"--RULES FOR .

USAGE, SPELLING, PUNCTUATION, AND CAPITALIZATION, DISCOVEREDBY THE STUDENTS AND USED AS A GUIDE IN THEIR WRITING, AND (3)

FUTURE PLANS FOR STUDENTS TO WRITE INDIVIDUAL BOOKS. THISDOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE FROM THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERSOF ENGLISH, 508 SOUTH SIXTH ST., CHAMPAIGN, ILL. 61820, ORDERNO. 49600, $2.00. (MM)

Page 2

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NA

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GL

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Com

mittee on Publications

JAM

ES R

.S

QU

IRE

, NC

TE

Executive Secretary, C

hairman

RO

BE

RT

M. G

OR

RE

LL, University

of Nevada

JoHN

C. M

Axw

EL

L, U

pper Midw

est Regional E

ducational Laboratory

WA

LTE

R J. M

OO

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, University of Illinois

EN

ID M

. OLS

ON

,NC

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Director of Publications

Consultant R

eadersE

LDO

NN

AL

. EvE

RT

Ts, U

niversity of IllinoisW

AL

TE

RJ. M

ooRE

, University of Illinois

VIR

GIN

IA M

. RE

ID,O

akland Public Schools, California

Editorial Services

CY

NT

HIA

H. S

MIT

H,

NC

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JON

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HA

NC

OR

BIN

, NC

TE

Copyright 1967

"PE

RM

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TO

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Page 5

"4,1", .5-

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Page 6

Forew

ord

Undoubtedly m

ost successful writers and teachers of

writing have at tim

esbeen asked a variety of questions about w

riting asthey do it, or w

riting as theyteach it. From

what responses w

e get we have com

e toknow

a good deal aboutthe techniques and m

ethods of teachers who are

successful in developingindividuals w

ho write w

ell, for the individualsthem

selves and their writing

speak well of the efforts expended by all

involved. Seldom do w

e find accountsof teachers w

ho achieve success in teaching groups ofchildren how

to write.

Mrs. C

arrie V. Stegall is one teacher w

ho has taught groupsand she tells us

how she does her w

ork.M

rs. Stegall in her The A

dventures of Brow

n Sugar: Adventures in

Creative

Writing tarries us step by step through the stages of the group

development of

a story inw

hich all forty of her fourth grade pupils participate actively over asixteen-w

eek period. This involvem

ent in the group project leads to thesituation

where at the beginning of the second sem

ester, each child expresses ananxious

desire to write his ow

n.story. And, follow

ing the groupexperience, each of the

forty has his own folder, his ow

n outline, his own w

riting rules,and his ow

nbook in the process of being w

ritten.It has been observed (G

oodenough and Pre linger, Children T

ell Stories,International U

niversities Press, 1963) that teachers are well aw

are thatcreative w

riting is dependent on an individual's accumulation of sensory

iv

s.

I

Page 7

expe

rien

ces

that

are

reg

iste

red

in th

e m

ind

and

rem

ain

ther

e un

til th

ey a

rest

imul

ated

and

rec

alle

d. T

hese

exp

erie

nces

are

of th

e ut

mos

t im

port

ance

tocr

eativ

e w

ritin

g, f

or w

ithou

t the

m c

hild

ren

have

noth

ing

to w

rite

abo

ut. T

his

raw

mat

eria

l hel

ps to

mak

e up

wha

t has

bee

n re

ferr

ed to

as "

inte

rnal

wea

lth."

Thi

s in

tern

al w

ealth

of

expe

rien

ces

and

impr

essi

ons

unde

rgoe

sa

good

dea

l of

resh

uffl

ing,

rea

rran

ging

, and

rec

ombi

ning

as a

res

ult o

f en

viro

nmen

tal f

acto

rs,

and

not t

he le

ast o

f th

ese

are

the

pres

sure

s of

the

clas

sroo

m w

ith d

eman

ds m

ade

for

"goo

d" o

r "c

orre

ct"

Eng

lish.

Suc

hpr

essu

res

resu

lt in

an

amaz

ing

vari

ety

ofth

ough

ts a

nd f

eelin

gsas

rev

eale

d in

chi

ldre

n's

stor

ies.

We

see

this

in s

uch

com

pila

tions

as

Smal

l Voi

ces

(Sm

all V

oice

s, J

osef

and

Dor

othy

Ber

ger,

Pau

l S.

Eri

ksso

n, 1

966)

, whe

rein

the

stre

sses

of

scho

ol li

fe a

nd s

choo

l liv

ing

are

supp

lant

ed b

y th

e in

flue

nces

of

hom

e an

d fa

mily

life

, or

in e

xtre

me

situ

atio

ns,

in p

riso

n or

con

cent

ratio

nca

mp

exis

tenc

e (1

Nev

er S

aw A

noth

er B

utte

rfly

,M

cGra

w-H

ill, 1

964)

.B

ut w

hat o

f th

e po

sitiv

e in

flue

nces

of

scho

olth

ose

whi

ch f

orw

ard

the

wri

ting

proc

ess

rath

er th

ange

t in

its w

ay?

Mrs

. Ste

gall

spen

dsa

good

dea

l of

time

in p

relim

inar

yor

pre

para

tory

wor

k, in

the

so-c

alle

d in

itiat

ing

activ

ities

of

the

wri

ting

proc

ess.

A li

keco

ncer

n fo

r ot

her

face

ts o

f th

e ta

sk p

ersi

sts

thro

ugh-

out t

he d

urat

ion

of th

e ac

tivity

, for

she

says

, "T

hrou

ghou

t the

sto

ry th

ere

wer

eth

e w

eakn

esse

s w

hich

I c

ould

hav

e av

oide

dha

d I

been

mor

e in

tere

sted

in th

efi

nish

ed p

rodu

ct th

an in

the

child

ren

who

wro

te it

. Tw

elve

or

fift

een

child

ren

alon

e co

uld

have

don

ea

rem

arka

ble

job

once

they

wer

e w

ell l

aunc

hed

on th

e

Page 8

project. How

ever, I chose to use greatly improved

work of all the children, not

just a few.

This procedure kept the w

eaker pupilsw

orking as it inspiredthe

better ones to exceed their own

efforts."R

eaders of The A

dventures of Brow

nSugar are glad for

this choice, for thebest testam

ent as to thew

orth of the book may w

ell come

from the child w

ritersthem

selves who say: "W

e are writing

this book because we don't w

antto do

English. Sentences are

hard to do. I think writing a

book is more fun than

writing sentences. W

riting a storyis funny and E

nglish is not funny.W

e will

not have to work in our

book and write old silly sentences. W

e would not have

learned about a Pekingese if we

worked in an E

nglish book.Som

e of us might

want to w

rite a bookw

hen we grow

up and we'll know

how!"

Walter J. M

oore,C

hairman

Elem

entary Section,N

CT

E

Page 9

,,

Pre

face

Whe

n yo

ungs

ters

acc

ompl

ish

a w

orth

y go

al, t

here

are

peo

ple

who

thin

k th

eyac

com

plis

hed

it be

caus

e th

ey w

ere

"spe

cial

chi

ldre

n."

On

a w

hole

this

cla

ss w

as n

ot o

ne o

f ex

cept

iona

l abi

lity.

Alm

ost h

alf

of th

emra

ted

belo

w f

ourt

h gr

ade

read

ing

leve

l whe

n sc

hool

beg

an. F

ew c

ould

wri

te h

alf

a do

zen

rela

ted

sent

ence

s. A

t fir

st I

had

to r

ewri

te s

ome

of th

ech

ildre

n's

para

-gr

aphs

with

the

aid

of th

eir

"ora

l tra

nsla

tions

," b

ecau

se th

ey c

ould

not

spe

ll w

ell

enou

gh f

or m

e ev

en to

gue

ss w

hat t

hey

mea

nt. F

requ

ently

, I h

ad to

"dr

ag"

idea

sfr

om th

em in

divi

dual

ly in

ord

er to

incl

ude

thos

e id

eas

in th

e st

ory.

I d

id th

is,

of c

ours

e, to

bol

ster

thei

r in

tere

st a

nd e

go a

nd to

kee

p th

em tr

ying

, and

Ibe

lieve

they

enj

oyed

tryi

ng.

My

than

ks a

re to

all

thes

e ch

ildre

n w

ho s

o re

lent

less

ly c

rack

ed th

eir

whi

ps o

fen

thus

iasm

ove

r m

y so

met

imes

rel

ucta

nt h

ead.

Nev

er, o

f co

urse

, did

they

rea

lize

that

I la

bore

d ov

er th

irty

-fiv

e or

for

ty p

aper

s ea

ch ti

me

they

blit

hely

das

hed

thro

ugh

onen

ot ju

st o

nce

a da

y bu

t som

etim

es tw

ice

or e

ven

thre

e tim

es.

