Category Archives: English Language Arts

This category contains domain-specific material–reading and writing expository prose, interpreting literature etc.–designed to meet the Common Core standards in English language arts while at the same time being flexible enough to meet the needs of diverse and idiosyncratic learners.

Word Root Exercise: A, An

Posted on August 6, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on the Greek roots a and an. They mean not and without. These are, of course, one of those exceedingly common prefixes in English that students learn early on in phonics instruction.

They yield, on this document, important science words (they commonly appear on the SAT, if the author of the dictionary from which I drew them can be trusted) like anaerobe and abiotic, as well as frequently used words in everyday discourse like anonymous, asocial, and apathy. Of course you can do anything you want with this page as it is formatted in Microsoft Word for ease of differentiation and adaptation.

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: Word-Attack Skills

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

“word attack skills: The ability to read a word using phonetic, structural, or context cues. Word attack skills using phonetic cues require a child to understand the sound-symbol relationship. Phonetic word attack skills can be assessed by asking a child to read nonsense words (such as ‘thrump’).

Word attack skills using structural cues require individuals to identify prefixes, suffixes, and roots, or to break up a word by syllables. These skills are assessed by asking a child to divide a word into syllables (such as com/pre/hend) or break a word into meaningful word parts (such as un/happy).

Good readers use contextual cues when they rely on the context of a sentence to decode a word. Poor word attack skills are one of the most common reading problems among children with a learning disability; therefore, poor word attack skills are often improved by using phonics-based word attack instruction.”

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

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Phalanx (n)

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun phalanx. It means “a body of heavily armed infantry in ancient Greece formed in close deep ranks and files; broadly, a body of troops in close array,” “a massed arrangement of persons, animals, or things,” and “an organized body of persons.”

The context for this document frames the latter two definitions. This is not a commonly used word, but it does turn up in various places–often in a constructions (as Merriam-Webster’s has it) like “a phalanx of lawyers.”

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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Cultural Literacy: Ethics

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on ethics. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two sentences.

I wrote two questions for comprehension. It’s worth mentioning, I think, that the first question, “What is ethics?”, looks a bit awkward because of the disjunct between singular verb (is) and plural predicate noun (ethics). Needless to say, I am treating ethics as a singular noun because it is a single field of inquiry and study.

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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James Laughlin

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

“James Laughlin: (1914-1997) American publisher, editor, and poet. The son of a wealthy Pittsburgh steelmaker, Laughlin was best known as the founder and guiding force behind New Directions Press. After an extended stay in Italy, where he studied with Ezra Pound, he founded New Directions Press at the age of twenty-two. He published then-unknown writers, commissioned the translation of a vast array of foreign books, and reprinted older books that Laughlin felt deserved attention. His excellent judgement is attested to by a survey of the New Directions catalogue, which included early books by Tennessee Williams, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Borges, and Nabokov. Laughlin is also a respected poet. In Another Country: Poems 1935-1975 (1978) showcases his spare style and precise, vibrant imagery, reflecting the precedent of the modernist writers he once published.”

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

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Fundamentalism

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on religious fundamentalism along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

This reading from The Intellectual Devotional Modern Culture focuses tightly on the origins of Christian fundamentalism in reaction to scientific developments in the nineteenth century and the growth and development of this theological trend across time. If I have noticed anything across the span of my life, it is the growth of fundamentalism across the globe and its religions. Moreover, there has been a tendency toward moral absolutism and certainty, and misplaced faith in things like financial markets, that has not, in my opinion, benefitted human civilization. What I mean to say, I suppose, is that these documents might be a good place to start a discussion with students about conformity and rebellion, orthodoxy and heterodoxy, and intellectual freedom and bondage.

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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Affective Fallacy

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Affective Fallacy The fallacy of judging the worth of a literary work by its emotional effect on the reader.”

Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.

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Common Errors in English Usage: Farther (adv), Further (adv)

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on differentiating the use of the adverbs farther and further. This is another document adapted from text found in Paul Brians’ book Common Errors in English Usage, which you may access for free at the Washington State University website.

What is the difference? Thanks for asking! Basically, usage sticklers insist on the use of farther for distances and further for extent of time or degree. Of course, in everyday discourse, these words are used interchangeably. In prose, however, the distinction might be well observed. In any case, one of the purposes of this series of worksheets (I have a hundred of them to post) is to help understand the concept of English usage, per the Common Core Standard in Language>Grade 11-12>1>b, “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.”

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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Folio

Posted on August 4, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Folio: A book or manuscript having pages of the largest common size, which is more than 30 cm (12 inches) in height. Also, a sheet of paper folded once to form two leaves.”

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

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A Learning Support on Writing the Imperative Sentence

Posted on August 4, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a learning support on writing the imperative sentence. This type of clause, as you know, issues an imperative, i.e. “the grammatical mood that expresses the will to influence the behavior of another.”

I wrote this document myself, synthesizing a variety of sources. I tried to keep this short, while integrating all the essential elements of this kind of construction–e.g. saying “please” when using an imperative sentence in speech or prose.

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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