Monthly Archives: September 2020

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A notorious horror movie (1974), written by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper, in which a family of chainsaw-wielding unemployed slaughterhouse workers terrorize a Texas community, desecrating the local cemetery and decorating their house with human and animal remains. The title proclaimed the film’s horror credentials, although it contains few scenes with much gore. It was loosely based on upon the atrocities committed in real life by deranged Wisconsin farmer Ed Gein, whose bloodthirsty activities also influenced Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.”

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

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Docile (adj)

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

I’m catching up on the last several Words of the Day from Merriam-Webster, so here is a context clues worksheet on the adjective docile.  This modifier is in common enough use, I submit, to warrant its teaching to high school students–if not earlier.

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.

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Frottage

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Frottage: (Fr., rubbing) Technique of capturing designs and textural effects by placing paper over objects that have raised surfaces and rubbing the paper with graphite, wax crayon, etc. Also called rubbing, it is a popular way of copying forms in nature.”

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

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A Lesson Plan on the Crime and Puzzlement Case “Picnic”

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

OK, moving along on a warm afternoon, here is a lesson plan on the Crime and Puzzlement case “Picnic.”

I open this lesson, to get kids settled after the class change, with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the proverb “All’s Fair in Love and War.” You’ll need this PDF of the illustration, reading, and questions to conduct your investigation. Finally, to bring your suspect to justice, here is the typescript of the answer key for this case.

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.

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Term of Art: Number

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Number:  A feature of nouns, pronouns and a few verbs, referring to a singular or plural. A subject and its corresponding verb must be consistent in number; a pronoun should agree in number with its antecedent. A solo flute plays; two oboes join in.”

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

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Impregnable (adj)

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

It’s Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day today, and because I’m sure I encountered student confusion over its use in a social studies textbook at some point, here is a context clues worksheet on the adjective impregnable.

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.

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25 Wards of the City of London

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Aldersgate * Aldgate * Bassishaw * Billingsgate * Bishopsgate * Bread Street * Bridge and Bridge Without * Broad Street * Candlewick * Castle Baynard * Cheap * Coleman Street * Cordwainer * Cornhill * Cripplegate * Dowgate * Farrington Within * Farrington Without * Langbourn * Lime Street * Portsoken * Queenhithe * Tower * Vintry * Walbrook

There have been twenty-five wards of the City of London for the last 1,000 years. They occasionally get bumped up by a sub-division, or down by an amalgamation, but happily we are set on twenty-five at the moment. In ancient days these wards allowed for a mosaic of parish-like administration, little self-governing communities with their own assemblies (wardmote), wells, local markets, cemeteries, systems of public order (three elected beadles), and charities presided over by an Alderman who formed a sort of Senate of London, the Court of Aldermen. From this court, the separate system of Livery Companies (trade guilds) elected a Lord Mayor, replaced every year to soften any authoritarian tendencies.”

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.

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Boston Tea Party

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

Slowly but surely I am figuring out the new Block Editor on WordPress. So, let me try to add this reading on the Boston Tea Party and the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that accompanies it. I imagine these materials will find a home someplace in a United States history course. 

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.

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Term of Art: Hidden Curriculum

Posted on September 7, 2020 | Leave a comment

“hidden curriculum: What schools teach students by example and by their social organization, as opposed to the subject matter that they officially teach. For example, a school’s hidden curriculum might teach that boys are strong and undisciplined and girls are smart and well behaved; or that learning is something that is done to students rather than something that students must do for themselves; or that being popular is more important than being smart; of that societies are organized according to rules, that some of these rules are arbitrary, and that there are consequences for breaking the rules. Some of the hidden curriculum is good, and some of it is not. Some of what sociologists call the hidden curriculum is due not to socialization but to human nature. Like other large social organizations, schools need rules to function, and people need to learn what the rules are, when to follow them, and when it is appropriate to challenge them.”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.

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Posted in Essays/Readings, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

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Cultural Literacy: Incumbent

Posted on September 7, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of the incumbent in public office. An election year seems like a good season to post this short exercise.

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.

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