TECHNICAL POINTS IN ELEMENTARY ENGLISH
H. P. SMITH
Superintendent of SchoolsNewton, Iowa
Few, if any, will question the assertion that habits of
correct speech and writing must be established early in life
if the speech and writing of adult life are to conform to good
usage. Certain details of the mechanics of writing must
early become automatic, and habits of exact and fluent oral
expression must establish themselves while children are young.
The public schools should supervise this work carefully and
systematically if children are to attain the ideals just sug-
gested.
With this in mind the writer collected a large number of
courses of study for elementary schools to determine the
different points emphasized and the years of the course in
which attention is focused upon a given point. Many of
these courses outlined no technical work at all, while others
listed but few points, assuming that supervisors and teachers
would systematize the work in English in the various grades.
More than one hundred courses were carefully checked, but
of that number only fifty-four outlined sufficient work of this
character under each grade to make any classification possible.
The state courses checked were the following: Arizona, Illi-
nois, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New York, Ohio, Oregon,
and Pennsylvania. Tabulations were also made from the
following city courses: Beloit, Berkeley, Boise, Boston, Cam-
bridge, Cheyenne, Columbus, Ohio; Decatur, DeKalb, Denver,
Des Moines, East St. Louis, Evansville, Grand Rapids, Indi-
anapolis, Kankakee, Lincoln, Milwaukee, Muncie, Nashua,
ELEMENTARY ENGLISH
55
New Bedford, New Haven, Newton (Iowa), North Yakima,
Omaha, Reading, Rochester, Schenectady, Spokane, Wash-
ington, D. C., West Hoboken, Wilmington, Speyer School,
and eleven cities and state normal critic schools using Hosic's
"The Elementary Course in English."
From the foregoing list it is evident that the prevailing
practice of the schools over the entire country is summarized
in this investigation. Every type of school is represented
from the one-room rural school using a state course to the
largest city with its detailed outline and its supervisor of
English. For purposes of the study each course was so keyed
that any item could be traced immediately to its source.
This also insured an item's appearing only once and that
under the grade where it is first listed in the course. Certain
points recur in the same course under different grades, often
without any indication in the later grade that they had been
mentioned before. With a key for each course it was a simple
matter to list the points only under the grade where first given.
It is interesting to note the wide variation in practice.
A point recommended for study in the first grade in one course
may be found in a grade as high as the seventh or eighth in
another. In no instance does an item that is listed five or
more times in the fifty-four courses appear each time in the
same grade. This indicates a total lack of uniformity in our
various cities and states in mechanizing the technical points
of English writing. Again, no one course contains all of the
items listed, and no one item-not
even the interrogation
point or the period at the close of a statement-appears
in
all. Finally, trivial points are sometimes listed in a course
while important items are omitted. One superintendent lists
Ph. D. and LL. D. and omits the abbreviations for "year"
and "month."
Many a course is like Macbeth's caldron-thrown together
with no idea of unity. Separate committees often act for the
56
THE ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
JOURNAL
different grades and follow strictly the injunction not to let
"the right hand know what the left hand doeth." The work
of the first four grades in one state course was prepared by
one person, while the work of the other four grades was pre-
pared by another person with an entirely different point of
view. Another city omits in the first and second grades many
of the simplest and most fundamental points, although the
outlines of subsequent grades assume that these points have
received attention in the lower grades.
The purpose of this study is to aid public school men and
women in organizing courses of study. It shows the different
points emphasized in fifty-four courses of study, their fre-
quency, grade distribution, and central tendency. For ex-
ample, from the tables it is a simple matter to determine the
general practice in connection with capitalizing the letter
"I," or the introduction of paragraphing, or the writing of
divided quotations. This report is of little value beyond the
fifth or sixth grade because the courses for the upper grades
are very limited in view of the fact that the text books used
beyond those grades are sufficiently detailed. The writer
assumes that such a study merely summarizes the general
practice of the country in connection with the teaching of
English, and presents in tabular form a large amount of essen-
tial material. It is based on the general theory that the
prevailing practice in a large number of schools represents a
composite judgment which is the best guide we have in the
absence of detailed experimental work. Of course, there is
a large field opened here for experimental teaching in deter-
mining by exact, scientific method the best location in the
curriculum of a given matter.
