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Contents

Preface xvii

Chapter 1 Foundations of Language and Literacy 1

Chapter Goals 1
Language and Literacy: Definitions and Interrelationships 1
Definition of Terms 2
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 4
The Common Core State Standards 4
LINK TO PRACTICE 4
Early Literacy Instructional Approaches 5
Emergent Literacy Approach 5
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 6
Scientifically Based Reading Research Approach 6
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 7
Blending the Two Approaches: The Early Literacy Approach 7
LINK TO PRACTICE 10
An Early Literacy Instructional Program 10
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Explicitly Teach Children
Skills That Research Supports as Key Elements of Reading,
Writing, and Speaking 10
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Provide Children with a
Print-Rich Classroom Environment 10
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Read to Children Daily 10
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Demonstrate and Model
Literacy Events 11
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Provide Opportunities
for Children to Work and Play Together in Literacy-Enriched
Environments 12
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Link Literacy and Play 12
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 13
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Encourage Children to
Experiment with Emergent Forms of Reading and Writing 13
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Provide Opportunities for
Children to Use Language and Literacy for Real Purposes
and Audiences 13
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Make Use of Everyday
Activities to Demonstrate the Many Purposes of Reading
and Writing 14
viii Contents

Effective Early Childhood Teachers Use Multiple Forms of

Assessment to Find Out What Children Know and Can Do 14
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Respect and Make
Accommodations for Children’s Developmental, Cultural,
and Linguistic Diversity 15
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Recognize the Importance
of Reflecting on Their Instructional Decisions 15
Effective Early Childhood Teachers Build Partnerships
with Families 16
LINK TO PRACTICE 16
Summary 16

Chapter 2 Oral Language Development 18

Chapter Goals 18
Definition of Terms 19
Describing and Differentiating Perspectives on
Children’s ­Language Acquisition over Time 20
Behaviorist Perspective 20
Nativist Perspective 21
Social-Interactionist Perspective 22
Neurobiological Perspective 23
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 24
Defining the Aspects of Language 24
Phonology 24
Morphology 25
Syntax 26
Semantics 27
Pragmatics 27
LINK TO PRACTICE 29
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 29
Observing and Describing the Normal Development
of ­Children’s Language 29
Birth to One Month 29
Two to Three Months 30
Four to Six Months 30
Six to Nine Months 30
Nine to Twelve Months 31
Twelve to Eighteen Months 32
Eighteen to Thirty-Six Months 33
Three to Five Years 34
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 37
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 38
 Contents ix

Family Focus: Developing Language over Time 38

LINK TO PRACTICE 40
Determining Factors that Contribute to Variations
in Rate of Language Acquisition 41
Gender Differences 41
Socioeconomic Level 41
Cultural Influences 41
Medical Concerns 42
Congenital Language Disorders 43
DISFLUENCY 43
PRONUNCIATION 43
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 44
Summary 44

Chapter 3 Family Literacy and Language

Development 46
­

Chapter Goals 46
Definition of Terms 47
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 49
Home Literacy Experiences 49
Access to Print and Books 49
Adult Demonstrations of Literacy Behavior 50
Supportive Adults 50
Independent Engagements with Literacy 50
Storybook Reading 52
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 53
Home Talk: A Natural Context for Learning
and Using Language 53
Encouraging Personal Narratives 55
LINK TO PRACTICE 57
Read-Alouds 57
Time 57
Types of Books  57
Quality of Reading Engagement  60
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 60
Television as a Language Tool 61
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 61
Impact of Media on Young Children  61
Choosing Programming for Children  62
Beyond Television 63
Special Note Regarding Electronic Media and Infants and Toddlers 63
LINK TO PRACTICE 64
x Contents

Case Study 64
Tiffany 64
Family Focus: Parent Workshops 67
Why Is It Important! 69
Tell Me a Story! 69
LINK TO PRACTICE 69
Summary 69

Chapter 4 Organizing Early Language and

Literacy Instruction 71
Chapter Goals 71
Definition of Terms 72
Why Classroom Environments Are Important 72
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 73
Designing Classroom Environments for Infants
and Toddlers 73
From Infant thru Toddler 75
Toddlers 76
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 76
LINK TO PRACTICE 76
Designing a Print-Rich Pre-K and K Classroom
Environments 76
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 78
Library Centers 78
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 80
LINK TO PRACTICE 80
Writing Centers 80
WRITING MATERIALS IN OTHER CENTERS 82
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 83
LINK TO PRACTICE 83
Environmental Print 83
Functional Print 84
LINK TO PRACTICE 87
Literacy-Enriched Play Centers 87
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 91
LINK TO PRACTICE 91
Organizing the Classroom’s Daily Schedule:
Using Time Wisely 91
Infant Schedules 91
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 91
Toddler Schedules 92
 Contents xi

Preschool and Kindergarten Schedules 94

Whole-Group Time  95
Small-Group Activity Time  96
Center or Activity Time  97
Transitions 97
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 98
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 98
LINK TO PRACTICE 98
Summary 98

Chapter 5 Developing Oral Language

Comprehension 99
Chapter Goals 99
Oral Language Comprehension 99
Definition of Terms 100
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 100
Contexts That Develop Oral Language Comprehension 100
Language Experiences 100
Substantive Conversations 101
Instruction 102
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 103
LINK TO PRACTICE 103
The Oral Language Comprehension–Early Literacy
Connection 104
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 104
Language Conventions 104
Vocabulary 105
Listening Comprehension 107
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 107
LINK TO PRACTICE 107
Creating a Supportive Learning Environment
for Oral Language Comprehension 108
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 108
Small Group Talk 108
Role-Play 108
Dialogic Reading 109
Sociodramatic Play 109
Word Play 110
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 110
LINK TO PRACTICE 111
Summary 111
xii Contents

Chapter 6 Sharing Good Books with Young Children 112

Chapter Goals 112
Definition of Terms 113
The Importance of Storybook Reading 113
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 116
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 116
Selecting Books to Share with Young Children 116
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 117
LINK TO PRACTICE 118
Interactive Storybook Reading 118
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 121
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 121
Shared Big-Book Reading 121
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 124
LINK TO PRACTICE 124
Responding to Literature 124
Creative Dramatics 124
Puppets 125
Story Drama 126
Art Projects 126
Writing 126
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 128
LINK TO PRACTICE 128
Summary 128

Chapter 7 Teaching Early Reading 129

Chapter Goals 129
Foundations of Early Reading Teaching 129
Definition of Terms 130
Language 130
Phonological Awareness 130
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 131
Alphabet Letter knowledge 131
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 131
Print Conventions 131
Name Writing 132
Summing Up the Domains 132
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 133
Approaches to Early Reading Teaching 133
Basal Reading Approach 133
 Contents xiii

