Monthly Archives: January 2023

Term of Art: Sound Blending

Posted on January 6, 2023 | Leave a comment

“sound blending: The ability to hear sounds in isolation and then blend them into a continuous word. Sound blending requires auditory perception skills to take in information and reproduce the sounds fluently. For example, an instructor may say ‘put /m/ /a/ /t/ together’ to assess if the student can say mat. Sound blending is an important skill to develop the awareness of word sounds.”

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

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Cultural Literacy: Rhyme

Posted on January 6, 2023 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on rhyme. This is a half-page reading with a two-sentence reading and two comprehension questions. In other words, a simple yet clear introduction to the concept.

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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Marquetry

Posted on January 6, 2023 | Leave a comment

Marquetry: Inlay work, referring especially to furniture in which colored woods, shell, ivory, etc., are embedded flush with the surface. See incrustation, intarsia.

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

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The Weekly Text, Friday 6 January 2023: History of Hip-Hop Lesson 5, The Emigre Griots: The Birth of the Blues in the Southern United States

Posted on January 6, 2023 | Leave a comment

Happy New Year!

Let’s move right along to the fifth lesson plan of the History of Hip-Hop unit, this one on the birth of the blues in the southern United States, with a particular emphasis on a huge figure in global culture, the blues artist nonpareil Robert Johnson. I open this lesson with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Deep South. The main work of this lesson is this reading on Robert Johnson along with its accompanying comprehension worksheet. Finally, here are the lyrics to one of his most famous songs, “Sweet Home Chicago,” now a blues standard, which I play for students during the 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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Gerald Brenan on Intellectuals

Posted on January 2, 2023 | Leave a comment

“Intellectuals are people who believe that ideas are of more importance than values. That is to say, their own ideas and other people’s values.”

Gerald Brenan

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

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Common English Verbs Followed by an Infinitive: Can’t Afford

Posted on January 2, 2023 | Leave a comment

OK, here is a worksheet on the verb phrase can’t afford as it is used with an infinitive. I can’t afford to waste time producing curricular materials I will very likely never use.

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: Sound/Letter/Word Retrieval

Posted on January 2, 2023 | Leave a comment

“sound/letter/word retrieval: The process of reading requires a student to quickly retrieve sounds, letters, and words. Research has shown that a delay in naming pictures, symbols, letters, and words is an accurate predictor of reading problems. Problems in retrieving are probably due to memory retrieval problems that make it difficult to access phonological and verbal information.

Sound, letter, and word retrieval interventions are available, such as computer software programs that slow the pace of language to allow individuals to retrain the pace of language processing.”

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

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Cultural Literacy: Science Fiction

Posted on January 2, 2023 | Leave a comment

Happy New Year!

I got out my computer this morning and ended up, as I often do, working some on this blog. Long story short, I have all the posts–twenty-four of them–set up in my drafts folder for Black History Month. And as long as I’m here, I may as well post this Cultural Literacy worksheet on science fiction. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences and three comprehension questions. Just the basics.

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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