(Front Cover)

BULLETIN

OF THE

FIRST DISTRICT NORMAL SCHOOL

KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI

Volume XV Number 3

MARCH, 1915

Publisht Monthly

Modern Language Series

No. 1

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BULLETIN
OF THE
FIRST DISTRICT NORMAL SCHOOL

KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI

Founded by Joseph Baldwin
as the North Missouri Normal School, September 2, 1867

Adopted as the First District Normal School, December 29, 1870
under Act of the Missouri Legislature, Approved March 19,1870

Opend as the First District Normal School, January 1, 1871

VOLUME XV NUMBER 3

MARCH, 1915

Publisht Monthly by the First District Normal School

Modern Language Series No. 1

Division of German

JOHN R. KIRK,
PRESIDENT

JACOB WILHELM HEYD, A. B., Ph. M., Professor of German

Enterd as second class mail matter at Kirksville, Missouri, under the Act of Congress of 
July, 1894.

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CONTENTS

MODERN LAUGUAGE TEACHING...3

OBSTACLES AND HANDICAPS

a. Education by Sight Alone...5

b. Age of Students...6

PHONETICS...6

BEGINNING GERMAN...9

COMPOSITION...13

ADVANCED GERMAN COMPOSITION...14

READING COURSES...15

THE TEACHING of GERMAN...16

HELPS AND REFERENCE BOOKS FOR TEACHERS...17

GERMAN IN THE GRADES...18

GERMAN SONGS...22

WALL PICTURES...22

GERMAN PLAYS...23

BEGINNERS TEXTS...24

QUESTIONAIRE...26

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MODERN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Not many years ago the teaching of a modern language was thought to be a very simple 
thing. Any one was supposed to be able to take a beginner's book and then follow the 
text. It was taken for granted that: pupils would relish anything placed before them, in 
fact, it was thought to be none of the pupil's business what he studied, and to be a little 
more educativ if it were not so interesting. All texts were constructed after the pattern 
of the methods then employed in the ancient languages. It was maintained that Latin 
and Greek were in pedagogical form, as writers and speakers styled it; that is in a final 
perfect form which could not be improved upon, not realizing that when a method has 
done that for a subject it has fossilized the subject, taken all life out of it, and the 
method itself is ready to be embalmed and placed in a museum for antiquities to be 
preserved, that future generations may marvel at the minds capable of producing it.

As early as 1882 Wilhelm Vietor, a German educator said in a lecture "Der modeme 
Sprachunterricht muss umkehren", modern language teaching must face about, that is 
the spoken language must be made the basis of language teaching. This principle found 
little acceptance in practice for a number of years after that. Finally a man put this new 
principle to a practical test. This was Dr. Max Walter in his "Musterschiile" at Frankfurt 
on the Main. He achieved phenomenal success, and the school has become famous. 
Teachers from all parts of the world visited it to see the wonderful work done in the 
modern languages by means of the direct method or more accurately the direct 
principle of modern language teaching. From there it is gradually spreading to all parts 
of the world. In this country the response has been far too slow, but the principle is 
more and more gaining ground.

The German department of this school is doing its best to advance and adapt this 
practical principle to American conditions. The result is the continuedly increased 
interest in German in this school. In the summer of 1914 of the five hundred students 
eligible to take German one hundred were actually enrolled in

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German classes, and that in spite of the fact that the Study of German is absolutely 
optional with the student.

The old method appealed solely to the eye, while the new appeals to the ear as well-
sounds and not symbols are made the basis of approach to the language to be acquired. 
The pupil, must hear and speak the language before he sees it in print. Conversation 
takes the place of translation from the mother tongue into the foren tongue. This 
shifting of the emphasis has brought phonetics to the front. Phonetics is doing its great 
work of sound analysis and clarifying our conceptions of pronunciation. Instead of mere 
parrot work it makes imitativ pronunciation more con structiv and hence more educativ 
and accurate. This has revolutionized the whole teaching process, and is necessitating 
the rewriting of beginners textbooks. The subject matter is also changed, conversation is 
based: on selections read, on topics of every day life and experiences, school activities 
of all kinds; home and community life are made to furnish material for conversation and 
for the mastery of the constructiv side of the language. Grammar is learned largely by 
induction and actual use in the class room. But nevertheless it is gotten as thoroly as by 
the revered translation method. At any rate the acquired grammar functions more 
accurately and naturally in actual speech, and the drudgery has been removed. 
Grammar simply furnishes the tools with which to master the language - and no one 
has mastered a language who cannot speak and write it - the old method studied the 
language for the sake of the grammar. The direct method forces the pupil to think in the 
foren tongue, the goal of all language teaching, a power left undeveloped by the old 
method, by its very nature.

