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.

Argot (n)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun argot. It means “an often more or less secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group.” I assume this was a Word of the Day at Merriam-Webster at some point, because this is not exactly a high-frequency word in the English language. In fact, I think there is a case to be made that argot is a linguistic term of art rather than a noun in everyday use.

So, unless you are teaching a unit on, or mounting a production of, Guys and Dolls (or if you need to explain the patter in a Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, or Chester Himes novel, or explain the use of an adjective like “two-bit”) I expect this document will have little utility in the primary or secondary classroom. But what the hell, I wrote it, I have basically unlimited storage capacity on this blog, and maybe someone can use it.

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.

Administer (vi/vt)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb administer. It is used both intransitively and transitively. The sentences in this document, however, are keyed to this verb’s first transitive definition, “to manage or supervise the execution, use, or conduct of.” Ergo, you will note that all the sentences on this worksheet use administer with a direct object–i.e. 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.

Word Root Exercise: Op, Ops, Opt/o, Opthalm/o, Opia, Opsy

Finally this morning, here is a worksheet on the Greek word roots op, ops,opt/o, opthalm/o,-opia, and opsy. They mean, variously, eye, visual condition, vision, sight, and inspection. This is a productive set of roots from which grow a diverse vocabulary that includes (on this document), autopsy, biopsy, ophthalmology, and synopsis.

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: Superconductivity

OK, moving right along here at the crack of doom on this Friday morning, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on superconductivity. This is a half-page document with a reading of two compound sentences that yield three comprehension questions. I understand (I think–I am not a science teacher) that this is not a concept that is part of the general science curriculum in primary and secondary schools. But for the right student? In my experience this is a very useful short piece of work.

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.

Common Errors in English Usage: If (conj), Whether (conj)

Here is a worksheet on the use of the conjunctions if and whether in both casual speech and formal prose. The distinction, as Professor Paul Brians points out (this and all other materials under the heading above are based on his book Common Errors in English Usage, to which he allows access at no charge at the Washington State University website) is stylistic. Anyway, this is a full-page worksheet with ten sentences for analysis.

But, like practically everything on this blog, this document is formatted in Microsoft Word. You can do what you want with it–it is, as I believe the term of art has it, open source.

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.

Age (n)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun age. These sentences provide clues to the meaning of this noun as “a period of time dominated by a central figure or prominent feature.” This use of age is similar to the nouns era (“a period identified by some prominent figure or characteristic feature”) and epoch (“an extended period of time usually characterized by a distinctive development or by a memorable series of events”).

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.

The Weekly Text, 1 April 2022: A Lesson Plan on the Crime and Puzzlement Case “Spelling Bee”

On this April Fool’s Day, this week’s Text is a lesson plan on the Crime and Puzzlement case “Spelling Bee.”

I open this lesson with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the rhetorical question (it’s a reading of one compound sentence that nonetheless yields three comprehension questions). You’ll need this PDF of the illustration of the crime scene with its attendant investigatory questions. Finally, you’ll want this typescript of the answer key to arrest the offender and bring him or her to the bar of justice.

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.

Cultural Literacy: Willa Cather

She’s not much read today (though I have loved the books of hers I’ve read), but I think this Cultural Literacy worksheet on novelist Willa Cather ought to have some currency in our secondary classrooms in the United States (at least!). This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of one compound sentence with two comprehension questions.

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: Greta Garbo

If you can use it, which I suppose is another way of saying if you have a student with an interest in her, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Greta Garbo. This is a half-page worksheet with a three-sentence reading and three comprehension questions. A simple, but effective introduction to this famously reclusive woman.

May I presume to recommend a viewing of Ninotchka? I doubt anyone would be sorry he or she watched this fine film.

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.

The Weekly Text, 25 March 2022, Women’s History Month 2022 Week IV: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Julia Child

For the final Friday of Women’s History Month 2022, here is a reading on Julia Child along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Whatever one thinks of French cooking, which Ms. Child brought to American cuisine, she was by any measure an accomplished woman.

I confess ignorance where both French cooking and Ms. Child are concerned–my own palate, alas, is undeniably plebeian. In researching this post, I learned that she stood six feet, two inches tall; her height disqualified her from World War II service in the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) or the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services). She joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to today’s Central Intelligence Agency, where she worked directly with OSS founder General William J. (“Wild Bill”) Donovan. According to Ms. Child’s Wikipedia page, in her service to the OSS, she took on the task of solving the problem of curious sharks setting off underwater explosives placed by the OSS. She experimented with recipes that would serve as shark repellent; her method is still in use today.

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.