Produced by Mike Pullen.
This book is based on the belief that an efficient reader for thefifth grade must score high when tested on five fundamental features:quality of literature; variety of literature; organization ofliterature; quantity of literature; and definite helps sufficient tomake the text a genuine tool for classroom use.
Quality Literature:
First among these features is the essential that the foundation of thebook must be the acknowledged masterpieces of American and Britishauthors. American boys and girls may be depended upon to read currentmagazines and newspapers, but if they are ever to have their taste andjudgment of literary values enriched by familiarity with the classicsof our literature, the schools must provide the opportunity. Thisideal does not mean the exclusion of well established present-daywriters, but it does mean that the core of the school reader should bethe rich literary heritage that has won recognition for its enduringvalue. Moreover, these masterpieces must come to the pupil in completeunits, not in mere excerpts or garbled "cross-sections"; for the pupilin his school life should gain some real literary possessions.
A study of the contents of The Elson Readers, Book Five, will show howconsistently its authors have based the book on this sound test ofquality. The works of the acknowledged "makers" of our literature havebeen abundantly drawn upon to furnish a foundation of great storiesand poems, gripping in interest and well within the powers ofchild-appreciation in this grade.
Variety of Literature:
Variety is fundamental to a well-rounded course of reading. If theschool reader is to provide for all the purposes that a collectionof literature for this grade should serve, it must contain materialcovering at least the following types: (1) literature representingboth British and American authors; (2) some of the best modern poetryand prose as well as the literature of the past; (3) important racestories—great epics—and world-stories of adventure; (4) patrioticliterature, rich in ideals of home and country, loyalty and service,thrift, cooperation, and citizenship—ideals of which Americanchildren gained, during the World War, a new conception that theschool reader should perpetuate; (5) literature suited to festivaloccasions, particularly those celebrated in the schools: ArmisticeDay, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, Arbor Day and Bird Day,anniversaries of the birthdays of Lincoln and Washington, as well asof Longfellow and other great American authors; (6) literature of theseasons, Nature, and out-of-door life; (7) literature of humor thatwill enliven the reading and cultivate the power to discriminatebetween wholesome humor—an essential part of life—and crude humor,so prevalent in the pupil's outside reading; (8) adventure storiesboth imaginative and real; (9) literature suited to dramatization,providing real project material.
This book offers a well-rounded course of reading covering all thetypes mentioned above. Especially by means of groups of stories andpoems that portray love of home and its festivals, love of our freecountry and its flag, and unselfish service to others, this book makesa stirring appeal to good citizenship. Moreover, it will be noted thatwholesome ethical ideals pervade the literature throughout.
Organization of Literature:
The literature of a school reader, if it is to do effective work, mustbe purposefully organized. Soun