Tag Archives: diction/grammar/style/usage

Word Root Exercise: Dys

Posted on June 23, 2019 | Leave a comment

Given the current state of human civilization, this worksheet on the Greek root dys ought to be useful. It means bad, difficult, abnormal, and impaired. This is another of those roots that shows up all over the English language. For instance, if you work in a public school, there is, I will hazard a guess, a very good chance that the adjective dysfunctional has crossed your lips on more than one occasion.

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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Term of Art: Neologism

Posted on June 23, 2019 | Leave a comment

“Neologism (noun): A newly coined word or phrase, or novel expression in increasing usage (as contrasted with a nonce word); a new meaning for an old word. Adjective: neological, neologistic; noun: neology, neologist; verb: neologize.

‘He landed in lexicography footnotes first, with an appendix to his M.A. thesis—listing neologisms committed by English romantic poets.’” Israel Shenker, Harmless Drudges.

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

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Accolade (n)

Posted on June 23, 2019 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun accolade. At the very least, graduating high school seniors probably ought to know this word–particularly if they present or receive accolades in the graduation ceremony itself.

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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Baseball Cards

Posted on June 23, 2019 | Leave a comment

If there is a better time than a warm afternoon in late June to post this reading on baseball cards, I can’t imagine when that would be. Here is the vocabulary-building and 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.

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Cultural Literacy: Woody Guthrie

Posted on June 21, 2019 | Leave a comment

Billy Bragg, an British singer I’ve been listening to for over thirty years, announced yesterday on his Twitter feed that New York City will rename part of Mermaid Avenue on Coney Island (where Woody lived, and which is also the name of an excellent trio of albums of Woody’s songs by Mr. Bragg and the American rock band Wilco) as Woody Guthrie Way. Furthermore, this years Mermaid Parade features Arlo Guthrie as King Neptune and Nora Guthrie as Queen Mermaid. They are, you will perceive, Woody’s children. If you’re in Brooklyn, or anywhere near Coney Island, I urge you to attend this cool event.

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Woody Guthrie in celebration of the events limned above, and of Mr. Guthrie as an American treasure.

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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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, New York City, Worksheets

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Term of Art: Particle

Posted on June 21, 2019 | Leave a comment

“A word that does not change its form through inflection and does not fit easily into the established system of the parts of speech. Among individual words commonly so classed are the negative particle not (and its contraction n’t), the infinitive particle to (to go; to run), the imperative particles do, don’t (Do tell me; Don’t tell me) and let, let’s (Let me see now; Let’s go). There is also a set of adverbial and prepositional particles that combine with verbs to form phrasal verbs (out in look out; up in turn up) and prepositional verbs (at in get at; for in care for). The term pragmatic particle is sometimes used for words that play a role in maintaining discourse and are also known as fillers and discourse markers: oh, ah, well, yes, no, actually, anyway.”

Excerpted from: McArthur, Tom. The Oxford Concise Companion to the English Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Essays/Readings, Quotes, Reference

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The Weekly Text, June 21, 2019: Five Worksheets on Differentiating and Using the Nouns Capital and Capitol

Posted on June 21, 2019 | Leave a comment

OK, here, very simply, because I am exhausted on this first Friday of the summer break, are five homophone worksheets on the nouns capital and capitol. Right off the top of my head, looking at these, I can see a number of ways to edit and revise them to take students more deeply into these words and the concepts they represent.

That’s it. I hope you’re enjoying nice weather and the free time to get out in 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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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, The Weekly Text, Worksheets

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Surreptitious (adj)

Posted on June 20, 2019 | Leave a comment

OK, if you can use it, here is a context clues worksheet on the adjective surreptitious. It means, of course, “done, made, or acquired by stealth” and “acting or doing somethings clandestinely.”

I’m off this morning to take the Massachusetts Test of Educator Licensure (MTEL) in English. Wish me luck on this four-hour test.

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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Word Root Exercise: Dyn, Dyna, Dynam/o

Posted on June 20, 2019 | Leave a comment

Here, on a rainy Thursday morning, is a worksheet on the Greek word roots dyn, dyna, and dynam/o. They mean power, energy, and strength. These are, as the worksheet shows, some very productive roots in English. A number of STEM-related words start with this root, among others.

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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Anxiety

Posted on June 19, 2019 | Leave a comment

This morning seems as good a time as any to post this reading on anxiety and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. If you work with anxious kids, and if the statistics on anxiety in kids are true, I suspect you’ll find a use for this in your classroom.

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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