Obstacles and Handicaps

One of the greatest handicaps is the fact that our pupils come to us either with no 
training as to sound formation or with what is worse than none, come drilled in the so-
called phonics, which are both unscientific and unpedagogical, and confusing to the 
student, since this training has deadened the little phonetic sense, which the student 
has ever possessed. Our children have no

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adequate knowledge or conception of the meaning of long or short vowels or 
diphthongs. They do not realize that the so-called long vowels in English are really 
diphthongs. For example the following English words written phonetically: ate - eit, 
Kite - kait, go - gou. It is hard for them to see that there is absolutely no relation 
between the sound in "hate" and "hat", "mete" and "met", or in "site" or "sit", or in 
"note" and "not".

They are so used to arbitrary and changeable values for symbols in English, that it is very 
difficult for them to conceive of such a thing as a symbol or combination of symbols 
standing unalterably for the same sound. Compare English a in ale, care, am, arm, all 
and final; English e in eve, end, fern, and novel; English i in ice and machine; English o in 
orb, old, odd, and do; English u in unite, rude, put, up and urn.

In reference to sound representation the situation is no better. Compare the sound 
phonetically represented by i; in English it is spelled ea in heat, ee in need, ei in receive, 
ie in believe, i in machine and o in women. Compare the diphthong phonetically 
represented by ou; it is spelled au in vaudeville, eau in beau, ew in sew, o in go, oa in 
boat, ough in thought, ow in snow. The same might be shown for other English sounds. 
Is it any wonder that students are at sea when they begin the study of a language more 
or less phonetic?

EDUCATION BY SIGHT ALONE

Another great obstacle is the fact that in all our education from the lowest to the 
highest the chief stress is laid on eye training. Or rather the eye is made the almost 
exclusiv avenue thru which knowledge is gained. The children learn to spell by the way 
the word looks on paper, not the way it sounds. In their study of history, mathematics, 
geography, science, literature and almost all other subjects it is the eye which is 
exercised, while the ear plays a very subordinate part, Only music appeals to the ear, 
but that has effected comparativly few of our elementary schools. So the great majority 
of our students come to us incapacitated to gain knowledge readily by oral means. 
Hence learning to speak and understand a modern language appeals to an undeveloped

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faculty; and the teacher must first reawaken it before the student can make any degree 
of progress.

AGE OF STUDENTS

The child learns two languages as readily as one. Hence childhood is the proper age to 
learn a modern language. It is then learned easily by imitation the same as the mother 
tongue. The child is not only not hindered by it, but is made stronger in other subjects as 
a result of his language study, because it appeals to a side of his nature usually 
neglected. It makes better listeners and more alert learners in other subjects. But our 
system of education is yet too incomplete and our leaders too narrow, shortsighted and 
often prejudiced for such a happy state of affairs. Consequently the pupils entering our 
classes are for the most part beyond the middle teens, for in most places they are not 
allowed to take up a foren language until they reach the high school, and often not till 
the latter part of that course. Many have to postpone such study until they enter the 
college courses. The result is that our pupils come to us with vocal habits fixed, the ear 
neglected and with perverted or inadequate views of sound production and symbols. 
These are some of the outstanding obstacles in the way of the foren language teacher. 
To counteract and overcome these handicaps in his pupils is the task of the teacher. It is 
a huge task but by no means insurmountable. However it requires an equipment not 
dreamed of fifteen or twenty years ago, and in some sections of the country is not yet 
fully appreciated.

Phonetics

It is just here that phonetics is the teacher's best help in time of trouble. What then is 
phonetics? It is the physiology and physics of speech production. The learner must know 
something as to how the voice is produced, of the form, location, structure and use of 
the vocal organs. He must learn the position and action of the various vocal organs in 
producing any particular speech element. A fine chart as an aid to imparting this 
knowledge is "The organs of speech" by Adolphe Zund-Burguet. This

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Les Organes de la Parole

FIGURE 1

we have found very helpful. It can be obtained thru G. E. Stechert & Co., New York City 
from N.G. Elwert, Marburg in Hessen Germany. With the help of this chart any teacher 
ought to be able to give a knowledge of the vocal organs, which will enable the pupils 
consciously to control the muscles brought into play in speaking. See cut 1. Thus the 
pupils practice intelligently and are helped to Piaster more completely the sounds not 
found in their own tongue, as well as correct the crudities in their own pronunciation of 
their nativ language. As a further help lantern slides made from "Rausch's Lauttafeln" 
are very valuable. This is a series of twenty-six charts which show the relativ position of 
the vocal organs in producing the sounds which make up the German, English and 
French languages. For each sound or group of related sounds they give four different 
views of the vocal organs in action. 1. A front view, showing the relativ position of 
tongue, teeth and lips; 2. A side view of the same; 3. A cross section from front to back 
showing the lips, teeth,

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FIGURE 2

FIGURE 3

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palate, tongue, nasal cavity, etc.; 4. An outline representation of the position of lips and 
teeth. At the top are the letter symbols of the sound or sounds in question, at the 
bottom are illustrativ words in German, French and English. The number, size and cost 
make these charts hard to handle. But their is a post card edition, price fifty cents. (Also 
obtained from N. G. Elwert thru Stechert & Co.) This I took and made lantern-slides, with 
two charts on each slide. This reduces the number by half and they can be thrown on 
the screen at will. For example to show the relation of umlaut o to e see cut 2. For that 
of umlaut u to i see cut 3. For the relation of the voiced and voiceless stops see cut 4. 
The pupils see at a glance the difference, then pronounce with greater accuracy and 
self-confidence and consequently make more rapid progress. With persistence and drill 
the pupils can be lead to overcome to a large extent the handicaps mentioned above.

