Monthly Archives: August 2020

Term of Art: Gerund

Posted on August 10, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Gerund: The -ing (form of a verb that functions as a noun: Hiking is good exercise. She was praised for her playing.”

Excerpted from: Strunk, William Jr., and E.B. White. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition. New York: Longman, 2000.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference

Tagged ,

The Algonquin Wits: Robert Benchley on Technology

Posted on August 9, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Benchley was known for carrying on a constant war with machines and inanimate objects, always coming out the loser. Once he wrote, ‘The hundred and one little bits of wood and metal that go to make up the impedimenta of daily life…each and every one are bent on my humiliation and working together, as on one great team, to bedevil and confuse me and to get me into a neurasthenic’s home before I am sixty. I can’t fight these boys. They’ve got me licked.’”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged ,

Precedence (n), Precedents (n/pl)

Posted on August 9, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here are five homophone worksheets on the nouns precedence and precedents. These actually started as a single English usage (Paul Brian’s book Common Error in English Usage) from a passage in  worksheet, but I decided I’d rather have them as homophone worksheets and so rewrote them as such. Precedents, of course, is the plural of precedent–and both are good words for students to know, as is, of course, precedence.

So there you go.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Worksheets

Tagged , ,

Roman Classicism

Posted on August 9, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Roman Classicism: An American manifestation of English Georgian architecture, favored especially by Thomas Jefferson and seen ca. 1790 to 1830. A raised first floor, a Roman-style columned portico raised on a podium, and severity of ornament characterize the style.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , ,

Lucius Junius Brutus

Posted on August 9, 2020 | Leave a comment

This reading on Lucius Junius Brutus is actually a nice little summary of the founding of the Roman Republic, both in legendary and factual detail. Here is the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that goes with 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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , ,

Benjamin D’Israeli on Truth and Lies

Posted on August 9, 2020 | Leave a comment

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

Benjamin Disraeli

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

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged ,

Ferret (vi/vt)

Posted on August 9, 2020 | Leave a comment

It’s Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day today, to here is a context clues worksheet on the verb ferret. It’s used both intransitively and transitively. You might note for students that in this sense of the verb’s use–i.e., “to find an bring to light by searching”–ferret always appears with the preposition out.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Worksheets

Tagged , , ,

Zeitgeist

Posted on August 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Zeitgeist: (Ger., spirit of the time) In art terms, refers to certain elements characterizing the mood, thinking, and resulting art production or a period or moment.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , ,

Cultural Literacy: Chauvinism

Posted on August 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

As I get ready to sign off for the day, I cannot thing of a better or more timely document to depart by than this Cultural Literacy worksheet on chauvinism.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , ,

Term of Art: Direct Object

Posted on August 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Direct Object: A noun or pronoun that receives the action of a transitive verb. Pearson publishes books.”

Excerpted from: Strunk, William Jr., and E.B. White. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition. New York: Longman, 2000.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference

Tagged ,