Tag Archives: questioning/inquiry

Cultural Literacy: Antebellum

It’s a word used routinely in relation to the American Civil War in social studies textbooks, but in my experience never taught explicitly in social studies classrooms, so maybe this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the adjective antebellum. This Latinism, as this half-page worksheet points out in its two-sentence reading (with two comprehension questions), means “before the war.”

If you think it will help, here is a word root exercise on the Latin root bell-.

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.

Hypnosis

Here is a reading on hypnosis along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I believe this might be high-interest material, so I have tagged it as such.

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: Air Quality Index

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the air quality index that reminds us every day that we have chosen to use the atmosphere of this planet, as I believe Kurt Vonnegut once put it, as a toilet; This his a half-page worksheet with a reading of three simple sentences 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.

Blood

Here is a reading on blood along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet if you health or life sciences teachers can use them.

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: Anal Personality

Do you hear kids bandying about the word “anal” to describe their more fastidious or compulsive classmates? I think I have heard it at least once a year since I became a teacher. It’s mostly used properly, but when it isn’t, this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the anal personality might help to clarify things. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two compound sentences and three comprehension questions.

There’s no mention of Sigmund Freud here, which is an interesting omission considering that the anal stage is the second part of his theory of psychosexual development. This worksheet, again, just explains the basics of the anal personality’s characteristics as (from the text) “…excessive orderliness, extreme meticulousness, and often suspicion and reserve.”

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.

Robert Oppenheimer

Moving along on this run I’m on this morning, here is a reading on Robert Oppenheimer along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. He’s always been a figure who interested me–mostly for the crisis of conscience he suffered for what he unleashed on the world.

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: The Bad Workman Always Blames His Tools

It’s not much used anymore, I think (and I don’t know if I’ve ever heard it beyond a couple of farms I worked on in the late 1970s), but here, nonetheless, is a Cultural worksheet on the proverb “the bad workman always blames his tools.” This is a half-page worksheet with a two-sentence reading. Short and sweet–but perhaps a nice little exercise in thinking abstractly.

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.

Benjamin Franklin

Here, on the Fourth of July 2022, is a reading on Benjamin Franklin along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. And that’s about it: a couple of Microsoft Word documents you can adapt to the needs of your students.

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: Republic

It’s Independence Day in the United States, so I can think of no better time to post this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the republic as a form of government. This is a full-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences–all of them compounds–and six comprehension questions. The reading, incidentally, does a nice job of differentiating republics and democracies.

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 Solar System

Here is a reading on the solar system along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. This is a short reading with the standard eight-by-eight (i.e. eight vocabulary words to define, eight comprehension questions ) worksheet that I composed for all these readings.

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.