Category Archives: Independent Practice

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

The Weekly Text, 19 July 2024: A Lesson on the Latin Word Roots Terr, Terra, and Terri

The Weekly Text at Mark’s Text Terminal for 19 July 2024 is this lesson on the Latin word roots terr, terra, and terri. They mean “earth” and “land.” The do-now exercise for this lesson, this context clues worksheet on the noun real estate attempts to point students in the direction of these roots and make the connection between the nouns earth, land, and the vernacular real estate.

This scaffolded worksheet, replete with a cognate list from the primary Romance languages (not Romansh, alas, though perhaps Romansh isn’t a primary language?) is the principle work for 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.

Common English Verbs Followed by an Infinitive or a Gerund: Forget

OK, finally this morning, here is a worksheet on the verb forget when used with an infinitive or a gerund.

I forgot to publish blog posts this morning,.

I forgot publishing this morning’s blog posts.

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: Rhetorical Question

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the rhetorical question. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of one, longish compound sentence (that might be best recast for struggling and emergent readers as well as learners of English as a new language) and three comprehension questions. Once again, the editors of the The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy come through with an introduction to a relatively difficult concept that is stylish and easily understood.

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.

The Weekly Text, 12 July 2024: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Epistemology

Epistemology, officially (from Merriam-Webster, of course!), simply defined, is “the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity.” Unofficially, and for the consumption of secondary-school students, it means “how we know what we know” and “how we validate what we know.” In many respects, along with reification (to reify is “to regard (something abstract) as a material or concrete thing”) teachers are in the epistemology business.

In any event, some years ago, I had a student who had conceived an interest in Western Philosophy. His grandmother had one of those Great Courses on cassette tape, and he listened to it with her. This was a tough Bronx street kid–I later heard he’d been arrested for attempted murder; but he had an acute interest in philosophy. Among the number of things I worked up to keep him engaged is this reading on epistemology along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

I hope you are enjoying the summer break.

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.

Common English Verbs Followed by and Infinitive: Would Like

Finally this morning, here is a worksheet on the verb phrase would like when used with an infinitive. I would like to avoid writing instructional materials that are more or less useless.

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: Roosevelt’s Court Packing Plan

Moving right along this morning, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Roosevelt’s court packing plan. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences–all longish compounds separated by commas–and three comprehension questions.

As I look at this document this morning, I find, apropos of its subject matter, I suppose, that the text is packed in a little too tightly. Moreover, the aforementioned three longish compound sentences might be better rewritten if you plan to use this document with emergent or struggling readers or students for whom English is a new language. Moreover, I think the comprehension questions could be improved, or expanded, with a couple of critical thinking questions added.

But 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.

Common English Verbs Followed by an Infinitive: Wish

Here is a worksheet on the verb wish when it is used with an infinitive. I wish to produce better materials for teaching writing than this one.

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: Satire

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on satire. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two relatively simple sentences and three comprehension questions. A short but solid introduction to this important cultural concept.

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.

The Weekly Text, 28 June 2024: A Lesson Plan on the Latin Word Root Six

This week’s Text is a lesson plan on the Latin word rood sex, which means six. This doesn’t produce a lot of high frequency words in English, but like the previous word root lesson that appeared on this blog, it is a root that shows up in words that are otherwise difficult to understand, like sexagenarian, sextuplet, sexennial, and sextet. They’re all included on the scaffolded worksheet, replete with cognates from the Romance languages that grow from Latin roots, that serves as the mainstay of this lesson

As I write this post, I find mysterious my choice, for this lesson, of this do-now exercise 0n the noun intercourse. It means, in the context of the sentence in which I have placed it on this worksheet, “connection or dealings between persons or groups” as well as “exchange, especially of thoughts or feelings.” So, unlike other lessons (but like the lesson on sept), there is no meaningful connection between the do-now and the main work 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.

Common English Verbs Followed by an Infinitive: Want

Here is a worksheet on the verb want when followed by an infinitive. I want to move all of these worksheets out of my drafts folder.

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.