Beginning German

In beginning with a class we take up the organs of speech, i.e., the physiology of the 
vocal organs. Then what may be called the physics of speech is studied. We examine 
sounds in reference to the speech organs involved, for example voiceless, voiced and 
genuinely nasal consonants. (cf. cuts 4 and 5.) We study the effect of opening or closing 
the mouth and nasal passages, the space between tongue and palate, protruding or 
rounding the lips, etc. There is involved the same principle as in the megaphone, the 
sounding board of the piano; the resonance box of the violin. Then attention is called to 
the effect of thinness or thickness, tenseness or looseness and length of a string. The 
same differences in the vocal bands and the modifying voice organs produce the 
differences of quality, pitch, resonance and roundness and flatness of the voices of 
different persons and different ages of the same person. The pupils are thus enabled to 
analyze the speech elements, such as high and low, rounded and unrounded, long and 
short vowels and diphthongs. The pupils learn to determine the location, manner of 
production and quality of consonants, such as stops, spirants, voiced and voiceless 
consonants, etc. In

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FIGURE 4

FIGURE 5

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other words they become familiar with the keyboard of speech. We then analyze the 
consonants and-vowels and diphthongs in English, and write English words in phonetic 
transcription. In this way they learn to think of sounds instead of symbols and lay the 
foundation for acquiring knowledge thru the ear with advantage. They are now ready 
for the phonetic symbols as given in Vietor's chart "Deutsche Lauttafeln". (Elwert & Co. 
Marburg, Germany. Price on paper $0.50, on cloth with wood supports $1.00). See cut 
6. At this stage we have the class write German

FIGURE 6

words from dictation, beginning with words spelled phonetically like Haus, Mann, das 
Wort, der Baum, laufen, etc, then we pass to words like Hund, Sache, Boot, sein, die, 
ihm, heute, sechs, in which signs of length or shortness of vowels and arbitrary groups 
of symbols are used: At this point a text is begun. We use Gronow's Jung Deutschland 
(Ginn & Co.). The pupils of the class read nothing, which has not first been read to the 
class while they have their books closed, so that they get their first impressions thru the 
ear. For the following day they are to read this aloud till they can read it with reasonable 
accuracy. German questions based on this lesson are then answered in German by the 
class. Endings and forms are carefully noted, so that in this way the grammar is gotten 
by induction. The forms thus discovered are used in conversation till they are acquired 
by the

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FIGURE 7

class. At times summaries are made and drills given to fix firmly the forms so far 
discovered. Thus they learn the language from its constructiv side. This appeals to the 
pupils, makes the reading more natural and increases the interest. Translation is 
reduced to a minimum, and direct expression in German is required instead. Later in the 
course easy classics are used as the basis of conversation and composition. Dictation 
plays an important part. The language of the classroom is made as far as possible the 
German. German songs are sung and things of interest in the student life are made use 
of to add spice and variety to the class work. Only the German names of the alphabet 
are permitted in the classroom. The following points must be watched thruout the 
course: The vowels must be given explosivly, i.e. be preceded by the "glottal klick". The 
consonants must be given strongly and distinctly. Ch must have special care. A good rule 
is to pronounce the vowel, hold the vocal organs in that position and force the breath 
out. See cut 7. This will give a natural

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pronunciation. Likewise z and tz require vigilence. The tendency is to slight the t and 
give the voiced s. The t must be distinctly heard and followed by the voiceless s. Eternal 
vigilence is the price of success.

Composition

By this method the beginning of composition is laid in the early part, of the course. It is 
the outgrowth of the daily conversation. From the most elementary to the most 
advanced courses the direct method lays stress on the constructiv side of the language. 
We learn to do by doing under skillful direction. The direct method is revolutionizing the 
teaching of composition. The old book method of composition, which translated the 
nativ into the foren language, according to recipes and prescriptions written above each 
composition lesson. "This lesson is based on pages such and such of such a text and 
illustrates such and such rules of syntax" must go forever, and a freer more spontaneous 
as well as more efficient method of composition teaching must take its place. Away with 
formal composition texts and teach the pupils to stand alone from the beginning. 
Written composition must be the outgrowth of conversation practiced daily from the 
beginning. Let them write free compositions directly in the foren language and thus 
gradually lead them to think in the foren idiom, the goal of all up to date language 
teaching, a thing defeated from the outset, by the old homeopathic prescription 
method. This free composition makes greater demands on the teacher, for he must be 
able on the spur of the moment to solve difficulties, which the books of the old method 
solve for the teacher for all time. It reacts on the teacher himself, since it forces him to 
prepare himself for any emergency. He thus becomes more alert and inspires an 
increased interest in his pupils. This brings life and enthusiasm into the class and makes 
the class period a delight to both teacher and pupil. At the beginning of the second year 
we offer a course consisting entirely of conversation and composition. We use a series 
of the Holzel Pictures, including the four seasons, as material for this course. This gives a 
practical and serviceable vocabulary. We use no

