Tag Archives: diction/grammar/style/usage

Word Root Exercise: Sol

Here is a worksheet on the Latin word root sol. It means, of course, sun. This productive root in English (and all the Romance languages as well) bearing solar, but also solarium, circumsolar, and lunisolar.

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: Academic Freedom

As state legislatures around the United States (and I am most definitely looking at you, Florida) pass “right-to-remain-ignorant” laws and impose them on educational institutions, now seems like the perfect moment to post this Cultural Literacy worksheet on academic freedom. This is a half-page worksheet with a once-sentence–a longish compound, nota bene–reading and two comprehension questions.

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.

Articulate

“Articulate (adjective): Presented in syllables or words, so as to be utterable or meaningful; intelligible; having the power of speech; capable of or showing competence, clarity, or effectiveness of expression. Adv. articulately; n. articulation, articulateness, articulator; v. articulate.

‘His long black hair reached down his neck. He looked partly like a jazz musician, partly like an eighteenth-century composer. He was complicated, anguished, and absolutely articulate.’ Anne Roiphe, Torch Song”

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

Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Admit

Here is a worksheet on using gerunds with the verb admit. This is a scaffolded worksheet to help students develop an understanding of how to deploy a gerund with the verb admit. If you want to know more about these materials, please see the About Posts & Texts Page, accessible from the home page of this site.

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.

Catastrophe (n)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun catastrophe. The sentences in this document are keyed to the definition of this noun as “a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin,” “a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth,” and “a violent usually destructive natural event (as a supernova).” Given the rapid pace of the long-forecast effects of global warming, this word will serve students well in understanding and describing the world in which they live.

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.

Rainbows

This cool, overcast, and rainy day in New York City seems like a perfect time to post this reading on rainbows and its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. It’s straightforward stuff, so I suppose there is really not much more to say about 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.

A Learning Support on Verbs and Objects

Here is a learning support on verbs and objects, or using direct objects with verbs. This is one-third page of text from what I consider the best grammar manual going, particularly for high-school students, Grant Barrett’s Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking (Berkeley: Zephyros Press, 2016).

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.

A Learning Support on Infinitives and Whether or Not to Split Them

Here is a learning support on infinitives and whether or not to split them. This is a reading of about two-thirds of a page adapted from a current grammar manual.

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.

A Learning Support on Using Pronouns with Gerunds

Here is a learning support on using pronouns with gerunds. This is a half-page reading from Paul Brians’ excellent book Common Errors in English Usage, which you’ll find available to you, at no cost, under that hyperlink.

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.

A Learning Support on Gerunds and Infinitives

Here is a learning support on gerunds and infinitives that accompanies a raft of new material I’ll be posting in the next several months on mastering the use of gerunds and infinitives in English prose. This thing, as it should be, I suppose, is self-explanatory.

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.