Answer the following questions, using a word from list (2) or two words from list (3).

(a) Where did you stand?

(b) What have you made for Christmas?
(c) Where did the bird fly?

(d) Where has the bird flown?

(e) Why did you come to school?

(f) Where have the birds flown?
(g) Where did you go?

(h) Have all the birds gone?

(i) What did you know about the lesson?

(j) Who has known more?

XI. CHAPTER TEST: SPEAKING THE
SPEECH OF AMERICA

Choose one of the quotations or memory gems given in this chapter. Make sure that you can repeat it correctly, in a pleasant voice, pronouncing and sounding every word distinctly and correctly. In other words, be prepared to speak it as a true American should.

CHAPTER TWELVE

MONTHS, DAYS, AND ABBREVIATIONS; DATES; LETTER WRITING

Note to the teacher: Do not neglect your Manual. Your pupils' progress, as well as your own success, depends on your use of it.

I. NAMES OF MONTHS AND THEIR

ABBREVIATIONS

In the memory gems studied in the last chapter, the names of some of the months were used. They were January, April, and May.

With what kind of letter did each begin?

In writing, the names of some of the months are often shortened, or abbreviated.

These abbreviations, like the full names, begin with capitals and they are followed by periods. May, June, and July are not abbreviated.

The names of the months and their abbreviations begin with capital letters.

Here are the names of the months and their abbreviations correctly written. Study them, and when you are sure you can write every one correctly from memory, close your book and do so.

After you have finished writing the names of the months and their abbreviations, compare your paper with the book and correct any mistakes you may have made.

II. NAMES OF DAYS AND THEIR

ABBREVIATIONS

The names of the days of the week and their abbre

viations begin with capital letters.

Study them and write from memory.

When you have finished, compare your paper with your book. There should be no mistakes to correct in this simple lesson.

III. SOME DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY

Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain, August 3,

1492.

He discovered America, October 12, 1492.

The Declaration of Independence was signed, July 4, 1776.

The flag of the United States was adopted by Congress, June 14, 1777.

Study each sentence in this way:

Christopher" and "Columbus" begin with capitals because they are the names of a person.

"Spain

begins with a capital letter because it is the name of a place.

"August" begins with a capital because it is the name of a month.

There is a comma to separate the date from the rest of the sentence.

There is a comma to separate the part of the date that shows the day of the month from the part that shows the year.

There is a period at the end of the sentence because it is a statement.

IV. WRITING DATES FROM DICTATION 1

V. SPEAKING AND USING WORDS
CORRECTLY

1. There are They are

Read clearly and distinctly the two groups of words written above. They look different, and when spoken they sound different. But many

1 Note to the teacher: For directions, see Manual, page 134.

SPEAKING AND USING WORDS CORRECTLY 155

people are careless; they say "They are" when they mean "There are."

The following are incorrect. Read each silently and say the correct form aloud.

They are thirty-one days in January.

They are twenty-eight days in February.
They are thirty days in June.

Mistakes are often made in using the above groups of words.

"There is" and "There was" "There was" are used in speaking of one thing.

The following sentences are correct. Read them.

There is only one apple left.

There was a party at our house last night.

"There are" and "There were' are used in speaking of more than one thing.

The following sentences are are correct. Read them.

There are thirty days in September.

There were more than thirty people at the party last night.