Direct Instruction Approach 134

Play-Based Approach 135
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 135
Discovery Approach 136
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 136
LINK TO PRACTICE 137
Word-Level Teaching Techniques 138
Alphabet Activities 138
SONGS 138
LETTER CHARTS 138
PRINT-REFERENCING 139
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 139
ALPHABET WORD WALLS 139
GAMES 140
LINK TO PRACTICE 140
Phonological/Phoneme Awareness Activities 140
WORD/SYLLABLE SEGMENTING  140
ONSET–RIME 140
SOUND MATCHING  141
PHONEME BLENDING/SEGMENTING  141
PHONEME MANIPULATION 141
Phonics 141
LETTER–SOUND MATCHING  142
WORD WALLS 142
GAMES 142
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 143
Meaning-Level Teaching Techniques 143
Storybook Reading 143
Say–Tell–Do 143
Tier 2 Technique 144
Retellings 144
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 145
Habits 145
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 145
Designing a Comprehensive Literacy Program 145
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 147
Summary 147

Chapter 8 Teaching Early Writing 148

Chapter Goals 148
Definition of Terms 149
Why Early Writing Matters 149
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 150
xiv Contents

LINK TO PRACTICE 150

Children’s Writing Development 150
EMERGENT WRITING  150
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 153
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 153
What Research Says about Children’s Development
as Writers 153
Supporting Children’s Development as Writers 155
SHARED WRITING  156
INTERACTIVE WRITING  158
INDIVIDUAL WRITING  160
CLASSROOM NEWSPAPER 160
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 161
LINK TO PRACTICE 161
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 161
The Writing Workshop 161
Focus Lessons 162
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 162
Writing Time 163
Group Share Time 163
LINK TO PRACTICE 164
LINK TO PRACTICE 165
Publishing Children’s Writing 165
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 166
Handwriting 166
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 167
Families’ Role in Supporting Children’s Development
as Writers 167
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 168
Summary 169

Chapter 9 Assessing Young Children’s Language and

Early Literacy: Finding Out What They Know
and Can Do 170
Chapter Goals 170
Definition of Terms 171
Early Literacy Knowledge and Skills Children
Need to Learn 171
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 173
LINK TO PRACTICE 173
 Contents xv

Types of Early Literacy Assessment 173

Formative Assessment 173
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 174
CLASSROOM-BASED ASSESSMENT TOOLS 174
PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT . . . 181
ADDRESSING STORAGE PROBLEMS 181
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 183
Summative Assessment 183
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 188
LINK TO PRACTICE 188
Effective Uses of Assessment Information 188
To Inform Instruction 188
To Share Assessment Results with Parents 188
PROGRESS REVIEW CONFERENCES 189
CHILD–PARENT–TEACHER CONFERENCES 191
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 191
Assessing Dual Language Learners 191
Summary 192

Appendix: At-Home Activities! 193

References 209
Children’s Literature 227
Name Index 229
Subject Index 233
This page intentionally left blank
Preface

Helping Young Children Learn Language and Literacy, Fourth Edition, is about teaching the
language arts—about facilitating children’s reading, writing, speaking, and listening develop-
ment in pre-kindergarten through the upper elementary grades. The language arts are essential
to everyday life and central to all learning; through reading, listening, writing, and talking,
children come to understand the world. To be a successful teacher of language and literacy,
you need to understand how children’s language and literacy develop and how to help children
become fluent, flexible, effective users of oral and written language. Children are at the center
of all good language and literacy teaching. This principle underlies the four themes that run
throughout this book: a perspective on teaching and learning that blends constructivism and
science-based instruction, respect for diversity, instruction-based assessment, and family
­involvement in literacy learning.
This book describes how children acquire language and literacy knowledge in many dif-
ferent contexts and how teachers can effectively promote the development of oral and written
language. It also describes numerous science-based instructional practices teachers can use to
enhance children’s language and literacy knowledge. We believe that children construct their
own knowledge about oral and written language by engaging in integrated, meaningful, and
functional activities with other people. Children do not first “study” speaking, then listening,
then reading, then writing. They learn by engaging in activities in which language and literacy
are embedded. We also believe, however, that literacy skills can be increased via direct, sys-
tematic instruction. This instruction can often take the form of games and other engaging ac-
tivities, and it also contains the elements of direct instruction: explanations, teacher modeling,
guided practice, and independent practice.

New to This Edition

There are numerous new features to this edition that reflect recent developments in the field of
language arts education.
■■ We have added a fourth author, Kathleen Roskos, who is a top literacy researcher and scholar.
Dr. Roskos has extensive experience in early childhood literacy instruction. She has totally
revised Chapter 5, Developing Oral Language Comprehension, and Chapter 7, Teaching Early
Reading. In addition, she has made substantial contributions to Chapter 4, Organizing Early
Language and Literacy Instruction, and Chapter 9, Assessing Young Children’s Language and
Early Literacy.
■■ We continue to believe that it is important to frame the ideas presented in this book within
the broader national context of what is happening in language and literacy in the United
States. The most important development since the publication of the 3rd edition in 2012 has
been the establishment of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts,
Grades K–12. These are truly national standards that specify what children should know
and be able to do at each grade level. Almost all of the states have adopted these standards,
so they are going to have a tremendous effect on language and literacy instruction. The
Common Core State Standards are introduced in Chapter 1. The remaining chapters, when
appropriate, each feature the standards that fit with that chapter’s content.
■■ We have added a number of new pedagogical features, including:
■■ Chapter Goals that outline the learning objectives for each chapter;
■■ Pause and Think About … that encourages students to reflect on the chapter content;
■■ Check for Understanding quizzes* that allow students to self-assess their knowledge
of key concepts; and
■■ Link to Practice that enables students to apply key concepts in classrooms where they
are doing observations and internships.
*Please note that eText enhancements are only available in the Pearson eText, and no other third-party eTexts, such as
CourseSmart or Kindle.
xviii Preface

■■ We have greatly expanded our coverage of strategies for promoting language and literacy
in infants and toddlers, both at home and in day care settings.
■■ Since the publication in 2012 of the 3rd edition of this book, much has been written about
how to best support children’s language and literacy development. Of course, we have
revised the ideas presented in this book so the information shared is reflective of what is
known about language and literacy development today. Many references were eliminated
because they provided outdated information, and many new references were added. More
than 30 percent of the references have been changed in this new edition.
■■ We also are grateful to the veteran teachers who describe how they provide their students
with effective language arts instruction. This has been a feature of each of our previous edi-
tions. This edition includes several illustrations of how the teaching strategies we describe
can be applied to specific situations and how real teachers deal with practical problems that
arise in the course of daily life in the classroom.
■■ In response to reviewer feedback, we have added more practical, “hands-on” examples and
activities.
■■ The chapters contain linked videos* that provide examples of the important discussions
throughout the text. Each illustrates a teacher using one of the many instructional strategies
described in the text. Seeing the strategy in action in a classroom with children helps to
bring the print to life.
■■ Invigorate learning with the Enhanced Pearson eText. The Enhanced Pearson eText pro-
vides a rich, interactive learning environment designed to improve student mastery of con-
tent with embedded videos. The Enhanced Pearson eText is also available without a print
version of the textbook. Instructors, visit pearsonhighered.com/etextbooks to register for
your digital examination copy.

