Monthly Archives: October 2020

Terms of Art: Restrictive Term, Element, Clause

Posted on October 16, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Restrictive Term, Element, Clause: A phrase or clause that limits the essential meaning of the sentence element it modifies or identifies. Professional athletes who perform exceptionally should earn stratospheric salaries. Since there are no commas before and after the italicized clause, the italicized clause is restrictive and suggests that only those athletes that perform exceptionally are entitled to such salaries. If commas were added before who and after exceptionally, the clause would be nonrestrictive and would suggest that all professional athletes should receive stratospheric salaries.”

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

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Futile (adj)

Posted on October 16, 2020 | Leave a comment

It’s a great word for students to know in this day and age, so I hasten to publish this context clues worksheet on the adjective futile. It’s Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day today; it’s also a word in very common use in the English language, so students really ought to know it by the time they move the tassel on their mortarboards.

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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Federal Style

Posted on October 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Federal Style: An American architectural style of about 1780 to 1820 which reflected English Georgian models, especially the influence of Robert Adam. Symmetrically designed facades, smooth surfaces, and restrained classical ornament typify buildings in that style.”

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

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Cultural Literacy: The Federalist Papers

Posted on October 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

Last but not least today, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on The Federalist Papers. This is only the merest introduction to these foundational documents to our republic, but sometimes that’s what a teacher needs. If so, help yourself.

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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Little Shop of Horrors

Posted on October 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Little Shop of Horrors: A cult horror movie (1960) directed by Roger Corman (b. 1926) about a carnivorous talking plant that quickly outgrows the flower shop of its dimwitted owner and becomes a voracious man-eating monster. The success of Corman’s original inspired stage musical with the same title in the 1980s and an inferior film remake in 1986.”

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

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Charles Manson

Posted on October 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

Charles Manson’s death in late 2017 prompted a flurry of questions from the students I was serving at the time. As I do whenever students demonstrate an interest in something, I worked up some new materials, to wit, this reading on Charles Manson and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

And while I’m neither proud of or happy with the fact, these documents quickly became high-interest materials in my classroom. Ergo, they appear here. Did I mention I’m not exactly happy about students’ interest in this monster?

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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The 4 Games of Ancient Greece

Posted on October 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Pythian * Isthmian * Nemean * Olympic

The Pythian Games were held in honour of Apollo at Delphi; the Isthmian Games, at Corinth for Poseidon; the Nemean Games, at Nemea in honour of Zeus. But the most famous in the ancient world were the Olympic Games, held in honor of Zeus at Olympia in the Peloponnese, which attracted city states from across the Greek (and later Roman) world.

Each of these PanHellenic Games were held at intervals of either two or four years and were arranged so that each year there was at least one competition open to any free-born Greek. The first recorded winner is from 776 BC though the practice was considerably more ancient. The Games seem to have been designed to select the very best in order that they could offer up a sacrifice that would be the most pleasing to the Gods. This also explains the sacred truce, the cult of heroic nudity, the simple garlands awarded to the victors and the decision of the Christian emperor Theodosius to close down the games in 394 BC.”

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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Word Root Exercise: Ax

Posted on October 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

Moving right along this morning, here is a worksheet on the Latin word root ax. It means, simply, axis. If you click on that hyperlink, however, you’ll see that “simply” isn’t the right word: axis is a complex polysemous word in English. In any case, I suspect this document would be useful in a certain kind of math class, or perhaps a mechanical drawing course. At the same time, it is also a general vocabulary-building 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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Term of Art: Ability

Posted on October 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Ability: Developed skill, competence, or power to do something, especially (in psychology) existing capacity to perform some function, whether physical, mental, or a combination of the two, without further education or training, contrasted with capacity, which is latent ability.”

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

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A Lesson Plan on Data Storage from The Order of Things

Posted on October 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

As you get older, you take it for granted, but it’s still fun to experience synchrony. A friend of mine and I land on synchrony quite often while texting–often using the same words simultaneously. In this case, the same day I interviewed with some very nice, clearly talented, unusually engaged and deeply committed folks at a computer-themed career and technical education high school in the North Bronx, I pulled out this lesson plan on data storage, adapted from text I grabbed from Barbara Ann Kipfer’s The Order of Things. I expect this would work well at a school such as theirs. I hope they find their way to it.

For your students, here is the list as reading and comprehension questions, which is the work of this lesson.

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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