Europe during the fifteenth century, of the life of Columbus as a boy,
of the ships then in use, comparing them with our present steamships,
etc. Similarly for almost every new section taken up in any study.

The lecture method is also useful in supplementing the recitations of
the pupils. The teacher's knowledge must be much broader than the
textbook; and a little explanation added, an incident told, or an
application of the lesson made will often do much to broaden the
pupil's knowledge of the subject, and will at the same time lend
interest to the recitation, besides increasing respect for the
teacher's education. There is nothing more deadening to the recitation
than a mechanical plodding through the questions and answers of a
textbook without any explanation or amplification, and often without
much comprehension on the part of the class. The teacher who has
nothing of his own to add is incapable of _teaching_ in the true sense
of the word. At best he can only _test_ as to the preparation from the
textbook.

_b. Dangers from the lecture method._--While we justly condemn the
teacher who has nothing of his own to add to the recitation, we must
not forget that there is a danger on the other side. Ask any
assemblage of teachers how many think that, in general, their own
teachers used to talk too much in the recitation, thereby monopolizing
the time, and two thirds will blame their former teachers for
over-using the lecture method. Most people, when they are sure of an
audience, like to talk, and probably teachers are no exception to the
rule.

The teacher who is full of information and enthusiasm for the
recitation is led by this very fact into temptation. Some point in the