The following table as well as subsequent tables should be
read thus: Capitalizing the pronoun "I" occurs forty-two
times in the fifty-four courses of study, the lowest grade in
which it is placed being the first, the highest the fourth, with
ELEMENTARY ENGLISH
57
the median grade, or the grade above and below which half
the cases occur, the second. Where a point occurs but twice,
each time under a different grade, no median is given.
TABLE I
TECHNICAL POINTS
Item Fre- Lowest Highest Median
quency Grade Grade Grade
I. Punctuation
I. Capitals
"I"... 42
1
4 2Holidays ...
41
I
4
2
Each line of poetry. ...
41
2
6
3
Titles and their abbrevia-
tions...
41
2
7
3
Person or place...
39
I
3
I
Beginning of a sentence. .
37
13
I
Days of the week...
35
1
4
2
Direct quotations...
31
2
7
4
"0"...
26
I4
2
General or simple use...
25
I
3
2
Initials ... 24 3 4 3
God and Deity...
19
3
7
4
Headings
...
17
3
4
3
N. E. S. W. as points of
compass ...
7
4
7
5
Proper adjective...
3
3
7
4
In bills and receipts...
3
4
4
4
Personification
...
3
4
7
4
Important words in titles
3
3
7
6
Bible and its books ...
3
4
5
4
Word when used with name
as "Mississippi River"
2 46
2. Period
Abbreviations
...
36
I
3
2
General or simple use . . .
30
I 42
Close of sentence ...
29
I
2
I
After initials ...
12
3
3
3
After headings...
3
3
7
4
After Arabic figures to
58
THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
TABLE I-Continued
TECHNICAL POINTs-Continued
Fre- Lowest Highest Mediar quency Grade Grade Grade
3. Comma
Interposed words, after
"yes" and "no". ... 42 2 7 4
In series... 38 I 8 4
Words,phrases, and clauses
out of natural order.. . 19 5 7 5
Parts of compound sen-
tence ... 13 4 8 5 In quotations ...
12
3 7 4 In indirect quotations ... 8 4 7 5 Appositives ... 7 4 7 6 General ... 5 6 2 4. Interrogation point ... 53 I 4 5. Exclamation point... 39 I 7 3 6. Apostrophe Possessives ... 51 I 5 3 Elision or contraction .... 291
7 4Plurals of letters, signs,etc. 4 4 7 5
7. Quotations
Quotation marks ... 48 I 7 3
Simple quotations... 30 3 5 4
Divided quotations... 14 4 7 5
Indirect quotations... 8 4 7 5
Quotation within quota-
tion ... 5 4 6 4
8. Semi-colon ... 20 5 8 7
9. Hyphen
In compound words at end
of line ... 36 I 5 4
10. Brackets, brace and paren-
thesis ... 6 5 8 7
ii. Caret ... 4 4 7 5
ELEMENTARY ENGLISH 59 TABLE I-Continued
TECHNICAL PoiNTs-Continued
Item Fre- Lowest Highest Median
quency Grade Grade Grade
13. Indentation ... 31 I 7 2
14. Paragraph ... 48
I
5 315. Writing from outline... 14
3
7
416. Dates... 31 2 5 3 17. Parts of a letter... 52 2 5 3 18. Addresses ... 3 I 2 2 II. Adjectives Comparative form... 12 3 6 5 Superlative form... 12 3 6 5
Adjective after seem, appear,
etc ... ... 2 5 7 III. Adverbs General... ... 3 I 5 4 Comparative form ... 6 5 8 6 Superlative form... 6 5 8 6 Double negative... I2 I 6 4 IV. Nouns Simple plurals ... 27 I 4 2
Irregular plurals, general... 17 I 7 4 In "f," "fe," and "v". ... 3 3 5 4 Plurals in general... 2 4 4 4 Compound words... 2 5 7 Plurals in "o"... .. 2 4 5 In "y"... 2 3 4 V. Pronouns
Subject and predicate adjec-
tive forms... 27 I 5 3 Object forms... 20
1
5 3 G eneral... II I 6 3 Order of... 5 3 3 3 Possessive forms... 2 2 36o
THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
TABLE I-Continued
TECHNICAL POINTs-Continued
Item Fre- Lowest Highest Median
quency Grade Grade Grade
VI. Verbs
General ... 19 I 5 5Subjunctive in condition....