Themes
Children are at the center of all good language and literacy teaching. This principle underlies
the four themes that run throughout this book: blending emergent literacy and scientifically
based reading research into a high-quality program, respect for diversity, instructionally linked
assessment, and family involvement.
Our first theme acknowledges the two very different views on how to teach language and
literacy to young children, emergent literacy and scientifically based reading research. We be-
lieve that both approaches to early literacy instruction have their advantages. Emergent literacy
programs provide opportunities for children to learn about literacy on their own and with help
from the teacher and peers. Learning can occur at the appropriate pace for each child and build
on what he or she already knows. This approach provides children with rich opportunities to
acquire oral language and to move through the developmental progressions in emergent read-
ing and writing. The downside to this approach is that not all children are ready or able to take
full advantage of these learning opportunities. These children have a tendency to “fall through
the cracks” in emergent literacy programs and make very little progress. Such children need to
be explicitly taught vocabulary, phonological awareness, alphabet, and concepts of print before
they can fully profit from the learning experiences in an emergent literacy program. The book
describes how children acquire language and literacy knowledge in many different contexts,
how teachers can design authentic classroom opportunities for using oral and written language,
and how teachers can design developmentally appropriate ways to explicitly teach the core
skills that have been found to be predictive of later reading achievement.
Our second theme is respect for diversity. Children’s personal experiences, both at home
and at school, are important factors in learning. In our diverse society, children come to school
with vastly different backgrounds, both in terms of life experiences and language. This diver-
sity needs to be taken into account when designing instructional activities for children and
in evaluating children’s responses to these activities. Illustrations of how teachers can work
effectively with diverse learners can be found throughout this book. This new edition includes

*Please note that eText enhancements are only available in the Pearson eText, and no other third-party eTexts, such as
CourseSmart or Kindle.
 Preface xix

special features at the end of most chapters that explain how to adapt instruction for English
language learners and children with special needs. Every child comes to school with a wealth
of information about how written and spoken language works in the real world. Teachers must
discover what each student already knows to build on that student’s knowledge through appro-
priate classroom activities.
Because we recognize that assessment cannot be separated from good teaching, instruc-
tionally linked assessment is our third major theme. We introduce the principles of assess-
ment-guided instruction in Chapter 1. Chapter 9 focuses on assessment and describes strategies
that teachers can use to understand children’s language and literacy knowledge in the context
of specific learning and teaching events. Chapter 9 also describes how standardized tests can
be used to document how well schools, and now individual teachers, are doing their jobs. This
“accountability” function of assessment is becoming increasingly important in the current po-
litical climate, so it is crucial that teachers understand how to interpret the results of these
standardized assessment instruments. So, assessment-guided instruction is our third theme.
Find out what children know and can do—and plan instruction based on each child’s needs.
The fourth theme running through this edition is the importance of the family in young
children’s language and literacy development. The family and the home environment shape
children’s early language and literacy experiences—the sounds and words they hear, the sto-
rybooks read to them, the experiences they have with written language. Connecting home
and school is critically important. In several chapters, we include descriptions of how early
childhood teachers can connect with families and engage caregivers in their children’s school
or center. The aims are twofold—to provide effective communication strategies to share in-
formation with and receive information from caregivers about the children and to provide
suggestions for what families might do to support and celebrate language and literacy learning
in the home.

Acknowledgments
Many outstanding educators helped us write this book. In a series of new special features,
Luisa Araújo and Myae Han describe how teachers can help English language learners be-
come bilingual and biliterate. Laura Justice and Karen Burstein have written special features
on meeting the needs of children with special needs. Karen Burstein also provides her insights
into assessing young children. Sohyun Meacham provides readers with best practice recom-
mendations for appropriate assessment of young children whose home language is not English,
and Colleen Quinn shares information on a specific assessment strategy used in many early
childhood ­programs. Finally, recently retired Sandra Twardosz shares her knowledge about the
brain development. Like us, they sat before their computers for many days. Thanks, colleagues!
Several classroom teachers and professors shared their secrets, showing how theory
and research link with quality classroom practice. We are grateful to Lisa Lemos, Cathy
Coppol, Patty Gleason, Marcia Euriech, and Diane Corley. We are also grateful to the many
pre-­kindergarten teachers in our Early Reading First projects. From these teachers and others
like them, we have seen how exciting language and literacy learning can be when teachers and
children are engaged in purposeful language arts activities. From them and their students, we
have learned much.
Several of our colleagues played a role in the construction of this book through their will-
ingness to engage us in many conversations about children’s language and literacy learning.
Never unwilling to hear our ideas and to share their own, colleagues like Susan B. Neuman,
New York University; Jay Blanchard, Cory Hansen, and Nancy Perry at Arizona State Uni-
versity; and Bonnie Albertson, Emily Amendum, Martha Buell, Christine Evans, and Myae
Han, University of Delaware, have greatly helped us frame our arguments. We would also
like to thank the reviewers of this edition who provided valuable feedback: Jane M. Gangi,
­Manhattanville College; Barbara Krol-Sinclair, Granite State College; and Elaine Van Lue,
Nova Southeastern University. The students we have nurtured and taught, both young children
and college students, also have influenced the development of our ideas. Their questions, their
talk, their play, their responses, their enthusiasm—each one of them has taught us about the
importance of the language arts in our lives. Their positive response to our ideas fueled our
eagerness to share those ideas more broadly.
xx Preface

Finally, our families have helped us write this book. Our grandchildren and grandnieces
and grandnephews are providing wonderful examples of their use and enjoyment of oral and
written language. The stories of their journeys to being competent language users bring life to
the research and theory discussed in our book. Mary Christie, Don (Skip) Enz, Ron Vukelich,
and Philip Roskos gave us time to write but also pulled us from our computers to experience
antique shows, museums, trips, home repairs, life. And then, of course, there is our extended
family—our parents, David and Dorothy Palm, Art and Emma Larson, Bill and Jeannine
Fullerton, John and Florence Christie, William and Arlene Schenk—who provided our early
reading, writing, speaking, and listening experiences and helped us know firsthand the joys of
learning and teaching the language arts.
—C.V., J.C., B.J.E., K.A.R.
 Chapter 1
Foundations of
Language and
Literacy

