Yearly Archives: 2020

Systemic Painting

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Systemic Painting: Described as a branch of Minimal Art and sometimes expanded to incorporate Color-Field Painting, it is a special form of abstract painting based on an organization—or system—of images, e.g., a painting which is a pure, single field of color, or a series of such paintings; or a painting based on the repetition of a single visual motif, such as a circle, chevron, etc. The term describes certain works by Kenneth Noland and Frank Stella. Closely related to, but not identical with, Serial Art.”

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

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Posted in Essays/Readings, Quotes, Reference, Worksheets

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Cultural Literacy: Tour de Force

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

Alright, I’ve run out of steam for today. I’ll return here tomorrow with another raft of documents that will, I fervently hope, keep young, homebound minds engaged in something other than anxiety about our current dystopian state. So here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept tour de force.

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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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Worksheets

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Term of Art: Argot

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Argot (noun): The special idiom used by a particular class or group, especially an underworld jargon; distinctive parlance.

‘She smoked cigarettes one right after the other, and did not care who knew it; and she was never more than five minutes out of the office before she was talking in newspaper argot, not all of it quite accurate.’ John O’Hara, Appointment in Samarra“

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

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Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference

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Word Root Exercise: Mar, Mari

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on the Latin word roots mar and mari. They mean sea. These are very productive roots in English that yield commonly used words like maritime and mariner, to name just two. If you live near water of any kind, chances are good you have a marina offering its goods and services in your community.

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

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Paul Fussell on Writing

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

“If I didn’t have writing, I’d be running down the street hurling grenades in people’s faces.”

Paul Fussell

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

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Sandy Koufax

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

By now, as most people who care surely–and sadly–know, the opening day of Major League Baseball has been pushed out to mid-May at least. Sniff. Team owners hope for a full schedule, but that seems optimistic at best.

In the meantime, for kids at home as the COVID19 pandemic runs its course, here is a reading on Sandy Koufax and its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

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 Devil’s Dictionary: Monarch

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Monarch, n. A person engaged in reigning. Formerly the monarch ruled, as the derivation of the word attests, and as many subjects have had occasion to learn. In Russia and the Orient the monarch has still a considerable influence in public affairs and in the disposition of the human head, but in western Europe political administration is mostly entrusted to his ministers, he being somewhat preoccupied with reflections relating to the status of his own head.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. David E. Schultz and S.J. Joshi, eds. The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2000. 

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

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Denude (vt)

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

In a time where the wanton destruction of this planet’s habitat has become a commonplace “market force,” this context clues worksheet on the verb denude ought to be able to find a place in somebody’s classroom. It is used only transitively.

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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Can Wisdom Be Taught?

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Teachers…are particularly beset by the temptation to tell what they know…. Yet no amount of information, whether of theory or fact, in itself improves insight and judgment or increases ability to act wisely.”

 Charles I. Gragg

Because Wisdom Can’t Be Told

 Excerpted from: Wiggins, Grant, and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 1998.

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

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A Lesson Plan on the Crime and Puzzlement Case: “A Comedy of Errors”

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is yet Crime and Puzzlement lesson plan, this one on “A Comedy of Errors.” I open this lesson, in order to get students settled after a class transition, with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the expression “Touch and Go.” Here is the scan of the illustrations and questions needed to conduct the investigation–and here is the typescript of the answer key.

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

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