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.

Cultural Literacy: Franchise

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the business concept of a franchise. This is a half-page worksheet with a relatively dense three-sentence reading and three comprehension questions. Surprisingly, in so brief a reading, all the relevant bases are covered in the relationship between a franchisor and a franchisee. So this is a thorough general introduction (I worked in a business- and finance-themed high school in Lower Manhattan for ten years, so I’m sure I wrote this for use in one or more classes), but there is plenty of room to expand this document, which is easily done since it is formatted in Microsoft Word.

I don’t want to belabor the point, but this worksheet as nothing to do with the the word franchise in the meaning for which it has recently been ubiquitous in the news (because of state legislatures across the United States seeking to restrict it), to wit, “a constitutional or statutory right or privilege; especially the right to vote.” In fact, if you click through on the link above in this paragraph, it will take you to Merriam-Webster’s extensive definition of this  polysemous word. Did you know it also has use as a verb, i.e. “to grant a franchise to”?

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.

The Devil’s Dictionary: Accountable

“Accountable, adj. Liable to an abatement of pleasure, profit, or advantage; exposed to the peril of a penalty.” 

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. David E. Schultz and S.J. Joshi, eds. The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2000. 

Kim Philby

Here is a reading on Kim Philby along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I have always found Philby a fascinating figure.

But so are the rest of the so-called Cambridge Five. Without them, one wonders, would John LeCarre (real name David Cornwell) have become a novelist? Betrayal of one’s country and fellows was a preoccupation of LeCarre’s. These guys–Philby, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, John Cairncross, and Donald Maclean–most certainly betrayed Great Britain.

This is another reading from the Intellectual Devotional series whose typescripts and ancillary worksheet I developed during the COVID19 pandemic. As of this writing, I haven’t used these documents in the classroom. Nonetheless, I have tagged them as high-interest materials because I am confident that for the right student(s), they will be.

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.

Parenthesis

“Parenthesis: [Stress: ‘pa-REN-the-sis,’ Plural parentheses (‘-seez’)]. 1. In grammar, a qualifying, explanatory, or appositional word, phrase, clause, or sentence that interrupts a construction without otherwise affecting it. A written or printed parenthesis may be marked by pairs of commas, dashes, or round brackets/parentheses: Our new manager (he has just this minute arrived) would like to meet you. A spoken parentheses has the same intonation as an aside. 2. In the plural, a name for round brackets: the general term in American English, but a less common, more technical term in British English (short form parens).”

Excerpted from: McArthur, Tom. The Oxford Concise Companion to the English Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Common Errors in English Usage: Fiance (n), Fiancee (n)

Here is a worksheet on sorting out the use of the nouns fiance and fiancee. It’s quite simple: they are, respectively, a male and female noun.

As with all of the documents under this title, Paul Brians’ book Common Errors in English Usage, which he has generously made available on the Washington State University website. This is a full-page worksheet with a simple one-sentence reading and ten modified cloze exercise. You may do what you wish with this essentially open-source, Microsoft Word document.

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.

Brewer’s Curious Titles: Of Mice and Men

“Of Mice and Men: A novella (1937) by John Steinbeck (1902-68). It centers on two casual labourers, Lennie, a simple, sentimental giant who loves small animals but does not know his own strength, and his friend George. In a tragic ending, George’s efforts are not enough to keep Lennie out of the trouble that he has unwittingly brought upon himself. The title is from ‘To a Mouse’ by Robert Burns (1759-96):

The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men

Gang aft agley,

And lea’e us nought but grief and pain,

For promised joy.

A film version (1939) was directed by Lewis Milestone.”

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.

Portend (vt)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb portend. It means “to give an omen or anticipatory sign of.” This verb is used only transitively, so don’t forget your direct object: something must portend something else, e.g. “Thunder and lightning portend rain.”

This comes to English from Latin, which is no surprise. The Romans had great faith in portents, and heeded them willingly. In fact, Roman priests sought auguries in the flights of birds. But that’s the subject of another post.

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: Task Analysis

“task analysis: A teaching strategy in which a learning activity is broken down into small sequential tasks. It is an effective strategy used to teach students with a learning disability because it takes a large learning activity and breaks it down into smaller, more easily accomplished tasks. Task analysis is also used as an assessment tool to see precisely at what stage a skill breakdown is occurring. For example, if a student is given an assignment to define 10 vocabulary words, a task analysis might include the following steps:

  1. understand, record, and remember the assignment
  2. read/decode the vocabulary words
  3. use a dictionary/textbook
  4. paraphrase the definition
  5. write the definition

Breaking an assignment into the five steps can make a difficult and overwhelming project become more manageable.

Similarly, task analysis can be used for instruction where larger skills are broken down into subskills and each subskill taught until mastery.”

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

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Here is a reading on Dwight D. Eisenhower along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. 

This is a good general introductory biography of Ike; it includes information about his military service and his political career, including his firm support for enforcing the Brown v. Board of Education decision. What it doesn’t mention, and which it may serve as a convenient jumping-off point for, is his famous farewell address, in which he coined the term “Military-Industrial Complex.”

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.

Alfred Adler on Neurosis

“Every neurotic is partly in the right.”

Alfred Adler

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