The

re w

ere

times

that

I e

nvie

d te

ache

rs w

ho c

ompl

aine

d of

suc

h pa

pers

onc

ea

wee

k!Sp

ecia

l ack

now

ledg

emen

t sho

uld

also

go

to M

rs. M

argi

e M

iller

and

Mrs

.E

rma

Bar

ton

who

laun

ched

thes

e yo

ungs

ters

on

thei

r ill

ustr

atio

ns a

nd a

gain

toM

rs. B

arto

n w

ho h

elpe

d th

em c

ompo

se th

e m

usic

to th

eir

poem

.

vu

Page 10

g's

A` 7,57 4, fl Z`17.7 E Z- *1),£.

11

Page 11

Tab

le o

f Con

tent

s

Page

Fore

wor

div

by W

alte

r J.

Moo

re

Pref

ace

via

Intr

oduc

tion

xi

The

Sto

ry3

My

PupW

ords

and

Mus

ic56

My

Ow

n E

nglis

h B

ook

57

Goo

fyA

n In

divi

dual

Pro

ject

83

ix

Page 12

iitY,

?

Page 13

-?%

Intr

oduc

tion

Whe

n sc

hool

beg

an in

Sep

tem

ber,

I s

earc

hed

dilig

ently

amon

g m

yfo

urth

grad

ers

for

a sp

ark,

eve

n a

tiny

spar

k, o

f in

tere

st in

wri

ting,

or,

as

they

cho

se to

call

it, th

e st

udy

of E

nglis

h. B

ut n

ot e

ven

the

tinie

st s

park

did

I f

ind.

Cop

ying

"old

sill

y se

nten

ces"

fro

m a

text

book

and

fill

ing

in b

lank

s w

ith th

ose

sam

e "o

ldsi

lly s

ente

nces

" w

as th

e su

m to

tal o

f E

nglis

h, a

nd s

igni

fica

ntly

"th

at d

idn'

t lea

rnan

ybod

y an

ythi

ng o

r do

any

body

any

goo

d."

Tha

t vie

w w

as u

nfor

tuna

te, I

told

the

youn

gste

rs, b

ecau

se e

very

cla

ss w

asre

quir

ed to

hav

e ar

i Eng

lish

peri

od. W

hat c

ould

we

do?

Som

e ve

ntur

ed to

sugg

est t

hat w

e co

uld

leav

e it

off

and

not t

ell a

nybo

dy a

bout

it. I

sec

retly

cont

empl

ated

the

wis

dom

of

that

sug

gest

ion

and

was

sor

ely

tem

pted

.In

stea

d, I

cau

tious

ly a

sked

, "H

ad y

ou r

athe

r w

rite

a b

ook

than

stu

dy E

n-gl

ish?

" I

was

ove

rwhe

lmed

with

the

spon

tane

ous

enth

usia

sm th

at s

wep

tth

roug

h th

e cl

assr

oom

."S

ure!

""Y

eah,

let's

do.

""Y

ou b

et!"

"Oh,

boy

! C

an w

e?"

"Tha

t wou

ld b

e fu

n!"

As

crie

s of

app

rova

l spr

ead

thro

ugho

ut th

e cl

ass,

indi

ffer

ence

and

bor

edom

disa

ppea

red.

And

ther

e w

as I

, the

teac

her,

with

out t

he v

ague

st id

ea o

f ho

w to

Page 14

e-

begin to write a book, m

uch less to teach thirty-six youngsters how to do so.

Nevertheless, believing that a teacher som

etimes does her best job sim

ply bystaying out of the w

ay of her pupils, I plunged into this wave of enthusiasm

andfound m

yself engulfed in one of the most delightful teaching-learning-w

ritingexperiences of m

y twenty-five years of teaching.

Not only did the boys and girls w

ant to write a book, they w

anted to write it

right then and there. But, of course, a few

preliminaries had to be pigeonholed

before the fun began.First, w

e discussed books we had read or had heard read. T

he discussion was

eventually directed to The A

dventures of Tom

Sawyer, w

ith which the

young-sters w

ere quite familiar since they rem

embered seeing another class dram

atizescenes from

it a year or so before. Briefly I told how

Mark T

wain took a num

berof boys w

hom he knew

well, rolled them

allup

intoone, and thus created the

book character Tom

Sawyer. T

his was possible and

easy todo sim

ply becauseM

ark Tw

ain knew boys w

ell. And, since he also knew

lifeon the M

ississippiR

iver because he had lived there, he could write vividly about it.

Second, I opened a discussion about things with w

hichw

e, as fourth graders,w

ere most fam

iliar. Dogs, cats, and other pets cam

e into our group conversationw

ith dogs holding priority. Though w

e planned to follow M

ark Tw

ain's lead and"roll all of our dogs

upinto one" to get our m

ain character, we w

ere forced tochoose one dog as the physical evidence needed for a tangible beginning. Sincem

y own pet w

as a little brown Pekingese, I asked if the children w

ould like to

xii

qt;

Page 15

Te.

fi 7

7A

play

with

him

whi

le th

ey w

ere

deci

ding

. Cer

tain

lyth

e su

gges

tion

met

with

enth

usia

stic

app

rova

l. T

here

fore

, the

fol

low

ing

day

Bro

wn

Suga

r,al

so k

now

n as

Boy

, wen

t to

scho

ol. I

t was

dif

ficu

lt to

tell

whi

ch e

njoy

ed th

e ge

t-ac

quai

nted

part

y m

oreB

row

n Su

gar

orth

e ch

ildre

n. A

t any

rat

e th

e m

eetin

g re

sulte

d in

mut

ual l

ove

at f

irst

sig

ht. S

o ca

me

our

title

: The

Adv

entu

res

of d

row

n Su

gar.

Thu

s ar

med

with

a d

og, a

title

for

thei

r bo

ok, a

nd b

ound

less

opt

imis

m,t

hese

four

th g

rade

rs w

ere

laun

ched

upo

n th

eir

high

adv

entu

re, t

he tw

och

ief

purp

oses

of w

hich

wer

e "t

o ge

t out

of

stud

ying

Eng

lish"

and

to h

ave

a su

rpri

sefo

r th

eir

pare

nts

at C

hris

tmas

. (In

mor

e sc

hola

rly

circ

les

the

psyc

holo

gist

s, I

bel

ieve

,ca

ll it

"mot

ivat

ion.

")T

hen

cam

e di

scus

sion

s, m

any

peri

ods

of th

em s

catte

red

thro

ugho

utth

e fo

l-lo

win

g da

ys, a

bout

the

begi

nnin

g of

abo

ok. J

ust h

ow d

id o

ne g

o ab

out s

uch

apr

ojec

t? W

ell,

for

one

thin

g, th

ech

ildre

n kn

ew th

at m

any

book

s w

ere

divi

ded

into

cha

pter

s be

caus

e th

ey w

ere

read

ing

such

boo

ks. S

urel

y th

at w

as a

s go

od a

way

as

any

to s

tart

.All

agre

ed. B

ut th

en w

hat?

Her

e I

vent

ured

to a

sk a

que

stio

n, "

Wha

t wou

ld y

our

mot

hers

do

if th

ey w

ere

to b

egin

to m

ake

a dr

ess

or a

shi

rt?"

Why

, the

yw

ould

use

a p

atte

rn, t

he p

iece

sof

whi

ch w

ould

join

per

fect

ly if

the

artic

le o

f cl

othi

ng -

fit w

ell.

The

reaf

ter

con-

tinue

d di

scus

sion

s ab

out f

inis

hing

the

sew

ing

a lit

tle b

it at

a ti

me

and

then

fitt

ing

the

piec

es to

geth

er p

rope

rly.

Any

body

kne

w th

at m

uch.

From

leng

thy

and

inde

fini

te ta

lk, I

fin

ally

gui

ded

the

youn

gste

rsin

to th

e id

eaof

a W

ritin

g Pa

ttern

, one

in w

hich

the

piec

es jo

in s

moo

thly

and

logi

cally

. The

.+0

r.

Page 16

Outline! C

hapter I would

naturally be "Introducing Brow

n Sugar." Six titlesof paragraphs, w

hichw

e felt were necessary to this first "piece of the

garment,"

were suggested (in the order m

entioned):

1. Why W

e Are

Writing the Story

2. Describing B

rown

Sugar3. H

ow H

e Cam

e toE

ngland4. H

is Life in C

hina5. W

hat He D

oes6. W

ith Whom

He L

ives1T

hese were laterrearranged by a vote of the class into this order:

1. Describing B

rown

Sugar2. W

ith Whom

He L

ives3. H

is Life in C

hina4. H

ow H

e Cam

e toE

ngland5. W

hy We A

reW

riting the StoryT

he original number five

was om

itted in the final outline because thatwas to be

the rest of the book.Since I w

asavoiding anything that sm

acked of"w

riting old silly sentences,"I m

ade no effort to brief theyoungsters on how

to attack the writing of the first

eM101111

11 think, perhaps, that thisconstruction w

as merely an echo of

my speech because tw

o or three childrenoffered it, and it w

as not their usual formof expression. T

hey acquiredm

any of my speech habits w

ith sponge-like facility.

xiv

Page 17

f,

para

grap

h. W

e m

erel

ydi

scus

sed

Boy

's s

ize,

his

sha

pe, h

is c

olor

,hi

s co

at, h

ista

il, h

is n

ose,

his

ear

s, h

is f

eet,

and

his

legs

. I w

rote

on

the

boar

d al

l the

wor

ds

they

thou

ght t

hey

mig

htlik

e to

use

if th

ey c

ould

onl

y sp

ell t

hem

.I

sugg

este

dth

at th

ey k

eep

a lis

t of

the

wor

ds s

o th

at th

eyco

uld

refe

r to

them

aga

in a

ndag

ain.

