to make the recitation a drill in
the diacritical markings or the multiplication table, the method must
be still a different one. In other words, _the method must be planned
to accomplish certain definite ends if the teaching is to be
purposeful and effective._

2. _Fundamental principles of method_

There are certain fundamental principles of method which underlie all
teaching, and which, therefore, are to be sought in every recitation,
no matter what the special method used may chance to be. The first of
these principles may be stated as follows:--

_a. Interest is the first requisite for attention and all mental
activity._--A recitation without interest is a dead recitation.
Because it possesses no life it cannot lead to growth. Nothing can
take the place of interest. Fear may drive to work for a time, but it
does not result in development. Only interest can bring all the powers
and capacities of the child into play. Hence the teacher's first and
greatest problem in the recitation is the problem of interest. To
secure interest he must use every resource at his command. This does
not mean that he is to bid for the children's interest with
sensational methods and cheap devices. This is not the way to secure
true interest. It means, rather, that he is to offer to the class
subject-matter suited to their age and experience, and presented in a
way adapted to their capacity and understanding; that he is to have
all conditions surrounding the recitation as favorable as possible;
and that he is himself to be constantly a source of interest and
enthusiasm. If these conditions are all met the problem of interest
will present few difficulties.

_b. The natural mode of learning is to proceed from the known to the
related unknown._--This is a statement of what is known as the
principle of _apperception_ or the learning of the new by connecting
it with the old already in the mind. To make use of this principle it
is necessary to freshen up what the pupil knows on a topic by asking
him questions or otherwise causing him to think anew the facts
previously learned that are related to what he is about to learn. For
example, when beginning the subject of percentage, the subject of
decimals should be reviewed, since percentage is but an application of
decimals and can most easily be learned and understood as such.
Likewise in beginning the study of the Civil War, the question of
slavery and that of the doctrine of states' rights