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guide, but use Von Jagemann's German Syntax as a reference text. The conversation 
gives the pupils the Vocabulary for their papers written about these pictures. These 
papers are then corrected and returned with references to the syntax. This course 
prepares the pupils for free composition: based on the reading selections, either 
character sketches or a free retelling of the story; in their own words.

Advanced German Composition Course

At the beginning of the third year an advanced composition; course is offered. This 
course is designed for: (1); students who have had two years or more of German; (2) 
mature students of German parentage, who, know their forms and read German readily, 
but need to master German from its constructiv side; (3) advanced Students and high 
school teachers of German, who desire more thoroly to master German syntax, style, 
idiom, choice, of words, etc. It is a one quarter course. Von Jagemann's German Syntax 
is used for reference. No other text is used. At first, easy German stories are read to the 
class.

These are reproduced the following day by the students, are written on the blackboard 
and corrected in the class. Later letters are written, familiar, formal, and business 
letters. Then descriptions are given, such as a description of a room; a person, the 
school, the campus, a trip on the train, church services, city of Kirksville, chapel 
exercises, trip in the woods, moonlight walk, etc. Every school event of general interest 
is used in this way, such as a football game, baseball game, rural life conference, stock 
show, receptions and entertainments of various kinds. Arithmetic problems are solved 
and analyzed, cooking recipes are given. News items from the newspapers are made use 
of. Special days like the fourth of July, hallowe'en, thanksgiving day, Christmas furnish 
topics. Short biographies of German poets, and prominent men and women give us still 
more variety in the course. It consists entirely of free composition, and as will be seen 
by the topics the vocabulary is that of every day life. It give the student accuracy and 
naturalness, and gives them confidence in themselves. In the latter part of the course 
students criticize each other's work, thus

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developing, critical accuracy. The interest never lags and the students are made strong 
for the more literary courses which follow. If however a text must be used then we 
would recommend Boezinger, Mundliche and schriftliche Ubungen, Henry Holt & Co.

Reading Courses

A matter of utmost importance is the selection of reading material. There is a wealth of 
material edited by the various book companies. Most of them also classify the texts for 
the guide of the teacher. Yet some caution should be used. Many mistakes have been 
made and are sometimes still made, especially by young teachers, who have obtained 
their training in the old way. Texts in the first two years should not be too difficult, so 
that they will lend themselves readily to conversation and composition. They should be 
from recent writers, so that the vocabulary may be modern. Short stories (Novellen) are 
better than dramas or poetry. Poems should be largely confined to the interpretation of 
German songs, which are then sung from time to time. I shall speak of that in another 
place. If dramas are used, they should be such as are recommended to be given as plays. 
The heavier dramas like Wilhelm Tell should be left for the fourth or fifth year or even 
later in the study of German literature. Even in our college classes we confine ourselves 
the first two years to reading short stories from Baumbach, Heyse, Hillern, Hauff, 
Gerstacker, Riehl, Storm, Wildenbruch, Zschokke and writers of that type; writers whose 
language is for the most part simple and compelling, depicting situations often very 
intense. Experience has brought us to this conviction and practice.

In the third year we usually take up a book of selected easy poems. We have used 
Heine's Poems (Ginn & Co.) and Collman's Easy German Poetry (Ginn & Co). Other good 
collections are Mueller, Deutsche Gedichte (Ginn & Co.), Dillard, Aus dem deutschen 
Dichterwald (American Book Co.). Larger collections of poems such as Yon Klenze, 
Deutsche Gedichte (Henry Holt & Co.), Nollen, German Poems (Ginn & Co.), Nollen, 
Schiller's Poems (Holt & Co.), Rhodes, Schiller's Ballads and Lyrics (American Book Co.), 
Harris, Goethe's Poems (D. C. Heath &

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Co.), Goebel, Goethe's Poems (Holt & Co.), Johnson., Schiller's Ballads and Hatfield, 
Lyrics and Ballads (Heath & Co.) should be left for more advanced courses.