(T

his

list e

vent

ually

gre

win

to a

noth

er b

ook,

My

Ow

n E

nglis

h B

ook;

whi

ch a

lso

incl

udes

rul

es m

ade

up a

s th

ey w

ere

need

ed.)

Whe

n I

read

the

firs

t thi

rty-

six

para

grap

hs,

I fe

lt de

feat

ed. I

gnor

ing

all

acce

ptab

le s

tand

ards

of

sent

ence

str

uctu

re,

how

ever

, I w

as a

ble

to f

ind

thre

eus

able

sen

tenc

es:

Bro

wn

Suga

r is

a r

eddi

sh b

row

n w

hite

sock

ed p

int s

ize

Peki

nges

eth

at h

as a

littl

e no

se li

ke a

pum

pkin

. He

is a

smal

l lon

g ha

ired

dog

that

wei

ghs

abou

t fou

rtee

n po

unds

.H

e is

bow

legg

ed a

nd h

is ta

il cu

rls

upov

er h

is b

ack

as if

he

had

a T

oni i

n it.

Tho

se w

ere

the

exac

t wor

ds in

all

thei

rba

rbar

ic b

eaut

y, f

rom

thre

e di

ffer

ent

pape

rs.T

he o

wne

rs c

opie

d th

em c

orre

ctly

acc

ordi

ng to

my

inst

ruct

ions

, rel

ying

conf

iden

tly o

n th

eir

teac

her

for

prop

er g

uida

nce

in b

ook

wri

ting.

Cap

ital l

ette

rs,

corr

ect s

pelli

ng, a

nd p

rope

r us

age

of p

erio

ds th

ey a

ccep

ted

beca

use

they

had

"hea

rd a

bout

them

" in

the

thir

d gr

ade.

The

n I

com

bine

d th

e th

ree

sent

ence

s, r

ead

them

alo

ud, a

nd a

sked

for

cri

ticis

m.

Rec

eivi

ng n

o re

actio

n at

all,

I as

sum

ed th

at th

ey w

ere

sim

ply

too

good

to

2Thi

s bo

ok b

egin

s on

pag

e 57

.

eta

Page 18

crg3;777-'77,

FJai

criticize. But, as there still didn't

seem to be enough description of B

oy, I in-structed- allexcept the three to try again, and one produced the follow

ing line:"H

e has a silky back oflong hair, and his ears hang down to his feet."

That w

as it ! When this last sentence

was added to the first three, paragraph

one was com

plete. We had passed the first hurdle.Paragraph tw

o was

labori-ously developed but as victoriously achieved.

Paragraph three was prefaced by

days of reading from reference books to

get some exciting inform

ation about thePekingese dog. M

ark Tw

ain had used ideas gleaned from his

reading. Why

shouldn't we? Paragraph four

was developed in like m

anner. Paragraph fivew

as simply the outpouring of feelings about this business of

writing. In order

to get a cross section of reasons for theirentering so enthusiastically into the

writing project, I developed this last

paragraph simply by choosing its seven

sentences from seven differentpapers.

Thus C

hapter I, fulfilling its pUrpose,w

as finally completed at the end of the

first six weeks grade period. In the

eyesof its authors it

was perfect; in the eyes

of the teacher itw

as finished. I wondered w

hether that accomplishm

entw

asw

orth the endless hours ofpaper checking, personal conferences, and constant

class discussions which had been

necessary to the writing of each paragraph.

How

ever, when I hopefully suggested that this short

chapter was not w

orththe long laborious hours they had

spent in writing it, the youngsters reacted

loudly and negatively. To th'm

it was such an unquestioned

masterpiece that

tiresome details w

hich hadaccom

panied its progress were com

pletely nil in

xvi

Page 19

retr

ospe

ct. R

ealiz

ing

then

that

I w

as tr

appe

d, I

bow

ed to

the

will

of

my

slav

edr

iver

s an

d w

rote

"C

hapt

er I

I"on

the

blac

kboa

rd. W

hat w

ould

we

call

it?D

iscu

ssio

n fo

llow

ed d

iscu

ssio

n un

til a

ll ag

reed

on th

e ch

apte

r tit

le a

s w

ell a

son

the

para

grap

h tit

les

with

in it

. I w

as a

maz

ed a

nd g

ratif

ied

at th

e sp

eed

and

ease

with

whi

ch th

is c

hapt

er d

evel

oped

. Ins

tead

of

havi

ng to

sea

rch

for

sent

ence

sto

com

bine

for

a p

arag

raph

, I f

ound

mys

elf

wei

ghin

g th

e m

erits

of

one

entir

epa

ragr

aph

agai

nst t

hose

of

anot

her.

Mer

ely

by c

onst

antly

rec

allin

g in

form

atio

nle

arne

d in

the

thir

d gr

ade,

abo

ut h

alf

of th

eyo

ungs

ters

had

mas

tere

d th

e ar

t of

wri

ting

corr

ect s

ente

nces

. The

y re

mem

bere

d th

at (

1) a

sen

tenc

e sh

ould

say

som

ethi

ng, (

2) it

sho

uld

star

t with

a c

apita

l let

ter,

and

(3)

it s

houl

d en

d w

ith a

peri

od, a

que

stio

n m

ark,

or

an e

xciti

ng m

ark.

By

disc

ussi

ng s

ente

nces

as

we

read

ora

lly f

rom

our

rea

ders

, we

disc

over

ed th

atre

al a

utho

rs a

lway

s w

rote

inte

rest

ing

sent

ence

s, to

o. T

hat p

oint

in it

self

was

the

real

dif

fere

nce

betw

een

the

sent

ence

sw

e lik

ed a

nd th

ose

we

did

not l

ike.

We

liked

thos

e th

at w

ere

part

s of

inte

rest

ing

read

ing

or w

ritin

g, b

ut w

e st

ill d

id n

otlik

e th

ose

"old

sill

y se

nten

ces"

that

we

copi

ed o

ut o

f ou

r E

nglis

h bo

ok f

or n

oot

her

purp

ose

than

to f

ill b

lank

s. H

avin

g ar

rive

d at

this

con

clus

ion

abou

t sen

-te

nce

wri

ting,

we

deci

ded

to w

atch

all

our

read

ing

for

sugg

estio

ns f

or im

prov

ing

our

wri

ting.

We

mig

ht a

ccid

enta

lly le

arn

mor

e ab

out h

ow th

eex

pert

s m

anag

edto

wri

te s

o w

ell.

In C

hapt

er I

I th

e fi

rst r

ules

act

ually

evo

lved

by th

is s

impl

e pr

oces

s of

chec

king

the

wor

k of

the

mas

ters

. Unt

ilno

w, a

ll pu

nctu

atio

n m

arks

exc

ept

Page 20

periods which had been used correctly

were, so far as I knew

, completely acci-

dental. Since the projectwas a secret from

the families, I felt reasonably sure

that parents had not assistedany

of the boys and girls in their efforts. Inchecking papers, I system

atically left all correct punctuation alone and marked

off all that was used incorrectly.

When the problem

of theapostrophe arose, w

e turned to the experts. How

didsuccessful w

riters handle the situation? Exam

ination ofreading m

aterials re-vealed the secret. T

he following is

a minute account of how

the children were led

to use their reading to develop the rules thatare found in their own personal

English books:I asked the class in w

hich direction thesun rose that m

orning."In the east, of course.""W

here will it rise in the

morning?"

"In the east, of course,"they answ

ered in superior voices."H

ow do

you know?"

"Well, w

on't it?""Y

es, but why?"

"We don't know

. Do you?"

"It has been rising in the eastevery m

orning of my life, a great m

any 1110111-.ings indeed, and I assum

e it is a rule."

"Why, sure," they chorused.

Page 21

.$7,

1747

;1'

j

"The

nm

ayI

likew

ise

assu

me

if a

n ex

pert

use

s th

e sa

me

thin

g ov

er a

nd o

ver

in h

is w

ritin

g th

at it

is a

ll ri

ght f

or u

s to

do

so?"

I a

sked

."W

hy, s

ure,

" on

e an

swer

ed.

"Of

cour

se,"

ano

ther

sai

d."T

hen

let m

e su

gges

t som

ethi

ng. A

s yo

u re

ad, i

f yo

u se

e so

met

hing

in y

our

read

ing

ofte

n en

ough

for

you

to m

ake

a ru

le a

bout

it, m

ake

the

rule

and

pre

sent

it to

the

clas

s fo

r co

nsid

erat

ion.

