Tag Archives: questioning/inquiry

Cultural Literacy: The Dreyfus Affair

Last year, for the first time, I taught sophomore global studies in an integrated co-teaching (ICT) classroom here in New York City. This cycle of social studies instruction covers the period, roughly, from the beginning of the Enlightenment to the present day. In this maelstrom, I found it a bit odd that the curriculum didn’t at least touch on The Dreyfus Affair, if for no other reason its role as a precursor to the anti-Semitic horrors of the twentieth century.

Superficial though it may be, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Dreyfus Affair. It is a modest attempt to rectify what I consider to be a significant gap in the New York State sophomore global studies curriculum.

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.

Beginnings of the Civil War

If you teach United States History, than you might find useful this reading on the beginnings of the Civil War as well as the reading comprehension worksheet that accompanies it. It serves any number of purposes which will be contingent, ideally, on the student to whom it is assigned.

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

The Algonquin Wits: Heywood Broun Completes a Questionnaire

“One morning, finding a self-analysis questionnaire on his desk, Broun included some of the questions in that day’s column:

What is my occupation? Newspaperman.’

‘Am I making a success of it? There seems to be a decided difference of opinion.’

What is my character and reputation? Unreliable and charming.’

What do other men think of me? Unreliable.’

What do I think of myself? Charming.’

Am I cleanly? Very much so in the summer.’

‘Punctual? No.’

Courteous? To a fault.

Have I any object in life? Yes, I want to be a writer.’

‘Am I on my way? Not precipitately.'”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Babe Ruth

Here is a reading on Babe Ruth and the comprehension worksheet that accompanies it. Not much to say about this other than it tends to 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.

Cultural Literacy: Fractal

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on fractals for math teachers and students alike.

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: The Digital Divide

As I sit down to publish this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the digital divide, I wonder if it is still relevant. It looks like, to some extent, the availability of relatively cheap smartphones have done something to close this gap. At the same time, as net neutrality ends, the divide may reopen with different fissure lines. And as far as smartphones go, yes they are readily available; but neither smartphones themselves nor the data plans that make them useful are created equal. On could make the argument that the lines of the digital divide now run along the lines of smartphones and the plans that drive them.

If nothing else, this worksheet introduces students to the idea that social class determines what one has access to in our society, so this worksheet could be used to open a conceptual inquiry on social class and the extent to which it circumscribes life itself.

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: Cosmology

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the word and concept of cosmology. I’ve used this with lesson on the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment.

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: Clone

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on clones and cloning. This is the kind of stuff that tends to fascinate kids; it’s a neat little literacy exercise, even if you don’t teach science.

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: Cyberspace

Here, on a Sunday morning, is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of cyberspace. Does anyone use that word anymore?

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: Rubicon

The expression “crossing the Rubicon” is a commonplace in educated discourse, in the sense that one has arrived at a point of no return. This is of course its figurative meaning, and here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Rubicon River that will help your students understand the literal meaning of this expression–you know, Julius Caesar and all that.

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.