Helpful Hints for the Rural Teacher, and teachers of all lower grades

Valley City, N. D.: Smith and Bassett, 1924. Hardcover. Fair. Quarter brown cloth over papered boards; front cover with pictorial sketch of a schoolhouse. Worn. Pages toned; some dampstaining in the top margins; pages are delicate and some have tattered edges or closed tears. 130 pages. Scarce. Written by a couple North Dakota school teachers for the edification of rural school teachers. The advice and practical suggestions for activities was composed with the understanding of the very real limitations for both teachers and students in rural America, which included the handicaps of a lack of materials, the isolation from kindred work, and the ''all too often... lukewarm interest of the community toward that work.'' The authors were both experienced teachers living in Valley City (Barnes County), North Dakota. Alice Woodward (Withington) Smith (1878-1943) was a native of Pennsylvania and had attended the Greensburg Seminary. Laura Ramona (Livingstone) Bassett (1891-2000) was a graduate of the Valley City State Normal School and went on to have a career teaching in the Long Beach, California, School District. She lived to be nearly 109 years old. Contents: Preface. I. Opening Exercises and How to Vitalize Them. II. the School Room Beautiful. III. Story Telling and Dramatization. IV. Songs and Poems for the Rural School. V. Games, Indoors and Out. VI. Definite Plans for Community Activities Originating in the School. VII. Suggestive Programs for Special Days. VIII. Rural School Construction and Seat Work. IX. Play Day with Program and Suggestions. X. Simple and Practical Helps for the Rural School Hostess. XI. The Rainy Day recess. XII. Famous Pictures and the Stories They Tell.