“Chess is seldom found above the upper-middle class; it’s too hard.”
Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.
“Chess is seldom found above the upper-middle class; it’s too hard.”
Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences
Tagged humor, literary oddities, united states history
Here is a worksheet on the verb quit as it is used with a gerund. It’s time to quit writing curricular materials that no one will ever use.
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.
“spatial ability: The ability to imagine objects or symbols in space.”
Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.
I don’t know how germane they are to the high school curriculum in general (I prepared these documents for two students several years ago, and haven’t used them since), but here are a reading on Stephen Hawking along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Professor Hawking has always been in my mind something in the line of Nietzsche’s ubermensch, especially in that terms expectation of self-overcoming.
In any case though, a certain kind of student (e.g. the two for whom I developed this material) finds Stephen Hawking, appropriately enough, a fascinating figure. This material is for that student.
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.
“Intonaco: In fresco, the final coat of plaster on which the painter actually works, while it is still wet.”
Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Battle of Britain. This is a half-page document with a reading of three relatively involved compound sentences and three comprehension questions. It explains the Battle well, and so is a good general introduction to this epochal event in World War II.
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.
“Calumny (noun): A deliberate or malicious false statement injurious to another’s reputation; defamatory report or accusation; slander. Adj. calumnious; adv. calumniously; n. calumniator; v. calumniate.”
Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.
It must have been the Word of the Day at Merriam-Webster at some point, because that is the only explanation for the existence of this context clues worksheet on the verb immure. It means “to enclose within or as if within walls,” “imprison,” and “to build into a wall; especially to entomb in a wall.” It is only used transitively, so don’t forget your direct object–you must immure someone or something.
As you have probably inferred from reading this blog, I like to write. Moreover, I try to write using solid nouns and lively verbs–and immure would most likely be the kind of lively verb I would favor if I need it. That I have never in recent memory used (or seen it used in prose–I read a lot) this word tells me that it mostly archaic; however, because Merriam-Webster does not designate is so, the modifier mostly must stand. Nonetheless, here it is. If nothing else, this document might be useful as an intellectual exercise–but I hope that of all these context clues worksheets do that.
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.
“Ever conscious of his weight problem, Woollcott installed a steam cabinet at his ‘Wit’s End’ home on the East River. The cabinet had a large window in front, through which an outsider could see anyone sitting inside. One afternoon Peggy Pulitzer, while a guest at Woollcott’s, wandered by the cabinet and beheld Aleck’s stark-naked form. Later she advised him, ‘You should cover that window with an organdy curtain.’ Woollcott corrected the lady’s phrasing, however” ‘Curtain de organ.’”
Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.
This week’s Text is a lesson plan on the Crime and Puzzlement case “The Gentle Breezes.” I open this lesson with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on motif; it’s a half-pager with a three-sentence reading and three comprehension questions in what looks to me like a nice symmetry. To investigate the wrongdoing in this case, you will need this PDF of the illustration and questions that serve as evidence of the crime. Finally, to apprehend and charge a suspect, you and your students will need this typescript of the answer key.
And that’s it for another week. I hope yours was pleasant and fulfilling.
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.