If

you

can

mak

e a

rule

and

pro

ve th

e ru

le b

y te

nex

ampl

es, w

e sh

all a

ccep

t it f

or o

ur E

nglis

hbo

oks.

"'"O

h, g

ood

!" s

hout

ed s

ever

al.

"Tha

t'll b

e fu

n,"

said

oth

ers.

In th

is m

anne

r w

as la

id th

e fr

amew

ork

for

rule

s, a

nd th

erea

fter

all

trad

ition

alte

xtbo

ok r

ules

wer

e le

ft m

ould

ing

on th

eir

dust

y te

xtbo

ok p

ages

alo

ngw

ith"o

ld s

illy

sent

ence

s" a

nd th

eir

usel

ess

blan

ks.

Cer

tain

ly th

e su

peri

or p

upils

wer

e th

e on

es w

ho p

ushe

dth

e tr

easu

re h

unt f

orru

les

and

exam

ples

. But

whe

n a

rule

was

mad

e, p

rove

d, a

nd a

ccep

ted,

the

less

aggr

essi

ve p

upils

oft

en g

aine

d re

cogn

ition

by

furt

her

"str

engt

heni

ng"

the

rule

with

oth

er e

xam

ples

.T

o re

turn

to th

e sp

ecif

ic c

ase

of th

e ap

ostr

ophe

: Alm

ost a

ll th

ech

ildre

n us

edan

apo

stro

phe

with

eve

ryw

ord

endi

ng in

s. A

ppar

ently

this

was

a c

arry

over

from

the

thir

d gr

ade.

Fin

ally

, a c

hild

dis

cove

red

that

an

apos

trop

he w

asus

ed to

8The

wor

d ru

le h

ere

is, o

f co

urse

, use

d in

the

sens

e th

at it

is th

e cu

mul

ativ

e re

sult

of u

sage

, not

the

pres

crip

tive

dogm

a of

the

rule

boo

k.

Page 22

ti

7

4

4.7S

c.

1,1

show ow

nership. This he

proved by showing ten uses found in a book he w

asreading. T

he class decided that that settled the apostrophe question.W

ithout a word, I w

roteon the board these w

ords: don't, can't, isn't, haven't,I'll, and m

any others. Instantly several understood thatthey had jum

ped to aconclusion. Som

e had even used thatapostrophe in their ow

n writing. T

hus itbecam

enecessary to search for another apostrophe rule. T

his proved no task atall, as several children clam

ored for the privilege of making the rule. "T

o make

two w

ords into one, we use an apostrophe to show

for them

issing letter orletters."

In like manner all rules

applied in the writing of this book w

ere evolved,proved, and accepted. T

hese rules the readerm

ay examine in M

y Ow

n English

Book.T

he reader must understand that this entire

story was w

ritten paragraph byparagraph. M

uch class discussion was devoted to the problem

ofsew

ing the. paragraphs together neatly

and smoothly. T

hough each chapterw

as outlinedcom

pletely before the actual writing began, the children w

ere ever conscious ofthe fact that each succeeding

paragraph should flow logically out of the preced-

ing one.' Frequently there was concrete evidence that the children

quite under-stood this phase of w

riting bridgesor transitions.O

ne day we w

ere beginninga new

paragraph. Either w

e had failed to

4Footnote 3, page 8, explains how diligently

we w

orked on the problem of coherence.

xx

NS

rte

4,-4"tie-C

!

sr$. '''

C

r.

rY

Page 23

men

tion

how

the

prec

edin

g on

e ha

d en

ded,

or o

ne o

f th

e bo

ys h

ad f

aile

d to

:lis

ten

duri

ng th

e di

scus

sion

of

it. A

t any

rat

e, B

illy

did

not k

now

how

the

chos

enw

ritin

g of

the

day

befo

re h

ad e

nded

. The

refo

re, a

fter

a f

ew m

inut

es o

f tr

ying

tobe

gin

his

wor

k, h

e sa

id, "

Mrs

. Ste

gall,

wha

t kin

d of

thre

ad d

id w

e fi

nish

with

yest

erda

y?"

Whe

n I

read

the

clos

ing

sent

ence

, he

sigh

ed c

onte

nted

ly a

nd ta

ckle

dhi

s ne

w p

arag

raph

imm

edia

tely

. Whe

n I

chec

ked

the

pape

rs,

his

wri

ting

fit

perf

ectly

.T

hrou

ghou

t the

sto

ry th

ere

wer

e w

eakn

esse

s w

hich

I c

ould

hav

e av

oide

d ha

dI

been

mor

e in

tere

sted

in th

e fi

nish

edpr

oduc

t tha

n in

the

child

ren

who

wro

te it

.T

wel

ve o

r fi

ftee

n ch

ildre

n al

one

coul

d ha

ve d

one

a re

mar

kabl

e jo

b on

ce th

ey w

ere

wel

l lau

nche

d on

the

proj

ect.

How

ever

, I c

hose

tous

e gr

eatly

impr

oved

wor

k of

all t

he c

hild

ren,

not

just

a f

ew. T

his

proc

edur

e ke

pt th

e w

eake

rpu

pils

wor

king

as it

insp

ired

the

bette

r on

es to

exc

eed

thei

r ow

n ef

fort

s.A

lso,

thou

gh th

e cl

ass

stud

ious

ly f

ollo

wed

the

acce

pted

out

line,

I o

ften

viol

ated

the

form

of

a ch

apte

r by

incl

udin

g in

the

stor

y m

ore

than

one

par

agra

phw

ritte

n on

the

sam

e su

bjec

t. T

his

was

to r

ewar

d th

ose

pupi

ls w

ho h

ad d

one

exce

ptio

nally

wel

l in

wri

ting

on th

at p

artic

ular

topi

c. S

omet

imes

two

piec

es o

fw

ritin

g w

ere

com

bine

d as

one

. Som

etim

es th

ey w

ere

ente

red

in th

e bo

ok a

sse

para

te p

arag

raph

s en

tirel

y.Si

xtee

n w

eeks

aft

er b

egin

ning

this

wri

ting

proj

ect,

the

child

ren

fini

shed

the

book

six

beau

tiful

, inf

orm

ativ

e, v

icto

riou

s ch

apte

rs!

Inty

ped

form

it w

asm

agni

fice

nt!

The

cro

wni

ng e

vent

was

on

the

day

of th

e C

hris

tmas

part

y w

hen

I

Page 24

PR,

read this "great Am

erican novel" to the mothers. E

ach child was fully repaid for

all the hours of writing by the appreciation voiced by his m

other.N

ot the least of the benefits derived from this project w

as the fact that eachchild in the class expressed the anxious desire to w

rite his ownhisvery ow

nstory during the second sem

ester. Consequently at the beginning of the second

semester forty purposeful fourth graders had their ow

n folders, their own out-

lines, their own w

riting rules, and their own books in the process of being

written.' A

nother surprising and wholly gratifying

aspect of this second projectw

as that each child was progressing at his ow

n rate of speed, was w

ritingexactly w

hat he wanted to w

rite about, and was applying all the rules w

rittenin his ow

n personal English textbook. N

ot once had the children copied "oldsilly sentences" and filled blanks. In fact, w

e had all had a marvelous tim

e notstudying E

nglish that year!

ante first chapter of one of these individual books appears on page 83.

Page 25

OU

TL

INE

OF

CH

APT

ER

Ii

1. W

hy W

e A

re W

ritin

g th

e St

ory

6

3. D

escr

ibin

g B

row

n Su

gar

1

3. H

ow H

e C

ame

to E

ngla

nd4

4. H

is L

ife

in C

hina

3

5. W

hat H

e D

oes

(Om

itted

)

6. W

hom

He

Liv

es W

ith2

if'

1As

we

plan

ned

this

fir

st c

hapt

er, t

hese

six

par

agra

ph to

pics

wer

e su

gges

ted

by th

e cl

ass,

and

I w

rote

them

on th

e bo

ard

in th

e or

der

they

wer

e su

gges

ted.

Aft

er w

e fe

lt su

re th

at th

is w

as a

ll w

e w

ante

d in

the

firs

t cha

pter

,w

e di

scus

sed

at le

ngth

the

orde

r in

whi

ch w

ew

ould

wri

te th

e pa

ragr

aphs

. The

chi

ldre

n th

emse

lves

dec

ided

inth

e or

der

num

bere

d at

the

righ

t. I

like

to th

ink

that

this

exp

erie

nce

show

edth

em th

at th

ey d

id n

ot h

ave

to w

rite

idea

s in

the

orde

r in

whi

ch th

ey f

irst

"po

pped

" in

to th

eir

min

ds b

ut th

at r

earr

angi

ngid

eas

help

s to

put

them

inna

tura

l and

rea

sona

ble

sequ

ence

.

