I. HOW TO STUDY THE TEXT-BOOK: A. In the first place, be sure that you understand the assignment and know just exactly what the teacher wants done. If you are in doubt on any point, ask the teacher to explain more definitely what is required. B. Review the main points of the lessons that you have had, that are related to the subject of the new lesson. Five or ten minutes spent in a review of this sort will make it easier to master the new assignment. C. Read over the assignment once to get the main ideas. D. Look up the meaning and pronunciation of all new words and names. E. Wherever any reference is made to any place (city, mountain range, river, country, etc.) look it up on the map and fix it in your memory so firmly that you can locate it without hesitation on the large map in the class-room. F. Study the maps in the text-book, and try to estimate the importance of geographical facts in determining historical events. You cannot understand history without geography. G. Underline neatly with pencil sentences or words that seem to you particularly important or helpful. Be careful, however, not to do too much of this, and be sure that you do it neatly. H. Memorize all important names and dates. I. In reading the text-book with the purpose of remembering what you read, you are confronted with two problems: 1. To understand thoroughly what you are reading. 2. To fix all those points in memory so that you can reproduce them. You will be greatly helped in doing these things by making an outline of the assignment, for you must understand what the book means in order to make a good outline, and the act of writing it down fixes it in mind so that you can remember it better. Usually each paragraph in your text-book has a topic summary in heavy type at the beginning of the paragraph, or in the margin. Read this. What does it mean? Then read the paragraph. What does each sentence mean? How does it add to the topic of the paragraph? Are there some points in the paragraph of more importance than others? If so, what is the relation between the important topics and the less important ones? Do the latter explain the former? Do they give you details of the former? Try to condense the meaning of each point into four or five well chosen words. Are there any points in the paragraph which do not belong under the topic summary of that paragraph? If you are sure that they do not, what topic summary would you write out to cover them? Do you understand the paragraph fully, the importance of each sentence and part of a sentence in it, and the relations that exist among the parts? When you are sure that you understand the paragraph fully, write out an outline of it. Write down the main topic summary under a Roman numeral (I, II). Then write down the first main sub-topic under a capital letter (A). Under this sub-topic enter the details that explain it under Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3). Then pick out your second main sub-topic (B), and under it enter its sub-topics. Go through the whole paragraph in this way. How is the paragraph which you have outlined related to the main topic of the lesson? How does it add to the development of that topic? Look up from your work and see if you can remember the points of the paragraph and give them in your own words. If alone, you may find it helpful to say them aloud. If working with a classmate, you can repeat them to him or her in the same way, and have him or her criticize your recitation, you in turn help ing him or her. If working in the study room, go through them silently or moving your lips. If you cannot give the points of the paragraph, study your outline and the paragraph until you can. When you have done this to your satisfaction, pass on to the next paragraph, and study it in the same way. In what way is each paragraph related to the main topic, and to the paragraph which went before? What more do you know about the main topic after studying the paragraph than you did before? When you have outlined all the paragraphs, look up from your work and see if you can summarize the important points of the whole lesson in the same way as above. If you cannot, study your outline and the text-book again until you can.3 While this seems a great deal of trouble you will find that you can get your lesson more quickly and thoroughly by this method than without it. As you become more advanced in your work and become more experienced in study methods, you can gradually reduce the amount of writing and outline, if you go through the same process of thinking as if you were making an outline. In other words, you should always make an outline in your mind, even if you do not commit it to paper. Keep up the outlining, however, until you can get the teacher's permission to drop it. On very difficult lessons, you may find it useful to outline on paper, even after years of history study. J. Study the pictures as carefully as the printed portion of your text-book. Many students make the mistake of simply looking at the pictures, and not studying them. One can learn just as much from the pictures as from the printed words. Close your eyes and try to see the events or persons or places of the lesson. Make a mental picture of the lesson. Try to imagine yourself as being in that place, or as doing the things of which the lesson tells. Try to make the lesson as real to your mind as if you had actually been living in those times, and had been an actor in great events. K. Refer to the syllabus and look over the outline. Are there any points in that outline which are not in your own or in the text-book? If so, look in the list of suggested readings, and try to get information on that point from other books. L. Refer to the questions in the syllabus and at the end of the chapter in your text-book. Try to answer each one of these, either in writing or in your mind, carefully considering all the facts. Make a list of other questions that occur to you in regard to the lesson, and bring them to class. These questions may be classified as follows: 1. The causes of an event or movement. 