Grandma and 3-year-old Carol cuddle in an overstuffed

green chair. Grandma asks, “What book should we read?” Carol
picks a book they haven’t read before, Caps for Sale by Esphyr
Slobodkina. Grandma and Carol study the cover. Grandma says,
“What do you think that guy is doing with all those caps on his
head?” Carol says that she thinks he’s a circus man. They begin
to read. They quickly come upon a word Grandma doubts Carol
knows, wares. She explains that wares are things for sale. She re-
minds Carol of their recent trip to the City Drug store and asks, Chapter Goals
“What wares did we see there?” Carol remembers candy, Grand-
1.1 Explain the connection between
ma’s prescription, cards, and a few other wares. As they read,
language and literacy.
Grandma explains other words that Carol might not know with
1.2 Explain why standards, like the
simple “child-friendly” definitions, and they talk about the story.
Common Core State Standards,
Carol especially likes the monkeys in the tree and Grandma’s tsh,
are important to early childhood
tsh, tsh sounds. As she closes the book, Grandma asks, “So, was
educators’ planning, teaching, and
the guy a circus man?” Carol knows that he was a peddler carry-
assessing.
ing his wares on his head; they weren’t on shelves in a store!
1.3 Label instructional strategies that
early childhood teachers might use
to support their young learners’ early
Language and Literacy: Definitions and literacy learning as originating from
Interrelationships the emergent literacy perspective or
The terms language and literacy can be defined in many ways. Language from the scientifically based reading
can be defined very broadly as any system of symbols that is used to research perspective.
transmit meaning. These symbols can consist of sounds, finger move- 1.4 Describe several principles of
ments, print, and so on. Literacy also has several different meanings. effective early literacy instruction.
2 Chapter 1 Foundations of Language and Literacy

BOX 1.1 Alphabet knowledge: The knowledge about the alphabetic writing systems (e.g., letter names,
letter sounds, group of letters)
Definition
Common Core State Standards (CCSS): Nationwide standards for K–12 in English Language
of Terms Arts (ELAs) and mathematics that indicate what is expected for students at each grade level to
know and be able to do
Context cues: Information near an unknown word that helps readers infer the meaning of the
words
Contextualized language: Ability to engage in face-to-face conversations about everyday
tangible experiences; listeners can build ideas by using contexts around the words
Contextualized print: Print embedded in a context that allows the reader to hypothesize about
what words say
Decontextualized language: Language that is removed from everyday tangible and familiar
experiences within the immediate context; no supports from the immediate environment to
help get the point across
Decontextualized print: Print removed from its contexts (e.g., McDonalds without the golden
arches)
Developmentally appropriate instruction: Teaching children differently by considering each
child’s age and specific needs
Early literacy: The reading and writing behaviors that children engage in from birth to age 5
Emergent forms of reading and writing: Forms of reading and writing children use as they
move toward conventional reading and writing
Expressive language: The language used to communicate in speaking and writing
Extratextual conversations: Conversations among readers about content or topics that are
related to but are not included in the text
High-frequency-word: List of words that readers are encouraged to recognize without having to
“figure them out”
Highlighting tape: A tape used to emphasize important parts in a text; colored and see through
Informal assessment: Assessment by observation or by other nonstandardized procedures
Language: Refers to oral language (communicating via speaking and listening)
Literacy: Refers to reading and writing (communicating through print)
Phonological awareness: Awareness of the speech sound system (i.e., word boundaries, stress
patterns, syllables, onset-rime units, and phonemes)
Print awareness: Knowledge of the conventions and characteristics of written language (e.g.,
direction of print, read print not pictures, identify front and back of book)
Rebus picture: A picture or symbol representing a word or a syllable (e.g., How R U? = How are
you? I ♥ U = I love you.)
Receptive language: Language used to comprehend in listening and reading
Schema: A mental structure in memory including abstract representations of events, objects, and
relationships in the world
Think-aloud: A technique or strategy in which the teacher verbalizes his or her thoughts aloud
while engaging in a task
Standardized assessment: An assessment that is delivered in exactly the same way each time it is
administered and for which there is a reference group that defines the norm for particular age
groups
Ongoing assessment: Assessment that relies on the regular collection of children’s work to
illustrate children’s knowledge and learning

It can refer to the ability to create meaning through different media (e.g., visual literacy),
knowledge of key concepts and ideas (e.g., cultural literacy), and the ability to deal effec-
tively with different subject areas and technologies (e.g., mathematical literacy, computer
literacy).
Because the topic of this book is early childhood language arts—the part of the preschool
and kindergarten curriculum that deals with helping children learn to speak, listen, read, and
 Language and Literacy: Definitions and Interrelationships 3

write—we use school-based definitions of these terms. Language refers to oral language (com-
municating via speaking and listening), and literacy refers to reading and writing (communi-
cating through print). However, as we describe how children grow in both these areas, it will
become obvious that language and literacy acquisition are closely tied to the total development
of the child—learning to think, to make sense of the world, to get along with others, and so on.
While we have organized this book into separate chapters on oral language and literacy,
we know that the two types of language are integrally connected and related to each other.
Oral language provides the base and foundation for literacy. Oral language involves first-order
symbolism, with spoken words representing meaning. Written language, on the other hand,
involves second-order symbolism that builds on the first-order symbolism of oral language.
Printed symbols represent spoken words that, in turn, represent meaning. Do you see the con-
nections between language and literacy?
One obvious connection between oral and written language is vocabulary. For a reader to
recognize and get meaning from text, most of the words represented by the text must already
be in the reader’s oral vocabulary. If the reader can recognize most of the words in the text,
context cues might be used to figure out the meaning of a few totally unfamiliar words. Simi-
larly, a writer’s choice of words is restricted by his or her oral vocabulary.
Catherine Snow and her colleagues (1991) point out a less obvious, but equally important,
link between oral language and literacy. They point out that oral language is actually an array
of skills related to different functions. One set of skills is relevant to the negotiation of inter-
personal relationships and involves the child’s ability to engage in face-to-face conversations
(contextualized language). Another involves the ability to use language to convey information
to audiences who are not physically present (decontextualized language). Decontextualized
language plays a vital role in literacy because it is the type of language that is typically used in
written texts.
Children gain experience in these different aspects of language through different activi-
ties. They become skilled at contextualized language by engaging in conversations with others,
whereas they gain skill at decontextualized language by listening to stories, by engaging in
explanations and personal narratives, and by creating fantasy worlds (Snow et al., 1991). It is
not surprising, therefore, that research has shown that children with rich oral language experi-
ences at home tend to become early readers (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001) and have high levels
of reading achievement during the elementary grades (Wells, 1986).
The relationship between literacy and oral language becomes reciprocal once children
become proficient readers. Extensive reading begins to build children’s oral language capa-
bilities, particularly their vocabulary knowledge. Cunningham and Stanovich (1998) present
evidence that people are much more likely to encounter “rare” unfamiliar words in printed
texts than in adult speech, and Swanborn and de Glopper’s (1999) meta-analysis of stud-
ies on incidental word learning revealed that
during normal reading, students learn about
15 percent of the unknown words they encoun-
ter. The more children read, the larger their
vocabularies become. In the preschool years,
the more children are read to, the larger their
vocabularies become.
Because this book deals with the early
stages of literacy development, the relation-
ship between oral language and literacy is
rSnapshotPhotos/Shutterstock

primarily one way. Anything teachers can do

One way that parents can grow their children’s vocabularies is by
reading to them.
to build children’s oral language skills, partic-
ularly their vocabulary knowledge and ability
to deal with decontextualized language, will
also benefit children’s literacy development. So
even if a teacher’s primary mission is to boost
young children’s literacy skills, attention also
needs to be given to building children’s oral
language abilities.
4 Chapter 1 Foundations of Language and Literacy

Pause and Think about ...

