What are the McGuffey Readers?
Since the first publication in 1836, the McGuffey Readers have continued to be in print and to sell tens of thousands of copies each year. They are mainly popular in the homeschool movement but are also implemented in a few school systems.
What did James McGuffey do for a living?
McGuffey became famous as the author of the Readers (more accurately the editor), but he wrote few other works. He left Miami University for positions of successively greater responsibility at Cincinnati College, Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and Woodward College in Cincinnati, where he served as president.
How did Henry Ford influence McGuffey's Readers?
The manufacturer Henry Ford cited McGuffey's Readers as one of his most important childhood influences. He was an avid fan of McGuffey's Readers first editions, and claimed as an adult to be able to quote from McGuffey's by memory at great length.
How many students did John McGuffey teach at age 14?
McGuffey became a "roving" teacher at the age of 14, beginning with 48 students in a one-room school in Calcutta, Ohio, and at a seminary in the town of Poland, Ohio. The size of the class was just one of several challenges which the young McGuffey faced. In many one-teacher schools, students' ages varied from six to 21.
What age are McGuffey Readers for?
McGuffey Readers are reprints of early 19th century eclectic readers and feature literary selections that are suited to the age level (1st through 6th grade) and interests of students. They teach reading through moral stories geared toward their original audience of white Protestant Americans.
Where were McGuffey Readers commonly used?
American schoolsMcGuffey Readers, formally McGuffey's Eclectic Readers, series of elementary school reading books that were widely used in American schools beginning in the 1830s.
What did the McGuffey readers emphasize?
The lessons in the Readers encouraged standards of morality and society throughout the United States for more than a century. They dealt with the natural curiosity of children; emphasized work and an independent spirit; encouraged an allegiance to country, and an understanding of the importance of religious values.
What grade level is McGuffey Readers?
It is a hardback with 242 pages. It covers approximately third grade through fifth-grade reading levels. “Develops thinking skills and the richer vocabulary of grades six through eight.
When were McGuffey Readers used?
The Eclectic Readers (commonly, but informally known as the McGuffey Readers) were a series of graded primers for grade levels 1-6. They were widely used as textbooks in American schools from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, and are still used today in some private schools and homeschooling.
Why were McGuffey Readers important to Washington?
The Readers could guide children from learning the alphabet all the way to high school materials, as each volume increased in skill level. Just as importantly, with their tales of self-made men, American revolutionaries and Pilgrims, they served as a conduit for White, Christian culture.
What did William McGuffey do?
William Holmes McGuffey, (born September 23, 1800, Washington county, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died May 4, 1873, Charlottesville, Virginia), U.S. educator who is remembered chiefly for his series of elementary school reading books popularly known as the McGuffey Readers.
Who wrote the McGuffey reader?
William Holmes McGuffeyMcGuffey Readers / AuthorWilliam Holmes McGuffey was a college professor and president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, the first widely used series of elementary school-level textbooks. Wikipedia
Are McGuffey Readers public domain?
These McGuffey's Eclectic Readers PDF links are Project Gutenberg files, which are free ebooks in the public domain and are copyright-free.
How do you teach reading with McGuffey readers?
13:1215:17How To Use The McGuffey Readers- Tips and Ideas (Homeschooling ...YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipI follow the book list and when we are on that book what I do is just that we read the lesson.MoreI follow the book list and when we are on that book what I do is just that we read the lesson.
What is Ned in the First Reader?
My request for readers to send me more colloquial expressions they remembered from childhood brought in some I'd never heard before, such as "looks like Ned in the First Reader," a phrase to rebuke a child who hadn't combed his hair or looked sloppy.
Overview
The Eclectic Readers (commonly, but informally known as the McGuffey Readers) were a series of graded primers for grade levels 1-6. They were widely used as textbooks in American schools from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, and are still used today in some private schools and homeschooling.
Publication
William Holmes McGuffey established a reputation as a lecturer on moral and biblical subjects while he was teaching at Miami University. In 1835, the small Cincinnati publishing firm of Truman and Smith asked him to create a series of four graded readers for primary level students. He had been recommended for the job by longtime friend Harriet Beecher Stowe. He completed the first two readers within a year of signing his contract, receiving a fee of $1,000 ($20,000 in 2021 doll…
Influence
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Ron Powers notes that the Readers affected the first mass-educated and mass-literate generation in the modern world. The books made Shakespeare's plays widely known in America. Author Hamlin Garland said "I got my first taste of Shakespeare from the selected scenes which I read in these books." Students were encouraged to memorize, and read aloud…
In popular culture
In the 1965 western Nevada Smith, Steve McQueen's character Max Sand, who could not read, purchases a McGuffey reader from a supply store, and mention is made of it throughout the movie.
In the show Little House on the Prairie (TV series), the McGuffey readers are frequently seen being used at the schoolhouse.
Bibliography
• Best, John Hardin (2000). "McGuffey, William Holmes". American National Biography Online.
• Corinth, Jacqueline. "'McGuffey's Eclectic Readers' and their Continuing Influence on American Education: A Historical Analysis of the Secondary Literature." International Journal of the Book 6.1 (2009).
External links
• McGuffey Reader Collection From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress
• Project Gutenberg downloads of McGuffey Readers