Monthly Archives: July 2021

Model (n), Model (vi/vt), Model (adj)

Posted on July 19, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here are a pair of context clues worksheets, the first on on model as a noun and the second on model as a verb. The word, as you surely know, also has use as an adjective; a couple of days after publishing this post, while rummaging around in my data warehouse, I found this worksheet on model as an adjective, so for the purposes of this post, you have a complete set from which to choose. Incidentally, the verb is used both intransitively and transitively.

It is generally the practice at Mark’s Text Terminal to provide the definitions on the face of the post. However, these are polysemous words, so I’ll recommend you find them in a dictionary (preferably Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate, 11th Edition, the house lexicon on this blog) to determine which meaning you want to emphasize with your students. Editorially, let me mention that these words offer teachers a chance to help students to understand polysemy, which might help them understand (and I would argue this is vital information for English language learners) why English can be a challenging language to master.

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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Aristotle on Educators

Posted on July 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Those who educate children are more to be honored than those who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.”

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

Excerpted from: Howe, Randy, ed. The Quotable Teacher. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2003.

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Cultural Literacy: Folk Music

Posted on July 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on folk music. This is a half-page worksheet with a relatively short reading and three comprehension questions.

The reading implies, but does not spell out, the concept of folkways. I never understood, in my years teaching both English and social studies, why folkways as a concept was never taught explicitly, thereby offering students the opportunity to instantiate or reify it in their own lives; many of the students I served in New York City were of families recently immigrated to the United States. Understanding folkways, and using that understanding to distinguish between folkways and mores strikes me as a key element of any academic domain at the secondary level that calls itself “social studies.”

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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Palindrome

Posted on July 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Palindrome: 1. A word, phrase, or longer expression that reads the same backward as it does forwards: for example, the words level and noon, and the phrases, and the phrases Madam, I’m Adam, and Able was I ere I saw Elba. 2. Also reversal, semordnilap (a reversal backward palindrome). A word that spells another word when reversed: for example, doom, evil, warts, and the trade names Serutan, Trebor.”

Excerpted from: McArthur, Tom. The Oxford Concise Companion to the English Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

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A Learning Support on Single Quotation Marks

Posted on July 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

OK, on a rainy Sunday morning, here is a learning support on using single quotation marks. This is another piece of text culled from Paul Brians’ fine usage guide, Common Errors in English Usage, which you’ll find in its entirety on the Washington State University website under that hyperlink. The textual passage is a single, short paragraph. So there is a wide field for turning this into a worksheet, should you want or need to do so; as is mostly the case on Mark’s Text Terminal, this is a Microsoft Word document, so you can adapt it in any number of ways (including exporting it to another word processor) should you wish.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to be a stickler on this punctuation rule. In fact, it got me into trouble with a principal who didn’t understand the typographical rules and conventions for using double and single quotation marks; I l left an explanation of them, from a different style guide, in his mailbox after reading yet another of his cluttered, illegible memos. He didn’t appreciate it.

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: Learning Style

Posted on July 16, 2021 | Leave a comment

“learning style: An individual’s behavior, temperament, and attitude in a learning situation. Some of the best-known learning styles are visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. Some experts argue that it is important to match an individual’s learning style with the style of instruction to make learning easier. For example, an individual with a strong visual learning style should be taught to read with an emphasis on the shapes of words.

There are many different learning styles, but none are either ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ Although a student may prefer one style over another, preferences develop like muscles: the more they are used, the stronger they become. Successful students have flexible and integrated learning styles. No one use one of the styles exclusively, and there is usually significant overlap in learning styles.

Visual learners relate most effectively to written information, notes, diagrams, and pictures. Typically they will be unhappy with a presentation where they cannot take detailed notes. To a degree, information does not exist for a visual learner unless it has been written down. This is why some visual learners take notes even when they have printed notes in front of them. Visual learners will tend to be most effective in written communication. They make up about 65 percent of the population.

Auditory learners related most effectively to the spoken word. They tend to listen to a lecture and then take notes afterward, or rely on printed notes. Because written information will often have little meaning until it is heard, it may help auditory learners to read written information out loud. Auditory learners may be sophisticated speakers, and may specialize in subjects like law or politics. Auditory learners make about 30 percent of the population.

Kinesthetic learners learn best through touch, movement, and space, and learn skills by imitation and practice. Kinesthetic learners can appear slow, because information is usually not presented in a style that suits their learning methods. Kinesthetic learners make around 5 percent of the population.”

Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Essays/Readings, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

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The Weekly Text, 16 July 2021: A Lesson Plan on Nations with the Longest Coastlines from The Order of Things

Posted on July 16, 2021 | Leave a comment

This week’s Text is a lesson plan on nations with the longest coastlines. You’ll need this reading with comprehension questions to teach this lesson. This is material for emerging reader, students with reading-related learning disorders, and English language learners.

This is a short and simple reading comprehension lesson with the usual twist on these lessons adapted from Barbara Ann Kipfer’s superb reference book, The Order of Things: students will deal with both numbers and words (often a challenging endeavor for some readers) in the reading in a relatively low-stakes environment. For more about these lessons, see the “About Posts & Texts” page, linked to below the masthead on this blog’s homepage.

That’s it for this week, Stay cool and stay safe,

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, Social Sciences, The Weekly Text, Worksheets

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Greek Revival

Posted on July 16, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Greek Revival: A form of neoclassicism especially identified with American architecture of about 1820-1860 for which the Greek temple was the primary design source.”

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

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Cultural Literacy: Catherine the Great

Posted on July 16, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Catherine the Great. To my surprise, this is the first material on the Empress I have published on this blog.

She is without question a world-historical figure, and probably of interest to a certain type of student, probably female. In any case, I’ll make a point of producing a couple of more posts about it.

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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Dioxins (and Learning Disabilities)

Posted on July 16, 2021 | Leave a comment

“dioxins: A group of some of the most toxic carcinogenic human-made chemicals in the world, which have been linked to developmental and learning disabilities. Exposure in childhood can cause lower IQ, result in withdrawn and depressed behavior, and increase hyperactivity and attention problems. Unborn children are even more acutely affected by exposure to dioxins because of the critical development that occurs during pregnancy, especially between the second and eighth week after conception.

Dioxin is the most harmful of all the chemicals in the dioxin group, and is produced by burning plastics containing chlorine, incinerating household waste, and bleaching chlorine paper. It was first used as the toxic chemical in the weapon Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Although some dioxins are produced naturally as a result of forest fires, most appear in the environment as an industrial by-product.

Dioxins are found everywhere in the environment, introduced into the air from incinerators and smokestacks, where they eventually settle on the ground, in the water, and on the food that livestock eat. Because dioxins do not decompose readily, they are stored in livestock fatty tissue. About 95 percent of human dioxin exposure occurs by eating traces in in meat, dairy products, and fish.

Children are at higher risk for both ingesting dioxins and being harmed because their diets usually have a higher concentration of animal fat in the form of dairy products.”

Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Essays/Readings, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

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