2. The results of an event or movement. 3. The importance of certain facts. (Why do we study them?) 4. The right or wrong of an action or an institution. (What would you have done?) 5. The moral character or mental greatness of men. 6. The motives or reasons for doing certain things, of men or of governments. 7. Comparisons of men, institutions, customs, nations, etc., with others you have studied. Thinking about the lesson in this way will make the facts easier to remember. will make the lesson more interesting, and will make you a better thinker. Remember that the test of your lesson preparation is 3 An excellent work on the peculiar problems involved in the study of history is Professor Johnson's "Teaching of History," recently published. Professor Johnson's suggestions as to the method of studying the text-book are practically the same as those suggested above. It is fair to state, however, that these suggestions are the outcome of class-room experience, and were developed before the writer read Professor Johnson's book. your ability to recite on a given topic, or on the whole of the lesson, giving all the important points under each topic, and making clear the importance of each, expressing your opinions of men and institutions, and answering the questions expressed above (in L) without any assistance from the teacher, either by prompting or by asking questions. If you can do that, you have prepared your lesson well. II. READING IN OTHER BOOKS: Your text-book does not contain all the material that you should study in order to get a proper understanding of your work. Only the most important things are in the text-book. Often your text-book states a fact in so general a way and so briefly that you cannot understand it without reading more about it in some other work. The text-book contains only the viewpoint of one man; to understand history properly you should get the viewpoint of several authors, and also read from the original sources and documents. There are two kinds of books to which you will be referred: Source books, which contain documents or sources from which we have gained important knowledge or which are interesting as illustrations of statements made in your text-book, and secondary works, which are books like your text-book, but usually more detailed and complete. All secondary works are based on a study of sources or documents, some of which are contained in the source books. In no good secondary work will you find a statement which the author could not prove by reference to original sources. It is important to distinguish between these two kinds of books, for they must be studied in different ways. A. Source books. (Before reading this section read and study carefully the section on "How We Know About the Past." 4) Source books are collections of some of the most important and helpful written documents. All the operations of external criticism have been performed with these documents; they have been restored and read. It remains only to interpret them, and to ascertain from them the facts of which they are the traces left to us. In studying sources as supplementary reading, apply to them all the tests of internal or higher criticism, and read all the sources that you can find on your point with a view to comparing them and drawing conclusions from them. Follow these directions: 1. Find out what you can about the author. In most source books, a paragraph or two at the beginning of each selection or in the back of the book gives this information. You can also learn much about the author while reading the document, just as you can often learn the character of a man by hearing him speak or reading his letters. 2. Determine whether the document is an official record, an account by an eye-witness, or an account written by one who got his information from others. 3. Study the document carefully to get what it means. Usually it will be necessary to outline the document just as you would outline your text-book. Follow other directions in the section on "How to Study the Text-book” as to new words, use of maps, etc. 4. Apply the tests for good faith and accuracy. Consider each statement of the document separately, and ask if there is any reason to doubt the accuracy or truthfulness of the statement. Ask all the questions given in the section on "How We Know About the Past." 5. Find any other documents that you can in the same or other source books, that bear on the same point. If unable to do so, ask the teacher's help in finding them. Study them in the same way as you have studied the first one. 4 Section V of the instructions contains a short summary of the operations of historical research. 