Category Archives: Independent Practice

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

Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Celebrate

Alrighty then (as Ace Ventura is wont to say), classes have ended in New York City high schools, and we’re into a round of mindless though high-stakes testing to enrich corporate educational publishers. So, as we reach the end of the school year, now seems as good a time as any to post this document on the verb celebrate as it is used with gerunds following it.

Incidentally, celebrate has both intransitive and transitive use.

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 Gerunds: Can’t Help

OK, last and probably least this morning, here is a on the verb phrase can’t help as it is used with gerunds. I’ve commented previously on my general dissatisfaction with these, but I’ll keep posting them until someone complains (which is unlikely).

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, 10 June 2022: Summer of Soul Lesson 2

The second Friday of June 2022 brings from Mark’s Text Terminal the second lesson plan of the Summer of Soul unit I wrote this spring to capitalize on the interest in this superlative documentary–especially when it won a much-deserved Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and accrued similar honors at just about every film festival held in North America in 2021. This lesson accompanies a viewing of the film: I composed these ten questions to guide viewing of the film in order to meet the unit’s learning objectives, which is an investigation into why the 50 hours of footage shot at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival never took a “seat at the table” when film production budgets were handed out.

That’s it. No do-now; students just jump right in to a viewing of the film. The third lesson will appear next Friday.

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: Radioactive Waste

OK, last but not least this morning, and because I started watching the HBO series Chernobyl, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on radioactive waste. This is a full-page document with a five-sentence reading (two of them longish compounds) and six comprehension questions. Like the aforementioned television show, this worksheet is both compelling and cheerless.

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.

Alexander Graham Bell

If you can use them, here are a reading on Alexander Graham Bell with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. There’s not much to day beyond that–other than for the right student, this may well be high-interest material.

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.

Word Root Exercise: Spectro-

Moving right along on this lovely Monday morning in Brooklyn, here is a worksheet on the Latin word root spectro. It means simply, just as it sounds, “spectrum.” You’ll find this root at the base of many scientific words like spectrograph, spectrometer, and spectroscope; but more commonly used English words like suspect and speculate also grow from this root.

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 Gerunds: Avoid

Here is a worksheet on the verb avoid and its use with gerunds. Every time I post one of these, I wonder whether I should just toss the rest of them. I made over 100 of them, second-guessing myself the whole time. Anyway, as previously mentioned, for practical purposes, I have unlimited storage space on this blog. I’ll continue to post these in the hope that someone finds them useful.

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: Topic Sentence, Paragraph

OK, I continue to break into new material I developed during the pandemic. This pair of Cultural Literacy worksheets really should go out together. The first is a worksheet on the topic sentence of a paragraph. This is a half-page document with a two-sentence reading two comprehension questions.

That document’s obvious complement is this worksheet on the paragraph, as the reading nicely summarizes it, as the “basic unit of prose.” This is also a half-page document, but you’ll find a three-sentence reading with three comprehension questions.

In other words, a good general introduction, in two parts, to the paragraph in form and purpose.

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.

Word Root Exercise: Rrhea, Rrhoea, and Rrhag

Here is a worksheet on on the Greek word roots rrhea, rrhoea, and rrhag. They mean flow, excessive flow, and discharge. You probably won’t be surprise to find these roots inside English words like diarrhea, gonorrhea, and hemorrhage. Like most of the Greek word roots I’ve posted her over the years, this one will be useful for students planning careers in the health care professions.

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 Gerunds: Acknowledge

Previously on the blog, I’ve conveyed my doubts about the quality of work that appear under the header above. Since I have nearly unlimited storage space on this blog, and because they are already made, and because perhaps there is a chance someone might find them useful, I will continue to post these documents. Without further ado, here is a worksheet on using gerunds with the verb acknowledge.

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.