The Ontario Readers: Third Reader

Ontario. Department of EducationProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 353K words
Chapters: 36

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Ontario Readers: Third Reader by Ontario. Department of EducationAuthor: Ontario. Department of Education,Language: English, Class: PE: Language and Literatures: English, Release Date: Apr 9, 2016

Editor's review

The Ontario Readers: Third Reader is a classic graded English reader compiled by the Ontario Department of Education in Canada, a public-domain educational document. Its value lies not in literary originality but in showing the selection standards and teaching philosophy of early twentieth-century North American elementary language education: moderate length, varied subject matter balancing stories, poetry, and informative short pieces, with language standard and restrained. For today's readers, the book is both extensive reading material for English learners and a primary sample of educational and textbook history, showing how selections of the time conveyed character, general knowledge, and language-training goals. It need not be read closely piece by piece; it is better suited as material for developing language sense and short extensive reading, or for comparison with readers from other regions of the same period to understand the evolution of English textbooks. For researchers it is primary material on Ontario curriculum history; for general readers it is a light volume to flip through a few pages at a time and catch the flavor of an old-style textbook.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Learners who want to use public-domain short pieces for extensive English reading and to develop language sense
Readers studying the history of English textbooks or North American basic education curricula
General readers who enjoy old-style textbook selections and want to know what classrooms read a century ago
Teachers needing short, standard texts for reading aloud or language imitation

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking contemporary literary quality and narrative tension
Test-oriented learners wanting systematic grammar explanations or exercises
Those with no interest in educational history or old textbooks who just want entertainment stories

Reading tips

Choose one or two short pieces a day to read aloud; when you meet unfamiliar words, first guess from context and then check.
Sort the selections by genre and compare the language of stories, poetry, and informative short pieces.
Read alongside readers from other regions of the same period, noting similarities and differences in selection standards and period attitudes.
No need to read straight through; skip by length or subject interest to keep a light pace.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for complete beginners in English?

Not very. As a third reader, it assumes some vocabulary and reading experience; the selections are short but contain old-fashioned expressions and literary sentences. Complete beginners are better off starting with simpler graded materials and using this book for more advanced extensive reading.

Do the selections share a single theme?

The available materials do not list the specific pieces, but given the nature of a reader, the selections usually balance stories, poetry, and informative short pieces in service of language training and character education, rather than being organized around one theme. Readers should group and read them by genre and length.

Do I need to know Canadian history to read this book?

Not in advance. Most selections can be read independently; if you are interested in textbook history, some knowledge of the early twentieth-century Ontario education system helps. General readers can simply treat it as an old-style English reader for extensive reading, filling in background as they go.

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About the author

Ontario. Department of Education Author

The Ontario Department of Education is the government body responsible for education in the Canadian province of Ontario, and it prepared and published textbooks and teachers' guides under its institutional name. The library holds 10 of its works, including the Ontario Readers series (such as The High School Reader, 1886, the Fourth Book and the Third Reader) and Ontario Normal School Manuals: Science of Education, along with Ontario Teachers' Manuals volumes on nature study, history, household science in rural schools and household management. These readers and manuals were intended for elementary and secondary classrooms and for teacher training, combining reading selections with guidance on pedagogy and curriculum delivery, and reflecting the body's direction of standardizing curricula, regulating instruction and promoting practical subjects. Public information is limited; its works were long used in Ontario schools and have had a lasting influence on the province's basic education textbook system.