6. Studying all the documents that you have read and criticized, and applying to them the principles given at the last of the section on "How We Know About the Past," come to a decision as to what facts are proved, and what facts are not proved or are doubtful. Be sure that for each one you can quote from the documents definite statements as to these facts. Write these in your notebooks, together with your reasons for considering them proved or doubtful, and the proper quotations from the documents themselves. 7. Your permanent notebook should have a section in which you can put the results of your source studies. Each study should be recorded in this notebook. By checking this notebook record the teacher will know the amount and quality of your source work. Your notes should be in the following form: a. The topic on which you are studying. b. A description of all the documents studied, with the names of their authors, if known, and the name of the source book and pages on which it is to be found. c. A brief sketch of what you have found about the author. d. The outlines of each document or notes on each made in studying it to get its meaning. e. What you have found out by applying the tests for good faith and accuracy. f. All the information asked for in c, d and e, for each document you have studied in addition to the first one. g. The facts you consider proved, your reasons for considering them proved, and quotations from the sources to prove your statements. h. The facts you considered disproved or doubtful, with your reasons for considering them disproved. B. Secondary works. The chief reason for reading in secondary works is to gain more information than your textbook contains. The chief purpose of studying source books is to understand how the historian works with documents. Since the purpose of studying secondary works is to gain more information, you should study them in much the same way as you study your text-book. In some cases you should make a careful outline of the selection. In other cases, where the information is not entirely new to you, it will be sufficient to note down point by point the new facts, or to note the points, if any, in which the author disagrees with the author of your text-book. There is a great deal of room for differences in ways of looking at the same facts. Where you find disagreement try to reach your own conclusion as to which is right, by further reading and thinking of your own. On some readings which are interesting simply because they seem to make the lesson more real to you, you need take no notes at all. You must be the judge, ordinarily of how to study the selection and of how carefully to study it. Sometimes the teacher will assign definite readings to you or to the whole class, and specify the method of study. In general, a knowledge of what you have read, definite enough for you to give some new information of importance to the class in the recitation, will be evidence that you have studied the selection carefully enough. Your permanent notebook should have a section for readings in secondary works. This section should contain a record of every reading you have made, as follows: a. Topic. b. Name of author, name of book, publisher, city and date of publication. and the pages read. (Robinson, James H., "The Development of Modern Europe." Ginn & Co., Boston, 1907, pp. 206-220.) c. Whatever notes, outlines, etc., you have made. d. Your opinion of the value of the reference and of the book. C. Reports to the class. In reading any selection in sec ondary works, or in studying any sources, you should always keep in mind the class. You may be called upon by the teacher at any time to report to the class the reading you have done and what source investigations you have been making. The purpose of these reports is to introduce new and interesting material into the recitation, and to train you in expressing your knowledge fluently to others. Try to read and study selections that the class would be interested in hearing you report. Often you will be asked to prepare certain readings or source studies especially for the purpose of bringing them before the class. III. THE NOTEBOOK: 5 Notebooks are of two kinds, the study notebook which is to contain the outlines you make in studying the lesson, and the permanent notebook which is to contain: 1. Records of source studies. 2. Records of readings in secondary works. 3. Maps, assigned by the teacher. 4. Special outlines of importance, assigned by the teacher. 5. Themes on special topics, including the term report. The first two have already been discussed. Both of these kinds of work should be kept in separate sections of the notebook. In another section of the notebook should come the maps, themes and outlines, in the order in which they are assigned by the teacher. A. General directions: Perform every notebook assignment at home, while it is fresh in your mind. Use ink for everything. Aim for neatness and accuracy. The quality of your work will be judged largely by the quality of your notebook work. As each assignment is made enter it in your table of contents. This table of contents should come first in your notebook, and should give the number of the exercise and the page of your notebook on which it will be found. Follow this form: B. The Maps: When you are assigned an outline map to fill in with certain material that the teacher will assign, you should follow these instructions in order: 1. Using pencil, trace on the map the boundaries needed to make the map clear. Make the pencil marks very light. 2. When sure that the boundaries are accurate, trace them with pen and ink, and when dry. erase the pencil lines. 3. With dots in ink locate all important cities. 