“If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done.”
Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007
“If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done.”
Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007
Here is a worksheet on differentiating the use of the adverbs ironically and coincidentally. This is a full-page worksheet with a reading of two compound sentences and ten modified cloze exercises.
As with any post under the header of Common Errors in English Usage, the text that drives this document is excerpted from Paul Brians’ fine book of the same name. He has made it available at no cost on his page at Washington State University.
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.
“Mandorla: An almond-shaped glory that surrounds the whole figure.”
Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on chivalry. This is a half-page document with a reading of two simple sentences and three comprehension questions–the third of which asks students for their opinion about whether the chivalric tradition continues today.
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.
“spatial orientation: The ability to maintain a sense of orientation in a physical space. Difficulties in spatial orientation may be part of a larger pattern of visual-spatial skills deficits that are linked with a learning disability in some cases. These problems may have a profound effect on an individual’s ability to follow physical directions or to locate information or objects within a space.”
Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.
This week’s Text, based on material adapted from Barbara Ann Kipfer’s endlessly fascinating reference book The Order of Things, is a lesson plan on expenditures by Americans. The only think you’ll need for this lesson as it is currently constituted is this worksheet with a list as reading and comprehension questions.
I conceived of this series of lessons (and may write more if I need them) as a way of helping students who struggle when asked to deal with two symbolic systems (language and numbers in this case) at the same time. These are simple readings and worksheets designed as much as anything to help build confidence in students in their ability to learn.
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.
“I love mankind; it’s people I can’t stand.”
Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.
Here is a on the use of the verb resent with a gerund. I resent wasting my own time developing dubious instructional materials.
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.
“Who wrote Arsenic and Old Lace? The 1941 play was written by Joseph Kesselring. The 1946 movie adaptation was directed by Frank Capra.”
Excerpted from: Corey, Melinda, and George Ochoa. Literature: The New York Public Library Book of Answers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.
Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb malinger. It is used only intransitively, which makes sense; it means “to pretend or exaggerate incapacity or illness (as to avoid duty or work).” I thought it carried a connotation–owing to the presence of the Latin root mal (i.e. bad, evil, ill, and wrong)–of hanging around with bad intent. Evidently not.
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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