Tag Archives: building vocabulary/conceptual knowledge

Abominable (adj)

It was Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day yesterday, so here today is a context clues worksheet on the adjective abominable. It strikes me as a good word to use to demonstrate English morphology by pointing out to students its forms as a noun (abomination), a verb (abominate) and an adverb (abominably).

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: Acronym

I’m not sure is there is much of a demand for it, but if there is, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet the concept and practical application of the acronym.

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, January 4, 2019: A Lesson Plan on the Latin Word Root Bell

The first Text for the New Year is this complete lesson plan on the latin word root bell-. It means war. Here is the context clues worksheet on the noun conflict with which I begin this lesson. Finally, this vocabulary-building worksheet on this root is the mainstay of 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.

The Peace of Westphalia

While I’m not sure why I prepared it in the first place–this isn’t something even touched upon, let alone covered in depth, in the global studies classes I co-taught in New York City–here in any case are a reading on the Peace of Westphalia and the comprehension worksheet that accompanies it.

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.

Term of Art: Readability

“A measure of how easy it is to comprehend a text depending on a number of variables. These include vocabulary, sentence complexity, format, writing style, and topic, plus the reading comprehension level, interest, background information, and decoding skills of the reader.

Some methods of predicting the readability of a text are used to gauge whether an individual can successfully read and comprehend a passage. One such method is to read a section of a passage and count the number of words that are unfamiliar to the reader. If, for example, the reader encounters more than three unfamiliar words, the readability may be too difficult.

In educational settings, a text’s readability is often measured in grade level. For example, a history textbook with a readability of 9.3 means an average ninth grade, third month student should be able to read and comprehend it.”

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

Garment (n)

It’s not a word one hears used much anymore–although New Yorkers still call part of Manhattan the Garment District–but here, nonetheless, is a context clues worksheet on the noun garment.

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.

A Learning Support on the Parts of Speech

OK, here is a short glossary of the parts of speech adapted from The Elements of Style.

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.

Heart of Darkness

Here is a reading on Joseph Conrad’s masterpieceHeart of Darkness, with the comprehension worksheet that accompanies it. This novel was part of the curriculum in the school in which I served the longest, though it may in retrospect have been for Advanced Placement English.

In any case, this is both an introduction and an overview of the novel–and its critique of colonialism belongs in every classroom, I submit.

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.

Sitting Bull

For the penultimate blog post of 2018, here is a reading on Sioux warrior and chieftain Sitting Bull along with the comprehension worksheet that accompanies it.

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.

Haggard (adj)

I don’t know if it’s a word high school students need to know, but if you think it is, here is a context clues worksheet on the adjective haggard. I don’t know that I’ve ever used this (it was a Word of the Day at Merriam-Webster, and writing context clues worksheets on those has become my version of doing a crossword puzzle in the morning), but certainly this word is in sufficiently common use in English that it’s at least worth having students take a quick look at 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.