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: Armenian Massacre

Because the events it records have been in the news lately, or perhaps belatedly might be the better adverb here, this seems like a good time to post this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Armenian massacres of 1915. Many historians regard this as the first modern genocide; it certainly set a grim tone for the bloody twentieth century.

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.

Measles

Here is a reading on measles and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet if for some reason you can use them.

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.

The Weekly Text, November 18, 2019: Five Worksheets on the Homophones Sight (n), Site (n/vt), and Cite (vt)

This week’s Text is a set of five worksheets on the homophones sight (noun), site (noun and transitive verb), and cite (transitive verb). These are very commonly used words in the English language. For some learners, these are easily confused. Part of the reason I wrote this was to help students who needed to learn to cite sources for research papers. I took it as an opportunity to do some vocabulary building. These are short exercises for opening a class period after a transition.

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.

Miniskirts

Because teenagers struggle to imagine a time when the miniskirt was risque apparel, this reading on miniskirts has tended to be a high-interest item in my classrooms. This vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet 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.

Cultural Literacy: Anorexia Nervosa

I have other materials related to the topic, but if you need something quick to introduce it, this Cultural Literacy worksheet on anorexia nervosa might be suitable.

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.

Word Root Exercise: Omni

OK: I have a couple of minutes before my presence is required elsewhere, so here is a worksheet on the Latin word root omni. It means all. You find it at the roots of many English words, including omniscient and omnipotent,  which is why this post gets a philosophy tag.

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.

Cultural Literacy: Stalinism

Finally, on this suddenly chilly Tuesday afternoon, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Stalinism that ought to be useful in a number of places in the high school social studies curriculum.

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.

Gordie Howe

Last year, while working in Springfield, Massachusetts, I was interested to learn that many of my students were interested in and followed hockey. This was partly due, I guess, to the presence of the Springfield Thunderbirds, a minor league hockey team; it was also due to the fact that several girls I taught actually played the game themselves.

So, one of the things I developed for these students is this reading on hockey legend Gordie Howe and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I have several more hockey-related readings and worksheet, so if this sport is of interest to your students, be on the lookout here.

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.

The Weekly Text, November 8, 2019: A Lesson Plan on the Art of Summarizing

Alright, this week’s Text is a lesson plan on the art of summarizing which is part of a bigger unit on argumentation that I wrote–but used only once–a couple of years ago.

This context clues worksheet on the verb concede (which is used transitively, but can be used intransitively, according to Merriam-Webster’s, by writing to make concession) opens the lesson. I use this exemplar of a summary, drawn from the book that informs this unit, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein’s They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing (New York: Norton, 2018) as a learning support and model text. This learning support on the verbs used in the rhetorical figures of argumentation supplies students with the vocabulary they require to postulate and write sound arguments. Here are the two exercises for summarizing that are at the center of this lesson. Finally, here is the worksheet for this lesson that contains the full text of the exemplar linked to above.

And that’s it for another week at Mark’s Text Terminal. Enjoy the weekend.

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.

The Three Stooges

Because one seldom has a chance to see real genius at work, this reading on The Three Stooges and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet might be a salutary antidote to that deficit.

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.