The Benefits of Adults Reading to Children
Based on your experiences, explain how reading a story to children, like Grandma did to Carol
in the opening vignette, can support children’s language and literacy skill development.

The Common Core State Standards

Standards? What are they? Standards define the knowledge and skills that children—all
­children—must attain. They clarify and raise expectations. Because they identify what all
­children must know and be able to do, they define what is to be taught and what level of child
performance is expected.
In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education prepared a report titled A
Nation at Risk. The commissioners warned that a “rising tide of mediocrity” in our schools
threatened our future as a nation. Action was needed. The solution recommended by the com-
missioners was the creation of standards. High and rigorous standards, the commissioners
believed, would restore the nation’s place in the world. These commissioners launched the
standards movement. While initially the standards movement focused on the writing of con-
tent standards in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies for the K–12
grades, attention soon turned to the writing of standards for pre-K education. By the early
2000s, nearly every state had state content standards for pre-K to grade 12. Typically, at the
preschool level, standards also were written in the social, emotional, and physical develop-
ment domains.
One issue, however, clouded the standards movement. Each state’s standards were differ-
ent, and some state standards were technically superior to others (Neuman & Roskos, 2005).
Recently, there was a significant movement to “standardize” the standards. In 2009, 48 states,
2 territories, and the District of Columbia signed a memorandum of agreement with the Na-
tional Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, committing to
the initiation of a process to produce a set of rigorous, research-based K–12 standards in En-
glish language arts and mathematics, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). One year
later, they released a set of standards. (Search for Common Core State Standards—English
Language Arts.) States could elect to adopt the CCSS, and initially 45 states, the District of
Columbia, 4 territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity did just that. Fol-
lowing adoption, these standards replaced each state’s state-developed standards. The Com-
mon Core standards begin at kindergarten. This led to states revising their pre-K standards in
the English language arts and mathematics to ensure alignment with the CCSS kindergarten
standards in these two content areas.
Why are standards important to teachers and children? While standards, like the CCSS,
set expectations for children’s achievement, they do not tell teachers what curriculum to use or
what instructional strategies to employ in their classrooms. Yet, standards drive instruction and
assessment. When teachers plan their lessons, they use the standards to guide their decision
making about such instructional features as the kinds of books to read to their children, the
instructional materials to purchase and provide for their children’s use, the explicit teaching
instruction they will provide, the center time activities, and how to assess their children’s learn-
ing. The standards movement continues to be viewed as an important means to improve the
quality of education in the United States at all levels.

Link to Practice
Access your state’s department of education website to bookmark your state’s early literacy
guidelines. (You may need to search a bit. Your state’s pre-K standards might be called “The
Foundations of Learning,” “Building Blocks to Learning,” or something else; few states called
their pre-K standards, “standards.”) Compare what your state expects preschool children to
know with what the CCSS expects K children to know. Do you see a clear link between the two
sets of standards? Share your thinking with your peers.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sunshine and shadow,
or, Paul Burton's surprise
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
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Title: Sunshine and shadow, or, Paul Burton's surprise

A romance of the American Revolution

Author: Julia A. Moore

Release date: October 2, 2023 [eBook #71783]

Language: English

Original publication: Cadillac, MI: J. A. Moore, 1915

Credits: Gísli Valgeirsson and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUNSHINE

AND SHADOW, OR, PAUL BURTON'S SURPRISE ***
 SUNSHINE AND SHADOW
OR PAUL BURTON’S SURPRISE

A Romance of the
American Revolution

BY JULIA A. MOORE
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. 5
CHAPTER II. 11
CHAPTER III. 17
CHAPTER IV. 23
CHAPTER V. 31
CHAPTER VI. 37
CHAPTER VII. 45
CHAPTER VIII. 51
 CHAPTER I.

