Tag Archives: diction/grammar/style/usage

The Weekly Text, February 9, 2018, Black History Month 2018 Week II: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on James Baldwin

Posted on February 9, 2018 | Leave a comment

Have you seen director Raoul Peck’s documentary about James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro yet? If not, I cannot recommend this film highly enough. I have always been a film buff, so I have greatly appreciated the arrival, in the last ten or fifteen years, of a bumper crop of engaged, talented documentarians. Indeed, most evenings I watch a documentary of some sort, so I like to think I know something about the form. If “I Am Not Your Negro” doesn’t represent formal perfection, then I don’t know what does.

Also, obviously, it showcases one of the most important public intellectuals and writers of my lifetime. I’ll simply say that The Fire Next Time was one of those books that radically altered the way I perceive the world, and I am grateful to it for that.

This week’s Text is a reading on James Baldwin with a comprehension sheet to accompany it. You might also find useful (and you can get lots more of these from the generous people at Education World) this Everyday Edit on the U.S.-Africa Capital Connection.

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: Invisible Man

Posted on February 8, 2018 | Leave a comment

Here’s a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man, which I regard as one of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century.

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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Cultural Literacy: Jimi Hendrix

Posted on February 7, 2018 | Leave a comment

Here is a a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Jimi Hendrix for a Wednesday morning. Jimi was an idol of my crowd in high school; not to put too fine a point on it, but we wore out copies of his records, especially Electric Ladyland, a masterpiece. Did you know that at the time of his tragic, seriously untimely death, Jimi was planning to record with Miles Davis? What I didn’t know, but learned in researching these links, is that Jimi and the great drummer Tony Williams, who himself had worked extensively with Miles in his 1960s quintet, had in fact sought the participation of Paul McCartney in this enterprise.

Can you imagine?

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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Cultural Literacy: Paul Robeson

Posted on February 6, 2018 | 2 comments

The New York Review of Books recently ran a review of two recent biographies of the the great Paul Robeson. I was glad that the article disclosed the fact that Mr. Robeson earned a law degree, and that on his first–and last–day practicing law, he suffered the indignity of dealing with a secretary who refused to take dictation (see the fourth paragraph of the article beneath the hyperlink above) “from a n****r.” That’s the kind of disgraceful fact that I think we need out on display when discussing, say, the Black Lives Matter movement, especially with those who dismiss the movement with rhetorically insipid and factually dubious claim that “all lives matter” in American society.

Anyway, here, on a Monday morning, is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Paul Robeson. I still listen to his music, especially the album Ballad For Americans, which includes his great song “Scandalize My Name.”

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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Cultural Literacy: Equal Protection of the Laws

Posted on February 5, 2018 | Leave a comment

On a Monday morning, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Equal Protection of the Laws. As the squib at the top of the document will inform your students, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees all citizens of the United States, regardless of the color of their skin. This might help students understand the galling and bitter irony of Jim Crow Laws.

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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The Weekly Text, February 2, 2018, Black History Month 2018 Week I: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls

Posted on February 2, 2018 | Leave a comment

As I’ve said before, perhaps ad nauseum on this blog, every month is Black History Month in my classroom. I’ve always had mixed feelings about a single month set aside for Black History, mainly because it has always struck me as a form of segregation; I say we integrate Black History into every lesson we teach, particular when we teach the history of the United States. That said, I am decidedly circumspect in second guessing a scholar of Carter G. Woodson’s stature; Dr. Woodson launched “Negro History Month” in February of 1926. This is the month in which we now justly and appropriately celebrate the many and diverse achievements of Americans of African descent.

The first Weekly Text for Black History Month is a relatively high interest reading on Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls with an accompanying reading comprehension worksheet. Rappers come and go, and I’m old enough to remember a time when rap wasn’t part of the cultural landscape of this country. Tupac and Biggie, I think, are icons of the genre, and martyrs to it as well, I suppose. While my students look at me blankly when I ask them if they’ve heard of Kool Moe Dee, (I really liked “How Ya Like Me Now” and was pleased to hear it shuffle up at the gym recently) they’ve all heard of Biggie and Tupac. You might find useful this Everyday Edit on African-American History Month (courtesy, as always, of the good people at Education World, a world-class hub for instructional material).

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.

Addendum, February 6, 2018: While waiting for the train in the Bowling Green station late yesterday afternoon, I noticed a poster advertising the USA Network’s upcoming series on the investigations into the murders of Tupac and Biggie. This Text, as it turns out, is timely.

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A Short Exercise on the Greek Word Roots Hepta and Hept

Posted on January 31, 2018 | Leave a comment

Here, on the final day of January, 2018, is a short exercise on the Greek word roots hepta and hept. They mean seven. This is a document to use at the beginning of a class period to settle students–and build numerical 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.

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Parsing Sentences Worksheet: Adjectives

Posted on January 30, 2018 | Leave a comment

Here, early on a Tuesday morning, is a parsing sentences worksheet on adjectives. While I realize that it’s an old-fashioned activity subject to a variety of criticism, most of it valid. However, I’ll still argue there is an argument to be made for the cognitive exercise involved in parsing sentences, particularly for students struggling with literacy issues. If nothing else, a short exercise such as the one on offer here provides students with an opportunity for a moment or two of mastery, which can make all the difference in a class period–if not an entire school day–in meeting the emotional needs of our students.

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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Zealot (n)

Posted on January 29, 2018 | Leave a comment

Here, on a relatively warm Monday morning, is a context clues worksheet on the noun zealot. I wrote this, if memory serves, to attend a lesson on Maximilien Robespierre.

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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The Weekly Text, January 26, 2018: Five Worksheets on Using the Homophones Allude and Elude

Posted on January 26, 2018 | Leave a comment

It’s the end of a week of New York State Regents Testing, so inanity has been the theme. I’m glad, once more, that it has come to an end. I guess the less said about this horrorshow (and subsidy to crummy educational publishing companies) the better.

This week’s Text is five short exercises on the homophones allude and elude. These are a couple of words students ought to know. Allude is an intransitive verb, often used with a prepositional phrase beginning with to–e.g. “Gabriel regularly alludes to James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake when the subject of modernist literature comes up.” Elude, on the other hand, is transitive and requires a simple direct object: “The students cutting class eluded the dean.”

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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