Tag Archives: building vocabulary/conceptual knowledge

Bellevue Hospital

Working in New York City, I often use this reading on Bellevue Hospital and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet as make-up work for students who had fallen behind due to extended absences. To some, it was high-interest material, particularly those whose health needs had occasioned visit to that venerable  institution.

Did you know it was the first hospital in the United States to offer ambulance services? I always tried to ask students a couple of Socratic questions that would lead them to an understanding of the intransitive verb ambulate (i.e. “to move from place to place; WALK”), so that they understood that a person in need of an ambulance could not ove under their own power–hence the need for an ambulance.

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.

Converse (vi)

Last but not least this afternoon, since it’s on my desktop, here is a context clues worksheet on the (intransitive only) verb converse.

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: Gon, Gonio

Moving right along on this chilly Sunday afternoon, here is a word root worksheet worksheet on the Greek roots gon and gonio. Math teachers, you know these roots–which mean angle–because they show up in words like pentagon and polygon. These are, needless to say, very productive roots in English.

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.

Elicit (vt), Illicit (adj)

Depending on what region of the country whence you hail (if you’ll forgive me that locution), these might not necessarily be homophones, but these five homophone worksheets on the homophones elicit and illicit might also serve as vocabulary-building worksheets. Nota bene that elicit as a verb has only transitive use–so don’t forget your direct object!

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.

Contrive (vi/vt)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb contrive if you can use it. It seems to me a component of well-rounded vocabulary. It’s used mainly transitively, but it also has intransitive use in the sense of “to make schemes.”

f 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.

The Weekly Text, February 28, 2020, Black History Month 2020 Week IV: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Shaka Zulu

OK, here, for the final Friday of Black History Month 2020, is a reading on Shaka Zulu and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

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: Sharecropping

OK, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on sharecropping, which is the last Cultural Literacy worksheet in my warehouse that deals with topics related to Black History Month. This may well be the least of them. As I look at it this morning, I think I could only use this to introduce the basic concept of sharecropping. In other words, this short exercise does not deal with the practice of sharecropping as a system of economic oppression, and therefore, in most respects, a continuation of slavery,

So, use advisedly, if I may say so.

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.

Contract (n/vi/vt)

Here are two context clues worksheets on contract as both a noun and a verb. As a verb, on the second worksheet, contract is used in the sense of limit, restrict, and to reduce to a smaller size. Contract is used in this sense both intransitively and transitively.

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.

A Lesson Plan on Learning

OK, moving right along on this beautiful morning in southwestern Vermont, here is a lesson plan on learning. You’ll need this short reading and its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. If you need or want them, here are slightly longer versions of those documents.

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.

Common Errors in English Usage: Admission/Admittance

Here is an English usage worksheet on the nouns admission and admittance if you have any call for it. This is mostly about practice and meeting the usage standard in the Common Core English Standards.

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.