Monthly Archives: March 2023

Phyllis McGinley

Posted on March 23, 2023 | Leave a comment

“Phyllis McGinley: ((1905-1978) American writer of light verse. A frequent contributor to The New Yorker and other magazines, McGinley was known for her clever and humorous poems about various aspects of modern life. Among her best-known collections are A Pocketful of Wry (1940), Love Letters (1954), Times Three: Selected Verse from Three Decades (1960: Pulitzer Prize), and Christmas Con and Pro (1971). She also wrote essays and numerous books for children.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Cultural Literacy: Lucrezia Borgia

Posted on March 23, 2023 | Leave a comment

Moving right along on this Friday morning, here is Cultural Literacy worksheet on Lucrezia Borgia. This is a half-page document with a single-sentence reading (which notes, I think it’s worth mentioning on this front page, that like her brother, Cesare Borgia, she was “famous for her treachery”) and two comprehension questions.

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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Fran Lebowitz on Algebra

Posted on March 23, 2023 | Leave a comment

“Stand firm in your refusal to remain conscious during algebra. In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra.”

Fran Lebowitz

Social Studies “Tips for Teens” (1981)

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

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Cultural Literacy: Katherine Hepburn

Posted on March 23, 2023 | Leave a comment

Elsewhere on this blog, you will, I admit, find Dorothy Parker’s famously withering remark on the actress, but here, nonetheless, is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Katherine Hepburn. This is a full-page document with a four-sentence reading and four comprehension questions.

Incidentally, while I find Ms. Parker’s comment, like almost everything this pillar of the Algonquin Wits ever said, hilarious, I don’t necessarily agree with 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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Ivy Compton-Burnett

Posted on March 23, 2023 | Leave a comment

“Ivy Compton-Burnett (later Dame Ivy): (1887-1967) British novelist. She graduated from the University of London and published her first novel, Dolores, in 1911. Her second, Pastors and Masters (1925), introduced the style—employing clipped, precise dialogue to reveal her characters and advance the plot—that made her name. Her novels often dealt with struggles for power: Men and Wives (1931) featured a tyrannical mother. A House and Its Head (1935) a tyrannical father. She was created Dame of the British Empire in 1967.”

­­­­­­­­­Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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The Weekly Text, 24 March 2023, Women’s History Month 2023 Week IV: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Babe Didrikson

Posted on March 23, 2023 | Leave a comment

For the fourth week of Women’s History Month 2023, here is a reading on Babe Didrikson (also known as Babe Didrikson Zaharias after her marriage to wrestler George Zaharias), the sports legend, along with its accompanying 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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Equal Rights Amendment

Posted on March 17, 2023 | Leave a comment

“Equal Rights Amendment: Proposed but unratified amendment to the U.S. Constitution designed mainly to invalidate many state and federal laws the discriminated against women. Its central tenet was that sex should not be a determining factor in establishing the legal rights of individuals. It was first introduced in Congress in 1923, shortly after women obtained the right to vote. It was finally approved by the U.S. Senate 49 years later (1972) but was subsequently ratified by only 30 of 50 state legislatures. Critics claimed it would cause women to lose privileges and protections, such as exemption from compulsory military service and economic support by their husbands. Supporters, led by the National Organization of Women, argued that discriminatory state and federal laws left many women in a state of economic dependency.”

­­­­­­­­­Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Cultural Literacy: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Posted on March 17, 2023 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. This is a full-page document with a reading of four sentences and four comprehension questions. I’m not sure what call there would be for anything beyond this on the late First Lady–but she is still enough of an icon that this short exercise might find some relevance somewhere.

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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Margaret Mead, Famously, on Organizing for Change

Posted on March 17, 2023 | Leave a comment

“Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world: Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead

Attributed in Christian Science Monitor, 1 June 1989

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

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Cultural Literacy: Frances Perkins

Posted on March 17, 2023 | Leave a comment

Moving right along this morning, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a cabinet position, in Ms. Perkins’ case, as Secretary of Labor in the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. This is a full-page document with a reading of four sentences and five comprehension questions.

Did you know she was a witness to the horror of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire? She chaired a committee on public safety after the disaster.

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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