Lesson Plan: Parents Frustrated with Homeschooling: Teaching is Too Hard!
II. While Reading Activities
Word Inference
- *over the edge idiom – [informal] into a mental or emotional state that makes someone completely lose control. His friends worried that the news might send/drive/push him over the edge.
- quarantine |ˈkwôrənˌtēn| noun –a state, period, or place of isolation in which people or animals that have arrived from elsewhere or been exposed to infectious or contagious disease are placed: many animals die in quarantine.
- definitely |ˈdef(ə)nətlē| adverb – without doubt (used for emphasis): I will definitely be at the airport to meet you.• in a definite manner; clearly: we couldn’t plan to go elsewhere until we had heard from you more definitely.
- **crack up Phrasal Verb [informal] If someone cracks up, they are under such a lot of emotional strain that they become mentally ill. She would have cracked up if she hadn’t allowed herself some fun.
- pandemic |panˈdemik| adjective – (of a disease) prevalent over a whole country or the world.
- deluge |ˈdelyo͞o(d)ZH| noun -a great quantity of something arriving at the same time: a deluge of complaints.
- overwhelming |ˌōvərˈ(h)welmiNG| adjective – very great in amount: he was elected president by an overwhelming majority.• (especially of an emotion) very strong: an overwhelming feeling of gratitude.
- insanity|inˈsanədē| noun – the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness: he suffered from bouts of insanity | [as complement] : he attempted to plead insanity. • extreme foolishness or irrationality: it might be pure insanity to take this loan | the insanities of our time.
- rebellion |rəˈbelyən| noun -an act of violent or open resistance to an established government or ruler: the authorities put down a rebellion by landless colonials | Simon de Montfort rose in rebellion. • the action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention: an act of teenage rebellion.
- *clam up verb (clammed up; clamming up; clams up) to become silent. She clammed up and refused to talk.
Sources:
New Oxford American Dictionary
*Merriam-Webster
**Collins Dictionary
Grammar Focus: Word -Recognition
First, they were hounded by some hard-charging parents who expected more daily structure and an immediate and effortless switch to online instruction. Teachers had to quickly develop new coursework and ways of presenting it, and to jet into families’ living rooms via Zoom video.
Reading Comprehension
Identify The Speakers
- Mel Mawn is working full-time from the Wilmington home she shares with her three children, her husband, and her in-laws: “I mean, we’re stuck here in the house, and I cannot have recorder class for an hour,.”
- Sarah Parcak, a renowned archeologist from Maine: “We cannot cope with this insanity. Survival and protecting his well being come first.”
- A mother from Dorchester: “The first time they participated, it was like a nightmare. [Her] 4-year-old did not understand: “Why can’t they hear me? Why can’t I talk?”
- Keri Rodrigues, a Somerville mother who heads the National Parents Union: “Do not destroy the fabric of your family because you’re trying to please a school district,”
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