take these men from the ship belonging to England, Dorothy? Dorothy. They took them as prisoners of war because we were fighting with the South.

Teacher. What was the attitude of the Americans? [Six hands raised.] Vernon.

Vernon. Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer, and he said we had no right to capture them because we did not allow it in 1812, and we could not do it now. Teacher. I don't want about Lincoln.

Mr. Lincoln didn't

always express the views of the American people. Edwin, can you tell?

Edwin. The northern people were very much pleased, and Captain Wilkes was given a big banquet to celebrate what he had done.

Teacher. There were a few who did not celebrate. Who was one, Isabel?

Isabel. Lincoln.

Teacher. Why did Lincoln claim it wasn't right?

Isabel. Because it was against international law.

Teacher. What's international law? Can you tell us, Russell?
Russell. Neutral ships are allowed to sail freely.
Teacher. What ship were they on?

Russell. An English ship.

Teacher. England said, "We are neutral, and you have no right to stop our ships." Do you remember what argument was used by Germany in the sinking of the Lusitania?

Class. She carried contraband of war.

Teacher. There is always apt to be a dispute about such matters. Now what was done with these two men, Mary? Mary. Set free.

Teacher. They were not only set free but sent on their way to?

Class [completing sentence]. England.

Vernon [volunteering]. I don't see how a ship has the right to go into a country and take the men.

Teacher. Did we have any right to stop the men from the southern states going to England? Class.

Class. No.

Teacher. We can stop them in a way, that is, if they were

bringing supplies to the South, but we can't stop ambassadors any more than England could have said, "We are at war with Germany, and the American ambassador cannot go to Germany." How did we know how far out on the ocean we could stop ships carrying ammunition to the South, Clarence?

Clarence. We could stop them when they got to the threemile limit.

Teacher. Then a blockade can be how many miles out at sea, class?

Class. Three miles.

Teacher. After that it is called high seas and is free to all. No one can settle these affairs entirely. There is so much to the international law I could not answer all questions.

Vernon. Why did they send these men on their way to England after they stopped them?

Teacher. We made an error. So we must try to make it all right. The South had established a vigorous trade with England. What did the blockade do, Joseph?

Joseph. It prevented the ships from going out or in.
Teacher. Did they blockade in the World War?

Class. Yes.

Teacher. Now where?

Class. North Sea.

Teacher. What did Germany use to try to enforce the blockade, which we claim is really against international law? Joseph.

Joseph. Submarines.

Teacher. That's what Germany tried to do. Now going back to our map. Logically where were we in the Civil War? [Class mumbles a confusion of answers.] I want lips still and something done. Remember that the Peninsular Campaign was a failure. Where was the next move,

Joseph?

Joseph. Georgia.

Teacher. Why to Georgia, Earl?

Earl. Because that's where the capital was.

Teacher. I thought the capital was in Virginia, Florence.

Florence. Because Georgia had lots of ammunition and, though it had not improved as much, they had more

ammunition there, and the North knew that it would be an advantage to capture Georgia.

Teacher. I want to know how they were going to get to Georgia? Were they there at Vicksburg?

Class. Yes.

Teacher. Margaret.

Margaret. They could go down by the Gulf of Mexico. Teacher. That would mean a large fleet down there to transport all of our soldiers. I don't think that would be very practical, do you? Mary, how are you going to get to Georgia. Suppose you were a commander, how would you lead them?

Mary. I would go over the mountains.

Teacher. Where are the mountains?

Mary. In Tennessee.

Teacher. All right. You would move up to Tennessee. What would be the advantage of moving up to Tennessee? You must remember your soldiers have to be fed. Russell, you tell us.

Russell.

there.

They would have more food, as the crops are good

Teacher. What do we say? Near the source of ?
Class. Supply.

Teacher. You remember at the time of the Armistice Germany's supplies were cut off, so you see there was nothing else to do but declare an armistice. The thing for every army to do was to keep near the source of supply. Another advantage, Joseph.

Joseph. The South had taken refuge in these mountains, and they would conquer them there.

Teacher. If they did this they would have the South surrounded on how many sides?

Class. Three sides.

Teacher. How had they surrounded the South on the east

side?

Class. By the blockade.

Teacher. How do we know they went through Tennessee?
Class. By the battles.

Teacher. What are some of the battles fought around Tennessee? Vernon.

Vernon. Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Lookout Mountain.

Teacher. All right, Tennessee was taken, and then they moved down through what? Cameron.

Cameron. Georgia.

Teacher. What other advantage was there in moving down there besides the ammunition? Russell.

Russell. They'll have all those states cut off by themselves. Teacher. So they cannot send supplies to what? What city did they want to shut off, Dorothy?

Dorothy. Richmond.

Teacher. You see if they come down to Georgia they can't secure supplies. Where was Lee?

Class. Richmond.

Teacher. From Tennessee through Georgia was the nearest cut to the sea. Was Grant up there?

Class. Yes.

Teacher. What was Grant trying to do? [Class cannot answer.] Close in. Close in, shut off Lee's supplies. All right. Books aside. To-morrow we are going on with the eastern battles. Just trace them. Try to get through the last two years of the war.

9. Comments: This recitation occupied thirty minutes. The children were eager throughout. The responses were well distributed. Practically all of the pupils seemed to follow the work intelligently.

A Critical Study of the Supervisor's Evaluation of the Lesson

One supervisor gave the following evaluation :

The teacher's purpose was realized to the extent that problem solution was her aim.

Good use of maps and supplementary material.

Careful encouragement of pupil participation.
Provision for habit of suspended judgment.

The supervisor would make the following suggestions to this teacher:

Study good questions, aiming to question so as to produce reaction on the part of the children, thus leading to questions and active thinking from the children.

It is evident that this supervisor sees a weakness in the lesson. Probably there are other weaknesses more fundamental. Will the suggestions made produce the desired change in the teacher's methods of teaching? Would such suggestions stimulate the teacher to go to the supervisor of her own accord for specific assistance with concrete situations?

Another supervisor makes the following suggestions to the teacher:

...

You do too much talking. Ask questions so pupils must think the answers, and not be able to guess them as was done in several instances, such as "They were not only set free but sent on their way to ? Class?" Class answers, "England"; and "Near the source of ?" Class answers, "Supply." I would suggest that the class take some of the lead. They were helped constantly by you. They asked no questions themselves. Check up more definitely at the close of the period.

...

This supervisor, too, sees a weakness of this lesson. Furthermore, she has made three specific suggestions based upon concrete evidence. There seems, however, to be no definite plan in mind for the evaluation of a recitation. Her suggestions were about things on the surface. The teacher might follow all of these suggestions and still fail in the teaching of history. A more vital consideration is, Did the teacher's questions lead the class to see relationships, and to organize data about these sequences? A third supervisor evaluated this lesson thus:

Since there was no aim by which this lesson could be unified, the method, organization, and accomplishment are poor. The teacher showed vivacity and general good management in the externals of the situation.

Her remedial suggestions were as follows:

Decide upon what is possible for eighth-grade pupils to accomplish along lines of leadership, service, mastery of story of