Tag Archives: professional development

A Learning Support on Writing the Interrogative Sentence

Here is a learning support on writing the interrogative sentence. This is something I assembled myself using a variety of sources; it’s lengthy–two full pages of text with a number of examples.

In my experience, students struggle to write interrogative sentences. This points to a much bigger problem (and perhaps a fundamental failing in our educational systems and pedagogy) that I seek on a daily basis to solve in my classroom: students don’t really know how to ask questions. Since all learning begins with a question, this troubles me greatly, which is why I worked assiduously to create a support that would answer all students’ questions about, well, asking questions. I know I ask for this at the bottom of every documents post, but I would be especially grateful to you for your comments on this document.

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.

6 Dynasties

“Wu * Jin * Liu Song * Qi * Liang * Chen

The Six Dynasties Period can be compared to Europe’s Dark Ages as it stands between the two great cultural blocks of the Han (contemporary to the Roman Empire) and the Tang (about the time the Islamic Empire emerged). The first half of this period is sometimes known as the Three Kingdoms Period and the date can vary according to eastern and western divisions between the states, but, give or take a year or two, the Wu ruled from 22-285, the Jin from 265 to 420, Liu Song from 420 to 479, the Qi from 479 to 502, Liang 502 to 557 and the Chen from 557 to 589.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

Fiction

“Fiction: A vague and general term for an imaginative work, usually in prose. At any rate, it does not normally cover poetry and drama though both are a form of fiction in that they are molded and contrived—or feigned. Fiction is now used in general of the novel, the short story, the novella (qq.v) and related genres.”

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

Term of Art: Number

“Number: A grammatical category used in describing parts of speech that show contrasts of plural, singular, dual, etc. In English, the number system is basically a two-term contrast of singular and plural, shown in nouns and some pronouns and determiners, and to some extend in verbs. Even dual words, such as both, either, neither, take singular or plural verb concord: both taking the plural; either, neither usually taking the singular. English nouns, as far as number is concerned, can be divided into: singular only, plural only, and words that can be both. Singular-only nouns are: (1) Uncountable nouns which can occur with such uncountable-specific words as much, little: much money, little sugar. (2) Most proper nouns: Edinburgh, the Thames (in which other restrictions apply). Plural only nouns are (1) Countable: people in six people, but not in the European peoples. (2) Usually uncountable: not enough clothes (not six clothes); many thanks (not five thanks); trousers (a pair of trousers but not usually three trousers). The vast majority of countable nouns can be both singular and plural (book/books, fox/foxes, mouse/mice), but a few have no distinct plural form (as with one sheep/three sheep). Many nouns, however, have both countable and uncountable uses, in which case they may have a plural in some uses (What an excellent wine/What excellent wines!) but not in others (I never drink wine). Pronouns having distinct singular and plural forms include personal, reflexive, and possessive. Number contrast is neutralized with you, but the second-person reflexive forms distinguish yourself and yourselves. Demonstrative pronouns also have separate forms, singular this, that being used with singular countable nouns (this restaurant) and with uncountable nouns (this food). Number contrast in verbs, except in the verb be, is confined to the distinct third-person singular tense form (look/looks).”

Excerpted from: McArthur, Tom. The Oxford Concise Companion to the English Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Bob Moses: A Tribute to a Brilliant Civil Rights Activist and Educator, and His Message to Us

dianeravitch's avatarDiane Ravitch's blog

Bob Moses died on July 25 at the age of 86. He was noted for his intellect and courage. He was a leader of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), leading a voter registration drive in Mississippi at a time when violence against Black civil rights activists were at risk of being murdered, and no jury would convict their killers. In 1964, he led the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which tried unsuccessfully to replace the all-white Democratic delegation to the Democratic National Convention. In 1982, he founded the Algebra Project, to teach algebra to underprepared Black youth. He received multiple honors for his work. He graduated from the elite Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Hamilton College (where he majored in philosophy and French), and earned a master’s degree at Harvard in philosophy.

One of his friends and admirers forwarded the following story:

It might be of interest…

View original post 212 more words

Ad Infinitum

“Ad Infinitum To infinity: without limit, endlessly or ceaselessly; forever.

‘Administrators expedited, finalized, implemented, processed ad infinitum, while social workers, already famed for euphemism, called their investigators case workers….’ Mary Dohan, Our Own Words.”

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

Term of Art: Social Content Guidelines

“social content guidelines: The directions for textbook publishers developed by the state of California. These directions tell publishers what information their textbooks must include and exclude with regard to groups identified by race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, economic status, or other criteria. California not only requires proportional representation of listed groups but also prohibits adverse reflection on them—meaning that any ‘descriptions, depictions, labels, or rejoinders that tend to demean, stereotype, or patronize’ any listed group are prohibited. The guidelines also require proportional representation of entrepreneurs, managers, and labor groups and ban adverse reflection on any particular occupation. In response to California’s social content guidelines, publishers are careful to avoid adverse reflection on any group in history textbooks and to eliminate potentially controversial literary selections. See also adverse reflection; bias and sensitivity review.”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.

A Learning Support on Writing the Exclamatory Sentence

Here is a learning support on writing the exclamatory sentence. I wrote this one myself, synthesizing a range of material and editing it down to a single page. You will find in the text, of course, support for using the exclamation point in this kind of sentence.

But a single page it is, which is not to say that the text can’t be cut into pieces and repurposed into worksheets. It’s a Microsoft Word document, so it’s yours to do with as you wish.

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.

Term of Art: Sensorimotor Stage

“sensorimotor stage: A developmental stage in which a child had little ability with language or the use of symbols, but experiences the world through sensation and movement. It is the first of four stages in the theory of cognitive development as described by child psychiatrist Jean Piaget. The sensorimotor stage lasts from birth until about age two.

Infants are normally born with a range of reflexes that ensures their survival, such as sucking and grasping. As the infant adapts these reflexes over time, the child can begin to interact with environment with greater efficiency. By the end of this stage, the child is able to solve simple problems, such as looking for a lost toy or communicating simple needs to a parent or another child. It is also during this stage that the infant develops a sense of object permanence—that awareness that things and people continue to exist even when they cannot be perceived. For example, before the age of two if a parent hides a toy under a pillow in front of the child, the child will not understand that the toy still exists under the pillow. Once a sense of object permanence is developed, the child will understand that the toy hidden under the pillow still exists, and will lift up the pillow to retrieve the toy.

Modern technology was not available in Piaget’s time, so he often used motor tasks to test the cognitive understanding of an infant. With the availability of more advanced techniques that can track an infant’s eye movements or rate of sucking in response to stimuli, researchers now know that infants reach cognitive milestone such as object permanence.”

Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.

Phoneme (n)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun phoneme. It means “any of the abstract units of the phonetic system of a language that correspond to a set of similar speech sounds (as the velar \k\ of cool and the palatal \k\ of keel) which are perceived to be a single distinctive sound in the language.”

Teachers best know this noun when it turns up as the basis of an adjective in the term of art “phonemic awareness.” Because of that, I have tagged this post as both a term of art and as material related to professional development. where reading instruction is concerned. At the same time, the context sentences in which I’ve embedded this word on this document is meant to lead students to its meaning. I ask for comments and peer review on every documents post on this blog. For this one, I would be especially interested in and grateful for your comments on this document–especially if you have used it with 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.