Tag Archives: cultural literacy

Cultural Literacy: Namibia

Alright, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Namibia. This is a two-page (!) worksheet whose reading, somehow, in four sentences, manages to give a relatively thorough introduction to this African nation, including its colonial and post-colonial struggles. As you can imagine, these four sentences are relatively long and complex. If I were to give it to most of the students I have served over time, I would edit the reading to ease its understanding.

There are ten (again, !) comprehension questions that could easily be reduced by half. Indeed, many of the questions are there to test comprehension of fine details, in this case the African nations that border Namibia. In terms of content, it’s far from vital–unless you want to see how students track details in a relatively complex reading.

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: Lake Victoria

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Lake Victoria. This is a half-page worksheet with a two-sentence reading and two comprehension questions on this significant African landmark.

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: Michael Jordan

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Michael Jordan. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two long compound sentences–which may need shortening for emergent and struggling readers–and three comprehension questions. Once again, just the basics.

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: Idiom

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of the idiom. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences and three comprehension questions. As I have come to expect from the editors of The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, this is at once a short, cogent, and thorough explanation of the concept of the idiom and its uses.

Parenthetically, I have served many learners of English as a new language (though I have no academic credentials to do so) over the years. Idioms always caused these students a lot of problems because, as the reading for this worksheet observes, an idiom “…does not seem to make sense.” Because idioms, in their way, are excellent specimens of abstraction in language, they require interpretation. I’ve often wondered why they aren’t taught explicitly as such. Such a strategy, it seems to me, would cover a lot of pedagogical and cognitive bases, and prepare students for the kind of advanced thinking we theoretically want them to do.

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: Huguenots

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Huguenots. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences and three comprehension question.

And unless I miss my guess, most secondary educational institutions don’t take a deep enough dive into European history to spend too much time on the travails of French Protestants. I became interested in them when I learned that New Rochelle, New York, through which I  have traveled frequently by train, was founded by Huguenots. Not only that, but as I researched this post, I discovered that New Paltz, New York (which I have never visited but heard good things about), was also founded by Huguenots.

So I wrote this, I suppose, mostly useless worksheet.

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: Hit Below the Belt

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the idiom “hit below the belt.” This is a half-page worksheet with a two-sentence reading (the first of one is a mildly unwieldy compound which might require revision for some readers) and three comprehension questions.

As you know, this idiom denotes issues of fair play. It arrives in the vernacular from boxing, in which hitting below the belt is illegal. This worksheet might be useful with other materials on boxing available on this blog. Since boxing, in my experience, tends to be of high interest, especially to boys and young men, I have tagged this post as such.

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: The Great Man Theory of History

While dining with an erstwhile colleague last evening, our talk turned to Robert Caro and whether or not he is a proponent of the Great Man Theory of History. We agreed that he is not, if you’re interested.

This Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Great Man Theory of History does a nice job of explaining this philosophy of history. It is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences and three comprehension questions. Even with that brevity, this worksheet explains Thomas Carlyle’s conception of this method of interpreting history and the fact that Carlyle’s “…theories have generally fallen out of fashion.”

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: Ellis Island

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Ellis Island. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences–and beware that two of them are long compounds separated by commas that might be best separated into independent clauses for emergent and struggling readers–and three comprehension question. A relatively short, but cogent, introduction to this important place in United States history.

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: Entropy

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on entropy. This is a full-page worksheet with a reading of six sentences (of which, more below) and six comprehension questions.

Entropy  is a complex concept, and in six sentences, as usual, the editors of The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy acquit themselves competently and even elegantly with their explanation. However, should you use this material, it might be worth looking at a couple of the longer compound sentences in the reading. It won’t take much work to shorten them, and therefore simplify them without simplifying the ideas they convey.

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: Diamond in the Rough

Moving right along this morning, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the idiom “diamond in the rough.” This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences (and beware the first one, which is a long compound separated by a colon) and three comprehension questions. A short, but thorough, introduction to this commonly used idiom–in English, at least.

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.