If you discover he can not tell you what he has read when he has finished the paragraph, teach him how to read silently. This matter of _teaching_ silent reading is a point neglected by a great number of teachers. Take one short sentence from the second reader. Read it to yourself, first, so that he can watch you. Then ask him to read the sentence the same way. “What did you read?” If he answers correctly, say, “That’s right. Now read two sentences.” If he can not tell you what he has read, give him a simpler sentence. Do not give up the test until he is able to read _something_, no matter how easy the sentence may have to be. On the following day give the whole class the same test. Select a somewhat more difficult sentence. Let the one who can first give the words orally, raise his hand. Make a game of silent reading and its difficulties will soon disappear. With third grade children, the teacher should show her class how to study each lesson. It is not enough to give an assignment. The method of study should be outlined. For the preparation of the reading lesson, for instance (for that is the subject in which a child is more likely to study aloud), put a list of the most difficult words on the board and mark them for pronunciation. Ask the class to examine the words. Then say, “Are there any words you can not pronounce?” Give special attention to the boy who studies aloud, asking him to pronounce the words which you have written on the board. For the fourth and upper grades, place a list of the more difficult words on the board, the meaning of which the children should be asked to look up in their small dictionaries; and do not forget that children have to be taught how to use the dictionary. Have play drills in this as in all other difficulties of a mechanical sort. COMMENTS Miss Smedley did not stop to figure out why Almon Metcalf studied aloud. If she had, she would have taken into consideration the fact that he had been two years in school without being taught how to study. She would have realized that calling the attention of the whole room to his deficiency would not help him to break the habit. The boy was not the only one who was to blame for distracting the attention of the class in arithmetic. Miss Smedley’s own remarks were instrumental here. Almon Metcalf needed Miss Smedley’s special guidance in learning how to study. ILLUSTRATION (FIFTH GRADE) When Rosa Bentley entered the fifth grade of the Lowell school, Miss Sieger recognized her at once as an inveterate talker. This was especially manifest in the study periods where Rosa had formed the habit of studying aloud. [Sidenote: Teach Silent Study] “Well, there must be some cause for the child’s doing this,” thought Miss Sieger. “She is another one of those untrained pupils.” Miss Sieger was aware of the deficiencies in our school system. “I’m going to teach Rosa how to study.”