Category Archives: Worksheets

Classroom documents for student use. Most are structured and scaffolded, and most are pitched at a fundamental level in terms of the questions they ask and the work and understandings they require of students.

Word Root Exercise: Syn-, Sym-, Syl-, Sys-

Posted on July 4, 2022 | Leave a comment

Alright, here is a worksheet on the Greek word roots syn-,sym-,syl-, and sys-. They mean, simply, together and same. These are fertile roots in English, and they give us words like symbiosis, symmetry, synchronize, synergy, and synthesis. All of those words are included in this document. Other common words growing from this root, such as synonym, are not here–but as students learn roots, they will recognize syn means together and same, and will be most of the way to defining the word.

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: Republic

Posted on July 4, 2022 | Leave a comment

It’s Independence Day in the United States, so I can think of no better time to post this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the republic as a form of government. This is a full-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences–all of them compounds–and six comprehension questions. The reading, incidentally, does a nice job of differentiating republics and democracies.

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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Contend (vi/vt)

Posted on July 4, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb contend. This verb is used both intransitively and transitively. For the context clues in this sentences, the two intransitive definitions, “to strive or vie in contest or rivalry or against difficulties,” and “to strive in debate” are the ones students will probably most quickly infer.

It’s worth mentioning, I guess, that the transitive definitions of contend, to wit “maintain,” “assert,” “to struggle for,” “and contest” don’t go too far afield of the intransitive meanings.

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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Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Endure

Posted on July 3, 2022 | Leave a comment

Finally this morning, here is a worksheet on the verb endure when used with a gerund. I cannot endure composing another series of instructional materials of dubious value.

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 Solar System

Posted on July 3, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on the solar system along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. This is a short reading with the standard eight-by-eight (i.e. eight vocabulary words to define, eight comprehension questions ) worksheet that I composed for all these readings.

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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Word Root Exercise: Spor/o, Spori

Posted on July 3, 2022 | Leave a comment

Moving along this morning, here is a worksheet on the Greek word roots spor/o and spori. These mean spore and to sow. What does one sow? Why seeds, of course, and even though that doesn’t turn up so simply as the definition in the standard lexicon of Mark’s Text Terminal, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, a spore is basically a seed.

Anyway, this root sprouts such scientific nouns as sporophyll, sporozoan, and zoospore.

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: Separation of Church and State

Posted on July 3, 2022 | Leave a comment

Given the zeitgeist, particularly as defined by the current Supreme Court of the United States, now seems like a good time to post this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of the separation of church and state. This is a full-page document with a reading of five sentences, two of them longish compounds, and seven comprehension questions. The reading does a nice job of explaining the ambiguity of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (which I, like other First Amendment absolutists, I expect, wish weren’t there) without ever mentioning the term.

So there might be a way of turning this document into something of a treasure hunt for the term “Establishment Clause.” Or something else entirely.

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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Confabulate (vi)

Posted on July 3, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb confabulate. It’s used only intransitively–so you don’t need a direct object here. For the purposes of the context the sentences in this document imply, this verb means “to fill in gaps in memory by fabrication.” However, it can also mean “to talk informally (chat),” and “to hold a discussion (confer).”

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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Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Dispute

Posted on July 1, 2022 | Leave a comment

Finally this morning, here is a worksheet on the verb dispute when it is used with a gerund. I dispute sneezing in the soup enhances its flavor.

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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Word Root Exercise: Tract

Posted on July 1, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on the Latin word root tract. It means draw and pull. You will recognize this as a particularly productive root in English: attract, contract, detract, extract, and retract all grow from this root, and all are included in this document (and I haven’t mentioned distract–to pull attention away from–which is not on this worksheet).

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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