Category Archives: Independent Practice

This is material either specifically designed for or appropriate to use for what is more commonly known as “homework.”

Cultural Literacy: Faction

Posted on September 2, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here’s another word students, I submit, should know now, so I therefore submit, also, this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of a faction. Given the extent to which politics in the United States, has become factionalized (I’m talking to you, Qanon nutcases, among others), and the fact that the federal government in this nation is arguably in the hands of a faction, it is imperative that students understand this word and the concept it represents.

Fortunately, the definition is strong and objective at the same time.

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.

Leave a comment

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

Tagged , , , ,

Common Errors in English Usage: Stance (n), Stand (n)

Posted on September 2, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is an English usage worksheet on differentiating between the use of stance and stand. It is, as are the others from this series I currently labor to build, pretty straightforward. If you want to know more about the rationale for this group of documents, please see the About Texts & Texts page on this website. Long story short: I contrived these to meet an English Language Arts Common Core Standard.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Worksheets

Tagged ,

A Short Exercise on the Greek Word Root Ornith/o

Posted on September 1, 2020 | Leave a comment

Last but not least, today, here is a short worksheet on the Greek word root ornith/o, which means, of course, bird. If you’ve downloaded other word-root worksheets from Mark’s Text Terminal, please be advised that this one is a much shorter exercise. Its purpose is as a do-now exercise, something short to start off a class period.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Worksheets

Tagged , , , ,

Isadora Duncan

Posted on September 1, 2020 | Leave a comment

For a student with certain interests, broadly, arts and culture, but narrowly, dance, bohemianism, and women’s history, this reading on Isadora Duncan and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet have turned out to be high-interest materials.

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.

Leave a comment

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

Tagged , , , , , ,

Cultural Literacy: Consent of the Governed

Posted on September 1, 2020 | Leave a comment

If there was a better time to post this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of the consent of the governed, I can’t imagine when that would be. Don’t forget that this conception of political power and governance comes to us from John Locke. It is at the center of the grievances aired in the Declaration of Independence and epitomizes the political philosophy behind both the Declaration and the United States Constitution—Liberalism.

Liberalism arrives in English almost intact from the Latin liberalis, meaning “suitable for a freeman.” It is also the stem of a portmanteau I wouldn’t mind seeing disappear from the vernacular, “libtard.” Users of this noun appear quite pleased with themselves when they use it; they shouldn’t be.

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.

Leave a comment

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

Tagged , , ,

Empire State Building

Posted on August 27, 2020 | Leave a comment

It’s pouring rain and I want to drive over to the other side of this state to visit friends. So, I’ll write one more post before taking my chances with the mountain roads between here and there. So, here, especially for my erstwhile colleagues in New York, is a reading on the Empire State Building and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

One thing to consider when teaching students about this building is that it went up in record time at the very beginning of the Great Depression. I think there is something interesting about that, but translating it into conceptual terms has so far evaded me.

What say you?

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.

Leave a comment

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

Tagged , , , , ,

Common Errors in English Usage: Spoke (v) Said (v)

Posted on August 25, 2020 | Leave a comment

OK, esteemed colleagues, last but not least today, here is a worksheet on differentiating the use of spoke and said. In writing this document, I used  the text–from Paul Brians’ Common Errors in English Usage (Sherwood, OR: William James & Co., 2013)–quite broadly. Students will deal with both of the past tense forms of the verbs that title the worksheet, but also their present tense and the present tense of several other verbs listed in the reading.

There is, in other words, a lot of room to expand this worksheet–easily done because it is in Microsoft Word for your convenience in revising for your classroom’s needs.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Reference, Worksheets

Tagged ,

Yankee Stadium

Posted on August 25, 2020 | Leave a comment

Alright baseball fans, this hasn’t been an exciting season, has it. With chagrin, I admit that I have barely paid attention.

It’s not much, but here is a reading on Yankee Stadium and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that have tended to be of high interest to the students I’ve taught over the years.

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.

Leave a comment

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

Tagged , , , , , ,

A Lesson Plan on the Crime and Puzzlement Case “Stolen Bases”

Posted on August 25, 2020 | Leave a comment

Alright, here is another lesson plan on a Crime and Puzzlement case, to wit, “Stolen Bases.”

This Cultural Literacy worksheet on the noun and idiom raison d’etre, derived from the French, obviously, opens the lesson if you are inclined to use it. Otherwise, moving right along, to conduct your investigation you’ll need this scan of the illustration, reading, and questions that are the circumstances of the case. Finally, to solve the case and bring the accused to the bar of justice, you’ll want the typescript of the answer key.

Best of luck, inspectors!

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.

Leave a comment

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

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Cultural Literacy: Terrorism

Posted on August 25, 2020 | Leave a comment

Since it will remain perennially relevant, I’m afraid, today is a good a day as any to post this Cultural Literacy worksheet on terrorism. It’s a full-page worksheet, so it works of independent practice–i.e. homework.

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.

Leave a comment

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

Tagged , ,