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rh ------------ WINNETKA WEEKLY TALK, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1923 1/7 Talks About Our Winnetka Schools By CARLETON W. WASHBURNE, Superintendent, Winnetka Public Schools. SPELLING Do the children of today spell less well than the children of a generation ago? Do the children of Winnetka spell less well than those of other places? Just what is the Winnetka method of teaching spelling, anyway? [t is commonly thought among adults that spelling is one of the subjects which was taught more thoroughly in the good old days. This idea is due partly to the glamour that surrounds early memories. As far back as one can go in the history of education-- back through the early Colonial days, back through the church schools of the middle ages, back to the days of the Roman Empire, back even to the days of Aristotle, one finds on record a con- tinual lament that the good old days are gone, the children no longer learn as they used to learn, and that stand- ards have fallen. Better Spellers Today In the case of spelling, the present lament is reinforced by the fact that spelling occupied a much more prom- inent place in the curiculum a genera- tion ago: Spell-downs were social at- fairs for which all the best spellers pre- pared, but it was the best spellers who got ready for those spell-downs, while the poor spellers stood onthe side-lines and cheered. And the words which these best spellers learned were the most difficult words they could find--ut- terly regardless of the probability of their use in life. There are strong reasons to believe that the average spell- ing ability of school childrn today is far beyond the average spelling ability of a generation ago. As to whether the children in Win- netka spell better or less well than chil- dren in other places, we fortunately have statistical evidence. The three thousand words most commonly used in correspondence have been tried out on many thousands of children all over the United States until we know what the average spelling ability is for each grade for any of these words. Last May we tried out a number of these words on all the children in the Winnetka schools. Our seventh and eighth grades, having learned all their early spelling by the old method, did not do exceptionally well, falling somewhat below the stand- ard for these grades. The fifth and sixth grades were practically at stand- ard; that is, the average child in these grades spelled exactly as well as the av- erage child of these grades throughout the country. In fourth grade, the Win- netka children made an average of 84% as against 75%, which was the standard for the country at large. Third grade did still better. When given a list of words on which third graders generally made 75%, the Winnetka third graders averaged 87.5%, four of the third grades actually averaging 95%. Simple Sane Method The Winnetka method of teaching spelling is simple and sane. Instead of teaching all the children all the words, children are first tested twice on all the words that children of their grade should know. Then each child studies words that he missed in either of these preliminary tests. Out of 500 f words, the poorest speller will miss over 400, the best spellers may miss only half a dozen. Under the old method, good spellers and bad spellers alike would study all 500 words. Under the Winnetka method, the poor speller stu- dies the 400 he missed, the good speller half a dozen. The time saved to the good spellers is very great indeed, and even the poorest spellers can concen- trate on the words they do not know in- stead of wasting time on those that they do know. A system of reviews is provided in the Winnetka plan so that every child has a weekly review test every week on cach word that he missed originally un- til he can spell this word right in such a weekly review. He is then retested on all words he has ever missed, twice cach year, until in four successive semester review tests he has spelled these words correctly. The method saves time, con- centrates the children's attention where they most need it, and provides an un- usually thorough system of reviews. The words taught in the Winnetka schools have been selected as a result No need to worry 'bout a turkey this Thanksgiving. The chefs of The Orring- ton hotel at Evanston are planning a din- ner for you that will save "Mother" all the usual work. Umm! of several elaborate statistical studies. They consist of the words most com- monly used in adult correspondence and the words most commonly used in chil- dren's compositions, checked with the list of the commonest words in the Fng- lish language. The words most com- monly used in correspondence were found in Towa by analyzing 3,723 busi- ness and personal letters containing