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: Munich Pact

Several years ago, during a round of professional development at the school in which I was serving, a group of social studies teachers reviewed the results of our students’ performance on the New York State Global Studies and Geography Regents Examination. They found a high incidence of error on questions related to Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Adolf Hitler in 1938. I took that as my cue to develop materials to address this issue–the first document was this context clues worksheet on the transitive verb appease.

This Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Munich Pact, which is a short and general introduction to Chamberlain’s pandering to Hitler may also be useful in ensuring students understand this key moment in global history.

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.

Rotten Rejections: The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of by Joseph Hansen

[This sentence from a publisher dismisses one of Joseph Hansen’s Dave Brandstetter books, which is a series of hard-boiled detective novels that feature a gay protagonist, i.e. Dave Brandstetter. I am an inveterate reader of mysteries, but have only read one Mr. Hansen’s books; it was quite good.]

This was put together with chewing gum and a paper clip.”

Excerpted from: Barnard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.

Mien (n)

OK, last but not least this afternoon, let’s deal with Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for today by way of this context clues worksheet on the noun mien. It means “air or bearing esp. as expressive of attitude or personality.” Not a word students necessarily need to know, but a nifty noun I’ve always liked, and certainly a nice synonym of demeanor, appearance, or the polysemous aspect.

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 Weekly Text, July 17, 2020: A Lesson Plan on the Simple Future Tense of Verbs

This week’s Text is a lesson plan on the simple future tense of verbs. I open this lesson with this worksheet on differentiating the homophones veracious and voracious, which are both adjectives. It always pays to prepare for a lesson to spill over into a second day. So here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of nuance, which is really something students ought to know before they graduate high school.

You’ll need the scaffolded worksheet that is the mainstay of this lesson to do its work. You might also find this learning support and word bank useful in presenting this lesson and completing its work. Finally, here is the teacher’s copy of the 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.

Book of Answers: Simon Legree

“Who was Simon Legree and where did he come from? The archetypal villain first appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) as the brutal degenerate who flogs Tom to death.”

Excerpted from: Corey, Melinda, and George Ochoa. Literature: The New York Public Library Book of Answers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.

Ulysses S. Grant

If you teach United States history, I imagine this reading on Ulysses S. Grant along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I guess there is not much to say about this other than to reiterate that the day General Grant took the surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomattox Court House was the last day the Confederate Flag should have flown anywhere in this nation.

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.

Term of Art: Case

“Case: The form of a noun or pronoun that reflects its grammatical function in a sentence as subject (they), object (them), or possessor (their). She gave her employees a raise that pleased them greatly.”

Excerpted from: Strunk, William Jr., and E.B. White. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition. New York: Longman, 2000.

Common Errors in English Usage: Systematic and Systemic

Here is an English usage worksheet on the adjectives systematic and systemic and how to differentiate their. By any measure I recognize, these are a couple of important words for educated citizens to know, understand, and deploy properly. Systemic is an especially important word and concept for teaching and learning in the sciences.

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.

Horace Mann on Jails and Schools

“Jails and prisons are the complement of schools; so many less as you have of the latter, so many more you have of the former.”

Horace Mann (1796-1859)

Excerpted from: Howe, Randy, ed. The Quotable Teacher. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2003.

Callous (adj)

On my way out the door, so to speak, here is a context clues worksheet on the adjective callous, which seems like a word everybody ought to know at this moment, and use regularly.

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.