Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of African Art: Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art
Explore the crafts that the African American culture exported from native African lands, basketry and cultivation of rice. With the lessons provided in the downloadable document, students will weave together history, geography, social...
Other
Vocabulary Workshop
This vocabulary workshop will be helpful to anyone interested in brushing up on their skills. This site features a comprehensive look at root words, prefixes, suffixes and more.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Bewilder
The history of the word bewilder is more straightforward than you might think. Roots can be traced back to the Old English words wilde (undomesticated) and deor (untamed animals), eventually combined into the word wilderness. Jessica...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Tuxedo
How did tuxedo's roots extend from Native American history to black tie evening wear? Jessica Oreck reveals what the Delaware Indians and formal fashion have in common. [2:04]
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Cognates (English Iii Reading)
In this lesson you'll learn about different types of cognates, words that sound or look alike from one language to the next. You'll learn how leveraging cognate knowledge helps you figure out unfamiliar words in English. When you combine...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Applying Word Strategies: Multiple Choice Review: Practice 1
Lessons on roots and affixes, denotation and connotation, context clues, origins and meanings of foreign words, cognates, and reference materials help determine word meanings. These lessons told you HOW to use these word discovery tools....
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Applying Word Study Strategies (English I Reading)
Apply previous lessons, (1) Linguistic Roots and Affixes, (2) Denotation and Connotation, (3) Origins and Meanings of Foreign Words, (4) Cognates, and (5) Reference Materials, to improve fluency and comprehension.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The Scientific Origins of the Minotaur
The myth of the Minotaur tells the story of an enraged beast forever wandering the corridors of a damp labyrinth, filled with a rage so intense that its deafening roar shakes the earth. But is this story just fiction, or an attempt of...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Sociology
A very detailed look at the development of the field of sociology. Looks at its historical roots, the earliest sociologists, and explains major theories that it was based on, and theories and schools of thought that evolved from those....
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Miniature
Miniature's root may be Latin, but its meaning is rooted in books, where red pigment was used to denote chapter breaks. Jessica Oreck explains how we got from there to the meaning of miniature today: something smaller than others of its...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Noise
The words noise, nausea, and naval all stem from the same Latin root. Jessica Oreck divulges how their spellings and meanings diverged from the original naus. [2:02]
Curated OER
National Park Service: Jazz Origins in New Orleans Pre 1895
Read about the origins of jazz music as it began in New Orleans before 1895. With its unique history and culture, New Orleans provided many opportunities for the development of jazz to thrive and grow.
Iowa State University
The Roots of the Wto
This resource explains the origin of GATT and some of the events that took place in the earlier stages of GATT.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Keister
Originally meaning a woven container, the word keister has roots all over the place. The devil's tool box? Sure. A safe? That too. So, how did it become associated with the buttocks? Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel get to the bottom of...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The True Story of 'True'
The older the word, the longer (and more fascinating) the story. With roots in Old English, 'true' shares etymological ancestors with words like betroth and truce, but also with the word tree. In fact, trees have been metaphors for...
Other
Etymological Dictionary: Influences on Astronomy
An interesting look at the meanings of many of the words in mythology that have been used in English astronomical field. This resource lists the word, etymological and mythological root or character, and modern English meaning.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Jazz Origins in New Orleans: 1895 1927
Dive into the rich history of jazz as it progressed in New Orleans. Focusing on the time from 1895 to 1927, this site highlights key musicians and influences that helped shape this American artform.
Purple Math
Purplemath: Finding Quadratics From Their Zeroes
Students often have difficulty "working backwards" from the solution of a problem to its original question. Finding a polynomial, given its roots, is an example of a "working backwards" problem. Here are several examples using different...
New York Times
New York Times: The Fortune Cookie: A History
Evidence points to fortune cookies originating in Japan, not China as most people assume. Here is a brief video presentation discussing the roots of the fortune cookies and how they became linked to Chinese culture. [1:21]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Where Did English Come From?
Claire Bowern traces English from the present day back to its ancient roots, showing how the language has evolved through generations of speakers. [4:54]
Texas A&M University
Wtamu Virtual Math Lab: Intermediate Algebra
This site is a tutorial for students in algebra 2 or for those who need a refresher. The site has explanations, definitions, examples, practice problems and practice tests are found covering topics such as linear equations, graphing,...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Odd
Whether we're talking all things unusual or mathematical, the origins of the word odd point to the Indo-European root uzdho, which means pointing upwards. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel explain the evolution from the term for a triangle...
Illustrative Mathematics
Illustrative Mathematics: A Rei Radical Equations
The purpose of the task is to show students a situation where squaring both sides of an equation can result in an equation with more solutions than the original one, because it is possible to have two unequal numbers whose squares are...
Brown University
John Carter Brown Library: Champlain's America: New France and New England
An exhibition marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec by Samuel de Champlain. It discusses Champlain's determination and drive to explore North America, and to plant French roots in the Canadian landscape. Images of...