1

Page 26

"iv"''

;.,:-

-,

,

VISlun

NtIgia,

'l V

ic:frit%q

1yr e

01

(I,t

NN

)(ric,,..11,61t.,

1tN

'([

CI

b01

-)..A

, ttni

DL

.N

ts.tA1

ll,t..

/I 0

4((t

i eIf(

tO(M

ot04(t\rif4

NN

. f..

)-

BR

OW

N SU

GA

R

2

Page 27

TV

.

U.

A t.

fy

.))

TH

E A

DV

EN

TU

RE

S O

F B

RO

WN

SU

GA

R

Cha

pter

IIn

trod

ucin

g B

row

n S

ugar

Bro

wn

Suga

r is

a r

eddi

sh b

row

n w

hite

sock

ed p

int s

ize

Peki

nges

e th

at h

as a

little

nos

e lik

e a

pum

pkin

. He

is a

sm

all l

ong

hair

ed d

og th

at w

eigh

s ab

out

four

teen

pou

nds.

He

is b

owle

gged

and

his

tail

curl

s up

ove

r hi

s ba

ck a

s if

he

had

a T

oni i

n it.

He

has

a si

lky

back

of

long

hai

r, a

nd h

is e

ars

hang

dow

n to

his

fee

t.B

row

n Su

gar

lives

with

Mr.

and

Mrs

.B

row

n an

d N

ancy

now

. Nan

cy o

nce

had

a ki

tten

and

his

nam

e w

as S

ugar

bec

ause

he

was

whi

te a

nd lo

oked

like

sug

ar.

Nan

cy lo

ved

Suga

r ve

rym

uch.

Whe

n Su

gar

died

Nan

cy w

as v

ery

sad.

The

nex

tda

y th

ey w

ent t

o se

e so

me

of th

eir

rela

tives

' and

they

gav

e he

r a

little

dog

.N

ancy

wan

ted

to c

all h

im S

ugar

but h

e w

as b

row

n. T

he d

og w

as s

wee

tbu

tun

refi

ned

so s

he n

amed

him

Bro

wn

Suga

r an

dth

at is

how

he

got h

is n

ame!

Mr.

and

Mrs

. Bro

wn

live

acro

ss f

rom

the

scho

ol s

oth

eir

daug

hter

Nan

cy c

an

1Tw

o ch

ildre

n w

rote

alm

ost i

dent

ical

sen

tenc

es u

sing

the

wor

d an

cest

ors

here

. In

the

clas

s di

scus

sion

of

Bro

wn

Suga

r's f

oreb

ears

, we

used

the

wor

d an

cest

ors

freq

uent

ly.

2Thi

nkin

g th

at th

e fa

mily

joke

abo

ut n

amin

g th

e pu

ppy

mig

htap

peal

to s

ome

of th

e ch

ildre

n, I

told

the

clas

s th

at h

e "w

as s

wee

t but

unr

efin

ed."

I th

en h

ad to

exp

lain

that

unr

efin

ed m

eant

ill-

man

nere

d. W

hen

the

boys

and

gir

ls h

eard

the

nois

e B

oy m

ade

drin

king

, the

yun

ders

tood

and

app

reci

ated

the

joke

that

is, s

ome

did.

One

chi

ld, h

owev

er, w

rote

, "T

hey

nam

ed h

im B

row

n Su

gar

beca

use

he is

sw

eet b

ut il

l-m

anne

red.

"

3

4.

tv.

4"14

,14

,c=

.4-

ei+

.rt

s,

ref

.

Page 28

4.

4.4

'S."'"1*;

go toschool faster. M

r. Brow

n works in

a store. Mrs. B

rown w

orks as a schoolteacher. N

ancy is in the seventh grade. Brow

nSugar loves to live close to school

because he can play with the children. T

hey sometim

es call himB

oy.T

he ancestors of Brow

n Sugarcam

e from far across the ocean from

thecountry of C

hina. His great, great, great grandparents belonged to the ruler of

China and lived in the royal castle. In C

hinapeople used to pray to Pekingese

dogs. Only people of royal birth could ow

n them. T

he Chinese m

ade thisdog

bowlegged so that he could not run

away. W

omen those days w

ore Pekingesedogs in their sleeves. T

hey called them sleeve dogs. T

he Pekingese is atoy in

this country but is a respected watch dog in C

hina.In 1860 the E

nglish people tookover the city of Peking. T

wo of these toy dogs

were carried to E

ngland and that is how the w

hole world knew

about the littledog.'

We are w

riting this book becausew

e don't want to do E

nglish. Sentences arehard to do. I think w

ritinga book is m

ore fun than writing sentences. W

riting astory is funny and E

nglish is not funny. We w

ill not have to work in our book

and write old silly sentences. W

e would not have learned about

a Pekingese ifw

e worked in an E

nglish book. Some of us m

ight want to w

rite a book when

we

.grow up and w

e'll know how

.

3All w

e could find in reference books about thePekingese dog w

e read and discussed in class. Some of the

information w

as hearsay, but it was interesting, and, since real authors don'talw

ays stick to facts, neither did we.

4

a

.0+

JP.

Page 29

OU

TL

INE

OF

CH

APT

ER

Ill

The

Ala

rm C

lock

.

1. W

akin

g up

Nan

cy

2. W

akin

g up

the

Ent

ire

Fam

ily

3. D

inne

r B

ell,

Bar

king

at E

atin

gT

ime

4. G

oing

Pla

ces,

Get

ting

in C

ar

_A

ai -,

-.;

-44

1We

follo

wed

the

sam

e ge

nera

l pla

n fo

r w

ritin

g th

e ot

her

five

outli

nes

as w

e di

d th

e fi

rst,

but t

here

afte

r I

mer

ely

copi

ed f

or m

y re

cord

s th

e or

der

of th

eou

tline

by

whi

ch th

ey w

rote

, not

as

they

fir

st s

ugge

sted

it.

5

"

Page 30

'' ,;.

Page 31

7"47

4-7-

V,Z

74.7

.

%.`

.1

Cha

pter

II

The

Ala

rm C

lock

Bro

wn

Suga

r sl

eeps

in N

ancy

's d

oll b

uggy

unt

ilM

rs. B

row

n tu

rns

the

nigh

tou

t. T

hen

he ju

mps

in N

ancy

's b

edan

d sl

eeps

till

Mrs

. Bro

wn

gets

up

in th

em

orni

ng. T

hen

he g

ets

back

in th

e bu

ggy.

' One

mor

ning

Mrs

. Bro

wn

calle

dN

ancy

to g

et u

p bu

t Nan

cy k

ept o

n sl

eepi

ng.

So a

bout

ten

min

utes

late

r M

rs.

Bro

wn

kept

cal

ling

Nan

cy a

nd N

ancy

just

turn

ed o

ver

and

wen

t bac

k to

sle

ep.

At 7

:20

Mrs

. Bro

wn

calle

d N

ancy

and

told

her

she

had

bette

r ge

t up

or s

he w

ould

be la

te f

or s

choo

l, bu

t Nan

cy k

ept o

n sl

eepi

ng.S

o M

rs. B

row

n ga

ve u

p. S

he le

tB

row

n Su

gar

back

' in

the

bedr

oom

and

as

soon

as

he s

aw N

ancy

in b

ed a

slee

p he

jum

ped

up o

n he

r be

dan

d pu

lled

the

cove

r of

f of

her

and

Nan

cy p

ulle

dth

eco

ver

back

on

her.

But

Bro

wn

Suga

r di

d no

t giv

e up

tryi

ng to

wak

e he

r up

.He

star

ted

bark

ing

arou

nd th

e be

d an

d ju

mpi

ng u

pon

it un

til s

he w

oke

up. B

row

nSu

gar

is th

e al

arm

clo

ck f

orM

rs. B

row

n to

wak

e up

Nan

cy o

n sc

hool

mor

ning

s.B

row

n Su

gar

not o

nly

wak

es u

p N

ancy

but

als

ow

akes

upth

e en

tire

fam

ily in

1Thi

s cl

ever

tric

k, a

nd s

imila

r on

es, w

ere

so o

ften

dis

cuss

ed a

nd w

ritte

n w

ithsu

ch g

lee

at th

e co

nspi

racy

whi

chex

ists

bet

wee

n do

gs a

nd c

hild

ren

agai

nst t

he "

sani

tary

, cru

sade

s" w

aged

by

adul

ts in

the

vari

ous

hous

ehol

ds th

atw

e ha

d to

incl

ude

it ev

en th

ough

the

thre

ad th

at s

ewad

the

diff

eren

t par

ts o

f th

e st

ory

toge

ther

did

not

par

ticul

arly

harm

oniz

e he

re.

2The

y fo

rgot

to te

ll th

at h

e is

turn

ed o

utsi

de th

e fi

rst t

hing

each

mor

ning

. I a

dded

this

one

wor

d ba

ck.

7

f"1"

-;1

-4.

