Tag Archives: foreign languages/linguistics

Satrap (n)

Because I got stuck on the word as an undergraduate (which in turn–getting stuck, that is–happened because I have a hamster wheel for a mind), when it turned up in several things I was reading for a couple of different history courses, I couldn’t resist to compose this context clues worksheet on the noun satrap. For the record, its primary meaning is the governor of a province in ancient Persia. But it can also mean ruler, subordinate official, and, weirdly, henchman.

Can you hear the dialogue in a pulp novel? “Louie! Rocco! Get on the horn and find us some satraps for the bank job.”

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.

Mea Culpa (n)

Because it was Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day yesterday, and because it is arguably a term–and definitely a concept–students should understand, here is a context clues worksheet on the noun mea culpa. As it sounds, it is a Latin phrase and is an acknowledgement of one’s fault or error. Another way of thinking about is to remember that if you do something wrong, you are culpable for your action and its consequence.

If you find typos in  and 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, January 4, 2019: A Lesson Plan on the Latin Word Root Bell

The first Text for the New Year is this complete lesson plan on the latin word root bell-. It means war. Here is the context clues worksheet on the noun conflict with which I begin this lesson. Finally, this vocabulary-building worksheet on this root is the mainstay of 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.

Word Root Exercise: Hydro-

You might find that this worksheet on the Greek word root hydr/o–it means, unsurprisingly, water, but also hydrogen and liquid–helps students quickly build a lexicon of key vocabulary words to use across the common branch domains, and especially the physical sciences.

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.

Word Root Exercise: Kine, Kinet, Kinemat

Ok, it’s pouring rain on a Friday morning in late December, and it’s forty-two degrees at 4:49 in the morning.

Here is a worksheet on the Greek roots kine, kinet, and kinemat. They mean motion and division (think kinetic).

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 Rosetta Stone

Wrapping up on a dark Saturday morning (is there anything better, incidentally, on a winter morning, than strong black coffee?), here is a reading on the Rosetta Stone and a comprehension worksheet that accompanies 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.

Word Root Exercise: Cent

This worksheet on the Latin word root cent will help students learn and apply some key words in English, I think. It means, your students will quickly infer (I hope) hundred. This is a very productive root that students really must 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.

The Weekly Text, December 7, 2018: A Set of Worksheets on the Greek Word Roots Hyper, Hyp, and Hypo

This week’s Text is a worksheet on the Greek root hyper and another on the Greek roots hyp and hypo. You will perceive phonetically that these roots are two sides of a coin, and indeed they are: hyper means above, excessive, beyond, and over; conversely, hypo means under, below, and less. If you’ve dealt with thyroid issues in your life, you surely know what these roots mean. So aspiring health care professionals, nota bene!

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.

Word Root Exercise: Itis

If you have students looking at careers in health care, than this worksheet on the Greek root itis is de rigueur. As you have probably gathered–especially if you suffer from arthritisitis means inflammation. This is  a very productive root in English, needless to say.

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.

Word Root Exercise: Ep-, Epi-

If you can use it, here is a worksheet on the Greek roots ep- and epi-. This one is complicated and requires a bit of interpretation, but the basic meanings of these two roots is on, upon, outside, over, among, at, after, and to. As you’ll see from the worksheet itself, this root forms the basis of many commonly used English words like epicenter, epilogue and epidemic; you’ll also find it in epilepsy and episode. This is one of the most difficult roots to connect to students’ own experience and to find the connecting tissue between these words. I don’t use this much, particularly not with struggling and emergent readers.

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.