Then we read longer novels from Freytag, Hanff, Keller, Storm, Sudermann and others. 
We have found Wagner's Parsival in unannotated edition very enjoyable, altho rather 
difficult. Very little translation is done, but we read these works in class and; try to gain 
an appreciation of the text without translation. This we do by means of questions, 
answers and explanations in German. German papers are required thruout the reading 
courses. The effort is to get the pupil to think in the German as he reads it, hears it and 
speaks it.

After this course follow the more advanced literary courses in Schiller's and Goethe's 
Works, and in dramas of other writers such as Hebbel, Grillparzer, Kleist, etc.

The Teaching of German

This is a course in the underlying, principles of language teaching. It is made as concrete 
as possible. The topics and matter empasized vary and are determined for each class by 
the particular needs of the members of the class. The following general outline is 
followed: 1. A brief study of the elements of phonetics i.e., the physiology of the vocal 
organs and the physics and mechanics of speech. German and English sounds are 
analyzed and the international phonetic symbols for these languages are learned. This is 
to enable the prospectiv teacher to place the teaching of German on the basis of sound 
rather than- of symbol, to appeal to the ear; rather than to the eye alone and thus solv 
the problem of securing accurate pronunciation and an understanding for the spoken 
language. (The phonetics part of the course will be given one day each week thruout the 
quarter. Students may enter this part of the course alone and receive one-fifth of the 
credit of the entire course. It will be of value to students of English, Latin and music and 
prepare them to take up any foren language more advantageously in the future.)

2. The most important changes in the structure of the language in the light of historical 
development and similar changes in English.

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3. A brief treatment of etymology, word formation and derivation.

4. A study of the trend of pedagogical thought in modern language teaching, with 
special reference to the reform movement.

5. The application of all this to concrete problems in the class room from the grades of 
the college. It is offered in the summer. Credit 2 1-2 hours.

Helps and Reference Books for Teachers

1. Vietor, Elemente der Phonetik des Deutschen, Englischen und Franzbsischen. 6th 
edition, O.R. Reisland, Leipzig, 1914... $2.00

2. Passy, Petite Phonetique comparee des Principales Langues Europeennes. B.G. 
Teuber, Leipzig, 1912... .60

3. Hempl, German Orthography and Phonology, Part I. Ginn & Co...$2.00

4. Vietor, Kleine Phonetik, O. R. Reisland, Leipzig... .60

5. Vietor, Lesebuch in Lautschrift, Parts I, II... .75

6. Jones, D. Phonetic Transcription of English Prose, Oxford 1907... .50

7. Siebs, Grundzugeder Buhnenaussprache. Ahn, Berlin... .60

8. Vietor and Rippmann, Elements of Phonetics. Dent, London... .75

MODERN LANGUAGE TEACHING

1. Stewart, Classroom German, D.C. Heath & Co.... .05

2. Allen, Hints on the Teaching of German, Ginn & Co,... .10

3. Bahlsen, The Teaching of Modern Languages, Ginn & Co... .50

4. Walter, Aneignung des Wortschatzes. Elwert & Co. Marburg... .25

5. Walter, Reform des neusprachlichen Unterrichts. Elwert & Co. Marburg... .25

6. Walter, Zur Methodik des neusprachlichen Unterrichts. Elwert & Co... .25

7. Franke, Praktische Sprachelehrung. O.R. Reisland, Leipzig... .20

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8. Monatshefte fur deutsche Sprache und Padagogik. A monthly periodical. Published by 
the National German-American Teacher's Seminary, Milwaukee, Wis...$1.50 per year. 
No. teacher of German should be without this periodical.

Every teacher should own Duden's Orthographisches Worterbuch der deutschen 
Sprache. Price $.0.60. and Von Jagemann's German Syntax, Holt & Co.

All imported books and supplies can be gotten from G, E. Stechert and Co. 151-155 West 
25th St., New York.

German in the Grades

As we have said before, childhood is the time when languages are most easily and 
naturally learned. Accordingly German has been offered by the Practice Department of 
this school. We have had work in German in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth 
grades. We have two handicaps in our work.

1. We do not always have a sufficiently large number of well equipped students to 
handle the German classes.

2. The pupils do not pass thru the grades as uninterruptedly as in the public school. 
Consequently we receive each year quite a number in the upper grades from the grades 
where German, is not taught. These must be provided for in some way, and that causes 
difficulties. But in spite of this we have had some very good work done along this line, 
besides enabling our students, who specialize in German, to get experience under 
direction before going out to teach German in high schools. And the excellent work 
done by some of our graduates, who have taught or are now teaching German in the 
high schools can often be traced to work done here under supervision.