Many years ago, in one of the New England States near the banks of a small
lake, stood a beautiful farm house, surrounded by a fine orchard. John Hilton,
the owner of this romantic place, was an intelligent farmer and was kind to all
people who chanced to come to his house. His family consisted of himself,
wife and two children, a son and daughter. Warren, the eldest, was a fine lad of
eighteen, with blue eyes and light complexion, and inherited his father’s kind
disposition. Minnie was a brunette, a splendid girl of sixteen, with a heart as
pure as the wild flowers around her home. She had company. Her cousin,
Nettie Spaulding, had come from the city of New York to spend her birthday.
Nettie was a lovely girl of eighteen, with dark brown eyes and dark auburn hair
which hung in lovely curls around her shapely head. She had come to spend a
few days with her cousin in the country. Since her father’s death nothing
seemed to please this dreary, kind-hearted child of nature more than to visit
her uncle’s house by the lake, where she could roam at will in the woods and
gather wild flowers where nature had planted them so artistically. That
Monday morning there was a great bustle around the house. There was to be a
party on the Friday night following in honor of the young lady friend, and all
seemed to enjoy the pleasure it afforded, except the young lady. She was silent
and often in tears, and her cousins could not draw her out of this apathy. That
afternoon her cousins were going to town to do some shopping. Nettie
preferred staying at home and going down to the lake to gather wild flowers
for a bouquet.
“It is so pleasant to gather roses, lilies and shrubs alone by the lake;” thus she
said to her cousins as they rode away.
Warren waved an adieu as he said, “Dear cousin, do not go too near the brink
of the lake, as you may fall in and there would be no one to get you out.”
She waved back the adieu as she sadly said, “Be not afraid, cousin. I shall be
careful. How happy they are,” she said as she turned and went silently to the
house, thinking how kind her cousins were to her, a poor, lonely girl of the
metropolis. Thus she mused: “Mother told me my cousins would use me as if I
was as well off financially as they were. Oh, if papa had lived perhaps we
would not have been bankrupt. Oh, how times will change in a few short
months; as soon as papa died nearly all of his creditors wished to have their
pay. It was all right for them to have their dues. Poor mamma had to sell nearly
all the property, only saving a small sum out of the wreck. We can get along,
for ‘where there’s a will there’s a way.’ I am going to do something. One thing
certain—my parents gave me a good common education and debts cannot
take that away. I will try and turn it to good advantage when I can.” Thus she
mused as she went slowly up the path. The tears were slowly trickling down
her lovely features and falling on the little hands. She was deeply engaged in
thinking and did not observe her aunt who was coming down to meet her. She
was surprised when her aunt said, “Nettie dear, why those tears? Are you not
happy? Have your cousins been unkind to you?”
“No, auntie, I was only thinking of papa and what might have been.”
“Yes, Nettie, I know what you are referring to, but God has willed it otherwise
and you should be content. My dear, your papa did not know that he was so
soon to die and leave his only child nearly penniless. If he was to know it
would make him very unhappy, as he dearly loved you. It is well the dead do
not know of the living, for if they did how unhappy thousands would be to see
the troubles and sorrows of their friends on earth. This is a great mystery we
cannot solve; we can only do our duty in helping one another, then, perhaps,
we can meet them on that ‘evergreen shore.’”
While her aunt was speaking Nettie was silently weeping. Her aunt said,
“Cheer up, Nettie, you and your mother can have a home with us as long as we
have one, and we will share the last morsel of food with you; your uncle said
so a few days ago.”
“Thank you, auntie, we can get along yet a while; something may turn up for
us yet,” answered Nettie, kissing her aunt.
“Remember, my dear, you have one true Friend, One who is always near. He
will not forsake you in the hour of trial,” said her aunt.
“I remember mamma telling me that God will never forsake one of his
children if they will call on him for aid. It seems so strange, though, to be cast
down from wealth to poverty, and have nearly all our friends turn from us,”
said Nettie sorrowfully.
“They are not your friends; they are only make-believers. No true friends
would turn their backs to you because you had lost your wealth. They would
help you in the hour of need.”
“Thanks, auntie, for your compliment,” answered Nettie. “I will always be true
to myself and all mankind, then I will be able to reap the great reward that is in
store for the just.”
“Now, dear, it is time you should be going down to the lake to gather those
flowers, as your cousins will be back soon,” and as she spoke these words she
kissed her niece, turned, and ran up the steps as sprightly as a young girl.
All the afternoon she was meditating how happy she would make her only
brother’s lonely child. “My children shall not mar her happiness by one
thought or deed, as I will set the example and they will follow, as they are
dutiful children.”
Meantime Nettie wandered down to the lake, gathered a beautiful bouquet of
wild flowers, and then sat down on the brink of the lake to arrange them more
tastily. She was thinking how she would be eighteen next Friday, and how
anxious her cousins were for her to get acquainted with the young people of
the vicinity. She exclaimed aloud, “Oh, if I was as light hearted as they how
happy I would be. They seem to be very happy indeed, and why should they
not be, with everything so pleasant around them; by this little lake I could live
always, where nature is dressed in green in the summer season. Oh, mother, if
you knew how lonely your child is this afternoon and how sad it seems to me
to come here for pleasure, and leave you at home with only one companion. I
know it is very lonely for you, as I never have left you at home since papa died.
Oh, mama! why did you urge me to come and leave you alone. You were very
anxious for me to come and spend my birthday with my cousins. Oh, mother!
no happiness have I found, although my friends are very kind to me. I hope
some day I may be able to repay you for all the kindness you have shown to
me. Oh, dear! I am so melancholy.”
As she uttered those words tears were falling on the flowers in her lap, and in
moving some of the most beautiful of them fell into the water. “Oh, dear!
what shall I do! I can’t get any more of those lilies tonight; what will auntie say
when I return home?”
She had brought a stick and was trying to fish some of them up. So busily was
she engaged that she did not observe a tall manly form come out of a clump
of bushes near by until he said, “Dear lady, may I not get those flowers for
you? Please let me have that stick. Perhaps I can reach the greater part of
them.”
She gave the stick to him and stepped back and watched him as he drew the
flowers, one by one, out of the water. What a handsome young man he was, as
he stood, one foot on the bank and the other on a rock on the edge of the
lake, reaching far out into the water after the flowers. His hat lay on the bank;
his hair waved in the summer breeze—it was auburn and inclined to be curly.
His eyes were dark blue. He was a picture of manliness. This was Paul Burton,
the richest young man in the vicinity. He came down to the lake fishing, had
torn his net, and was mending it when the lady came near by, and not wishing
to frighten her had kept quiet, thinking perhaps she would soon go away. He
did not wish to be an eaves dropper, but the circumstances placed him there
and he did what any other young man would have done in like circumstances.
At last he secured all the flowers. He gently shook the water from them and
gave them to her, and bowing low said, “May nothing more serious happen to
the receiver of these flowers!”
He picked up his hat and turned to go when Nettie said, “Sir, to whom am I
indebted for this great act of kindness?”
He turned towards her, handing her a card which read thus: P. B., of Pine
Island. She put the card in her portfolio and kindly thanked him.
“You are entirely welcome, and I hope we may meet again.”
He quickly retreated to his work, leaving her standing alone. She watched his
form until the bushes hid him from view, then she went slowly homeward,
contemplating about the young fellow she had just met. She looked upon him
as a hero and wished to know more about him. Thus she mused: “I will find
out who he is Friday night. Perhaps he may come to the party, for he can’t live
far from here as he is alone. I will not say anything to cousin about whom I
saw, but will wait and see what will come to pass.” She went home in a lively
mood; she was happier now than she had been since her sojourn in the
country. Her cousins had returned heavy laden with dainties for the party. As
she came into the house so gaily they demanded to know why she had been
gone so long.
“You have not been getting flowers all this time; mother said you went away as
soon as we were gone,” said Minnie.
“Yes,” said Warren, “I was thinking of coming down to find you, thinking you
had wandered far out into the woods and got lost, or was drowned in the
lake.”
“No, cousin, I lost some of my flowers in the lake and had to get them.”
“How did you manage to get them,” asked Minnie laughing, “you had to wade
out in the water no doubt.”
“No, Minnie, they were fished out with a stick.”
“It must have been great amusement for you fishing for flowers; I wish I could
have seen you,” said Minnie, looking at her cousin pleasantly.
“You would have been surprised no doubt. I tell you, cousin, I have had a
splendid time since you have been gone, anyway,” answered Nettie.
She omitted telling them what a fine companion she met by the lake. She
seemed more cheerful and took more interest in getting ready for the party. All
her friends there wondered what had made her so lively and gay all at once, as
she spoke often of the party the remainder of the week. All the young people
were busily engaged in getting ready for this grand occasion, which was to be a
sunbeam in the life of poor, delicate, lovely little Nettie; she who was
discouraged and depressed; and for this reason her mother was anxious
regarding the health of her child, and for a change sent her to her uncle’s, who
were doing everything in their power to draw her back to be the same lively
girl she was before her father’s death.
I will leave them all busily engaged in getting ready for the party, and return to
Paul.
After getting the flowers he went back to his net, but he could not work. Time
hung heavily on his hands. At last he picked up his fishing tackle and went
homeward, musing on what a lovely little being he had found; such little hands.
“I saw one tiny little foot as she stepped upon a knoll to see me fish for the
flowers, and never can I forget those dark, dreamy eyes. They seem to look
into my very soul. I wonder if she is Warren Hilton’s cousin. All the girls
around here I am acquainted with. This little lady must be the city cousin
Hilton’s people are going to make a party for. Warren has given me an
invitation, and I am going, on purpose to see if my conjecture is right.”
Turning he went home, and as he came without any fish. His mother met him
at the door and said: “Why Paul where are your fish?”
“In the lake, I suppose,” he answered laughing heartily. “Do you not see I
haven’t any?”
“I didn’t know but what you left them somewhere about,” answered his
mother, rather sharply.
“Now mother do not be cross with your little boy. He has only been fishing
and tore the fish net and could not catch any,” said Paul, still laughing. “Oh,
mother, I found the nicest little human fish I ever saw, and I am going to catch
her if I can. What will my mother say to that?”
“My son,” answered the lady solemnly, “if she is good and true I will not say
anything, but if she is not, what a life you would live God only knows. My past
life you never knew, and may never, perhaps. If I had my life to live over again,
I should lead a different life to the one I have been living the past twenty
years.”
 CHAPTER II.