4. With printed letters in ink name all rivers, cities, countries, seas, islands, etc. Print the names of cities in small letters, thus-Paris. Print the names of rivers in small capitals, thus-RHINE RIVER. Print the names of countries in larger capitals. This will prevent confusion. 5. With colored crayon, color carefully each country, taking care: a. To use a circular motion of the crayon. b. To bear very lightly on the crayon. c. Not to go too fast. d. To get the color on smoothly. e. Not to run over the boundaries. f. Not to get the color on too thick. 6. With blue crayon, draw a narrow edging, about an eighth of an inch wide, just inside the borders of each body of water. 7. In some corner of the map where there is plenty of 5 The subject of notebook work is more fully discussed by the writer in the HISTORY TEACHER'S MAGAZINE for October, 1916. room, make a key. In a square drawn with pen and ink, put a block of each color used, and after it print in SMALL CAPITALS the name of the country represented by that color. 8. In a conspicuous place on the map, where there is plenty of room, PRINT IN LARGE CAPITALS THE TITLE of the map, so that it is plain what the map is meant for. C. The outlines: Frequently you will be assigned to make an outline of some event or movement or period. This outline should be made at once, while the topic is still fresh in your mind. You have already been instructed in the section on "How to Study the Text-book" how to make an outline. Apply the same principles to the making of these special outlines, picking out first the large topics, and then the sub-topics under each. Make these outlines as brief and compact as possible. This means that you must condense everything into as few words as possible to make your meaning clear. Following is an example of a good outline: OUTLINE THE FIRST CRUSADE. I. Growth of the power of the Turks. A. The Turks were an Asiatic people related to the Huns. III. The Council of Clermont, 1095 A.D. B. Composed largely of French nobles and clergy. C. The Council decides to send an armed expedition to the Holy Land for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. IV. Causes of the Crusades. A. Desire for adventure. Etc., etc., etc. D. The themes: From time to time the teacher will assign themes to be written on certain subjects. The first thing to do is to read in secondary works and source books and gather material for your theme. Do not write anything until you understand properly the subject of your theme and until you have read at least one book besides your text-book. Do not introduce anything into the theme that does not bear directly on your subject. Do not use the words of the book. Use your own. Make your theme definite, accurate, original and brief. It is not the quantity of matter you write, but the quality, that makes a good theme. At the very end of the theme give the names of the books you have consulted, thus: Robinson, J. H., "Readings in European History," pp. 196-202. Often these themes will take the form of letters, diaries and other writings of a personal character, written as if you were a participant in the events, or an actual eye-witness. E. The term report: During the term you will write at least one long theme of from 1,200 to 1,500 words on some special topic, on which you are to read a great deal and find out all that you can. Work on this term report will begin about the end of the first six weeks. You may choose your own topic, after consultation with the teacher, either from the work already covered, or from work in the latter part of the term's work if you are more interested in that, and desire to read ahead. You are expected ot read all that you can find on your topic, in at least three books, and to study in a scholarly way all the sources that bear on your topic. As you read these books, take notes on all important points, noting down carefully the page on which your information was found. When you write up your report, you should write it from these notes, and refer to the books themselves as little as possible. Your final draft should contain footnotes, which will give the reader of your report the page and book which is your authority for every important statement you make. You should average at least two footnotes to the page. Often you can explain some point in detail much better by adding a footnote. Your footnotes should follow this form: 1 Robinson's Readings, p. 202. 2 The Teutonic Knights, referred to above, went to the shores of the Baltic Sea after the crusades were over, and warred against the heathen Slavs. Later the order came under the control of the Hohenzollern House, and its possessions were the nucleus of the Duchy of Prussia. Thatcher & Schwill," Europe in the Middle Age," p. 335. If maps would add to the clearness or interest of your report, the teacher will give you outline maps which you can fill in and use to illustrate your report. At the end of your report, on a separate page, should come your bibliography, or list of books used. First give the name of the author, then the full name of the book, then the name of the publisher, then the city and date of publication. Then in a sentence or two give your opinion of the merits of the book and its usefulness to you in working up your report. Follow this form: BIBLIOGRAPHY. Oman, Charles. "A History of England." Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1898. I found Oman useful for the following points. . : Thatcher, Oliver J., and Schwill, Ferdinand. Europe in the Middle Age." Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1896. This work was useful to me for the following reasons. Fur From these instructions, it will sufficiently appear, I take it, what the writer's ideas of the proper methods of study for the mass of the class are. ther discussion would therefore be redundant, as the instructions are self-explanatory. It is apparent that the course has been largely standardized, both as to content, and as to method of attack. And yet as has been pointed out, it is sufficiently elastic, since the amount of work required is varied with the ability of the individual pupil concerned, and variations from the standard study methods are permitted to those who will benefit by using other methods. For the mass of the class, the standardization is of great advantage, for the pupil has before him in black and white practically everything that relates to the organization of the subject matter of the course, the character of the tasks assigned, and the proper methods for performing them. Where a variation from standard is permitted, it is always for cause, and much is gained over a system or lack of system, where there are no standards objectively fixed, except those which the students may fix themselves. It remains to discuss the third problem, namely how to put these study methods into effect, how to get the students to study in the proper manner. The most important feature of supervised study is the technique of the study period. The teacher is the fundamental fact in any system of education; the administrative system exists only that he may do his work effectively. The effectiveness of the supervised study period depends entirely upon the enthusiasm with which the teacher embraces his opportunity, and the technique which he develops for carrying it out. In the hands of a lukewarm and careless teacher the period may mean nothing; in the hands of an alert and enthusiastic teacher, it may mean everything. There is an element of danger in supervised study, the danger, namely, that the teacher may use it to solve all the student's problems for him, thus deadening his initiative and retarding his mental growth. This danger makes it necessary that the teacher should clearly articulate his purposes and aims in the study period, and hew strictly to the line, resisting the temptation, which is bound to come, to help too much. It has been well said that the purpose of supervising study is not to level the mountain but to train capable mountain climbers; it is not to solve the problem for the student, but to show him how to solve it. The teacher having developed his ideas as to, the proper methods of study for various types of subject matter and for various types of students, it is his function to teach those methods to the student, and then see to it that the student follows them. The first step, as has been indicated, is to reduce the standard study method to a definite form, and to formulate it in an organized body of suggestions. Much time is saved by handing out at the beginning of the term printed or mimeographed sheets, containing whatever suggestions of the sort the teacher may desire to make. These should be ready for the first meeting of the class. At the first meeting, an informal discussion should be held on the question of how to study the textbook. The sheets should be distributed and the various suggestions discussed. When the first textbook assignment is made, the teacher should conduct group study of the text, all of the students having before them the textbook and the instructions. An outline should be worked out by the group, in accordance with the instructions, and placed on the board. After the lesson has been worked through in this way, students can be asked to recite on topics, as a test. Then the opinion of the group should be asked as to what dates should be memorized, and what are the most important things to remember, etc. A beginning can be made on the questions for reflective thinking on the syllabus. In this way the class is introduced to the study problem inductively. This group study should be discontinued as soon as possible, as soon, namely, as the principles are thoroughly grasped. It may be resorted to time after time during the term, when problems of a new sort, or problems presenting particular difficulty are before the class. The tendency is to abuse it, however, and such tendency should be carefully guarded against. After the first few days of the term, the students should be set to study the assignment individually. The teacher should go from desk to desk, making sure that the student understands the meaning of the suggestions and is applying them effectively. If he is not doing so, the teacher should state the requirement more clearly and set the student right. If a question arises, which the teacher has reason to believe may be troubling most of the class, the attention of all may be called to the question, and the explanation made to the group. What has been said applies, of course, only to the normal study method. If in his assistance of individuals, the teacher has reason to believe that the student is not benefitting by the methods that the rest of the class are using, he should make an appointment with that student, at which time an endeavor should be made to find out the difficulty, and if necessary to change the prescription. As soon as the principles of study involved in studying the textbook are generally grasped, but not before, it