4
5
5
5
Perfect form...
3
2
4
2
Present form...
2
4
4
4
Past form ...
2
4
4
4
VII. Abbreviations
General or common ...
Is
I
4
3
The following points occurred but once, in the grade indicated: star,
dagger and double dagger, 6; syllabication, 4; internal change, 3; plurals
of nouns ending in "s," "sh," or "ch," 4; in "x" or "z," 4; singular possessive, 2; plural possessive, 2; sequence of tenses, I.TABLE II
DISCRIMINATION IN THE USE OF WORDS
Item Fre- Lowest Highest Median
quency Grade Grade Grade
I. Adjectives
A and an ...
19
I
7
I
Apt, likely and liable...
4
7
8
7
Awful ...
3
4
6
6
Fierce...
2
6
6
6
Funny, strange, queer and
odd...
I 1
2
7
6
Grand and awful...
5
5
6
5
Grand and swell...
2
6
6
6
Healthy and healthful...
4
7
7
7
Less and fewer...
..
3
7
8
7
Mad and angry...
5
4
6
6
Nice, lovely and cute...
5
3
6
5
Plenty and plentiful... ...
5
6
8
7
Real, awful and very...
2
3
3
3
Scared and afraid...
5
6
7
7
Tiny, little and small...
2
2
5
ELEMENTARY ENGLISH
61
TABLE II-Continued
DISCRIMINATION IN THE USE OF WORDS-Continued
Item Fre- Lowest Highest Median
quency Grade Grade Grade
II. Adverbs
As soon as...
2
3
5
Inasmuch as...
7
8
8
8
Most and almost...
4
3
7
3
Too, to and two...
I I
3
5
3
Very and awful...
2
4
7
Well and good...
6
3
7
4
III. Conjunctions
Either-or...
2
3
4
Neither-nor...
2
3
4
IV. Nouns
Balance and remainder...
4
7
7
7
Center and middle...
5
7
7
7
Principal and principle....
2
4
5
V. Prepositions
Above ...
4
I
5
After ...
...
4
6
Among ...
2
2
5
A t...
2
4
5
Beneath...
25
5
5
Beside...
4
2
3
3
Between
...
2
2
5
Between and among...
II
2
6
4
Beyond...
2
5
5
5
From and off...
...
2
4
5
In...
6
3
6
4
In and into...
12I
7
4
Into...
7
3
6
5
Like and as... II 4 7 5
Of and off...
3
2
4
2
O n...
3
I
5
IOver ...
2
5
5
T o...
II
3
7
4
To and at...
7
3
6
3
Under...
4
I
5
3
Without and unless...
2
4
6
62
THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
TABLE II-Continued
DISCRIMINATION IN THE USE OF WORDs-Continued
Fre- Lowest Highest Median quency Grade Grade Grade
VI. Pronouns
Both and each... 4 6 7 7
Each, every and everyone.. . 9 3 6 5
Either and neither... . 4 3 6 5
N one... 2 6 7
Their and there... 16 I 5 3
These and those... 23 I 7 3
This and that ... I 9 I 6 3
Who, which and what as rel-
atives... 9 3 6 5
VII. Verbs
Bring, carry and fetch... 11 3 7 4
Bring and take... 4 3 5 4
Calculate and intend ... 5 5 6 6
Don't and
doesn't...
