Tag Archives: building vocabulary/conceptual knowledge

Censorship

Posted on October 21, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Censorship (noun): Suppression of literature considered objectionable, especially for moral, political or religious reasons. Adjective: censorious; adverb: censoriously; noun: censor; verb: censor.

‘I glanced at an ancient baroque door and asked him about censorship on television. He giggled happily. “Oh it is wonderful! It is the wildest, silliest little game! The censors take out what they think the people think the censors think they should be taking out.’ Chandler Brossard, The Spanish Scene.”

Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.

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The Weekly Text, 21 October 2022: A Lesson Plan on the Greek Word Root Pale/o

Posted on October 21, 2022 | Leave a comment

This week’s Text is a complete lesson on the Greek word root pale/o. It means, simply, ancient. You’ll find this root at the base of paleolithic, a key word in in any global history course, but also in paleontology as well as more technical academic words like paleozoology, paleobotany, and paleography.

I open this lesson with this context clues worksheet on the noun antique, which is also plugged in as an adjective. Where the context of the sentences in this document are concerned, antique means “a relic or object of ancient times” as a noun and “being in the style or fashion of former times” as an adjective. Finally, here is the the scaffolded worksheet that is the primary work 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.

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The Weekly Text, 14 October 2022, Hispanic Heritage Month Week V: Salvador Dali

Posted on October 14, 2022 | Leave a comment

OK, for this, the final Friday of Hispanic Heritage Month 2022, here are a reading on Salvador Dali and the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that accompanies it. What has Salvador Dali to do with Hispanic history? I can’t answer that question in the affirmative with any confidence, so I’ll offer up an opinion of Dali himself.

His art never appealed or spoke to me. In fact, I found it pretentious, dorm-room metaphysical crap. His glib self-promotion turned me off, and his cutesy personal politics, or his “surreal dalliance with fascism,” are simply repulsive. What this post shows, I am utterly loathe to admit, is that I am running out of documents with which to observe Hispanic Heritage Month. So, if you find these documents useful, I’m relieved.

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.

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Cultural Literacy: Tango

Posted on October 4, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the tango, the dance that originated on the Rio de la Plata, which forms the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. I learned, while conducting the modest research this post required, that the tango in 2009 joined the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List at the proposal of the Argentinian and Uruguayan governments.

In any case, this is a half-page worksheet with a one-sentence reading and one comprehension question; it is the sparest of introductions to a fascinating cultural phenomenon.

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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The Weekly Text, 7 October 2022, Hispanic Heritage Month Week IV: Pablo Picasso

Posted on October 4, 2022 | Leave a comment

On this fourth Friday of Hispanic Heritage Month 2022, here is a reading on Pablo Picasso 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.

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The Weekly Text, 30 September 2022, Hispanic Heritage Month Week III: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Posted on September 30, 2022 | Leave a comment

On the third Friday of Hispanic Heritage Month 2022, here is a reading on One Hundred Years of Solitude, the masterpiece of Magical Realism from Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

Have you read it? When I was a high school senior, my somewhat older but infinitely more sophisticated girlfriend gave me a copy. I read it, and as you can imagine, understood none of it. I keep meaning to get back to 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.

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Cultural Literacy: Third World

Posted on September 23, 2022 | Leave a comment

I am not entirely at ease publishing this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of the “Third World”  because it is a term that I have always found patronizing at best. Nonetheless, as long as we humans consider “development” the ultimate achievement, then I suppose we will consider “underdeveloped” nations subordinate in rank to the “developed” world–you know, those countries that have allowed their heavy industries to create toxic waste dumps and foul the air with relative impunity.

Happily, this half-page document, which includes a reading of two sentences and two comprehension questions, focuses on the non-aligned (with neither the United States nor the Soviet Union during the Cold War, which isn’t entirely accurate in any case) character of African, Asian, and Latin American nations.

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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Cultural Literacy: Latin America

Posted on September 23, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the term Latin America. This is a half-page reading with a single-sentence reading and one comprehension question. This is, in other words, a basic definition of the term. It clears up, for the students with whom I use it, any confusion about this simple yet encompassing noun phrase.

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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The Weekly Text, 23 September 2022, Hispanic Heritage Month Week II: Fidel Castro

Posted on September 23, 2022 | Leave a comment

For the second Friday of Hispanic Heritage Month 2022, here are a reading on Fidel Castro along with its vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. And yes, I do understand that Fidel Castro is a controversial figure. Controversy is the food of inquiry, and in any case, Castro is an integral part of modern Latin American history.

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.

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The Weekly Text, 16 September 2022, Hispanic Heritage Month Week I: Francisco Goya

Posted on September 16, 2022 | Leave a comment

Yesterday began Hispanic Heritage Month 2022, which occurs every year between September 15 and October 15. This year’s month contains five Fridays, so there will be five Weekly Texts such as today’s–i.e. readings and comprehension worksheets. Unfortunately, and to my chagrin, this will exhaust my supply of materials for this month where Weekly Texts are concerned. I have developed a number of shorter exercises to post while I figure something out for Fridays–i.e. Weekly Text day.

For now, here is a reading on Francisco Goya along with 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.

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