-WW

V.1

*tir

Page 32

case of an emergency.8 O

ne very pleasant night the Brow

n family's chicken

house caught fire. Nancy had a setting hen in it. W

hen Boy saw

the fire he ranto drive the chickens out. W

hen he saw the setting hen he jum

ped to the nestand got an

eggbetw

een his teeth and put it in a nest outside. The hen w

as som

ad that she followed him

and found the nest ofeggs

and see down. V

ery soonthe

eggs began to hatch. The next m

orning Nancy saw

that the chicken housew

as burned down. She w

as very sad because she thought that the hen had beenburned

up, but just then she saw her hen and chicks and knew

that Boy had

saved her and her eggsrather chicks and she was happy even if the chicken

house had burned down. T

hat's the way B

oy became a firem

an as well as an

alarm clock for the w

hole family.

One night B

rown Sugar stayed out late. T

he next morning B

rown Sugarslept

a long time. W

hen he got up it was 12:00. E

ven Brow

n Sugar, the alarm clock,

runs clown som

etimes.

One day the B

rowns

got a letter from N

ancy's grandparents saying theyw

anted them to com

e that night so that they would be there

on Thanksgiving

Day w

hich was the next m

orning. That

very night they packed a suitcase and

S The class spent tw

enty minutes constructing this sentence

on the board before they began the actual work

on the paragraph. They w

ere becoming m

ore conscious every day of the need of sewing the.paragraphs together

to make them

fit smoothly.

4/ 'haply did not have the courage to question whether the hen net or sat. A

fter all shew

as a netting hen, andm

y personal opinion was that too m

uch gramm

ar at that exciting mom

ent would have im

paired the stork. Real

writers are inspired; gram

mar is too often just a

necessary evil.

Yi

8

Page 33

,

left

and

Bro

wn

Suga

r w

ent w

ith th

em. T

he n

ext m

orni

ng B

oy h

elpe

dth

e ro

oste

rw

ake

the

fam

ily a

nd th

e an

imal

s. B

oy w

as v

ery

hung

ry s

ohe

sta

rted

rin

ging

his

dinn

er b

ell w

hich

he

did

by b

arki

ng. S

oon

Nan

cy c

ame

and

fed

him

and

got

som

e w

ater

for

him

.The

day

fle

w b

y an

d so

on it

was

tim

e to

go

and

whe

n it

was

gran

dfat

her

gave

Nan

cy a

hen

and

five

littl

e ch

icks

. Whe

n th

ey g

ot h

ome

they

mad

e a

pen

and

put t

hem

in it

, and

eve

ry ti

me

they

wer

e hu

ngry

Boy

told

Nan

cy.

And

that

is th

e w

ay B

oy b

ecam

e a

dinn

er b

ell.

Boy

mus

t hav

e an

insi

de c

lock

bec

ause

a b

ell s

eem

s to

rin

g w

hen

a do

orsh

uts.

One

day

whe

n B

oy h

eard

the

door

shu

t he

ran

toth

e ca

r. W

hen

he ju

mpe

d in

toth

e ba

ck s

eat h

e go

t hai

r al

l ove

r N

ancy

's n

ew d

ress

. "B

oy!

Boy

!Y

ou g

et o

n th

eot

her

side

" ye

lled

Nan

cy. B

oy s

aid

"I g

oofe

dth

is ti

me.

"5 T

hat i

s ho

w B

oy g

ets

into

trou

ble

and

gets

into

the

car

too.

5111

e ki

ds h

ad a

hila

riou

s tim

e in

cla

ss d

iscu

ssio

n ab

out w

hat a

dog

thin

ks w

hen

he is

sco

lded

for

a th

ough

tless

act.

Man

y te

levi

sion

sta

rs u

sed

such

exp

ress

ions

as

this

one

whe

n th

eym

ade

mis

take

s. T

his

is in

clud

ed n

ot o

nly

beca

use

it w

as in

the

stor

y bu

t als

o be

caus

e it

show

ed h

ow th

e ch

ildre

n w

ere

lear

ning

todr

aw o

n th

eir

daily

expe

rien

ces

for

thei

r cr

eativ

e w

ritin

g ne

eds.

Sin

ce th

is w

as th

efi

rst t

ime

quot

atio

n m

arks

wer

e us

ed, w

io h

ad to

revi

ew th

em c

aref

ully

. On

the

firs

t dra

ft n

o on

e us

ed th

em c

orre

ctly

, and

ver

y fe

wus

ed th

em c

orre

ctly

on

the

seco

nd a

nd th

ird

draf

ts. R

ules

wer

e m

ade

and

ente

red

in o

ur r

ule

book

abo

ut th

em.

-e,

9

Page 34

OU

TL

INE

OF

CH

APT

ER

III

.T

rick

s

1. I

ntro

duct

ion

2. B

oy D

rive

s a

Car

3. P

rayi

ng a

nd W

alki

ng

4. B

oy S

its U

p

5. B

row

n Su

gar

Stan

ds o

n H

is H

ead

6. B

row

n Su

gar

Mee

ts a

Cir

cus

Dog

11

Page 35

Page 36

Cha

pter

Tric

ks

Whe

n th

e B

row

ns f

irst

bec

ame

owne

rsof

Bro

wn

Suga

r,' h

e di

dn't

know

any

tric

ks b

ecau

se h

e w

as o

nly

a lit

tle p

uppy

.N

ow h

e kn

ows

quite

a f

ew. H

e ch

ases

balls

and

jum

ps a

nd p

lays

with

Nan

cy.

He

turn

s up

sid

e do

wn

and

play

s de

ad.

He

can

jum

p th

e ro

pe w

ith N

ancy

.H

e lik

es to

sho

w o

ff in

fro

nt o

f -p

eopl

e.W

ew

ould

like

to te

ll yo

u so

me

of th

e tr

icks

he

will

do

in th

e re

st o

f th

is c

hapt

er.

One

day

Mr.

Bro

wn

took

Boy

for

a r

ide

in th

e ca

r. B

oy ju

mpe

d in

Mr.

Bro

wn'

sla

p. B

oy c

augh

t hol

dof

the

whe

el a

nd d

rove

it. M

r.. B

row

n to

ldM

rs. ]

Bro

wn

abou

t Boy

dri

ving

the

car.

Mr.

Bro

wn

told

Boy

that

he

had

taug

ht h

imse

lf a

tric

k. "

But

you

bet

ter

not p

ull i

t on

anyb

ody

else

,"he

sai

d.O

ne w

eeke

nd w

hen

Nan

cy w

asn'

t doi

ng a

nyth

ing

she

said

, "I

know

wha

t Iw

ill d

o. I

will

teac

h B

oy s

ome

tric

ks."

Firs

t she

taug

ht h

im to

say

his

pra

yers

.E

very

nig

ht h

e w

ould

bow

dow

n hi

s he

ad a

nd b

ark

a lit

tle. N

ext s

he ta

ught

him

to w

alk

on h

is h

ind

feet

. She

did

this

by

hold

ing

a pi

ece

of m

eat a

bout

thre

efe

etin

the

air

and

he w

ould

wal

k ar

ound

on

his

hind

fee

t bec

ause

he

wan

ted

the

mea

t.

1I h

ad h

esita

ted

to m

entio

n th

e us

e of

a c

omm

a fo

llow

ing

an in

trod

ucto

rycl

ause

, but

, sin

ce n

earl

y al

l of

the

pupi

ls h

ad le

arne

d to

com

bine

sim

ple

sent

ence

s in

to w

hen,

sin

ce,

and

if s

ente

nces

, I h

ad, i

n pe

rson

alin

terv

iew

s on

ly, s

how

n so

me

of th

em th

e ne

at tr

ick

of u

sing

a c

omm

a at

ace

rtai

n po

int w

here

they

sto

pped

long

enou

gh to

get

thei

r br

eath

. All

com

mas

aft

er s

uch

clau

ses

in th

is s

tory

wer

e pl

aced

ther

e by

the

child

ren.

.I m

ade

no e

ffor

t to

teac

h th

is c

omm

a us

age

toth

e cl

ass,

how

ever

.

13

s.

Page 37

Boy know

s many tricks but there is one trick I w

ant to tellyou about. One day

Boy saw

Nancy sitting

upon her chair. He said to him

self,' "Why can't I sit in

a chair like Nancy?" It sounded to N

ancyas if he said, "B

ow-w

ow." "M

otherB

oy wants som

ething," said Nancy. "H

em

ay want to sit up like you," said

Mother. "B

endyour legs and you w

ill sit down." B

ut Boy fell dow

n. "Isn't thereanyw

ay he can sit up?" asked Nancy. B

oy kept trying till he learned. "That is

ahard

way to learn to sit dow

n," said Nancy at last.

One day N

ancy told Brow

nSugar to stand on his head. B

rown Sugar

thoughtto him

self, "What does she think Iam

a clown?" B

rown Sugar started to stand

on his head but he fell. He tried again and again but he

finally did it. That m

adeB

rown Sugarvery happy.

