Greetings to Day 4 of the Riverside eBooks Series.
If you missed a day, please be sure to get your ebooks (10 books a day)!
- Day One: Background information and information regarding the books.
- Day Two: View the Riverside Literature Series book list.
- Day Three: See an example book list from the 1886-1887 school year.
- Day Five: Example grade levels for the books.
The 1886-1887 recommended reading list I discussed from Day Three fascinated me. Were the books recommended for an elementary school student? High school student? Searching for an answer I found a statement in the Riverside series which listed book numbers recommended for different reader grades. (see image below).
The bottom paragraph related to grade level caught my attention:
Numbers 47, 48, 49, and 50 are suitable for pupils of the Second and Third Reader grades. The following numbers, given in the order of their simplicity, have been found well adapted to the tastes and capabilities of pupils of the Fourth Reader grade: 29, 10, 7, 8, 9, 17, 18, 22, 23, 46, 11, 21, 44, 28, 36, 24, 19, 20, 32, 37, 31, F, G, and H. The other numbers of the series are suitable for pupils of the Fifth and Sixth Reader grades and for the study of literature.
Using the numbered book list from Day Two, I compared it to the 1886-1887 list from Day Three. It appears the 1886-1887 list corresponds to “pupils of the Fourth Reader grade”. Since it mentions fifth and sixth reader grades I am assuming this reading list is indeed for elementary age students. Using the numbers from this paragraph I’ve listed the corresponding books below. I hope this helps you gain a sense of “reader grade”.
Second and Third Reader Grades
- Fables and Folk Stories. In two parts. (47,47)
- Hans Andersen’s Stories. In two parts. (49,50)
Fourth Reader Grade
- Hawthorne’s Little Daffydowndilly, and Other Stories (29)
- Hawthorne’s Biographical Stories. With Questions. (10)
- Hawthorne’s Grandfather’s Chair. In three parts. (7,8,9)
- Hawthorne’s Wonder Book. In two parts. (17,18)
- Hawthorne’s Tanglewood Tales. In two parts. (22,23)
- Old Testament Stories in Scripture Language (46)
- Longfellow’s Children’s Hour, and Other Poems. (11)
- Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac, etc. (21)
- Edgeworth’s Waste Not, Want Not; and The Barring Out (44)
- John Burroughs’s Birds and Bees. (28)
- John Burroughs’s Sharp Eyes, and Other Papers. (36)
- Washington’s Rules of Conduct, Letters, and Addresses. (24)
- Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. In two parts. (19,20)
- Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Speech, etc. (32)
- Charles Dudley Warner’s A-Hunting of the Deer, etc. (37)
- Holmes’s My Hunt after the Captain, and Other Papers. (31)
- Longfellow Leaflets, Whittier Leaflets, Holmes Leaflets (F,G,H)
Based upon this information it appears that the books listed above are indeed recommended for elementary level students. Now I ponder, does a “fourth reader grade” correspond to 4th grade as in a K-12 system? Come back tomorrow and see!
Day Four eBooks
Whittier’s Tent on the Beach, and Associated Poems
Introduction, Map of Region Celebrated in Whittier’s Poems, The Tent on the Beach, Associated Poems (96 pages)
Emerson’s Fortune of the Republic. The American Scholar, etc.
Introduction, The Fortune of the Republic, The Young American, American Civilization, The Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, American Scholar (142 pages)
Ulysses among the Phaeacians. From Bryant’s Translation of Homer’s Odyssey
Preface, Ulysses among the Phaeacians (72 pages)
Macaulay’s Lays of Ancient Rome
Editor’s Preface, Introduction, Lays of Ancient Rome with Explanatory Notes (117 pages)
Old Testament Stories in Scripture Language
Preface, The Tower of Babel, Joseph and His Brethren, The Return from Egypt (100 pages)
Fables and Folk Stories
Preface, Various Fables and Folk Stories, Index (200 pages)
Washington Irving: Essays from the Sketch Book
Chronological Table: Period Covered by Irving’s Life, Biographical Sketch, Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Stratford-on-Avon, The Mutability of Literature, The Voyage, The Wife, The Art of Book-Making, Christmas, The Stage-Coach, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Grammatical Notes on “The Stage Coach” and the “Mutability of Literature” (200 pages)
Bryant’s Sella, Thanatopsis, and Other Poems
Biographical Sketch, Stella, The Little People of the Snow, March and Various Other Poems (95 pages)
Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Thurber. (archive.org)
Introduction, Merchant of Venice Annotated for School Use (270 pages)
Longfellow’s Tales of a Wayside Inn. In three parts. (archive.org)
Tales of a Wayside Inn with an Introduction and Notes (274 pages)
My mind is spinning with eBook delight. I hope you are enjoying this series. Your e-bookshelf should now have 40 books from the Riverside Literature Series. If not, please be sure to check out the books listed on Day One, Day Two and Day Three.
Looking for more great content?! Head on over to iHomeschool Network’s 5 Day Hopscotch. Great content. Great subjects. Go!