It touched the honest heart of her son, and he said: “Mother, I know there’s a
great sorrow you wish to keep from me. I have found out that my father is
living, but why he is an exile from his home I know not, as you have always
avoided telling me of him.”
Paul looked wistfully at his mother, hoping she would respond favorably to his
last few words and tell him something about his father, whose picture hung
over the piano, in the parlor. She had taught him to love it and call it papa, yet
would always avoid telling anything about him when Paul in childish prattle
would say: “Mamma, where is my papa?”
The answer was always the same: “Paul, my darling son, your papa is gone,
gone;” then would break out weeping violently.
His childish questions were quickly hushed, as it always awed him into silence
to see his mother in trouble. Yet the same thought had grown up with him,
and in later years had troubled him very much. “Why does not mother tell me
more about my father—whether he is dead or alive;” these were his thoughts.
He was sitting under a tree one Sunday evening musing, when he exclaimed
aloud: “Is my father dead or alive? Why does mother not tell me and not keep
me in misery?”
An old negro servant was passing by and heard him. He went quietly to him,
and laying his hand on Paul’s shoulder said: “Young massa, fadda is alibe and is
a roving ober the earf, missa and massa had a quarrel and massa went away
when you was a little babe. He laid you in my arms and said, ‘Pompey, watch
ober dis boy as if he was your own, and God will bless you always; and my
prayer will always be for you and my poor little boy, who will neber know he
has a fadder.’”
Great tears rolled down the negro’s dusky cheeks and fell on the young man’s
shoulder as he said: “Paul, I has always watched you grow up to be a man, and
a good, kind man you is, too, and now I is ready to die.”
“No, no,” answered Paul, “do not say die, Pompey. You have tried to fill the
place of father to me, and I can remember many acts of kindness you have
shown to me in my childhood and I want you to live long with me,” and he
grasped the hand of his faithful old servant.
This was how Paul came to know his father was living; and when he was last
speaking to his mother and she did not say anything about his father he turned
to go and she saw he was deeply moved: she said, “Paul, who is this little girl
you spoke so highly of ?”
“I do not know, mother, but perhaps I shall before the week is out.” So saying,
he went slowly to the barn.
He was the owner of a fine farm of two hundred acres, surrounded by the
beautiful forest. Here he had lived ever since he could remember. It had always
seemed strange to him why his mother would not live in the city. She would
only go to town occasionally and always avoided company while there. She
seemed very low-spirited at times, and Paul many times wondered what made
her act so strange. She had given him a fine education and taught him to be a
good farmer, as she thought he would be compelled personally to go to
farming to save the farm, as she, a few years before the opening of our story,
had mortgaged it to save her father from ruin. She had always managed to pay
the interest on it in the strictest secrecy, always preserving the papers in a little
drawer in the closet in the garret. She thought no one knew where it was. Paul
knew nothing of what o’er-shadowed his birthplace. Happy was he at the age
of twenty-one when his mother deeded him the farm, saying, “My son, I freely
give this beautiful mansion and large farm to you, my only child. I know you
love your mother and will take care of her as long as she lives, and when she is
dead will place a plain marble stone at her grave to mark the resting place of
her who gave you birth.”
“Yes, mother,” answered her son. “Never will I forsake you or do aught to give
you pain;” and so far he had kept his word.
At this time or period in his career, time was changing with him; there was a
little being stepping between him and his mother, or in other words his love
was being divided between them. He dearly loved the mother who had nursed
him up to manhood and freely resolved ever to do only what was just and
right by her. He went to the barn to see his beautiful team of horses, a finer
span of blacks there was not for miles around. They were the envy of all the
boys in the country. Whenever he drove out to parties they always attracted
attention and comment, and their owner was highly esteemed for his true
manliness. All the girls said he was too fastidious, as none of them could please
him so well as to keep him from fishing. At last all the girls of his acquaintance
said he could never be suited. At last his fastidious taste was pleased. The
lovely, dreamy girl he met by the lake had won his honest heart. As he cared
for his horses he was deeply thinking of her whom he saw at the lake, and he
mused: “I will saddle Nellie and go to town this evening by the way of Hilton’s,
and perhaps I will see or hear of this city cousin, as I am very anxious to see
this little lady.”
Hastily throwing the saddle on his horse he brought him out of the barn, and
handed the reins to his faithful old servant, who was standing near by, and
went and told his mother of his intentions, omitting of course his going by the
way of Hilton’s. As he came out of the house and took the horse by the bridle,
Pompey said, “Where now, massa Paul, at dis time ob day.”
“To see my girl and tell her what a good old boy you are,” said Paul, laughing
as he went away.
“Bless his young heart; just like his fadder when a boy. How I lobe him. If he
only knowed what I does, how sad he would be. I can neber tell him, but will
watch all the same;” thus mused Pompey as he went out to see if everything
was all right, before retiring.
Paul rode quickly down the road and soon Hilton’s fine farm was in sight. As
he passed slowly by the house he heard someone singing. He stopped and
listened, and these words came floating out on the evening breeze:

But drops of grief can e’er repay

The debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away—
’Tis all that I can do.