FOURTH GRADE

In this grade the teacher begins by talking about things in the room, giving the names of 
objects and making short sentences about them. Color-names are readily remembered 
by the children. They soon learn to count. They learn to carry out commands like 
"Mache die Ture auf! Mache die Ture zu! Gehe

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an das Fenster!, Stehe auf! Setzedich etc. "They are allowed to request each other in 
German to do things or ask questions which are likewise answered in German by the 
class. They soon learn shape and size as "rund, viereckig, lang, hoch, kurz, gross, klein, 
etc". Thus in a few days they acquire a working vocabulary, which they use not only in 
the class room, but one can also often overhear them on the playground displaying their 
knowledge of German with great enjoyment. The teachers review and rework this 
vocabulary from day to day with the pupils. They describe what they can see in the 
room, describe each other, and what they can see from the window. The teachers bring 
in articles of various kinds like apples, toy barn with toy cattle, or anything which will 
lend itself to the work in hand. Pictures of various kinds are also helpful. When the 
weather is nice the teacher takes a stroll with the class, and they talk about what they 
come across, as trees, birds,- grass, flowers, pond, creek, hill, valley, etc. The following 
day they talk about what they saw. In this way they are continually reviewing their 
vocabulary by making new sentences and talking about new things, adding new words, 
idioms and expressions to their store of knowledge. They soon learn to sing German 
songs. The teacher repeats the words to them and they repeat the same till they have 
memorized the stanza. Then they learn to sing it. When they know the melody they 
learn the next stanza in the same way and so on. They also use motion songs, which 
they act out as they sing. This makes the discipline very easy, since it employs the 
perpetual motion with which a healthy child is endowed. They also play games, such as 
packing a trunk to go on a trip. Each puts in what he or she wants to take along. Such a 
variety of exercises may be used, that the children do not weary of the class routine and 
are anxious to have the German period come and sorry to see it close. They do not know 
there is such a thing as grammar, but learn their idioms, verb forms etc. by usage. The 
pronunciation they get thru the ear and get it as accurately as the teacher, who instructs 
them. Thus they learn their German just as they learn their English.

FIFTH GRADE

In this grade the work is a continuation of that of the fourth grade. The children soon 
want to write. They are taught the

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German names of the letters and write the words as they sound. They do this much 
more readily than da older persons. The teacher also begins to read very simple stories 
to the class. Then they talk about the story in the German. Soon they want to read 
themselves. They spell the words with the German names of the letters. Then they 
pronounce the word as it is spelled. Thus by reading aloud they can understand what 
they could not interpret simply by sight. In this way they can make use of the oral 
vocabulary previously acquired. They now not only sing their songs, but having 
memorized them, they also read them. Songs and motion songs are continued. They 
learn to tell time, give their ages and use numbers in German. The plan is to have a 
gradual and continuous expansion of language used thruout the course.

SIXTH GRADE

If the work in the preceding grades has been systematically and persistently carried 
thru, the reading, conversation, games and singing will be natural and not difficult for 
the class. The work can be extended and broadened from time to time. They can 
dramatize the stories they read. Dictation can also play a very important part.

SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES

With this foundation the pupils can be introduced gradually to the grammar with use of 
some text like Walter-Krause's Beginners German. They can now study their English 
grammar at the same time and they will supplement each other. Songs and games 
adapted to the age of the pupils can also be continued. As in the earlier stages they 
should receive everything first thru the ear, which by this time will be very alert, if they 
have done the work in the preceding grades. Here as in the other classes the classroom 
language of the pupils and the teacher should be the German. Class directions and 
explanations should all be in German, using English only when absolutely necessary.

We cannot always carry out thru a series of years in our Practice School what has been 
outlined above, because the pupils do not stay thru the grades, but change from year to 
year. This sometimes upsets our best plans, since a large part of the class

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have never had German before as those coming thru our school. Likewise we have not 
always enough efficient teachers to supply all the grades, consequently some grades 
have to go a quarter or so without the German, so that the continuity is broken. Had we 
a full assistant in the German department we could step in and carry on the class work 
as other critic teachers do and keep the work going. But we are struggling towards our 
ideal and are accomplishing some things worth while, but no more than any public 
school could do if German were introduced thus early.

A number of good books for the grades are published by the various book companies. 
One series is edited by H. H. Fick, Supervisor of German in the public schools of 
Cincinnati, Ohio.

1. Dies und Das. 2. Hin und Her, 3. Neu und Alt. They are published by the American 
Book Co. The same company publishes the Eclectic series. A series of five readers. They 
are very good.

Another series is by Martin Sehmidhofer, Supervisor of German in the Chicago Public 
Schools. 1. Erstes Lesebuch.

2. Zweites Lesebuch. They are published by D. C. Heath & Co.

A very fine song book for the grades is Gottberg's Kinderlieder (Konrad Grethlein, 
Leipzig). It contains childrens songs for the Kindergarten and the home. The book 
contains music and piano accompaniment, Price 25 cents.

For motion songs Tonger's Spiellieder (Tonger, Cologne) is well adapted. It contains 
music and directions for using the various songs. Price 25 cents.

Franken, Was sollen wir spielen (Levy and Muller, Stuttgart) gives a very good collection 
of games, which can be used in classes or in clubs. Price 35 cents.

