Tag Archives: readings/research

Antihero

Posted on January 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

“Antihero: A protagonist who lacks traditional heroic virtues and noble qualities and is sometimes inept, cowardly, stupid, or dishonest, yet sensitive. The type is best represented in modern fiction and drama, although it appears as early as 1605, in Don Quixote, James Joyce’s Leopold Bloom in Ulysses, Kingsley Amis’s Jim Dixon in Lucky Jim, and Joseph Heller’s Yossarian in Catch 22 are antiheroes.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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A Lesson Plan on the Crime and Puzzlement Case “A Matter of Diamonds”

Posted on January 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

Ok, dawn just arrived here in the Northeast. I seem to be getting away with it so far, so let me offer up another lesson plan on the Crime and Puzzlement case “A Matter of Diamonds.”

I open this one with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the noun phrase and concept of pecking order. You’ll need the illustration, text, and questions for the case, which I’ve scanned directly from the book. Finally, here is teacher’s copy and answer key to solve the case.

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.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Lesson Plans, Social Sciences, Worksheets

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Looney Tunes

Posted on January 30, 2019 | Leave a comment

Their characters are American icons at this point, and people (well, at least I do) still watch them, so here is a reading on Looney Tunes and its vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. For some reason, it still surprises me that this particular reading is of very high interest to students. In the ten years I’ve used this material in the classroom, kids regularly ask for 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.

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Graphic Novels

Posted on January 29, 2019 | Leave a comment

OK, moving right along, here are a reading on graphic novels and its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Kids in my classrooms over the years have always asked for these documents, so I think based on my experience with them, I’ll designate this 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.

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Smoking

Posted on January 28, 2019 | Leave a comment

If you’re looking for a short text on smoking that doesn’t in any way equivocate, than this short reading on that deadly habit should be more than adequate; here is the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet than 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.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Essays/Readings, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

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Liberty Cap

Posted on January 28, 2019 | Leave a comment

“A symbol of freedom. When a slave was manumitted by the Romans, a small Phrygian cap, usually of red felt, called pileus, was placed on his head; he was termed libertinus (‘freeman’), and his name was registered in the city tribes. When Saturninus, in 100 BC, possessed himself of the Roman Capitol, he hoisted a similar cap to the top of his spear, to indicate that all slaves who had joined his standard should be free; Marius employed the same symbol against Sulla; and when Caesar was murdered, the conspirators marched forth in a body with a cap elevated on a spear, in token of liberty. In the French Revolution, the red cap of liberty was adopted by the revolutionists as an emblem of their freedom from royal authority.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Essays/Readings, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

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A Lesson Plan on the Crime and Puzzlement Case “Merrill’s Alibi”

Posted on January 24, 2019 | Leave a comment

OK, on a rainy morning, here is a lesson plan on “Merrill’s Alibi,” the fourth “case” in the first volume of the Crime and Puzzlement series of books.

I begin this lesson with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on “Parting is such sweet sorrow,” the famous line, of course, from Romeo and Juliet. You’ll need this PDF of the illustration and questions from the book itself so students may can investigate whether or not Merrill’s alibi is credible. Finally, here is a typescript of the answer key to close the case of Merrill’s Alibi.

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.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Lesson Plans, Social Sciences, Worksheets

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Louis XIV

Posted on January 18, 2019 | Leave a comment

Let’s begin this morning with this reading on Louis XIV, the Sun King, and add the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that attends it. Remember that this is a key figure in European history, if only as an exemplar of the absurdity and excess of absolute monarchy, particularly as this self-serving, greedy, vain, and arrogant sovereign practiced 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.

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Jack the Ripper

Posted on January 17, 2019 | Leave a comment

A student just asked for it yesterday, so here today, hot off the press (or at least mildly warm off the inkjet printer) is a reading on Jack the Ripper and the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that attends it. Creepy stuff, which of course makes it very interesting for 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.

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The Great Gatsby

Posted on January 15, 2019 | Leave a comment

Several students in the school in which I serve expressed interest in the literature of the Jazz Age and Gatsby in particular, so here is a short reading on The Great Gatsby along with the vocabulary building and comprehension worksheet that attends 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.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Essays/Readings, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

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