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.

Steve’s Trail Descriptions: Salisbury 2020 Trash Trail Connector to Eastern Marsh Bike Path

[My good pal Steve lives in Salisbury, Massachusetts, which is in the far northeastern corner of Massachusetts; indeed, Seabrook, New Hampshire is the next town north. I received this text from him this morning with the announcement that he plans, in his retirement, to o become a Bike Guide author. Here’s an excerpt from his upcoming article, “Salisbury on a Bike?” He asked me to read and critique the piece. I laughed out loud, then knew right away that I wanted to pin it to the top of this blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Riding the Trash Trail from the back door.

This short transit to the real bike trail gains a pathetic 20 feet of elevation over 1/8 mile cresting atop Garbage Truck Heights. 
A sassy eight foot section of single track along the way up will keep the short attention span crowd occupied for about 2 seconds.

The descent down Cemetery Ridge to the crossing of Route 1 should be uneventful save for Halloween and when the biker gangs are in town (no, not mountain bikers). Once across Route 1 ride south against traffic 100 yards or so and try not to get hit by someone texting in a car or pickup.

A left onto the dirt road known as Murderer’s Meander (M.M.) promises a thrilling 1/2 mile descent on dirt and gravel to one of the most scenic ambush locations on the North Shore.

You are now on The Eastern Marsh Bike Path

Something to look forward to coming back home?
 When you are huffing back up M.M. after a 16 mile ride heading home…don’t mind the 300 lb bearded gent with the giant German Shepard if he’s around.

He’s friendly. I promise the encounter will make you go faster up that last 70 feet of vertical than you thought possible.

Term of Art: Teacher-Directed Classroom

“teacher-directed classroom: A classroom in which the teacher is in charge and makes all the important decisions about the content and pace of instruction; also known as the teacher-dominated classroom. The teacher-directed classroom is sometimes used as a derogatory term compared unfavorably with the learner-centered classroom, where students are in charge of their own learning. See also teacher-centered instruction. Contrast child-centered education; learner-centered classroom.”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.

Cultural Literacy:

Here, finally on this Friday morning, is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of the clockwork universe. This is a half-page document with a two-sentence reading (the second of them a long compound) and three comprehension questions–with two of them on the same line. This is a spare but relatively thorough summary of the concept of the clockwork universe.

In any case, like almost everything on Mark’s Text Terminal, this is a Microsoft Word document, so you can tailor it to the needs of your students.

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.

Dave Barry on Meetings

“Meetings are an addictive, highly self-indulgent activity that corporations and other large organizations habitually engage in only because they cannot actually masturbate.”

Dave Barry

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.

Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Report

Here is a worksheet on the verb report as it is used with a gerund. I can report doubting whether the materials under this header have any real value.

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.

Modern Art

“Modern Art: In strict historical terminology, modern art began in the middle of the 19th century with the realism of Gustave Courbet. At that time, art began to free itself from the strict requirements of subject matter and developed increasingly toward preoccupation with form. In general, it also repudiated many of the techniques of pleasing the viewer devised by past canonical artists.”

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

Cubism

Here is a reading on Cubism along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I can’t think of anything more to say about this–other than the audience for this, given the state of arts education in our schools these days, might end up being entirely self-selected.

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.

Write It Right: Individual

“Individual. As a noun, this word means something that cannot be considered as divided, a unit. But it is incorrect to call a man, woman, or child an individual, except with reference to mankind, to society, or to a class of persons. It will not do to say ‘An individual stood in the street,’ when no mention of allusion has been made, nor is going to be made, to some aggregate of individuals considered as a whole.”

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

Cultural Literacy: John Calvin and Calvinism

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on John Calvin and his doctrine, Calvinism. This is a half-page worksheet that contains two readings from The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. They are separated. The first is on John Calvin the man, and is two-sentences; the second is on the doctrine of Calvinism, and is four-sentences long. Three comprehension questions follow both of these readings. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but a recent Secretary of Education of the United States apparently believed all that nonsense about predestination in Calvinist doctrine.

As with virtually everything on Mark’s Text Terminal, this is a Microsoft Word document, so you can manipulate it for the needs of your students. I thought these combine well, but they also might be better off separated into two separate documents. You can do with it as you wish.

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.

Catchword

“Catchword (noun): A word associated with a particular person or thing or crystallizing an issue; identifying slogan; in printing, a guideword at the top of the page; as in a dictionary, to indicate the first or last word on that page; a striking, catchy, attention-getting word heading an advertisement.

‘As he turned away, I saw the Daily Wire sticking out of his shabby pocket. He bade me farewell in quite a blaze of catchwords, and went stumping up the road.’ G.K. Chesterton, in The Man Who Was Chesterton.

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