Tag Archives: diction/grammar/style/usage

The Weekly Text, 10 June 2022: Summer of Soul Lesson 2

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Leave a comment

The second Friday of June 2022 brings from Mark’s Text Terminal the second lesson plan of the Summer of Soul unit I wrote this spring to capitalize on the interest in this superlative documentary–especially when it won a much-deserved Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and accrued similar honors at just about every film festival held in North America in 2021. This lesson accompanies a viewing of the film: I composed these ten questions to guide viewing of the film in order to meet the unit’s learning objectives, which is an investigation into why the 50 hours of footage shot at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival never took a “seat at the table” when film production budgets were handed out.

That’s it. No do-now; students just jump right in to a viewing of the film. The third lesson will appear next Friday.

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, Lesson Plans, Social Sciences, The Weekly Text, Worksheets

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Cultural Literacy: Radioactive Waste

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

OK, last but not least this morning, and because I started watching the HBO series Chernobyl, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on radioactive waste. This is a full-page document with a five-sentence reading (two of them longish compounds) and six comprehension questions. Like the aforementioned television show, this worksheet is both compelling and cheerless.

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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Alexander Graham Bell

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

If you can use them, here are a reading on Alexander Graham Bell with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. There’s not much to day beyond that–other than for the right student, this may well be high-interest 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.

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Paragraph

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Paragraph: (Greek “side writing): Originally a short, horizontal stroke drawn below the beginning of a line in which there was a break in the sense. Now, for all practical purposes, a passage, or section, of subdivision in a piece of writing, Usually a paragraph deals with one particular point of aspect of the subject presented. It may vary greatly in length.”

Excerpted from: Cuddon, J.A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. New York: Penguin, 1992.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference

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Word Root Exercise: Spectro-

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

Moving right along on this lovely Monday morning in Brooklyn, here is a worksheet on the Latin word root spectro. It means simply, just as it sounds, “spectrum.” You’ll find this root at the base of many scientific words like spectrograph, spectrometer, and spectroscope; but more commonly used English words like suspect and speculate also grow from 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.

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Caustic (adj)

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on caustic used as an adjective. For that part of speech caustic means “capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action” and “corrosive.” Nota bene, please, that this word is also used as a noun, whose meaning is “a caustic agent,” and “a substance that burns or destroys organic tissue by chemical action. This worksheet is set up for building an understanding of caustic as an adjective.

However, because this document is formatted in Microsoft Word, if you want to revise this to teach the noun, the document is yours (as are almost everything you’ll find on Mark’s Text Terminal) to manipulate as your wish or as your student need.

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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Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Avoid

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on the verb avoid and its use with gerunds. Every time I post one of these, I wonder whether I should just toss the rest of them. I made over 100 of them, second-guessing myself the whole time. Anyway, as previously mentioned, for practical purposes, I have unlimited storage space on this blog. I’ll continue to post these in the hope that someone finds them useful.

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: Topic Sentence, Paragraph

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

OK, I continue to break into new material I developed during the pandemic. This pair of Cultural Literacy worksheets really should go out together. The first is a worksheet on the topic sentence of a paragraph. This is a half-page document with a two-sentence reading two comprehension questions.

That document’s obvious complement is this worksheet on the paragraph, as the reading nicely summarizes it, as the “basic unit of prose.” This is also a half-page document, but you’ll find a three-sentence reading with three comprehension questions.

In other words, a good general introduction, in two parts, to the paragraph in form and purpose.

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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Word Root Exercise: Rrhea, Rrhoea, and Rrhag

Posted on June 3, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on on the Greek word roots rrhea, rrhoea, and rrhag. They mean flow, excessive flow, and discharge. You probably won’t be surprise to find these roots inside English words like diarrhea, gonorrhea, and hemorrhage. Like most of the Greek word roots I’ve posted her over the years, this one will be useful for students planning careers in the health care professions.

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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Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Acknowledge

Posted on June 3, 2022 | Leave a comment

Previously on the blog, I’ve conveyed my doubts about the quality of work that appear under the header above. Since I have nearly unlimited storage space on this blog, and because they are already made, and because perhaps there is a chance someone might find them useful, I will continue to post these documents. Without further ado, here is a worksheet on using gerunds with the verb acknowledge.

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, Worksheets

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