The Shrine C

ircusw

as in town.' T

he children whose m

others couldn't takethem

to the circus couldsee it on T

.V. N

ancy's mother w

as too busy to take her.So N

ancy watched iton T

.V. B

rown Sugar w

anted to see it tooso he cam

e in thehouse so he could

see it. It was tw

o hours long. But B

rown Sugar sat

up all ofthat tim

e. Brow

n Sugarsaw m

onkeys, clowns, horses, elephants, and little carts.

2Exam

inistion of our readers and library books showed

us that, when som

eone said something, w

hat was said

was separated from

the rest of the sentence by a comm

a. Tw

enty-three of thethirty-six m

embers of the class w

ereable to prove this observation by show

ingm

e examples w

hich they had found in their readings. We decided it

must be a good rule; consequently w

e adopted it for ourow

n use in writing our book. E

very day I was forced to

review correct use of quotation m

arks with m

uchem

phasis on the end punctuation within the quotation m

arks.Som

e of the children persisted in usinga com

ma w

ith a question mark.

&T

his paragraph and the following

one were w

ritten entirely by one child. Frequently children asked ifthey

might attem

pt to write an entire chapter instead of just

one paragraph.

14

Page 38

.

But

mos

t of

all h

e lik

ed th

e lit

tle d

ogs

espe

cial

lya

little

whi

te d

og th

at w

ould

run

and

jum

p on

the

little

pony

and

then

jum

p on

ano

ther

.A

fter

the

circ

us w

as o

ver

Nan

cy w

ent o

ut in

to th

e ki

tche

n an

d le

ftB

oy a

lone

.B

row

n Su

gar

ran

out s

ide

and

trie

d to

do

wha

t the

littl

e do

g di

d. F

irst

he

wou

ldch

ase

Whi

te B

ill a

roun

d th

e lo

t. N

ext h

e w

ould

try

to ju

mp

on h

im b

ut h

e w

ould

fall

flat

on

his

face

. But

then

he

hear

da

voic

e. H

e tu

rned

aro

und

and

look

ed. I

tw

as th

e lit

tle w

hite

cir

cus

dog

he s

aw o

n T

.V. H

e sa

id, "

I w

ill ta

keyo

u to

the

circ

us w

ith m

e."

"But

I c

an't

leav

em

y ho

me,

"sa

id B

oy. "

Non

sens

e !

I le

ft m

ine.

I w

ould

n't b

e w

here

I a

m n

ow if

I h

adn'

t lef

t hom

e."

"Com

e to

this

lot

toni

ght

and

I w

ill te

llyo

uif

I w

ill g

o."

"O.K

. But

don

't fo

rget

." "

I w

on't.

Goo

d-by

."T

he li

ttle

whi

te d

og le

ft. T

hat n

ight

Bro

wn

Suga

r le

ft w

ith th

edo

g. T

here

was

a re

war

d of

$50

0.00

for

the

pers

on w

ho f

ound

Bro

wn

Suga

r. T

hem

anag

erdi

dn't

know

that

one

of

his

dogs

was

wor

th $

500.

00. B

utno

one

cou

ld f

ind

Bro

wn

Suga

r. A

fter

a w

hile

Bro

wn

Suga

r go

t tir

ed o

f th

e ci

rcus

and

wen

t bac

k ho

me

and

neve

r ra

naw

ay a

gain

.

15

Page 39

OU

TL

INE

OF

CH

APT

ER

IV

The

Bir

thda

y Pa

rty

1. I

ntro

duct

ion

2. I

nviti

ng G

uest

s

3. M

akin

g H

ats

4. M

akin

g th

e C

ake

5. G

ettin

g D

ress

ed

6. A

rriv

ing

at th

e Pa

rty

7. T

he U

ninv

ited

Gue

st

8. P

layi

ng G

ames

9. B

irth

day

Gif

ts

." 1

0. S

ervi

ng R

efre

shm

ents

11. W

ritin

g T

hank

-You

Car

ds

17

Page 40

4W

SUSA

N

MR

S. BR

OW

N

RE

AD

Y FO

R T

HE

PAR

TY

18

MA

RY

AN

N

NA

NC

Y

+.

-

Page 41

Cha

pter

IVT

he B

irthd

ay P

arty

On

Satu

rday

, Jun

e 12

,1 N

ancy

said

, "I'd

like

to h

ave

abi

rthd

ay p

arty

for

Bro

wn

Suga

r."

"Tha

t is

a go

od id

ea,"

sai

dM

othe

r."B

ow-w

ow,"

bar

ked

Bro

wn

Suga

rin

appr

oval

?"I

thin

k it

wou

ld b

e a

good

idea

if w

e m

ade

Bro

wn

Suga

r a

part

ydr

ess,

" sa

id

Nan

cy.

"I th

ink

it w

ould

be

fine

," s

aid

Mot

her.

"I th

ink

I w

ill m

ake

him

alit

tle b

lue

dres

s w

ith a

bla

ckbe

lt,"

said

Nan

cy. T

hat

was

n't v

ery

good

new

s fo

rB

row

n Su

gar.

"I d

on't

wan

t to

be a

littl

egi

rl. T

he o

ther

dog

s w

ill c

all m

esi

ssy,

" B

row

nSu

gar

thou

ght t

o hi

mse

lf.8

lin d

iscu

ssin

g th

e fi

rst p

arag

raph

bef

ore

we

wro

te it

,I

wro

te th

e da

te o

f B

row

n Su

gar's

birt

hday

on

the

boar

d an

d ex

plai

ned

the

punc

tuat

ion.

Alm

ost w

ithou

t exc

eptio

n th

e ch

ildre

n w

rote

this

dat

e co

rrec

tly in

thei

rfi

rst d

raft

s of

the

para

grap

h.2T

he w

ord

appr

oval

was

use

d in

our

disc

ussi

on. M

any

child

ren

used

it c

orre

ctly

but m

isse

d th

e sp

ellin

gbe

caus

e th

ey f

orgo

t to

copy

it in

thei

rE

nglis

h bo

oks

whe

n I

wro

te it

on

the

boar

d du

ring

the

disc

ussi

on.

3At t

he c

lose

of

Cha

pter

III

we

mad

e a

care

ful c

heck

of

just

how

muc

h w

e ha

dle

arne

d ab

out w

ritin

g.In

com

peri

ng o

ur b

ook

with

our

rea

ders

, one

child

dec

ided

that

our

boo

k w

as a

ll "j

amm

edup

." T

he c

lass

itse

lf

"fig

ured

out

" w

hat w

as w

rong

with

our

conv

ersa

tion.

We

shou

ld in

dent

eve

ry ti

me

som

eone

said

som

ethi

ng.

One

chi

ld w

rote

all

of th

e co

nver

satio

nin

this

for

m, e

xact

ly a

s it

appe

ars

here

.Se

vera

l oth

ers

did

as w

ell.

19

Page 42

Then M

other said, "You w

ill have to invite guests. You could invite the dolls,

Mary A

nn,' the blond, and Susan, the brunette.""B

ow-w

ow, B

ow-w

ow," said B

rown Sugar m

eaning that would not be

a badidea. Y

ou see Boy thought M

ary Ann and Susan

were very cute. T

hat is howB

oy gets along with the girls.

Mrs. B

rown said, "Y

ou will have to send post cards off." T

he cards said :5

Box 828

Holliday, T

exasJune 12

Dear Susan,Y

ou are invited to a birthday party for Brow

n Sugar Tuesday, June

15, at five o'clock, at my house.

Yours truly,

Nancy B

rown

After they had m

ailed the cards they began thinking about making hats for

the birthday party.

4At first I explained the use of the com

mas in appositives to the few

who had m

ade an effort to divide theirw

riting as indicated. It was not for the entire class. L

ater, however, I w

as forced by their own interest and

questions to explain these comm

as to the class.5Since w

e had other definite class plans for letter and social-note writing, it had not occurred to

me to use

our book as a medium

for teaching such writing until this child actually w

rote this invitation within his paragraph.

This invitation, of course, then gave birth to the idea of w

riting thank-you's in the last paragraph of this chapter.I explained to this one child about the use of the colon here.

20

,Akt-t1641,-"A

iy

Page 43

,.;,',

1771

"Irw

r777

,710

7.11

1

"Let

's s

ee,"

sai

d° N

ancy

, "w

e ne

ed f

ive

hats

. One

for

Mot

her,

one

for

Sus

an,

one

for

Mar

y A

nn, o

nefo

r B

row

n Su

gar,

and

one

for

me.

"T

hen

Mot

her

sugg

este

d, "

Had

n't y

ou b

ette

r ge

t you

r ol

dC

hris

tmas

rib

bons

and

thin

gs?"

"Tha

t's a

goo

d id

ea,"

sho

uted

Nan

cy.

Firs

t she

mad

e on

e w

ith th

e bo

ttom

of

an o

atm

eal b

ox a

nd a

rou

ndpi

ece

ofca

rdbo

ard?

