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.

Term of Art: Teachable Moment

Posted on August 2, 2022 | Leave a comment

“teachable moment: A confluence of experience and instruction that suddenly awakens student interest and gives life to what is taught. A teachable moment may occur as the result of a current event, of a school or classroom occurrence, or of something that happened to a student or a teacher. Suddenly, a concept that once seemed abstract becomes clear and important. Teachable moments may also occur between parents and children, as parents teach spontaneous everyday lessons about behavior, morals, ethics, and values.”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , ,

Term of Art: Structural Analysis

Posted on July 29, 2022 | Leave a comment

“structural analysis: A type of word recognition that identifies structural features such as syllables, prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Other structural elements include compound words (sunshine) and contradictions (do not).

A reader may use a combination of structural analysis and context clues to identify an unfamiliar word. Individuals with learning disabilities benefit from the explicit teaching of structural analysis skills in order to improve spelling and reading comprehension.”

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

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , ,

Guy Fawkes

Posted on July 29, 2022 | Leave a comment

OK, here is a reading on Guy Fawkes along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Chances are good, especially in the high school population, that students have heard of Fawkes through the graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, the book’s filmed version, or the ubiquitous Guy Fawkes masks that show up at various protest rallies.

In any case, Guy Fawkes remains of sufficient importance–if only as a bogeyman–in British history that the Brits observe Guy Fawkes Night to commemorate the Gunpowder Plot in which Fawkes was intimately involved.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , , , ,

Byword

Posted on July 29, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Byword (noun): A common saying of proverb, or a much-used word or phrase; widely familiar term; epithet; something or somebody personifying a type, quality, or the like; exemplar or paragon.

‘This, I did not need telling, was Anthony Blanche, the “aesthete” par excellence, a byword of iniquity from Cherwell Edge to Somerville, a young man who seemed to me, then fresh from the somber company of the College Essay Society, ageless as a wizard, as foreign as a Martian.’ Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited”

Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , ,

Cultural Literacy: Balkan Peninsula

Posted on July 29, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Balkan Peninsula. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three compound sentences and three comprehension questions. Nota bene, please, that the compounds in these sentences contain lists of geographical particularities and the many nations and nationalities that crowd this relatively small piece of real estate. If you’re looking for something to begin a lesson on this region–particularly just about anything on World War I, empires, colonialism, or the horrorshow that ensued in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union–this short worksheet might be a good place to start.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , , ,

Douglas Sirk

Posted on July 29, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Douglas Sirk originally Hans Detlef Sierck: (1900-1987) German-U.S. film director. He was artistic director of several theaters in Bremen (1923-29) and Leipzig (1929-36) and made several films before fleeing Germany in 1937. He arrived in Hollywood in 1939 and received minor directing assignments until he joined Universal Pictures in 1950. There he directed comedy, western, and war movies but was best known for such popular melodramas as Magnificent Obsession (1954), There’s Always Tomorrow (1956), Written on the Wind (1956), and The Tarnished Angels (1957). After directing his greatest success, Imitation of Life (1959), he retired to Germany.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , , ,

Term of Art: Task-Oriented Learning

Posted on July 22, 2022 | Leave a comment

“task-oriented learning: A learning approach in which students are expected to complete specific assigned jobs, or tasks, to gain mastery. Advocates of task-oriented instruction laud it because it is experiential and hands-on, as opposed to instruction that relies on books and lectures.”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Quotes, Social Sciences

Tagged , ,

Cultural Literacy: Balance of Trade

Posted on July 22, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the balance of trade. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two compound sentences and three comprehension questions. A concise introduction to a fundamental concept in the economics of trade. If I had been paying attention, I would have paired this document into one post with this worksheet on the balance of payments as a concept in trade and economics I that posted about a week ago.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , ,

Thomas Edison on the Labor of Thought

Posted on July 22, 2022 | Leave a comment

“There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking.”

Thomas Edison

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

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , ,

Norman Cousins on Facts and Interpretation

Posted on July 20, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Unobstructed access to facts can produce unlimited good only if it is matched by the desire and ability to find out what they mean and where they lead.”

Norman Cousins “Freedom as Teacher” (1981)

Excerpted from: Howe, Randy, ed. The Quotable Teacher. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2003.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , ,