Tag Archives: diction/grammar/style/usage

The Weekly Text, 10 May 2024, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Week II: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Nebuchadrezzar II

For the second Friday of Asian American Pacific Islander Month 2024, your Weekly Text is this reading on Nebuchadrezzar II along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. There seems to be a couple of different ways of spelling the name of this Babylonian tyrant’s name; if you click on that preceding hyperlink, you will see his name spelled as Nebuchadnezzar. This reading, from the Intellectual Devotional series, notes that Nebuchadnezzar is an alternate spelling of his name.

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.

Cultural Literacy: Russo-Japanese War

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Russo-Japanese War. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences and three comprehension questions. Once again, for its brevity, this is a surprisingly thorough summary of this conflict from the editors of 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: Zhou En-Lai

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Zhou En-Lai. This is a half-page document with a reading of three sentences ranging from simple to relatively simple, and three comprehension questions. It is, therefore, the sparest of biographies on a founder of the Chinese Communist Party and ally of Mao Zedong.

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.

The Weekly Text, 3 May 2024, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Week I: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Taoism

Today begins Asian American Pacific Island Heritage Month 2024, and hence the observance of it on this blog. The first Text for this month is this reading on Taoism along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Like all Weekly Texts this month, this material is drawn and adapted from the Intellectual Devotional series of books.

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.

Truce (n)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun truce. It means, of course, “a suspension of fighting, especially of considerable duration by agreement of opposing forces” as well as “a respite, especially from a disagreeable or painful state or action.” This document’s sentences are keyed to both meanings.

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: Sociopath

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the sociopath and a concept and figure. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two relatively simple sentence and two comprehension questions. Given the tone of our current election cycle as I publish, this is probably timely material.

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.

The Weekly Text, 26 April 2024: A Lesson Plan on the Latin Word Roots Scrib and Script

This lesson plan on the Latin word roots scrib and script stands for this week’s Text at Mark’s Text Terminal. These mean, as you might have already inferred, mean “write” and “to write.” You’ll find these two roots in such high-frequency English words describe, manuscript, prescribe, and scribble.

I open this lesson with this context clues worksheet on the verb compose. The context in this document supports a definition of the verb compose, used transitively, as meaning “to create by mental or artistic labor” and “to formulate and write.”

Finally, you’ll need this scaffolded worksheet, replete with cognates from the Romance languages, to execute 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.

Common English Verbs Followed by an Infinitive: Can’t Stand

OK, here is a worksheet on the verb phrase can’t stand when used with an infinitive or a gerund. I can’t stand to waste time on sketchy material.

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: Othello

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Shakespeare’s play Othello. This is a full-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences and five comprehension questions. It is a relatively spare synopsis of the play, so I wonder how useful it might be. It could serve as a do-now–which is what most of the Cultural Literacy worksheet on this site are intended 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.

The Weekly Text, 19 April 2024: The Second of Two Lesson Plans on Painting and Sculpture from The Order of Things

This week’s Text is this the second of two lesson plans on painting and sculpture from Barbara Ann Kipfer’s The Order of Things. You’ll need this worksheet with a list as a reading and comprehension questions. If you want the first lesson as well, published on 24 January of this year, you’ll find it under this hyperlink.

I just want to note, again, that the lessons from The Order of Things posted on this blog are aimed at students with low levels of literacy or learners of English as a new language.

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.