Tag Archives: readings/research

Environment Art

Posted on September 11, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Environment Art: Not to be confused with earth art, in its broadest sense earth art refers to the work of artists who manipulate the man-made environment. Controlled spaces, whether sculpted or constructed of building materials or light beams or sound—are intended to be experienced with all the senses. A major theme has been the fusion of architecture and sculpture in a room space that surrounds the entering viewer, such as the life-size, three-dimensional tableaux created by Edward Kienholz. Environment art has appeared sporadically in several 20th-century movements, including Dada, surrealism, and pop art.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

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The Weekly Text, September 11, 2020: A Lesson Plan on the Crime and Puzzlement Case “Piggy Bank”

Posted on September 11, 2020 | Leave a comment

Because they’ve been a popular item on this site, I’ve engaged in idle speculation about the social and educational characteristics of the users of the many Crime and Puzzlement lessons I’ve posted here. I must assume these are particularly useful for homebound, younger kids and their parents.

In any case, here is another, a lesson plan on the Crime and Puzzlement case “Piggy Bank.”

I open this lesson with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the idiom “beyond the pale.” To investigate this case, you’ll need the PDF of the illustration, reading, and questions. To make sure you bring the accused to the bar of justice, here is the typescript of the answer key.

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, The Weekly Text

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Separation of Church and State

Posted on September 11, 2020 | Leave a comment

While I don’t imagine I need to go on at length about it, I do hope this reading on the separation of church and state and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet serve as a gentle reminder of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is meant as a bulwark against theocracy.

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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X-Rays

Posted on September 10, 2020 | Leave a comment

Years ago, when I worked in a school that had a cooperative career and technical education (CTE) program, I served students either in such a program or on their way to one. I developed this reading on x-rays and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet for students interested in becoming x-ray technicians.

Then I never used it. For one thing, it is highly technical with a lot of relatively advanced scientific vocabulary. As the years went by the CTE program slipped away, and any modifications I might have performed to make this material more readable while making it more comprehensive went with the program.

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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Socrates

Posted on September 9, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on Socrates, history’s first teacher, and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet: this is a core reading in all four of the common branch subjects, and a way of thinking about teaching and learning, for students’ and teachers’ edification.

Incidentally, if you’ve been hanging with William “Bill” S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan, as it was my mild misfortune to do over the Labor Day weekend, this Greek philosopher’s name is not pronounced “So-Crates” but rather sock-ruh-tease. Just sayin’.

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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Bunkum (n)

Posted on September 9, 2020 | Leave a comment

It’s Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day today, and it is, I think you’ll agree, a strong abstract noun for our time. Therefore, I wrote this context clues worksheet on the noun bunkum. It means “insincere or foolish talk” and “nonsense.” The context clues I provided are relatively solid, if a bit trite.

This word was a favorite of legendary iconoclastic newspaperman H.L. Mencken; indeed, a posthumous collection of Mencken’s is titled A Carnival of Buncombe. That spelling of the word, incidentally, indicates its etymology, which is a circuitous tale involving Buncombe County, North Carolina, and Felix Walker, the United States Representative who served the district from 1816 to 1822.

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.

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Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A notorious horror movie (1974), written by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper, in which a family of chainsaw-wielding unemployed slaughterhouse workers terrorize a Texas community, desecrating the local cemetery and decorating their house with human and animal remains. The title proclaimed the film’s horror credentials, although it contains few scenes with much gore. It was loosely based on upon the atrocities committed in real life by deranged Wisconsin farmer Ed Gein, whose bloodthirsty activities also influenced Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.”

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.

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A Lesson Plan on the Crime and Puzzlement Case “Picnic”

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

OK, moving along on a warm afternoon, here is a lesson plan on the Crime and Puzzlement case “Picnic.”

I open this lesson, to get kids settled after the class change, with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the proverb “All’s Fair in Love and War.” You’ll need this PDF of the illustration, reading, and questions to conduct your investigation. Finally, to bring your suspect to justice, here is the typescript of the answer key for this 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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Boston Tea Party

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

Slowly but surely I am figuring out the new Block Editor on WordPress. So, let me try to add this reading on the Boston Tea Party and the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that accompanies it. I imagine these materials will find a home someplace in a United States history course. 

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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A Lesson Plan on the Order of Tooth Arrival and Growth from The Order of Things

Posted on September 2, 2020 | Leave a comment

From Barbara Ann Kipfer’s The Order of Things, here is a lesson plan on the arrival and growth of teeth. You’ll need the reading with comprehension questions to complete this short reading and writing exercise, which, like all 50 of these lessons that I will eventually post here, is intended to help struggling learners experience mastery and therefore build self-confidence and competence in school.

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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