Monthly Archives: August 2021

Aghast (adj)

Posted on August 20, 2021 | Leave a comment

It’s the Word of the Day at Merriam-Webster, so here is a context clues worksheet on the adjective aghast. It means “struck with terror, amazement, or horror” and “shocked.”

The word derives from the Middle English verb gasten, “to frighten.” As you may perceive, this is also the source of the adjective ghastly. Not surprising, I suppose, since things that are ghastly generally cause us to feel aghast.

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: Thematic Unit

Posted on August 19, 2021 | Leave a comment

“thematic unit: A unit of study whose lessons are focused on a specific theme, sometimes covering a variety of subject areas. For example, the theme of inequality may be explored by studying the caste system in India and slavery in the American South. These units may be used as an alternative approach to teaching history, but history educators are critical of the tendency to teach such content without regard to a chronological framework. Themes that lack historical context, the critics say, are superficial and confusing.”

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

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Winnow (vi/vt)

Posted on August 19, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb winnow. It’s used both intransitively and transitively. As I started writing this, I was surprised to learn the complicated set of definitions this word carries.

For this worksheet, I’ve limited the context to elicit the definition shown in the Merriam-Webster widget on my iPad, to wit “to sort or separate something.” This is the meaning of winnow in the vernacular, so I hope it serves students well.

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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National Velvet

Posted on August 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

“National Velvet: A novel (1935) by Enid Bagnold (1889-1981). Velvet, a butcher’s daughter, win a piebald horse in a raffle. Disguised as a boy, she rides it in the Grand National, Britain’s premier steeplechase. Although she is past the winning post, she is disqualified for dismounting before the weighing-in. A popular film version (1945), directed by Clarence Brown, starred a 14-year-old Elizabeth Taylor.”

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

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Sex Change Surgery

Posted on August 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on sex change surgery along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Lest you misunderstand, this is not about the medical science or procedure of gender affirmation surgery.

Rather, it is about the infamous John/Joan case. The reading nicely job summarizes the tragic story of David Reimer, whose parents made the mistake of deferring to the New Zealand psychologist John Money. Money, who apparently coined the terms “gender identity” and “gender role,” appears to me to be at least culpable in, if not the direct cause of, the suicides of David Reimer and his twin brother. I wrote this material (using, once again, a reading from the Intellectual Devotional series) during the pandemic; as of this writing, I have not used this material with students. Nonetheless, I have tagged this post’s documents as high-interest material. Unless I miss my guess, students will indeed find these documents of considerable interest.

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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Robert Maynard Hutchins on the Caprice of the Law

Posted on August 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

“The law may…depend on what the judge has had for breakfast.”

Robert Maynard Hutchins

“The Autobiography of an Ex-Law Student,” American Law School Review, Apr. 1934

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

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Cultural Literacy: George III

Posted on August 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on George III. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences  and three short comprehension questions.

In other words, this is a short and basic, though, it is worth mentioning, well-balanced, introduction to the monarch whom Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, accused in that document of, among many other things, refusing “…his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.”

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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Write It Right: Chance for Opportunity

Posted on August 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Chance for Opportunity. ‘He had a good chance to succeed.’”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. Write it Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2010.

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Common Errors in English Usage: Forceful (adj), Forcible (adj), and Forced (adj)

Posted on August 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on differentiating the adjectives forceful, forcible, and forced. This is a full-page worksheet with a good deal of supporting text and ten modified cloze exercises.

I confess that when I began using my first copy of William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style, and read Mr. White’s introduction, in which he notes that Strunk “…disliked the word forceful and advised us to use forcible instead…” I wondered why the fuss. Since then, I have developed an affection for both The Elements of Style and the finer points of usage.

Whatever the fuss about forceful and forcible (and forced), the point of these worksheets is to meet the Common Core Standard–i.e. “Standard (L.11-12.1b): Resolve issues of complex or contested usage, consulting references, (e.g., Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, Garner’s Modern American Usage) as needed”–on usage, and teach students the nuances of using words.

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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Decollage

Posted on August 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Decollage: The tearing away of parts of posters, etc., that have been applied in layers, so that selected portions of the underlayers contribute to the total image. The reverse of collage. Associated with New Realism.”

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

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