Another good book for German clubs is Forster's Unterhaltungen im Familienkreis, 
(Grethlein, Leipzig). Price 25 cents.

A very fine song book for teachers of German in the grades is Wette and Humperdinck, 
Deutsches Kinderliederbuch (F.A. Perthes, Gotha). Price $1.00.

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German Songs

From the Kindergarten to the college classes there is nothing more, stimulating and 
helpful than songs. The singing helps fix and make more natural the pupils' 
pronunciation. It adds interest to the recitation by breaking the classroom routine. It 
familiarizes the pupil with the rich treasures of German popular songs and helps to 
produce a German atmosphere in the classroom. It produces enthusiasm and gives a 
practical turn to the language acquired; and the pupils feel the progress made as a result 
of their struggles. It gives them more confidence in themselves, and they work with 
more purpose to gain strength in the employment of the language. Musical programs 
can also be arranged at special times such as Christmas, etc.

A number of good song books are now on the market. We shall simply mention some of 
them by American companies.

Walter-Krause, German Songs, Price 50 cents. Charles Scribner's Sons, Chicago.

Scherer und Dircks, Deutsche Lieder. Price. 25 cents. American Book Co.

Hohlfeld, Deutsches Liederbuch. Price 75 cents. D. C. Heath & Co.

Wall Pictures

Pictures are of very great value for conversation and composition work, since they 
furnish interesting material from everyday life of the country, whose language is being 
studied. They also give the teacher a fine opportunity to give the pupils an insight into 
the life of the foren people, and helps produce a German atmosphere in the classroom. 
Especially fine are such pictures as represent the seasons. For they portray the 
occupations and activities of every day life of young and old, and thus give a practical 
working vocabulary. There are numerous such series in actual use. Those which appeal 
to the writer most are the sets which follow.

I. Hoelzel, Wandbilder. 1. Fruhling, 2. Sommer, 3. Herbst. 4. Winter, 5. Bauernhof. 6. 
Wald. 
7. Gebirge. 8. Grosstadt. All in color. Size 140:93 cm. Price on cloth $1.40 each.

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A guide to these pictures is Ed Jordan, Bilderbuch; eight pictures 29.9:19.5 cm. Price 50 
cents.

II. Hirt, Anschauungsbilder. 1. Fruhling, 2. Sommer, 3. Herbst, 4. Winter, 5. Hochgebirge, 
6. Wald, 7. Grosstadt, 8. Seehafen. In color. Size 138:108 cm. Price on cloth, $2.00 each.

III. Kafemann, Neue Bilder fur den Anschauungsunterricht. 1. Fruhling, 2. Sommer, 3. 
Herbst,
4., Winter. In color. Size 150:101 cm. Price $1.50 each. The chief advantage of this series 
lies in their size) distinctness and in the fact that not too many things are represented. 
They are a little more modern and hence truer to life as it is in Germany today.

A guide to this series is Renk, Fuhrer durch die Jahreszeiten der Kafemann'schen 
Anschauungsbilder. Bound 20 cents.

They can be obtained from G.E. Stechert Co. 151-155 W. 25th St., New York.

German Plays

Inquiries often come to us from high schools for names of good plays simple enough to 
be given by high school classes. For the benefit of any such we shall give a list taken 
from the catalogs of the various book publishers. The time of the performance varies 
from twenty to thirty minutes.

Henry Holt & Co.

1. Benedix, Der Dritte. A comedy in one act. One man and three women. It contains 
plenty of good lifely dialog. Price 20 cents.

2. Benedix, Der Prozess and Fulda's Unter vier Augen. Both in one volume. 35 cents. 
"Unter vier Augen" is a lively one act comedy. It tells the story of a young wife happily 
married, who has been, systematically amusing herself by a constant round of social 
pleasures. Forced by accident to spend a single evening at home with only her husband 
for company, she learns the worth of domestic happiness. "Der Prozess" is a bright little 
comedy and tells of the amusing way in which two quarrelsome neighbors are brought 
to terms.

3. Moser, Der Schimmel. Price 25 cents. A lively one act comedy, well adapted for 
amateure presentation as well; as for reading in class. Four men and two women.

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4. Rosen, Ein Knopf, 25 cents. A popular one act comedy, calling for two men and two 
women characters, excellent for presentation by amateures.

5. Wilhelmi, Einer muss heiraten and Benedix, Der Eigensinn. In one volume, 35 cents.

American Book Co.

Wilhelmi, Einer muss heiraten and Benedix, Der. Prozess. In one volume. 30 cents. 
"Einer muss heiraten" is an example of the humorous drama, replete with fun and 
sprightliness. Two men and two women.

D. C. Heath & Co.

1. Wichert, Als Verlobte empfehlen sich. A one act comedy. Four men and two women. 
2. Benedix, Nein. A one act drama. 3. Benedix, Der Prozess. Price 25 cents each.

Ginn & Co.

