Monthly Archives: April 2025

Russell Green on the Advantages of a Classical Education

“The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth which it prevents you from achieving.”

Russell Green

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

Common English Verbs Followed by an Object and an Infinitive: Hire

OK, last and possibly least this morning, here is a worksheet on the verb hire when used with an object and an infinitive.

The school hired the instructor to teach Russian to high school sophomores.

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.

Achievement Motivation

“achievement motivation: The need to perform well, or achievement motivation, significantly determines a person’s effort and persistence in reaching some given standard of excellence, or in comparison with competitors, and the level of aspiration that is involved in that standard or competition. This motivation is seen by psychologist D.C. McClelland (1961;1971) as a major determinant of entrepreneurial activity and as a cause of rapid economic growth when widely dispersed in a society. Many managerial roles are also said to require individuals with a high need for achievement if they are to be performed well. McClelland believes that such needs are learned in childhood, when individuals are socialized into the culture of their societies, rather than being innate. Other needs that may be learned are the needs for power, affiliation and autonomy.”

Excerpted from: Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill, and Bryan S. Turner. Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Cultural Literacy: Humanist

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the humanist as, well, a human concept. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two long, compound sentences–yes, you will probably want to shorten them for striving readers–and three 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.

Acropolis

“Acropolis: (Gr, ‘high city’) The citadel of a Greek city, generally situated on a hill. The Acropolis at Athens, a rocky plateau about two hundred feet high, was the site of the ancient town. It was surrounded by walls, which were destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC, and later rebuilt by Themistocles. The Acropolis was the center of religious activity; many temples and statues of Athene were located there. The Erechtheum, the Parthenon, and the Propylaea are among the best known of its monuments. The acropolis at Thebes was the Cadmeia; that of Corinth, the Acrocorinth.”

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

The Weekly Text, 25 April 2025: A Lesson Plan on the Latin Word Root -Cide

This week’s Text is a lesson plan on the Latin word root -cide. It means, to kill, which is why you’ll find it in such relatively high-frequency English words as germicide, insecticide, and genocide–all present on this scaffolded worksheet. This lesson opens with this context clues worksheet on the noun mortality  which, I hope, points the way toward the meaning of the word root that is under analysis in this 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.

Montage

“Montage: A picture formed by applying separate images in parts or layers to form a total image. Similar to collage. In photomontage, photographs, often incongruous, are juxtaposed.”

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

Common Errors in English Usage: Let Alone

From Paul Brian’s book Common Errors in English Usage, here is a worksheet on the use of the conjunction Let alone, as in “I can’t finish this do-now exercise, let alone write a research paper.” There are no structured exercises on this worksheet, which calls upon students simply to compose sentences in which they properly use the conjunction let alone–as well as much less and never mind, two similar conjunctions.

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.

Term of Art: Sensory Impairment

“sensory impairment: Any impairment of the sensory system; the most prominent and predominant forms of sensory impairment are hearing and visual problems. All standard and legal definitions of learning disability rule out sensory impairment as a contributing cause because those sensory impairments are classified separately in their own handicap categories. However, it is possible for a child with sensory impairment also to also have a learning disability. It is also difficult to tell the difference between the effects of a sensory impairment on learning and those effects that may be associated with a learning disability. It is likely that children with significant sensory problems who also have learning disabilities may generally be underdiagnosed and largely overlooked.”

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

Cultural Literacy: Individualism

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on individualism. This is half-page worksheet with a three-sentence reading (the last one is longish, which may need to be shortened) and three 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.