UMass Amherst

What is the 4th "R"?


The Fourth "R" is a reference to the "Three Rs", the widely used cultural catchphrase for the essential fundamentals of an elementary education - reading, writing, and arithmetic. The etymology of the "Three Rs" is the alteration, readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic, originally derived from the popular 1907 ballad, "School Days," composed by Will Cobb and Gus Edwards.

  • School days, school days; Dear old golden rule days.
    Readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic; Taught to the tune of the hick'ry stick.

    • Although some of you may not remember the sentimental ballad, most of you will recognize that he "Three Rs" is contemporary shorthand for the teaching of fundamental skills. A Google search for the “Three Rs” turns up over 56 million links, with variations on what should constitute the “Three Rs” in contemporary educational treatises and other formations.

    While Research Literacy would like to lay claim for originality, others have variously made use of the 4th R slogan – for aRt education, for a magazine about Religion, for a human Rights organization, and for the title of a 1959 science fiction book about a boy with artificial intelligence.

     

    		 integrated brain

    Research -
    The Fourth "R"