Monthly Archives: November 2019

The Weekly Text, November 18, 2019: Five Worksheets on the Homophones Sight (n), Site (n/vt), and Cite (vt)

This week’s Text is a set of five worksheets on the homophones sight (noun), site (noun and transitive verb), and cite (transitive verb). These are very commonly used words in the English language. For some learners, these are easily confused. Part of the reason I wrote this was to help students who needed to learn to cite sources for research papers. I took it as an opportunity to do some vocabulary building. These are short exercises for opening a class period after a transition.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Down and Out in Paris and London

Down and Out in Paris and LondonAn autobiographical study (1933) by George Orwell (1903-50), the author’s first published book. It is an account of working with the poor in London’s East End, and performing menial jobs in a working-class district of Paris, while trying to get his writing published. A useful piece of advice in the book is to stick to the cheaper restaurants in Paris, as in the more glamorous establishments the waiters are likely to spit in the soup.”

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.

Miniskirts

Because teenagers struggle to imagine a time when the miniskirt was risque apparel, this reading on miniskirts has tended to be a high-interest item in my classrooms. This vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet accompanies it.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Mark Twain on the Sacred and the Profane

“Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.”

Mark Twain

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.

Cultural Literacy: Anorexia Nervosa

I have other materials related to the topic, but if you need something quick to introduce it, this Cultural Literacy worksheet on anorexia nervosa might be suitable.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Term of Art: Psychosocial Stressor

psychosocial stressor: n. Any life event or change, such as divorce, marriage, bereavement, loss or change of a job, or moving house, that causes stress and may be associated with the onset or deterioration of a mental disorder. See also adjustment disorder.”

Excerpted from: Colman, Andrew M., ed. Oxford Dictionary of Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Ransack (vt)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb ransack, which is only used transitively; unsurprising, since one must ransack something, mustn’t one?

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

7 Chemicals of Alchemist’s Arcana

“Sulphuric Acid * Iron Oxide * Sodium Carbonate * Sodium Nitrate * Liquor Hepatis * Red Pulvis Solaris * Black Pulvis Solaris

The alchemist’s vocabulary does not always translate directly into a modern formula. They were keen on Natron, which was a generic word that included both the salts of sodium carbonate and sodium nitrate. Vitriol, however, is what we know as sulphuric acid and Aqua Fortis was nitric acid. Black pulvis solaris was formed from ground black antimony (stibnite–a sulphide of antimony) mixed with ground sulphur. Red pulvis solaris was a mixture of mercury (which could be extracted by heating cinnabar) and sulphur.

The alchemists also made a strong connection between the seven prime metals and the planets. The sun was linked to gold, the moon to silver, Mars to iron, Mercury to quicksilver, Saturn to lead, Jupiter to tin, and Venus to copper.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

Word Root Exercise: Omni

OK: I have a couple of minutes before my presence is required elsewhere, so here is a worksheet on the Latin word root omni. It means all. You find it at the roots of many English words, including omniscient and omnipotent,  which is why this post gets a philosophy tag.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Malediction

“Malediction (noun): An invoking of evil or harm upon somebody or something; pronounced curse; evil talk or slander. Adjective: maledictive, maledictory.

‘He caught up the empty pewter mug at his right and threw it at the clumsy lad with a malediction.'”

Willa Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop

Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.