Category Archives: Social Sciences

You’ll find domain-specific material designed to meet Common Core Standards in social studies, along with adapted and differentiated materials that deal with a broad array of conceptual knowledge in the social sciences. See the Taxonomies page for more about this category.

Write It Right: Antecedents for Personal History

Posted on August 12, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Antecedents for Personal History. Antecedents are predecessors.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. Write it Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2010.

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David Letterman on Statistics

Posted on August 12, 2020 | Leave a comment

“USA Today has come out with a new survey; apparently, three out of every four people make up 75 percent of the population.”

David Letterman

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.

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Deaccessioning

Posted on August 12, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Deaccessioning: In the late 1980s the art market experienced an enormous book and prices skyrocketed for all artworks, but especially for Impressionist and Modern paintings. Acquisition budgets at most museums could not keep up with the new prices. In order to acquire new and important works, some museums resorted to the sale of what were considered secondary or redundant works in their collections. The auctioning off of several works then supplied the funds to buy one or two paintings which could fill gaps in the existing collection. Deaccessioning was controversial, raising questions as to whether such decisions reflected current tastes and would stand the test of time.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

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Term of Art: Adaptive Skills

Posted on August 12, 2020 | Leave a comment

“adaptive skills: Daily living skills that a person needs to be able to live, work, and play independently. There are 10 skills that are included in this area: communication, self-care, home living, social skills, leisure,, health and safety, self-direction, functional academics, community use, and work.

Adaptive skills are assessed in the person’s typical environment, in all aspects of an individual’s life. A person with limited intellectual functioning but who does not have have limits in adaptive skill areas may not be diagnosed as having mental retardation. By law, such a person is not retarded.”

Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.

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Posted in Essays/Readings, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

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A Lesson Plan on the Crime and Puzzlement Case “Made in Japan”

Posted on August 12, 2020 | Leave a comment

I haven’t posted one in awhile, so here is a lesson plan on the Crime and Puzzlement case “Made in Japan.”

This lesson opens, if you’re so inclined, with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the term and concept of “star-crossed lovers.” You’ll need this scan of the text, illustration, and questions to conduct your investigation. And once you’ve gathered the evidence and analyzed, it, you’ll need the typescript of the answer key to check your detective work.

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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Animate (vt)

Posted on August 12, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here’s a context clues worksheet on the verb animate. This is one of those good, lively verbs that students probably ought to know for its own sake–i.e., that it is a very strong verb. Besides meaning “to produce in the form of an animated cartoon” it can mean, depending on context, “to give spirit and support to : ENCOURAGE,”to give life to,” “to give vigor and zest to,” and the way I generally use it in expository prose, “to move to action.”

In any case, as a verb, animate is only used transitively.

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: Industrial Revolution

Posted on August 11, 2020 | Leave a comment

Last but not least today, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Industrial Revolution which is pretty simple and speaks for itself, I guess.

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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Provincetown

Posted on August 11, 2020 | Leave a comment

I worked part of a school year in Springfield, Massachusetts. The kids I served there–and this was more a function of social class and the dismal high school they were compelled to attend–had a vague knowledge of Cape Cod, but not really any understanding of its geography, history, or role in the origins of the United States. Others, alas, weren’t aware it was geographically and legally part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Since I was a “literacy interventionist” (whatever that is), without a set curriculum, I prepared this reading on Provincetown and its vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet to foster understanding of the Cape and its history. The LGBTQ kids were pleased to get ahold of this information.

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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Term of Art: Context Clues

Posted on August 11, 2020 | Leave a comment

“context clues: Using information in a sentence or paragraph surrounding a new term to help the reader understand that term. There are several items to look for when searching for context clues, including

  • a punctuation mark (such as a comma or dash) that may signal that information is being presented about the new term
  • key words: words such as or and that is may signal that definition is to follow.
  • Definition: sometimes the meaning of a new word may be made clear by reading the entire paragraph in which it appears.

Learning to use context clues to gain meaning is an important reading skill. A student who is able to use the context to identify an unknown word, grasp the meaning of a word, or comprehend a passage read, will become a good reader.”

Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.

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Write It Right: Conservative for Moderate

Posted on August 11, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Conservative for Moderate. ‘A conservative estimate’; ‘a conservative forecast’; ‘a conservative statement,’ and so on. These and many other abuses of the word are of recent growth in the newspapers and ‘halls of legislation.’ Having been found to have several meanings, conservative seems to be thought to mean everything.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. Write it Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2010.

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