Publisher's Synopsis
In these days when the schools are awakening to the importance of training in silent reading, there is danger that the ability to read orally as a fine art and as a contribution to social enjoyment may be neglected. Those acquainted with school work know too well the monotonous, indistinct speech and self-conscious, listless attitude which characterize so much of the reading of pupils in grades above the third. If the modern reading program is carried out intelligently this sacrifice of good oral reading need not be made in the laudable effort to develop the necessary reading skills. The balanced reading program will, of course, lay much greater emphasis on the development of reading skills, but it will also provide amply for the social interpretation of the printed page through training in oral reading as a social response. The reading of these simple plays has been found, in thousands of schools, to effect a marked improvement in the pupils' oral reading.....