She

cov

ered

it w

ith y

ello

w p

aper

. She

cov

ered

the

card

boar

d w

ithdo

ilies

on

each

sid

e w

hich

mad

e a

brim

. Sec

ond

she

mad

e on

ew

ith f

low

ers

off

ofM

rs. B

row

n's

old

hats

and

put

them

on

som

e co

nesh

aped

cons

truc

tion

pape

rth

at s

he h

ad m

ade

that

was

gre

en. T

hird

she

mad

e on

ew

ith a

con

e sh

ape

out

of c

onst

ruct

ion

pape

r w

ith r

ed, g

reen

, and

yel

low

rib

bons

on

it. F

ourt

h sh

e m

ade

one

of r

ed, b

lue,

and

yel

low

cons

truc

tion

pape

r th

at w

as li

ke a

con

e. F

ifth

she

6 W

hen

we

firs

t beg

an w

ritin

g co

nver

satio

n, e

ach

child

use

d th

e w

ord

said

nea

rly

ever

ytim

e to

indi

cate

the

man

ner

of s

peak

ing.

Aft

er c

lass

dis

cuss

ion

of"w

eari

ng o

ut"

wor

ds u

sed

too

ofte

n, th

e ch

ildre

n su

gges

ted

syno

nym

sto

rep

lace

sai

d. S

ome

syno

nym

s w

ere

repl

ied,

ans

wer

ed, e

xcla

imed

,sh

oute

d, y

elle

d, a

nd s

ugge

sted

. In

the

next

pape

r th

ese

wor

ds w

ere

used

indi

scri

min

atel

y.C

onse

quen

tly w

e sp

ent t

he n

ext c

lass

per

iod

disc

ussi

ng tw

o gr

oups

of s

ynon

yms

for

said

. One

gro

up w

as o

f ca

lm s

ynon

yms,

suc

h as

rep

lied,

answ

ered

, ask

ed, a

dded

, spo

ke, s

ugge

sted

,ca

lled,

and

rem

arke

d. T

he o

ther

gro

up w

as o

f ex

citin

g sy

nony

ms:

excl

aim

ed, s

hout

ed, y

elle

d, h

olle

red,

and

scre

amed

. We

deci

ded

that

the

tone

of

the

para

grap

h sh

ould

be

unde

rsto

od c

hief

lyth

roug

h th

e co

rrec

t use

of

cair

nor

exc

iting

wor

ds. T

he r

eade

r w

ill f

requ

ently

not

e a

wri

ter's

str

uggl

e to

rep

lace

sai

d w

ith th

e co

rrec

t-so

undi

ngsy

nony

m.

?The

fir

st d

raft

of

this

par

agra

ph o

n ha

ts w

as m

ost p

oorl

y do

ne, a

ppar

ently

bec

ause

of la

ck o

f ef

fect

ive

voca

bula

ry. T

hey

rew

rote

it a

fter

we

spen

t muc

h tim

e di

scus

sing

and

wri

ting

on th

e bo

ard

wor

ds th

ey th

ough

tth

ey c

ould

use

bes

t. T

here

wer

e th

irty

wor

ds in

thei

r lis

t whi

ch a

ccou

nts

for

man

y w

ords

in th

is p

arag

raph

not

inth

e us

ual w

ritte

n vo

cabu

lary

of

a fo

urth

gra

der.

We

had

firs

t spe

nt s

ever

alda

ys a

ctua

lly m

akin

g th

e ha

tsde

scri

bed

in o

ur w

ritin

g. A

sty

le s

how

at r

est p

erio

d w

as o

ur m

eans

of

sele

ctin

gth

e fi

ve d

escr

ibed

.

21

;111

1k.,

Page 44

made one w

ith green construction paper with a purple lantern on the back of it.

When M

other saw the hats she exclaim

ed, "That is very good !"

Brow

n Sugar heard her but he did not think much of them

.M

rs. Brow

n suggested that she could make a big cake for B

rown Sugar in

her stem pan. She w

as going to make it out of dog food.

Nancy replied, "W

ill you put colored icing on it that has Happy B

irthdayB

rown Sugar on it?"

"Yes," exclaim

ed Mother. "I w

ill make it out of H

earts Delight D

og Food andJello w

ill make it stick together good."

"I want to eat som

e cake at the party," shouted Nancy, "and I don't like dog

food."M

rs. Brow

n yelled, "I will m

ake you some m

uffins."T

his is her recipe:3/4 cup of shortening1 cup of sugarm

ix1 eggm

ix2 teaspoons of baking pow

der1/2 teaspoon of salt2 cups of flour1 teaspoon of vanilla3/4 cup of m

ilkShe m

ixed the shortening and sugar until it was sm

ooth. She added eggs and

22

Page 45

f

beat

it ti

ll it

was

cre

amy.

The

n sh

e si

fted

the

baki

ng p

owde

r an

d sa

lt w

ith th

efl

our.

She

add

ed th

e m

ilk s

low

ly. N

ow s

he a

dded

van

illa.

She

put

muf

fin

cups

in h

er m

uffi

n pa

n an

d po

ured

it in

the

pan

abou

t hal

f fu

ll. S

he tu

rned

her

ove

nto

350

° an

d le

t it c

ook.

Aft

er s

he h

ad c

ooke

d ev

eryt

hing

she

put

it o

n th

e sh

elf

so M

r. B

row

n an

d B

row

n Su

gar

wou

ld n

ot e

at it

bef

ore

they

wer

e su

ppos

edto

.'A

fter

all

the

prep

arat

ions

9 w

ere

done

they

beg

an to

get

dre

ssed

for

the

birt

h-da

y pa

rty.

"I a

m g

oing

to w

ear

a bl

ue d

ress

with

red

bow

s an

d m

ade

of s

ilk,"

sai

d M

ary

Ann

."I

am

goi

ng to

wea

r a

pink

and

yel

low

nyl

on d

ress

with

ruf

fles

on

it,"

repl

ied

Susa

n."I

will

wea

r re

d co

tton

shor

ts,"

sug

gest

ed N

ancy

."I

will

wea

r a

gree

n an

d re

d su

n ba

ck d

ress

," s

aid

Mot

' ier

. Mrs

. Bro

wn

had

aw

rap

arou

nd p

ink

dres

s. I

t was

cot

ton.

You

wou

ld p

ut it

on

just

like

you

do

aco

at a

nd th

en w

rap

it ar

ound

you

onc

e an

d th

en ti

e it.

But

she

did

n't w

ear

it."

"The

y m

ay th

ink

they

are

pre

tty b

ut I

am

not

goi

ng to

wea

r an

y cl

othe

s,"

Boy

was

thin

king

.

8Whe

n I

aske

d th

e ch

ild h

ow s

he k

new

so

wel

l how

her

mot

her

had

bake

d th

e m

uffi

ns, s

he s

aid,

"T

hat's

wha

tth

e co

okbo

ok s

aid.

"a/

Whe

n w

e tr

ied

to th

ink

of a

wor

d to

use

that

wou

ld c

over

all

the

plan

s an

d w

ork

for

the

part

y, a

chi

ldof

fere

d th

is o

ne. N

o on

e co

uld

spel

l it,

but,

afte

r I

wro

te it

on

the

boar

d, n

o on

e m

issp

elle

d it

on h

is p

aper

.T

here

fore

, the

fir

st ti

me

they

use

d it,

they

spe

lled

it co

rrec

tly.

10 T

hir

desc

ript

ion

of th

e pi

nk d

ress

was

not

par

t of

the

para

grap

h, b

ut a

noth

er c

hild

had

wri

tten

it, a

nd it

was

too

good

to o

mit.

,

23

Page 46

"Here B

oy letme put you on som

e pants anda shirt," suggested N

ancy."Y

ou are not goingto put any clothes on

me. T

he other dogs will callm

e asissy," he thought. H

eran around and around. I

guess he was trying to catch

his tail. After all B

oyended up putting

on a pink dress. He nearly blew

histop.

"I wish I had put

on the pants right away," thought B

oy.Just before the children

came skipping to the party Susan w

anderedaw

ayfrom

Mary A

nn. When

Mary A

nn noticed Susanw

as gone she went to the

policeman. H

e startedto ask the little girl w

hatw

as the matter but about that

time Susan

came running up to M

ary.M

ary said, "We had

better hurryor w

e will be late."

Susan replied, "We broughtB

oy a big. present."M

ary added, "Happy B

irthdayB

oy."N

ancy added, "Iam glad you cauld com

e."M

other called, "Com

eSusan, M

ary Ann, and N

ancy.The party is about

tostart."

Just as theguests w

ere seated alongcam

e the Smith's black and w

hitecat.

His back

was arched. lie bared his

paws on the ground. H

is tail fluffedup. A

ndit w

as a; stiffas a board. H

e trembled up his

nose. His eyes w

ere large.T

he cat shouted, "WellI w

ould likeyou to know

I like parties too !"B

oy barked, "Oh

me she w

ill eat my cake."

Mother called 333 and

said, "Mr. Sm

ithyour cat is over here picking

a fight."M

r. Smith answ

ered,"I'll be over right away."

24