Tag Archives: united states history

Everyday Edit: Sarah Childress Polk

Posted on March 5, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here, in continuing observation of Women’s History Month 2020, is an Everyday Edit worksheet on first lady Sarah Childress Polk. She was wed, of course, to President James K. Polk. As I always say when posting these materials, in order to give credit where credit is due, the good people at Education World give away a year’s supply of these worksheets if you find them useful in your practice.

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Hetty Green

Posted on March 5, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Green, Hetty: (1835-1916) Originally Henrietta Howland Robinson. U.S. financier, reputedly the wealthiest woman of her time. She was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In 1865 her father and aunt both died, leaving her an estate valued at $10 million. By shrewd management, she increased it to more than $100 million at her death.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Cultural Literacy: Dorothy Parker

Posted on March 5, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here’s a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Dorothy Parker, the great Algonquin Wit and (in my opinion) an under-recognized figure in American letters. If you or your students have an interest in Dorothy Parker, this blog contains numerous entries on her: just search her name on the homepage search bar.

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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The Algonquin Wits: Tallullah Bankhead on Maeterlinck

Posted on March 4, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Attending an unsuccessful revival of the Maeterlinck play Aglavaine and Selysette, Tallullah Bankhead commented to Aleck Woollcott, ‘There is less to this than meets the eye.’”

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

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Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference

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Everyday Edit: Jeanette Rankin

Posted on March 4, 2020 | Leave a comment

Moving right along this morning, here is an worksheet on Jeanette Rankin. I’ve been fascinated with Representative Rankin since I encountered her in high school. Here’s a chance to introduce her to your students while attending to matters of grammar, style, usage, and punctuation.

If Everyday Edits work well in your classroom, don’t forget that you can find a yearlong supply of them gratis from the good people at Education World.

If you find typos in this document, well, that’s the object of the exercise. Guide your students through their repair!

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The Killing Fields

Posted on March 4, 2020 | Leave a comment

“The Killing Fields: A film (1984) based on the real-life relationship between US journalist Sidney Schanberg and his Cambodian translator Dith Pran following the withdrawal of US personnel from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1975. The plot recounts Schanberg’s attempts to locate Pran after the latter is seized for ‘re-education’ by the communist Khmer Rouge. The ‘killing fields’ of the title were the paddy fields around Phnom Penh in which the Khmer Rouge executed their opponents. The part of Dith Pran was played by Haing S. Ngor, a doctor who had himself fled from the Khmer Rouge. In reality Dith Pran saw the killing fields himself only when he visited them in as mayor of his home town, long after the Khmer Rouge had been thrown out. The phrase has since become a journalistic cliché.”

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

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Woodstock

Posted on March 4, 2020 | Leave a comment

I’ve tagged it as high-interest material, but as I write this, I’m not sure I can say that with absolute confidence; in my day as a high school student, it certainly would have been. In any case, here is a reading on the legendary Woodstock music festival and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

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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Everyday Edit: Eleanor Roosevelt

Posted on March 2, 2020 | Leave a comment

I need this morning to move on to other work on this blog, but before I do, I’ll publish one more post in its observance of Women’s History Month 2020, to with, this Everyday Edit worksheet on Eleanor Roosevelt. If you and your students find Everyday Edit work satisfying, let me remind you that you can find a yearlong supply of them under that hyperlink courtesy of the good people at Education World.

If you find typos in this document, thank the writer of them for showing students how to copyedit text; then fix them!

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Bellevue Hospital

Posted on March 2, 2020 | Leave a comment

Working in New York City, I often use this reading on Bellevue Hospital and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet as make-up work for students who had fallen behind due to extended absences. To some, it was high-interest material, particularly those whose health needs had occasioned visit to that venerable  institution.

Did you know it was the first hospital in the United States to offer ambulance services? I always tried to ask students a couple of Socratic questions that would lead them to an understanding of the intransitive verb ambulate (i.e. “to move from place to place; WALK”), so that they understood that a person in need of an ambulance could not ove under their own power–hence the need for an ambulance.

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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Everyday Edit: Ida B. Wells

Posted on March 1, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is an Everyday Edit worksheet on Ida B. Wells, the estimable journalist and civil rights activist. If you like this, and would like to use Everyday Edits in your teaching practice, head on over to Education World, where the good people who operate that site give away a twelve-month supply of them.

If you find typos and errors in this document, don’t notify me, because I can’t do anything with this PDF. Instead, fix them! That’s the purpose of the document.

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