“Derogatory: Disparaging and offensive, a term often used in dictionaries (usually abbreviated to derog) to label expressions that intentionally offend or disparage: skinny when used instead of thin; American English ass-hole for someone considered stupid, mean, or nasty.”
Excerpted from: McArthur, Tom. The Oxford Concise Companion to the English Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Steve Jobs. This is a half-page worksheet with a two-sentence reading and three comprehension questions. It is the barest of introductions to the late tech entrepreneur. In fact, I would hazard a guess that students already know more about Mr. Jobs than this worksheet reports.
Nonetheless, I have tagged this document as high interest material? Why? Well, with two feature films about him, the first in 2013, and the second in 2015, written by the estimable Aaron Sorkin and based on the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, it is clear that in addition to his skills as a tech entrepreneur, Mr. Jobs has become a pop culture icon. I expect he will continue to be of interest for years to come.
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.
Here is a context clues worksheet on the transitive verb allocate. It means both “to apportion for a specific purpose or to particular persons or things, distribute” and “to set apart or earmark, designate.” Because I was working in an economics-and-finance-themed high school when I prepared this, I suspect I meant students to understand and use it in the sense of allocating capital.
This verb is always used transitively, and never intransitively, so don’t forget your direct object: you must allocate something.
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.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the American Revolutionary War. This is a one-worksheet with a six-sentence reading and seven comprehension questions. It is an adequate general introduction to the topic. In the United States, this period of our history is taught thoroughly, so I doubt this document would be of much use beyond, perhaps, an independent practice (i.e. homework) assignment to start a much broader unit on the American Revolution.
However, if you’re one of the growing number of international users of this blog, this document might have greater utility. This material isn’t part, frankly, of your mythology. All you need are the basic facts, which this short reading supplies.
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.
Here is a worksheet on the Latin word root junct. It means “to join.” As you have probably noticed, this is a robustly productive root in English, growing such relatively high-frequency words as conjunction, injunction, junction, and juncture.
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.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the United States Selective Service System. This is a half-page worksheet with a two-sentence reading and three comprehension questions. If you teach high school. this might be a quick introduction to a civic obligation–right or wrong–that young people must heed in order to receive a number of other rights.
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.
Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb equivocate. This verb is used only intransitively–so not only is a direct object not required, it would be an error to use one with equivocate. This document’s context clues are keyed to the definition “to avoid committing oneself in what one says.”
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.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Maximilien Robespierre, one of the avatars of the French Revolution whose name has gathered increasing notoriety even in my relatively short lifetime. This is a full-page worksheet with a four-sentence reading and six comprehension questions. It is a basic, if tepid, introduction to a controversial historical figure. As such, it might be better augmented or used in tandem or combination with other documents. Since it is a Microsoft Word document (as are most things on Mark’s Text Terminal), you can adapt it to your needs.
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.
“Ellipsis: The omission of an element of language for reasons associated with speech, rhetoric, grammar, and punctuation. The omitted element can usually be recovered by considering the context of what has been said or written, In speech and writing, sounds and letters are often left out of words: in the sentence She said he’d come, he’d is elliptical for either he had or he would. Such contractions are informal and usually arise from speed of delivery, economy of effort, and the rhythm of the language. At times, elliptical speech or writing is so concise that listeners and readers must supply missing elements through guesswork or special knowledge, but it they cannot, they fail to understand. Information can be left out or hinted at for reasons of style or discretion; in such areas as politics, diplomacy, and negotiation, remarks are often elliptical in nature and intent….”
Excerpted from: McArthur, Tom. The Oxford Concise Companion to the English Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the paraphrase as a means of recording information. This is a half-page worksheet with a two-sentence reading and two comprehension questions. I wrote this when I was serving in a school where students who had never had paraphrasing adequately explained to them were nonetheless asked to paraphrase passages from textbooks.
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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