a total of 361,184 running words. The words most commonly used in children's compositions were determined in Con- necticut by analyzing 50,000 children's compositions containing more than half a million running words. The common- est words in the English language have been found by Professor Thorndike of Columbia University hy making counts of all the words in books, periodicals, and many other places, covering all to- gether forty-one sources and' over four and one-half million running words, Basing a spelling fist. on. such thorough-going studies, results in the elimination of words like defalcation, hippopotamus, meritorious, gratuitous, and ascendency, all of which are found in the old type of speller and substitut- ing for them such words as poor, power, present, pretty, put, and reason, which are among the thousand commonest words in our language. A speller con- faining four thousand words should ob- viously contain the four thousand com- monest words, instead of omitting some of these in favor of words very infre- quently used. The difficult words named above do not even fall within the ten thousand commonest words. The Winnetka method, then, concen- trates children's attention on the words they do not know, instead of wasting | their - effort on words they already! know. The selection of words is based upon scientific investigation, instead of being based upon haphazard guess work. Isn't such a method bound to vield results superior to those of a generation ago? N. T. Girls Athletic Club Elects Officers Martha Thomas has been elected president of the Girl's Athletic associ- ation. at New Trier High school Betty Frazer was named vice-presi- dent, and Janet Gordon was appointed secretary-treasurer. Initation cere- monies are to be held in the near future, it is announced. The Girls Athletic association directs the intra- mural contests in hockey, swimming, tennis and other athletics indulged in by the girls of the school. SCANDINAVIANS HOLD DANCE The Scandinavian Pleasure club announces one of its popular dances to be held at Community House this evening. The club is one of the old- est of Community House groups and has established an enviable reputation with its social activities. at our new location Also repairing on all Electrical appliances. Electric Irons Curling Irons Toasters etc. PARR & POWELL WINNETKA Phone Winn. 122 748 Elm St. COMMUNITY HOUSE "THE PRIDE OF PALOMAR?" By PETER B. KYNE ALSO THE HALLROOM BOYS IN "SIX A. M." FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23 Everthing Electrical Forest Preserve Buys More Skokie Property One hundred and sixty acres of Skokie land lying west of Winnetka, were purchased by the Forest Preserve commissioners this week, it was re- ported, for the sum of $94,000. The property in question includes 80 acres south of North avenue and bounded on the east by Hibbard road, purchased from Clara F. Bass. for $47,000. The 80 acres adjoining the Bass property on the west were bought from Isadore Bross for $47,000. 'Mrs. Margaret May who has been visiting in California for the past four months, has returned to Winnetka to pass the winter with her daughter and son-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. Edwin T. Schildberg, 642 Ash street. rier dodo dmdondmbobe buried bestia bn dec bhi 1 1 i A. W. ZENGELER : : CLEANER AND DYER : 3 A trial order is respectfully N [] solicited 1 ] 810 ELM STREET Phone 144 : SPECIAL FRUIT about is contained in Special Brick. Genuine fruits, cent more pure poured into it. in non-Carbonated ice A wonderful dessert [ce Cream surpassingly nourishing food values. at IT'S HYDROX and IT'S WEEK-END Ice Cream... | Ice Cream goodness such as you ha this 'Week- Bud" ¥drox~. % {Il redolent h 3 oo flavors, are . crushed into it. Seventy] ve cream than the law R And matchless purity--unknown creams--insures it. this is another famous Hydrox Week-End Special. a delicious refreshment It's sold exclusively through your Hydrox Dealer. 50c for THIS SALAD "at with fully @, 2 \ per Ww req rir is For an wholesome and rich in Officers and Directors HENRY R. HALE, President [LOUIS B. KUPPENHEIMIR Vice President SANBORN HALE, Cashier VICTOR CARLTON NOBLE ELTING PROTITY HAI i, Winnetka. Thus we help to better Winnetka. accomplish our purpose by carrving your account here. Whether large or small it will be welcome. Making Winnetka a more desirable place in which to live is the aim of the Winnetka State Bank. To accomplish this aim we are ever broadening our service to meet the growing needs of the people of The better banking facilities we furnish Winnetka's business men, the better can they supply your needs. You can help us Hours: 8:00 to 3 daily WINNETKA STATE BANK °'© 2:0 Saturdey ELM STREET, EAST OF LINCOLN AVENUE Resources $1,000,000.00 7 p. m. to 8 p. m. Saturday evening