Category Archives: Independent Practice

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

Independent Practice: Samurai

Posted on April 13, 2020 | Leave a comment

OK: here is an independent practice worksheet on samurai. This material is fundamental to understanding feudal Japan, as well as one of the greatest films of all time, Akira Kurosawa’s masterful (I was going to say masterpiece, but Kurosawa produced many masterpieces) Seven Samurai.

If you’ve seen The Magnificent Seven, than you’ve seen Seven Samurai–though arguably a lesser version of it.

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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Word Root Exercise: Ped, Pedi and -Pede

Posted on April 13, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on the Latin word roots ped pedi and pede. These roots in Latin mean simply foot and feet and give use words in English like pedestrian and pedicure. Needless to say, this is a very productive root in English

Please take care not to confuse these Latin roots with the Greek root ped: in Greek, this root, also very productive in English gives us words like pediatrics and pedagogy. I have a worksheet on the Greek root as well, and will publish it in the next couple of days.

Aside: is there a lesson in comparative linguistics here? If the foot is the base of the human body, can childhood be the base of human life? This is a thought I’ve gotten stuck on a time or two. What do you think?

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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Cultural Literacy: Leaves of Grass

Posted on April 13, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Leaves of Grass ; the book actually went through numerous editions, depending on how one counts them. That count, in any case, includes the famous “deathbed edition,” which had grown to almost 400 poems from the 12 in the first edition.

Walt Whitman is a central figure in American letters and Leaves of Grass a milestone in American poetry. I can’t imagine why high school students shouldn’t learn something about him. Moreover, Whitman can serve as a means of introducing students to the concept of free verse–again, something high school students should understand, and be able to understand.

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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Joe DiMaggio

Posted on April 13, 2020 | Leave a comment

While Major League Baseball remains on hiatus and debates with itself on how to proceed in these extraordinary circumstances, perhaps this reading on Joe DiMaggio and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet will go a short distance toward engaging young minds in the national pastime, or at least its history.

It isn’t much, I concede, but I suppose it’s better than nothing. I’m definitely ready to watch some baseball.

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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The Weekly Text, April 10, 2020, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Week II: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Zen Buddhism

Posted on April 10, 2020 | Leave a comment

OK, last but not least this morning, this week’s Text, in this blog’s ongoing observation of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2020, here is a reading on Zen along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension 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.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Essays/Readings, Independent Practice, The Weekly Text, Worksheets

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Independent Practice: The Mauryan Empire

Posted on April 10, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is an independent practice worksheet on the Mauryan Empire.

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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Cultural Literacy: James Joyce

Posted on April 10, 2020 | Leave a comment

It’s hard to imagine there will be much demand even at the high school level for this Cultural Literacy worksheet on James Joyce. But who knows? More startling things have happened in my classrooms, to be sure.

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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A Lesson Plan on the Latin Word Roots Deca, Dec, Deka, and Deci

Posted on April 10, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is a lesson plan on the Latin word roots deca, dec, deka, and deci. The first three mean ten, but deci means tenth. As you have probably already inferred, especially you math teachers, this is a very productive root in English, and will lead students to understand a wide variety of words for transfer across the curriculum.

I open this lesson with this context clues worksheet on the noun cipher. This word root worksheet is the mainstay of this lesson.

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 the Compound Noun

Posted on April 10, 2020 | Leave a comment

Alright, moving right along, here is a lesson plan on the compound noun and its use in declarative sentences. I open this lesson with the Everyday Edit worksheet on National Public Radio (and as I will never stop saying every time I post an Everyday Edit worksheet, the generous proprietors of Education World will let you walk away from their site with a yearlong supply of these worksheets free of charge). This scaffolded worksheet at the center of the lesson will take most of your time in helping students master this point of grammar and usage. I made this teacher’s copy of the worksheet to make sure I taught the material consistently. Finally, here is the learning support, a word bank, to help move the work along.

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, Reference, Worksheets

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A Lesson Plan on Historic Ages and Eras from The Order of Things

Posted on April 10, 2020 | Leave a comment

From the pages of Barbara Ann Kipfer’s The Order of Things, here is a lesson plan on historic ages and eras along with its reading and comprehension worksheet. As I note in the “About Posts & Texts” page, these worksheets are something I began developing this year as short exercises to take advantage of teachable moments and to help students develop an understanding of working with two symbolic systems (i.e. words and numbers) at the same time.

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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