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.

The Weekly Text, April 14, 2017: Four Context Clues Stemming from the Noun Character

Posted on April 7, 2017 | Leave a comment

(Today is April 7th, and tomorrow begins spring break here in New York City. Because I don’t want to be anywhere near this or any other computer next week–I plan to spend some time in actual nature instead in front of screens–I’m posting next week’s Text this morning. Happy Spring!)

This week’s Text is four context clues starting from the noun character. In addition to the noun character, that document contains characteristic as both a noun and an adjective, as well as the verb characterize.

That’s it. If you’re a teacher on spring break, I hope it is and was a restful time. You have, I feel confident saying, earned 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.

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Legitimate (adj)

Posted on April 7, 2017 | Leave a comment

If ever there was a time when citizens of this republic ought to understand the concept of political legitimacy it is now. So you might consider this context clues worksheet on the adjective legitimate 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.

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Militarism (n)

Posted on April 7, 2017 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun militarism. Given the budget that the executive branch of our government has proposed, I submit that this is a timely word for students to understand.

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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Oligarchy (n)

Posted on April 6, 2017 | Leave a comment

If there is a better time in United States history for students to understand the concept of oligarchy, I can’t imagine when that would be. For that reason, I offer this context clues worksheet on the noun oligarchy.

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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The Weekly Text, March 31, 2017, Women’s History Month Week V: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Murasaki Shikibu

Posted on March 31, 2017 | Leave a comment

The last day of March is also the last day of Women’s History Month. This week’s Text is a reading on Murasaki Shikibu. Lady Shikibu wrote what is arguably history’s first novel, The Tale of Genji. Here is a comprehension worksheet to accompany the relatively short reading.

And that is the last Weekly Text for Women’s History Month. I hope they’ve been useful. Next week I’ll return to posting less theme oriented material; I think I have a grammar lesson queued up.

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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Isolate (vt), Isolation (n), Isolationism (n)

Posted on March 30, 2017 | Leave a comment

It’s the time of year that the global studies class in which I am co-teacher studies the succession of Chinese dynasties. This unit necessitates a discussion of isolationism. My co-teacher asked me to prepare a context clues worksheet on the term, so I did. I think it’s necessary when teaching this word to begin with the verb isolate. This is one of those tricky polysemous words that has a different general meaning than say, in biology, chemistry, or even linguistics.

If you want your students to understand isolationism as a political and diplomatic term, then you might find useful these three context clues worksheets that begin with the verb isolate (and include the nouns isolation and isolationism). Also, here is a lexicon for these words for your class linguist.

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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The Weekly Text, March 24, 2017, Women’s History Month 2017 Week IV: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Posted on March 24, 2017 | Leave a comment

It seems to me safe to assume that Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a staple in any Women’s Studies Program. For this fourth and penultimate week of Women’s History Month, Mark’s Text Terminal therefore offers this reading on Elizabeth Cady Stanton as well as a comprehension worksheet to accompany it. I hope you find them useful.

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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An Explanation of Mercantilism for Struggling Learners

Posted on March 21, 2017 | Leave a comment

As I’ve mentioned ad nauseum on this blog, I work at a business-themed high school in Lower Manhattan. Mercantilism, a key concept to any high school social studies curriculum, is especially important in this institution. I’ve posted elsewhere on Mark’s Text Terminal a a lengthy and supported lesson plan on the concept. At the same time, I have always sought to supply students with a thumbnail sketch of this relatively abstract concept, the mastery of which often eludes struggling learners.

The other day, struggling to explain mercantilism, once again, to a freshman global studies class, I came up this summary of mercantilism that calls upon prior knowledge that we can, I think, fairly safely assume all our students possess.

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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The Weekly Text, March 17, 2017, Women’s History Month 2017 Week III: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Posted on March 17, 2017 | Leave a comment

This week’s Text for week three of Women’s History Month is a reading on Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee, which may well be of higher interest to students than some of the readings posted this month. Here is a comprehension worksheet to accompany it.

And that’s it for this short (we had a snow day on Tuesday) but busy week.

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, Social Sciences, The Weekly Text, Worksheets

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Wealth (n)

Posted on March 16, 2017 | Leave a comment

Because I work in a business-themed high school in the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, this context clues worksheet on the noun wealth was one of the first context clues worksheets I developed after lifting the idea for them from Kylene Beer’s book When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do.

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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