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.

A Short Exercise on the Greek Word Root Olig/o

Posted on June 11, 2018 | Leave a comment

Last week I thought I’d posted the last of the short word root exercises I had. However, this morning as I ran the heuristic Hoover around my archives, I found this worksheet on the Greek root olig/o. It is the basis of a word I consider very timely, to wit Oligarchy. Anyway, it means few and deficiency.

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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Concept Formation

Posted on June 11, 2018 | Leave a comment

“Process of developing abstract rules of mental concepts based on sensory experience. Concept formation figures prominently in cognitive development and was a subject of great importance to J. Piaget, who argued that learning entails an understanding of a phenomenon’s characteristics and how they are logically linked. N. Chomsky has argued that certain cognitive structures (such as basic grammatical rules) are innate in human beings. Both men held that, as a concept emerges, it becomes subject to testing: a child’s concept of “bird,” for example, will be tested against specific instances of birds. The human capacity for play contributes importantly to this process by allowing for consideration of a wide range of possibilities.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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The Canterbury Tales

Posted on June 11, 2018 | Leave a comment

If you are a high school English teacher, you might find this short reading on The Canterbury Tales useful. Likewise this reading comprehension worksheet that accompanies it.

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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George Bernard Shaw on Teaching

Posted on June 11, 2018 | Leave a comment

“To me the sole hope of human salvation lied in teaching.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

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

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Parsing Sentences Worksheet: Nouns

Posted on June 11, 2018 | Leave a comment

Here is a parsing sentences worksheet for nouns. Students read each sentence and identify and underline nouns. I use these to begin class periods and get students settled.

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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All the President’s Men

Posted on June 11, 2018 | Leave a comment

“A film (1976) directed by Alan J. Pakula about the uncovering of the Watergate scandal, based on a book (1974) of the same title by the Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (played respectively by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman). The president of the title is Richard M. Nixon, and the title refers to the attempts of the president and others in the White House to cover up the scandal. The title plays on a line from the nursery rhyme:

‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

Al the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again.’”

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

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Vassal (n)

Posted on June 11, 2018 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun vassal, which you may find is a worthwhile complement to any instruction you are delivering on Feudal Europe.

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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Satrap (n)

Posted on June 8, 2018 | Leave a comment

Satrap is not exactly a word that turns up very often in the English language. Still, a couple of years ago when I was regularly teaching freshman global studies classes here in New York City, it appeared in various primary documents, and even in textbooks.

So, I developed this context clues worksheet on the noun satrap. The hyperlink above takes you to the Wikipedia page for the word; for the sake of brevity, here is the definition of the noun from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition:

1 : the governor of a province in ancient Persia   2 a : RULER b : a subordinate official : HENCHMAN (Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (Kindle Locations 314939-314941). Merriam-Webster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.)

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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David Labaree on the Five-Paragraph Essay

Posted on June 8, 2018 | Leave a comment

Several years ago, one of the assistant principals in this school loaned me a couple of books by the great professor of education, David Labaree. I read both The Trouble with Ed Schools (that link takes you to a review of the book by the esteemed sociologist Nathan Glazer) and How to Succeed in School Without Really Learning; I thought both were excellent.

As I go through old folders in the Text Terminal archives, I found a note reminding me to post this article on the five-paragraph essay by Professor Labaree. It meets his usual standard of excellence in his publications, and has much to say, I think, about the obsession with the five-paragraph essay.

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Parsing Sentences Worksheet: Adverbs

Posted on June 8, 2018 | Leave a comment

Here is a parsing sentences worksheet for adverbs. Students read the sentences and identify all the adverbs in each–pretty simple, in other words. Don’t forget to tell students that adverbs signal how something is done.

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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