. 7 I 7 4
Except and accept... 2 5 5 5
Got and has got... I I 8 4
Guess and think... 15 3 7 5
Hang and hung... 2 5 7
Hear and here... 2 3 3 3
Lend and loan... 2 4 7
Let and leave... 7 I 6 6
Lie and lay... 18 2 8 5
Like and love... 8 4 5 4
May and can, might and
could ... . 26 I 8 4
Rise and raise... 9 4 8 5
Seem and seam... 2 4 4 4
Shall and will... 5 I 8 5
Sit and set... 19 2 8 4
Stay and stop... 6 4 6 6
Suspect, expect and antici-
pate ... ... 6 6 8 6
Teach and learn... 23 2 6 4
The following points occurred but once, in the grade indicated: bad, evil,
and ill, 5; cunning and tiny, 5; faded and withered, 5; fresh and new, 5;
frightful, 6; right and left, I; terrible, 6; the, I; after, 4; already, 4; as far as,
ELEMENTARY ENGLISH 63 3; as though, 6; as well as, 6; here and there, 2; if, 4; near and far, i; near and
nearly, 8; no and not, 4; once, 4; then, 4; whenever, 4; where, 4; whereas, 8; wherever, 4; while, 2; yet, 4; aunt and ant, 2; capitol and capital, 5; flock and herd, 4; flower and flour, 2; gentleman and man, 5; lady and gentleman, 5; lady and woman, 5; majority and plurality, 7; meat and meet, 2; party and person, 6; proof and evidence, 6; sea and see, 2; woman and man, 5; as, 3; at the left, I; at the right, I; before, 2; by, 4; of, 5; toward, 6; with, 4; any and either, 6; couple, 5; each other, 6; few, 5; many and lot, 7; many and much, 6; neither, 5; one another, 6; our and hour, 3; several, 5; ate and eight, 2; bear and bare, 4; buy and by, 2; chews and choose, 5; fly, flee and carry, 4; fly and flow, 4; hire and higher, 4; knew and new, 2; lose and loose, 4; must, 8; ought, 5; should and ought, 5; steal and steel, 2; wander and wonder, 5; write and right, 3.
TABLE III
PRINCIPAL PARTS OF IRREGULAR VERBS
Fre- Lowest Highest Median quency Grade Grade Grade
Attack... 3 4 7 7 Be... ... 29 I 4 I Bear... 2 4 4 4 Beat... 8 2 5 4 Begin... 7 2 5 4 Bite.. ... 4 2 4 4 Blow ... 15 2 5 4 Break... 20 2 5 3 Bring ...
13
I 6 2 Burst... 9 3 5 4 Buy... II 2 5 2 Can...3
3 I 3 2 Catch... 9 I 5 2 Choose ... I10 3 7 4 Come ... 27 I 5 3 Creek ... 2 5 5 5 Dig ... 2 3 4 Do... 32 I 5 2 Drink ... 13 I 6 4 Drive... 6 4 6 4 Draw... 13 2 6 4 Drown ... I0o 2 4 464
THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
TABLE III-Continued
PRINCIPAL PARTS OF IRREGULAR VERBS-Continued
Item quency Fre- Lowest Grade Highest Grade Median Grade
Eat ... 4 I 6 3
Fall...
6
4
8
4
Feel ... ... 2 5 5 5 Find... 2 2 4 Flow... 2 I 4 Fly... I 6 I 5 3 Forget ... 7 2 7 4 Freeze ... 13 3 6 4Get...
...
7
2
5
3
Give ... 22 I 5 3Go...
30 I5
3
G row ... I8 I 4 3 H ang... ... ... 3 5 7 5 H ave... 16 I 4 2 Hide ... ... 3 2 5 5 Hurt... ... 3 2 5 2 Know...15
2 5 4 Lay... ... 16 I 5 4 Learn... 4 4 6 Lie... ... 21 I 5 3 Lose ... ... 2 4 5 M ay... 3 I 3 2 Raise ... 4 4 5 5 Ride... I I 2 4 2 Ring... I 1 I 5 3 Rise ... 9 2 5 4 Run ... ... 19 I 6 3 See... 37 I 4 2 Set... 12 I 5 4 Sing.. ... 13 2 4 3 Sink... 2 4 5 Sit ... ... ... 23 I 5 3 Shake... 10 3 5 4 Shine ... ... 2 4 5 Shoe... .... ... 2 5 5 5 Show... 7 2 5 3 Speak... I6 2 7 3 Spring ... 3 3 4 3 Stay... 3 I 3 IELEMENTARY ENGLISH 65 TABLE III-Continued
PRINCIPAL PARTS OF IRREGULAR VERBs-Continued
Fre- Lowest Highest Median quency Grade Grade Grade
Steal... ... ... 5 2 6 3 Strive... ... 2 5 5 5 Swim... 7 2 5 4 Swing... 2 5 5 5 Take... 19 I 7 4 Teach... 10 2 6 3 Tear... Io 2 4 4 Tell ... ... ... 2 4 6 Think... 3 4 5 5 Throw... 21 I 5 3 Tread... 2 4 4 4 W ear ... ... II 2 5 4 W in ... ... 4 3 5 4 Write ... 25 I 7 3
The following points occurred but once, in the grade indicated: carry, 5; fight, 3; forsake, 4; leave, 4; let, 4; make, 4; ought, 5; say, 4-
TABLE IV
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONTRACTIONS
Fre- Lowest Highest Median quency Grade Grade Grade
A. B ... 4 7 7 7 Acct ... ... 5 5 6 5 A. D. and B. C ... 5 4 7 7 A. M. and P. M... 17 2 8 4 Amt ... ... 6 3 6 5 Ans ... ... 3 2 4 3 Anon ... ... 4 6 7 7 Atty... ... 2 6 8 Ave ... .. ... 12 5 2 B bl .. ... 3 3 4 4 Bu...
