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: Sharecropping

Posted on February 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

OK, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on sharecropping, which is the last Cultural Literacy worksheet in my warehouse that deals with topics related to Black History Month. This may well be the least of them. As I look at it this morning, I think I could only use this to introduce the basic concept of sharecropping. In other words, this short exercise does not deal with the practice of sharecropping as a system of economic oppression, and therefore, in most respects, a continuation of slavery,

So, use advisedly, if I may say so.

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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The Algonquin Wits: Ring Lardner on John D. Rockefeller

Posted on February 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Lardner was amused by Henry Ford’s famous comment on John D. Rockefeller, ‘I saw John D. Rockefeller but once, But when I saw that face, I knew what made Standard Oil.’ Lardner himself once observed, ‘[I] also have seen John D. only once and that was on the golf course at Ormond, too far back from him to get a look at his face, but the instant I beheld that stance I knew what made divots.'”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

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Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference

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Contract (n/vi/vt)

Posted on February 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here are two context clues worksheets on contract as both a noun and a verb. As a verb, on the second worksheet, contract is used in the sense of limit, restrict, and to reduce to a smaller size. Contract is used in this sense both intransitively and transitively.

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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A Lesson Plan on Learning

Posted on February 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

OK, moving right along on this beautiful morning in southwestern Vermont, here is a lesson plan on learning. You’ll need this short reading and its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. If you need or want them, here are slightly longer versions of those documents.

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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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Lesson Plans, Social Sciences, Worksheets

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Book of Answers: What Is A Moor?

Posted on February 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

“What is a Moor? The Moors were the mixed Arab and Berber conquerors of Spain in the eighth century. In literature, the most famous member of this ethnic group is Othello, the Moor of Venice (c. 1604).”

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

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Cultural Literacy: Plessy v. Ferguson

Posted on February 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Plessy v. Ferguson. That’s the Supreme Court decision, to refresh memories that probably don’t really need it, that made “separate but equal” the law of the land in the United States for almost six decades–and legitimized racism.

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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Write It Right: Redound for Conducive

Posted on February 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Redound for Conducive. ‘A man’s honesty redounds to his advantage.’ We make better use of the word if we say of one (for example) who has squandered a fortune, that its loss redounds to his advantage, for the word denotes a fluctuation, as from seeming evil to actual good; as vilification may direct attention to one’s excellent character.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. Write it Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2010.

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Common Errors in English Usage: Admission/Admittance

Posted on February 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is an English usage worksheet on the nouns admission and admittance if you have any call for it. This is mostly about practice and meeting the usage standard in the Common Core English Standards.

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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Duke Ellington on Fate

Posted on February 20, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to famous too young.”

Duke Ellington

Quoted in N.Y. Times Magazine, 12 September 1965

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

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The Weekly Text, February 21, 2020, Black History Month 2020 Week III: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Muddy Waters

Posted on February 20, 2020 | Leave a comment

For the end of Week III of Black History Month 2020, here is a short reading on the late, great Muddy Waters along with the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that attends it.

[Addendum: first, here is a very cool image of Muddy Waters by the great illustrator Drew Friedman; if it weren’t sold out, I would definitely buy it–I’ve already collected a few of Mr. Friedman’s prints. Second, here is Muddy Waters’ appearance at the farewell concert of The Band in 1976, “The Last Waltz.”]

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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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, The Weekly Text, Worksheets

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