Manley and Allen, Four German comedies. These thoroly modern comedies are of just 
the lively, colloquial sort to make an instant appeal. They comprise Rosen's Ein Knopf, 
Moser's Ein Amerikanisches Duell, Muller's Im Wartesalon erster Klasse and Pohl's Die 
Schulreiterin. In one volume. Price 45 cents.

This is a limited list but large enough for the purpose of the high schools.

Beginners Texts Using the Direct Method Wholly or in Part

Walter-Krause, Beginners' German. Charles Scribners Sons. $1.00. This text adopts the 
direct method without compromise. The grammar however is in English.

Gronow, Jung Deutschland. Ginn and Co. $0.90. Direct method thruout. Even the 
grammar is in simple German. The stories have been very happily chosen and are full of 
humor and life.

Bagster-Collins, First Book in German. MacMillan Co, This is a compromise book and 
contains considerable material for translation from English into German.

Manfred, Ein Praktischer Anfang. D.C. Heath and Co. A one year beginner's book 
presenting grammar in German according to the direct method. Nouns, adjectives, etc., 
are

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taught by objects, verbs by action. It is however lacking in stories. It contains lessons for 
translation into English.

Gohdes and Buschek, Sprach-und Lesebuch. Henry Holt and Co. $1.00. This book 
embodies the direct method and introduces each lesson with a number of sentences 
illustrating directly and concretely some grammatical point.

Spanhoofd, Elementarbuch der deutschen Sprache. D. C. Heath and Co. $1.00. This is a 
compromise book. The chief emphasis is placed on the grammar, tho conversation is a 
regular feature. It contains exercises for translating into German.

Prokosch, German for Beginners. Henry Holt and Co. $1.00. This is very conservatively 
direct in method. The chief stress is laid on the grammar.

Charles C. Scribner's Sons are getting out a series of easy classics especially edited 
according to the direct method. The best is Storm's Immensee, others are Storm's Pole 
Poppenspaler. Seidel's Leberecht Huhnchen. Others will follow.

Questionaire

In order to find out something of the status of German in the high schools of this Normal 
School district, the writer sent a list of questions to forty-eight of these high schools. Of 
these schools in which German is taught only fifteen seem to have been interested 
enough to answer. These likely are the most aggressiv teachers of German in this district 
and their replies may give us some idea of the work done in the best classrooms.

All of these high schools have a four year high school course. Thirteen have two years of 
German and two offer three. Four begin German in the freshman year, one in eighth 
grade or freshmen year, two begin in the sophomore year, six in the junior year, and 
one in any year. Fourteen report that pupils are free to choose German and one that 
they are encouraged. This last reports that the demand for German is decreasing, while 
thirteen say that is it increasing and one says neither; Everywhere German is considered 
on a par with other subjects.

Of the teachers four speak German nativly and eleven do not. Three have pursued less 
than three years of German; two less

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than four years; three four years;, two five years; and two six years. One reports ten 
hours, another eighteen and another twenty-seven hours of German. Nine are 
graduates of the Kirksville Normal School, five of the University of Missouri and one of 
Vassar. Five studied their German-at the Kirksville Normal School, three at this school 
and the University, of Missouri, two at this school and the University of Wisconsin, four 
at the University of Missouri and one at Vassar.

In addition to German one teacher teaches algebra, history and English; one history and 
physics; four English; two history and Latin; one English and Latin; one Latin and music; 
one Teacher Training Course; two English and history; one Latin; and one gives alt her 
time to German.

Their specialties are as follows: two science, four English one German and Latin, one 
English and German, three German, and one history.

For beginners texts five use Spanhoofd, Elementarbuch, five use Walter-Erause, 
Beginners' German, two use Becker-Rhodes, two use Vos, Essentials of German and one 
uses Prokoseh, German for Beginners. The old type of beginners text seems to have 
disappeared from these schools.

In reference to method thirteen use the direct method, two use it partially. In 
composition nine use only free compositions, four use texts with translation, and two 
use both methods. The great majority are then on the basis of the direct method. 
Whether the same can be said of those who did not reply we do not know. But it 
appears that German is undoubtedly being taught at least as well as the other subjects 
in the high schools. And that accounts for the increased demand for the study.

The schools of one place in the district however deserve special mention, since the fact 
is illustrated that if given an even chance German needs no special boosting to hold its 
place in a school. This place is Kirksville. Thru the progressiv ideas of Superintendent 
Chas. Banks for a number of years pupils in the eighth grade may elect between 
German, Latin and general science. In consequence of the excellent work of the 
teachers who use the direct method the demand for German has been rapidly 
increasing- At the beginning of September there were so many wanting Ger-

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man that the teacher could not handle all. By various means as many as possible were 
eliminated, and yet in reply to the questionable the following figures were given: eighth 
grade 44, first year high school 49, second year 42, and third year 12 pupils in German. 
The same will happen in any school if the teacher is wide awake and is given an equal 
chance with others.

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