3
2 4 3 Capt ... 5 3 5 5 C.O. D ... .... ... 6 4 7 666 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL TABLE IV-Continued
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONTRACTIONS-Continued
Fre- Lowest Highest Median quency Grade Grade Grade
Co ... 12 3 5 4 Col ... 5 4 5 4 c, cts., $... 3 2 4 2 Days, names of ... 15 I 5 4 Doz ... 4 2 4 Dr. (Doctor) ... .. 9 I 4 3 Dr. and Cr... ... 3 4 6 6 Etc... ... 3 4 6 4 D. 0 ... 3 4 7 6 E. g ... 3 6 8 8
F. o. b...
2
6
7
Ft... 6 2 4 3 Gal... 3 3 4 3 G. A. R... 2 5 5 5 Gen... ... 9 4 5 5 Gov... ... 9 3 6 4 Hon... ... 4 4 5 I. e ... ... 4 6 8 In ... ... 5 2 4 3 Inst ... .. ... 3 6 8 7 Jr. and Sr. ... .... 6 4 8 5 Lb... ... 2 2 3 M... 5 3 4 4 M aj... ... 2 5 5 M . D ... 9 4 76
M essrs ... 7 5 7 7 Miss... 32
2 2Abbreviations for months... 18 I 5 3
M r ... ... ... 30 I 4 2 M rs ... ... ... 30 I 4 2 Mt ... 2 3 3 3 N. B... 2 6 8 N. E. S. W ... 4 4 4 4 No ... 7 3 5 4 O. K... 2 6 7 Pk ... 4 2 4 3 P.O ... 7 2 4 4 Pres... 3 3 5 3 Prin... 5 3 3 3
ELEMENTARY ENGLISH 67 TABLE IV-Continued
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONTRACTIONS-Continued
Item Fre- Lowest Highest Median
quency Grade Grade Grade
Prof... 4 3 5 Pro. tem... 2 7 7 7 P. S ... 9 3 7 5 Pt... 4 2 6 Qt ... ... 5 2 7 3 Rev.... ... 12 3 7 4 R.R... ... ... 4 3 4 Sec... ... 4 4 7
6
Sq. Ft... ... 3 2 4 2 Sq. yd ... 3 2 4 2 St... 24 I 5 2 States, names of ... 14 I 7 2 Supt ... 10 3 7 3 Ult ... ... 3 5 7 6 U. S ... 9 3 6 4 Viz ... 6 4 8 6 Vol ... 2 6 8 Yd ... 5 2 4 3 Aren't... 10 3 5 3 Can't... 8 I 5 3 Couldn't... 4 4 5 5 D idn't... 7 3 5 3 Doesn't... 13 2 5 3 Don't... .... ... 15 I 5 3 E'er... 2 4 6 Hadn't ... ... 5 4 5 4 Hasn't... 9 3 5 4 Haven't... 6 I 5 4 He's ... ... 2 4 5 I'll ... ... 12 2 4 3 I'm ... 10 2 5 3 Isn't... 16 2 5 3 It's ... 6 3 5 4 I've... ... ... 5 3 5 4 Mustn't... ... 4 4 5 4 Ne'er... 2 4 6 O'clock ... 2 4 4 Shouldn't ... 4 4 5 5 'Tis... 4 4 5 468
THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
TABLE IV-Continued
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONTRACTIONS-Continued
Item Fre- Lowest Highest Median quency Grade Grade Grade