is safe to take up the question of note-book exercises. Group study is hardly necessary in beginning work on this type of problem, and the pupil should be set to work individually, while the teacher goes from desk to desk suggesting and supervising. The last form of problem which should be attempted is the study of sources. To take it up earlier is likely to lead to confusion and mental indigestion. The first assignment of source study should be introduced by a discussion of the principles of historical research, what documents are, what kinds of documents there are, how the historian uses them. This discussion, of course, must be on the intellectual level of the high school student, and must be as objective as possible. It is a help to include in the printed instructions a four or five page section on the subject of how we know about the past, to be used as a basis for the discussion." Assignments in the study of sources should also be standardized. The teacher should arrange a series of ten or twelve carefully graded source exercises, ranging from questions of the utmost simplicity, to problems involving considerable examination, evaluation and comparison of documents, and the writing of considerable themes based on that study. The steps in teaching how to study may then be summarized as follows: first, the discussion and study of the principles as embodied in the instructions; second, group study under the direction of the teacher, applying the instructions to a definite assignment; third, individual study under the close supervision of the teacher. These steps should be completed in the first month or six weeks of the term. From then on, the teacher, on principle, should leave the student alone as much as possible, supervising his study directly only on problems of especial difficulty, or when he is slumping and losing ground. It would be a great mistake to suppose that the student gets no benefit from the supervised study period after this period of a month or six weeks. He studies history at a definite time and for a definite period of time each day. He has just come from the recitation, and is in the subject attitude of mind. All of the conditions, physical and otherwise, necessary to effective study, are controlled by the teacher. He 6 Such a section is included in the writer's instructions, but is not given here on account of lack of space. It will appear in the forthcoming syllabi. is surrounded by various special tools for history study, such as books, wall maps, pictures, etc. He is with students who are working on the same problems as himself. And it is possible for him at any time to get the assistance of the teacher when in the teacher's judgment it is necessary. In other words there are four advantages in a supervised study period, first, the assurance that the student studies his lesson at all; second, the opportunity to instruct him in proper methods of study; third, the assurance that he follows instructions; and fourth, the opportunity to control in his interest all the physical and psychical conditions, necessary to efficient study. The Hammond High School is now in its second year of supervised study. The day is divided into six seventy-minute periods, of which at least thirty must be devoted to study. Every class in the school has its supervised study period. A change to the system of double periods for some classes, and single classes for others, along the lines outlined in the first part of this paper, has been under consideration, but has not yet been made. The results have abundantly justified the system. The teachers are unanimous in approval of the system, and are strongly in favor of retaining it. It has resulted in fewer failures, more efficient work on the part of all students, and more satisfactory conditions for the teachers. It has solved the fundamental problem of the student, how to study, and the fundamental problem of the teacher, how to teach the student to study. The College Entrance Examination Board has published a pamphlet prepared by the Readers in History for 1916, containing "specimen answers written by college candidates in history." The purpose of the pamphlet is to present to teachers an actual illustration of the methods of grading pursued by the Readers in History. Eight examination papers are reproduced, two for each of the four historical fields; one paper in each subject is selected from those grading about ninety, the other paper is selected from those grading about forty. Copies of the pamphlet can be obtained from the Board (431 West 117th Street, New York City) for 25 cents. In "The Teaching of Oral English," by Miss Emma M. Bolenius (Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Co.), there are many suggestions of value to history teachers. In addition to the general emphasis upon the care in the use of English in recitation the book contains chapters upon "The Debate in English History," "A Mythological Symposium," "Oral Composition in History," "The History Club," and "Organizing a Government as a Class Exercise." Suggestions are made for easy methods of grading oral recitations and debates. The author believes that outside reference reading in history can be made of much practical value by requiring one minute or very brief reports upon it. She describes how a class was developed into a history club. In the club the class was organized with students as officers, and they discussed subjects to be found in the text-book and in the outside reading. |