pil to
institute relations among his facts, and in improving his power to use
his mother-tongue effectively. Successful topical recitations can be
secured only at the price of long, patient, and persistent effort. The
teacher can gradually work towards them from detailed questions to
questions requiring the combination of a few sentences in answer, and
thence to the complete outline. In almost every lesson the pupils may be
called upon to summarize some topic after it has been gone over by means
of detailed questions. In such answers the pupils may reasonably be
expected to state the facts in their proper connection and in good
language form. In reviews, also, in such subjects as history and
geography, the pupils should be frequently called upon to recite
topically.

THE DRILL LESSON

=Purpose of Drill Lesson.=--The Drill Lesson involves the repetition of
matter in the same form as it was originally learned, in order to fix it
in the mind so firmly that its recall will eventually become automatic.
In other words, the function of this type of lesson is habit-formation.
It is necessary in those subjects that are more or less mechanical in
nature, and that can be reduced to the plane of habit. The field of the
drill lesson will, therefore, be largely restricted to spelling,
writing, language, and the mechanical phases of art and arithmetic.

=The Method.=--As the purpose of the drill lesson is the formation of
habit, the method will involve the application of the principles that
lie at the basis of habit-formation. These are, (1) attention to the
thing to be done so as to obtain a vivid picture or a clear
understanding of it, and (2) repetition with attention. For instance, if
the writing lesson is the formation of the capital E, the class will
examine carefully a model form, note the parts of which it is composed,
the relative size and position of the parts, how they are connected,
etc. Then will follow the repetition of the form by the pupils, each
time with careful attention to the method of making it, comparison with
the model, and the noting of defects in their work. This will continue
until the letter can be made correctly without attention, that is, until
the method of making it has been reduced to a habit. If the lesson is on
the spelling of difficult words, the first step will be to observe the
pronunciation of each, the division into syllables, the difficult part
of the word, and the order of the letters. Th