on the corresponding cards will be found the words:
And so the child after he has composed his first sentence needs to change only one card (_lock_ for _close_) for the second sentence. This brings out the force of the verb, showing that one sentence may be changed into another by indicating an entirely different action. The child performs the action and then on his table he builds the sentences with the cards. In the series we have prepared, the verbs are either synonyms or antonyms. Here is the material:
--Show your right hand Hide your right hand
--Arrange the brown cards Mix the brown cards
--Roll the white handkerchief Twist the white handkerchief
--Embrace your nearest schoolmate Kiss your nearest schoolmate
--Gather your prisms Separate your prisms
--Borrow a black pencil Lend a black pencil
--Lift the red counter Drop the red counter
--Smooth the white paper Crumple the white paper
--Clench your two hands Open your two hands
--Spread the large carpet Fold the large carpet
--Bend your left arm Straighten your left arm
The teacher should have in mind the grammatical rules for the position of the verb in the sentence, to give the child a clear idea of its normal location before the direct object: "first the verb, then the object upon which it acts."
The verb should, for the first permutation, be transferred to the end:
Arrange the brown cards. the brown cards arrange.
When the verb is taken away entirely the action vanishes:
Lift } the red counter. Drop } the red counter.
Making all possible permutations, the child sees that only one order of words is capable of bringing a meaning out of the confusion:
Roll the white handkerchief. the white handkerchief roll. white the handkerchief roll. white roll handkerchief the.
The children take considerable delight in our verb lessons which develop through interpretations of actions. We use packs of red cards, tied with an elastic, each pack containing ten cards. The child executes the actions indicated on each card, one after the other. He may afterward copy the cards--an exercise specially attractive to very young children.
--walk, sing, jump, dance, bow, sit, sleep, wake, pray, sigh.
--write, erase, weep, laugh, hide, draw, read, speak, listen, run.