Tag Archives: building vocabulary/conceptual knowledge

Cultural Literacy: Hiawatha

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Hiawatha. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences and four comprehension questions about an actual person shrouded in myth.

When I reviewed this document just now, it looked, unsurprisingly, a bit crammed. It might be better revised as a full-page worksheet. If it happens that you are teaching Henry Wadsworth Longellow’s poem (i.e. the aforementioned myth, which in any case I rather doubt is much taught anywhere, anymore) about Hiawatha, “The Song of Hiawatha,” I imagine there might be a place for this worksheet.

Otherwise, I don’t know. I do know I can think of several English teachers I worked with who wouldn’t know either Longfellow or one of his most famous poems.

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: Navajos

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Navajos, who, as you may know, call themselves the Dine, pronounced dee-nay. The Navajo nation is the largest federally recognized First Nation tribe in the United States; they inhabit the largest reservation here.

This is a full-page worksheet with a reading of five sentences with five comprehension questions. Beware the final sentence, which is a doozy of a compound separated by two (!) semicolons. Because of my commitment to presenting excerpted text with complete fidelity to the original, I have not edited this final sentence. If you look at each clause, you’ll see that separating this is relatively easy, as in something like this:

Original: Today, they are known for their houses, called hogans, made of logs and earth; for their work as ranchers and shepherds; and for their skill in weaving distinctive blankets and fashioning turquoise and silver jewelry.

Revision: Today, they are known for their houses, called hogans, made of logs and earth. The Navajo also work as ranchers and shepherds. Their skill in weaving distinctive blankets and fashioning turquoise and silver jewelry is also well known.

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, 15 November 2024, National Native American Heritage Month Week III: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Chicago

The Weekly Text from Mark’s Text Terminal for the third week of National Native American Heritage Month 2024 is this reading on Chicago along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Why Chicago? Well, because that it happens that the city sits on was once a rich homeland for a number of indigenous peoples on the shores of what we now call Lake Michigan.

Happily, it appears that there is a robust cultural and social community of indigenous peoples in Chicagoland, as the locals know this part of the United States. It also looks like the municipal government in the Second City conducts a rich observance of the month I am currently observing with this blog post.

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: Aborigines

Moving right along this morning, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of an aborigine. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two sentences and three comprehension questions.

This, as is often the case with The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, informs its user that the word aborigine means “the earliest known inhabitants of a region,” though the word is often used to refer to “the native hunting and gathering population of Australia.” In the English vernacular, that is probably the first association that comes to mind for most users of this word. If you use it to refer to the aboriginal peoples of Australia, then it is a proper noun and requires capitalization.

In general, the adjectives aboriginal and indigenous are roughly synonymous.

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: Manifest Destiny

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of Manifest Destiny in United States history. This ideological oddity, which is really more of a theological than a political and social concept, held that Americans were destined, perhaps by the will of God, to expand across America to the Pacific Ocean.

In other words, basically a garbage idea that was used to justify and conduct a genocide against the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent.

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, 8 November 2024, National Native American Heritage Month Week II: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Colonialism

OK, for the second Friday of National Native American Month 2024, here is a reading on colonialism along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I assume I needn’t belabor the disaster that colonialism visited upon indigenous peoples all over the world–the literature on the subject is vast (but if you need a recommendation, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown is an excellent place to start, as is King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild).

I have, at times, been highly irritated and offended at the way colonialism is soft-pedaled in the high school social studies curriculum, particularly as, historically, I have tended to serve students predominantly with familial and ancestral roots in former colonies who know, with their families, of course, they are being fed (and then tested on, for what else is the point of learning something if you can’t pass a test on it?) a line of crap in their global studies courses.

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: Iroquois League

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Iroquois League. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of on sentence and one comprehension question. In other words, a short, basic introduction to this indigenous nation.

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 November 2024, National Native American Heritage Month Week I: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on the Pequot War

Today begins National Native American Heritage Month 2024. Unlike this blog’s (therefore my own) woeful deficiencies during Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 last month and in September, I have a full raft of materials to post this month–which contains five Fridays.

So the Weekly Text for today, Friday, 1 November 2014, is this reading on the Pequot War along with its attendant 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.

Common English Verbs Followed by an Object and an Infinitive: Allow

Here is a worksheet on the verb allow when used with an object and an infinitive. The New York City Subway does not allow passengers to smoke in stations and trains.

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.

Concepts in Sociology: Assimilation

A couple of years ago, I was assigned a sociology elective at my school. In the inimitably brilliant style of my school’s chief administrator, I learned of this three days before classes began. And of course there was, again typically, no curriculum for this course.

So I needed to come up with something in a hurry. I did, but let’s face it: developing a curriculum for a high school sociology course, let alone mastering its teaching, is a process that takes years: I really only had days, so I needed to move this process along quickly. I have a fair amount of material, but I fear it is of mixed quality. So, here is a worksheet on assimilation, the process by which immigrants integrate into their adopted nations and societies.

I would be particularly interested, if you use any of this material, and especially if you happen to know anything about sociology (I do, but clearly not enough for the endeavor to which I was deployed), to hear from you about 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.