The Weekly Text, 26 July 2024: A Lesson Plan on Motion Picture Genres from The Order of Things

Once again, from Barbara Ann Kipfer’s sublime reference book The Order of Things, here is a lesson plan on motion picture genres. To deliver this lesson (and bear in mind that any lesson under the heading of The Order of Things on this blog was designed for emergent and struggling readers as well as students of English as a new language) you will need this worksheet with reading and comprehension questions.

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.

Gene Fowler on Editors

“An editor should have a pimp for a brother, so he’d have someone to look up to.”

Gene Fowler

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

Common English Verbs Followed by an Infinitive or a Gerund: Hate

Here is a worksheet on the verb hate when used with an infinitive or a gerund.

I hate to publish subpar work.

I hate publishing subpar 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.

Term of Art: Social Skills Training

“social skills training: A type of behavioral therapy in which a therapist describes and models appropriate behaviors (such as waiting for a turn, sharing toys, asking for help, or responding to teasing). Through role-playing, a child has the opportunity to practice these skills in a therapeutic setting.”

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

Cultural Literacy: The Romanovs

Here is a Cultural Literacy worsheet on the Romanovs. This is half-page worksheet with a reading of two simple sentences and two comprehension questions. I don’t know how deep a dive your social studies classes take into the history of the Romanov dynasty, but if yours are like mine, this short introduction ought to be plenty.

If its not on the Regents test, it didn’t happen (or something like 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.

Molding

“Molding: Strip of material, usually of stone or wood, which may be shaped into a concave, convex, projecting, or sunken forms to be a decorative edging for doors, windows, cornices, panels, etc.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

The Weekly Text, 19 July 2024: A Lesson on the Latin Word Roots Terr, Terra, and Terri

The Weekly Text at Mark’s Text Terminal for 19 July 2024 is this lesson on the Latin word roots terr, terra, and terri. They mean “earth” and “land.” The do-now exercise for this lesson, this context clues worksheet on the noun real estate attempts to point students in the direction of these roots and make the connection between the nouns earth, land, and the vernacular real estate.

This scaffolded worksheet, replete with a cognate list from the primary Romance languages (not Romansh, alas, though perhaps Romansh isn’t a primary language?) is the principle work for this lesson.

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.

Malcolm Bradbury on Fashion

“Never despise fashion. It’s what we have instead of God.”

Malcolm Bradbury

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Portable Curmudgeon. New York: Plume, 1992.

Common English Verbs Followed by an Infinitive or a Gerund: Forget

OK, finally this morning, here is a worksheet on the verb forget when used with an infinitive or a gerund.

I forgot to publish blog posts this morning,.

I forgot publishing this morning’s blog posts.

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 Doubter’s Companion: Bad News

“Bad News: Those who have power always complain that journalists are only interested in bad news. ‘But if the newspapers in a country are full of good news, the jails are full of good people.’

Elsewhere, bad news comes as light relief from the unrelenting rightness of those with expertise and power. They insist that they are applying the correct and therefore inevitable solution to each problem. And when it fails they avoid self-doubt or a public examination of what went wrong by moving on to the next right answer. Bad news is the citizen’s only substitute for public debate.”

Excerpted from: Saul, John Ralston. The Doubter’s Companion. New York: The Free Press, 1994.