Tag Archives: cultural literacy

Cultural Literacy: Julius Caesar

Alright, moving right along this morning, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Julius Caesar. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of five sentences and three comprehension questions. The document seems a bit crowded to me, and may be better formatted as a full-page worksheet. I suppose that will depend on how deep an examination of Julius Caesar your world history or global studies curriculum calls for (or if you are dealing with Shakespeare’s play, which is based on Plutarch’s account of events following Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon).

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: Nero

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Roman emperor Nero. This is a full-page worksheet with a reading of six relatively simple sentences and six comprehension questions. It’s a surprisingly thorough account of the life of this legendarily cruel, self-serving figure, but, once again, I suppose I have come to expect that from The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.

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: Nuance

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of nuance. This is a half-page worksheet with reading of one relatively uncomplicated compound sentence and three comprehension question. If there was ever a time to ensure students understand the concept of nuance–and better yet, can incorporate it into their own writing–now is it, I submit.

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: Nota Bene

The first time I saw “N.B.” on a piece of academic work, I was a thirty-two-year-old “non-traditional student” studying the Russian language at Amherst College through the Five College Exchange (I was matriculated at Hampshire College). Once I figured out that it stood for nota bene, and then figured out what nota bene means–“note well,” just how it looks–I began using it regularly myself. If you’ve perused this blog at all, you’ve no doubt seen it in a post.

So here, without further ado, is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Latinism nota bene. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two simple sentences and three comprehension questions. 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: Pogrom

Because it turns up in various social studies textbooks, I whipped up this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the pogrom as a form of civil strife to provide context for, well, for the history of Europe from 1850 to 1950. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two sentences and two comprehension questions.

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: Raison d’Etre

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Gallicism raison d’etre. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two sentences–the first a short compound separated by a colon and containing quoted material, the second a phrase giving the this term’s meaning, i.e. “reason for being.” There are three comprehension questions, the third of which asks students to compose a sentence containing raison d’etre.

Yes, I stipulate that this isn’t exactly a high frequency word in the English language. But educated people do use the word because it is useful in its place. Enough said.

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 Romanovs

Here is a Cultural Literacy worsheet on the Romanovs. This is half-page worksheet with a reading of two simple sentences and two comprehension questions. I don’t know how deep a dive your social studies classes take into the history of the Romanov dynasty, but if yours are like mine, this short introduction ought to be plenty.

If its not on the Regents test, it didn’t happen (or something like that).

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: Rhetorical Question

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the rhetorical question. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of one, longish compound sentence (that might be best recast for struggling and emergent readers as well as learners of English as a new language) and three comprehension questions. Once again, the editors of the The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy come through with an introduction to a relatively difficult concept that is stylish and easily understood.

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: Roosevelt’s Court Packing Plan

Moving right along this morning, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Roosevelt’s court packing plan. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences–all longish compounds separated by commas–and three comprehension questions.

As I look at this document this morning, I find, apropos of its subject matter, I suppose, that the text is packed in a little too tightly. Moreover, the aforementioned three longish compound sentences might be better rewritten if you plan to use this document with emergent or struggling readers or students for whom English is a new language. Moreover, I think the comprehension questions could be improved, or expanded, with a couple of critical thinking questions added.

But what do you think?

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: Satire

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on satire. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two relatively simple sentences and three comprehension questions. A short but solid introduction to this important cultural concept.

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.