As the sound of the sweet voice died away, he rode off saying, “It is her voice,
and it sounds as melancholy as it did down by the lake.” His whole soul
seemed to go out to her; his heart was beating violently, as the words just
uttered seemed to echo through his whole being. “Can such bliss ever be mine
to enjoy? If I can only win the little girl I saw today, I shall be the happiest man
on earth.” Thus the young man mused until the village was in sight. He rode
up to one of the principal stores, when Ralph Harding, an old chum, came up
to him saying, “Paul, have you had a bid to Hilton’s to a party Friday night?”
Not waiting for an answer he said: “I have, and I am going too. They say there
is going to be a New York girl there, and won’t we have jolly fun. She will call
us ‘moss backs’ and stick up her nose at us. They say she is so aristocratic that
a fellow can’t talk with her, even. Anyway, I am going up to see her.”
Paul stayed to hear no more, as he said: “You had better stay away from there
or keep your foolish clack to yourself, as no decent man would talk as you do
about a person he never saw.”
“Perhaps you have seen her and fallen in love with her, as you speak in such
high terms of her,” answered Ralph, winking knowingly.
“I have never had the honor of seeing her as I know of. What would Warren
Hilton say if he heard what you say about his cousin? He would take you for
less than a gentleman,” said Paul, springing lightly on his horse.
“I don’t know and I don’t care; better go and tell him,” said Ralph in a
sneering tone.
“Sir,” answered Paul, “it is a very foolish plan to strike a fool, or I would pitch
you in the street,” springing from his horse down on the sidewalk as he said:
“Ralph, you and I have never had any words before, and it is very strange we
should now, over a stranger; yet I cannot hear you speak ill of a woman you
know no harm of. I never heard you speak so hateful before of anyone. Why
should you now, Ralph?”
“I don’t know,” said Ralph meekly. “I will take it all back, and we will be
friends as of yore if you choose.”
“Thanks,” answered Paul; “kind words are better any time than cruel ones. My
mother always told me to shun a quarrel, and I would find it better in the end,
as no good ever sprung out of one. I must be going, as it is nearly nine o’clock
and I will not get home now until ten and mother will be very anxious about
me,” said Paul. “I would like to see you at the party, Ralph, as I am going too,
if mother is as well as usual. She has not been very well lately. She went to
town some time ago, and since then has been very poorly.”
“I am very sorry,” answered Ralph, and he felt deeply moved as he said: “Paul,
your mother is all the relative you have living, and it would be very bad indeed
to see her die. She has been a good, kind mother to you and you would miss
her very much.”
“Yes,” answered Paul, “a kinder mother there never was, and may she live long
to see what a dutiful son she has.” As he said this tears were in his eyes. “Good
night, Ralph!” Suiting the action to the word he sprang lightly on his horse and
rode away. He went homeward thinking of all Ralph had said about Warren’s
cousin and his mother, and he was deeply troubled. His mother he loved
deeply and feared for her health. He soon arrived and all were to bed except
his mother who met him at the door, saying: “My son, I am very glad to see
you come.”
“Why, mother, did you think the wolves would get me?” said her son laughing,
as he bent down and kissed her. “You see I am here and looking well, so you
need not worry any more, but go right to bed, as you are very pale. Mother,
have you any objections to my going to John Hilton’s to a party Friday night? I
will not stay long.”
“No, my son, I should be pleased to have you go, as it is very lonesome for
you to stay here all the time with only me as company,” said his mother, the
tears springing to her eyes.
“No, no, mother, it is not lonesome here. It would be, though, if I had no
mother to kiss me good night.”
He went to his mother and kissed her again, saying: “Drive those tears away,
dear mother, and let me see you smile again. You have been thinking too
deeply about me since I went away this evening.”
If he only knew what troubled her day and night he would have been troubled
too, but as it were he only thought it was because he went away and left her
alone, which he seldom did in the evening, lately. He went to bed thinking of
all that had transpired since morning—the little lady he met by the lake—
Ralph’s cruel and kind words—and seeing his mother in tears, which he
seldom ever did.
“’Tis strange, very strange,” mused Paul as he fell asleep.
 CHAPTER III.

The time for the party came in due season, and at John Hilton’s everything
seemed to be hustle, bustle. The tea things were to be cleared away, the lamps
lighted, and many other things to be seen to before the company arrived.
Nettie was tripping here and there, making bouquets, for the dining room
tables, seemingly very happy. Her cousins, Warren and Minnie, were very
happy to see their little city cousin, as they loved to call her, so happy—she
always wore a happy smile now.
It was getting late when Minnie said, “Come, Nettie, we must dress soon or
some will come and see us with our working clothes on.”
“Why, cousin, we should not care, as all who will be here tonight know that we
have to work for our living, and we should not try to deceive them,” answered
Nettie, setting the last bouquet in the vase on the mantle over the old-
fashioned fireplace.
“Come now, Minnie, I am ready to go up to the chamber.”
Suiting the action to the word she went tripping away, leaving Minnie to follow
her.
Soon the house was filled with guests, as Hilton’s family were highly respected
throughout the vicinity. Nearly all the guests had arrived when the girls came
down to the sitting room.
Nettie was dressed in book muslin, looped up with knots of cardinal ribbon
and a knot in her hair and at her lily-white throat. She was a picture of
loveliness. Minnie was dressed the same.
“We will be twin sisters this evening,” said Minnie.
“Two better-looking girls there are not in the country,” said Warren, as he
proudly gave an arm to each.
“Don’t flatter us, cousin, or you will make us vain,” said Nettie, looking
smilingly up at him.
“Yes, brother, these dresses are very becoming to us—do you not think so?”
“Yes, sister, white becomes both of you very much.”
They were going slowly down the hall. Nettie was looking shyly around the
room, and Warren noticing her movements said, “Dear cousin, who are you
looking for?”
“No one in particular, cousin Warren. What made you think so?”
“Oh, you seemed so absent-minded; I do not think you have heard a word we
were saying.”
As he stopped speaking the door opposite them opened, a young man entered,
looked around the room, and took off his hat as he said, “Good evening, all.”
His eyes rested on the lovely young girl on Warren’s arm as they came slowly
toward him.
They came to him, and Warren said, “My cousin, Miss Spaulding, Mr. Burton.”
As their eyes met Warren knew they had met before, as Nettie’s face turned
crimson and Paul did not look up. He was sure the guests were all looking at
him. The cousins turned and went down the hall. A young man came and
claimed Minnie for a dance, and Nettie and Warren were alone. As soon as
they were far enough away Warren said, “Little cousin, you and Mr. Burton
have met before; when and where?”
As Nettie did not say anything, he said, “Won’t you tell me, Nettie? Do not be
afraid to tell me, as I am your friend and cousin—one that will be a true friend
to you under all circumstances.”
“Yes,” answered Nettie, “we met last Monday down by the lake; it was he who
rescued the flowers for me.”
“Well,” answered Warren, “he is one of the noblest young men there is about
here, and wealthy besides, and if you gain the esteem of him you will gain
more than any girls about here have done. They have all tried to capture him,
but all have failed in the attempt. They say ‘He never can be suited.’ I wish you
success, little cousin mine.”
As he said this he led her to a seat and went to find Minnie. He went back to
where Paul sat and said, “Mr. Burton, I am pleased to see you here this