Tag Archives: diction/grammar/style/usage

Growth Spurt

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

If you teach middle-schoolers, this reading on growth spurts and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet might be something helpful for you. The Sheltered English Immersion class I took last winter for my Massachusetts license was held in a middle-school health classroom, and I saw a lot of stuff like these materials there.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , , , ,

Seldom (adv/adj)

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

This context clues worksheet on the adverb seldom–nota bene that it’s also used as an adjective–introduces a word in common enough use in English that students would benefit from knowing 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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Worksheets

Tagged , ,

Term of Art: Code Mixing

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

“code mixing: Sometimes distinguished, though not always in the same way, from code switching. E.g. where a speaker switches as frequent intervals from one language etc. to another, for no discoverable external reason.”

Excerpted from: Marshall, P.H., ed. The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged ,

A Learning Support on Poetry Terms

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

This short learning support on poetry terms is the last of the English Language Arts learning supports I have to publish for the time being. I expect, as I continue to teach, I’ll develop more of them. Maybe you can use this cogent explanation of basic terms of art in poetry.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference

Tagged , , , ,

Term of Art: Homophone

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

“homophone (noun): Words having the same pronunciation but not the same origin, spelling or meaning, e.g., ‘peace’ and ‘piece.’ Adjective: homophonic, homophonous; adverb: homophonically; noun: homophony.

‘The coat of arms of the Shakespeare family, which shows its crest eagle shaking a spear, is a kind of pun weakened by etymology, but when Joyce calls Shakespeare—very justly—”Shapesphere” he has gone step further than homophony or homonymy. By changing two consonants he has interfered minimally with the shape of the name and enormously expanded its connotation.’ Anthony Burgess, Joysprick‘”

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

Leave a comment

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

Tagged , ,

Grate (n), Grate (vi/vt) and Great (adj)

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

Here are five homophone worksheets on the noun grate, the verb grate (it’s used both intransitively and transitively), and the adjective great. These are three words students need to know and use properly–and God knows I have seen some grand usage lapses involving these commonly mistaken homophones.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Worksheets

Tagged , ,

The Shot Heard Around the World

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

If July 30th isn’t high summer, I don’t know what is.

So it’s a particularly good time to post this reading on the legendary Shot Heard Around the World that decided the 1951 National League Playoffs between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. It’s a legendary moment in the history of Major League Baseball; the story aroused my interest in the game, and I am now a baseball fan. In any case, here is the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that accompanies the reading.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , , , , ,

Word Root Exercise: Onym

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

One look at the list of vocabulary words on this worksheet on the Greek word root onym will expose just how productive this root is in English. Indeed, it shows up in a wide range of commonly used English words. It means both name and word. You find it in synonym and anonymous, two words so commonly used in English that they alone prove the need for students to know and understand this root.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , ,

Cultural Literacy: Henry David Thoreau

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

This Cultural Literacy worksheet on Henry David Thoreau is a good–and perhaps more importantly, short–general introduction to the this paragon of Transcendentalism and important American thinker and writer.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , , ,

Scrutinize (vi/vt)

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

As we start to turn the corner to August, here is a context clues worksheet on the verb scrutinize. It’s used both transitively and intransitively. This is one of those expository and analytical words students, particularly those in high school, ought to know.

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Worksheets

Tagged , , ,