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.

Kaiser (n)

You might find this context clues worksheet on the noun kaiser useful, especially if you’re teaching a global studies class that addresses German politics in the second half of the nineteenth century, and, of course, World War I. Please do remember that this is a derivation of the Latin cognomen Caesar, appended to Augustus, Rome’s first emperor. Assisting students in taking that knowledge a step further you can demonstrate to students how far this word traveled by pointing out that the Russian emperor’s title Czar also derives from Caesar.

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.

A Short Exercise on the Greek Word Roots Dont and Odont/o

Here is a worksheet on the Greek word roots dont and odont/o. If you’ve ever worn braces or needed treatment for gum disease (i.e. with an orthodontist or periodontist), you will recognize right away that this productive root means both tooth and teeth.

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.

Assimilate (vt/vi)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb assimilate that you might find handy in teaching social studies. It’s used both transitively and intransitively. Beware, however (and you may want to consult Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary on this), when you use it transitively, with the prepositions to, into, and with, you will need to use caution as meaning can shift in those constructions.

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: Johannes Gutenberg

Since I’ve long thought he could receive focus in English Language Arts or social studies courses (I’ve tagged this post as both), if you teacher either subject, you might find this Cultural Literacy worksheet on Johannes Gutenberg 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.

Rotten Reviews: Francis Bacon

“His faults were–we write it with pain–coldness of heart, and meanness of spirit. He seems to have been incapable of feeling strong affection, of facing great dangers, of making great sacrifices. His desires were set on things below, titles, patronage, the mace, the seals, the coronet, large houses, fair gardens, rich manors, many services of pate…”

T.B. MacaulayEssays 1842

Excerpted from: Bernard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.

Cultural Literacy: The Invisible Hand

As I’ve mentioned, probably ad nauseam at this point, I work in an economics and finance-themed high school in the financial district in Lower Manhattan. Wherever you work, however, if you teach high school social studies, or anything to do with early theories of capitalism, especially anything on Adam Smith, then you may well find this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the invisible hand 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.

John Maynard Keynes on Education

“Education: the inculcation of the incomprehensible into the indifferent by the incompetent.”

John Maynard Keynes

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Portable Curmudgeon. New York: Plume, 1992.

The Weekly Text, June 30, 2017: Two Context Clues on Rite (n) and Ritual (n)

The last day of school here in New York City was Wednesday the 28th, and not a moment too soon. As Joey Ramone once said, “Chewin’ out the rhythm on my bubble gum, the sun is out, and I want some” (The Ramones, “Rockaway Beach”).

So this week’s Text is a short one, to wit, these two context clues worksheets on the nouns rite and ritual. I hope 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.

Two Short Word Root Exercises: Hemi and Demi

Here is a worksheet on the Greek root hemi (it means half or partly) and another on another on the Latin word root demi (it means half or less than). These are short worksheets designed to open a class session–they are not full lesson-length documents.

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.

Raze (vt)

If you’re teaching the Fall of Rome, or invasions and empire building in general, in your social studies class, this context clues worksheet on the transitive verb raze helpful.

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.