How to Develop a Reading Habit in Children
Want your child to love books instead of screens? Discover simple, proven ways to build a lifelong reading habit and boost vocabulary, focus & creativity https://indiatutor.in/student-resources/how-to-develop-a-reading-habit-in-children/
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Best English Learning Activities Parents Can Do at Home
Boost your child’s English skills at home with fun, practical activities that make learning enjoyable and effective. Read now: https://indiatutor.in/parent-resources/best-english-learning-activities-parents-can-do-at-home/
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‘The First Dandelion’ by Walt Whitman
Whitman’s poem featured in this post is a very short one, originally published in the Herald newspaper on 12th March 1888. It just so happened that immediately after its publication, a major blizzard hit the state of New York, which made the poet’s timing rather unfortunate, and the subject of many jokes.
It reminded me of a similar beginning of spring we’ve had over here in my neck of the woods this year: within days of the official arrival of spring, we suddenly had subzero temperatures and plenty of snow. It didn’t last long, though, and the meadows are already full of spring wildflowers—including dandelions!
Simple and fresh and fair from winter's close emerging, As if no artifice of fashion, business, politics, had ever been, Forth from its sunny nook of shelter'd grass— innocent, golden, calm as the dawn, The spring's first dandelion shows its trustful face.How did you like this poem? Are there any other flowers that you associate with the arrival of spring? Tell us about it in the comments section below!
VOCABULARY EXERCISE
Match the following words with their definitions / synonyms:
CLOSE | EMERGE | ARTIFICE | FORTH | NOOK | DAWN
To check your answers, click here.
RELATED BLOG POSTS AND RESOURCES
How to interpret a poem (with a little help from Walt Whitman)
Cover photo by Natalia Luchanko on Unsplash.
#AmericanLiterature #dandelions #EnglishLanguage #EnglishVocabulary #learningEnglish #poem #poetry #reading #readingComprehension #readingSkills #spring #vocabulary #WaltWhitman
‘A Prayer in Spring’ by Robert Frost
Looking for some peace and quiet? Robert Frost’s poem ‘A Prayer in Spring’ just might give you some inspiration.
As I often mention in my poetry posts, try to read this poem out loud—it has a great rhythm that you might completely miss out on if you read it silently. And that would be unfortunate, because the rhythm is intentional: it contributes to the message of the poem. Its stable consistency adds to the sense of calm.
How did Frost create this effect? You will notice the steady AABB rhyme pattern, but there’s more. The poem is written in iambic pentameter, which is a five-set series of iambs (an iamb is a metrical unit consisting of two syllables, where the first one is unstressed and the second one stressed).
English language learners can do a simple vocabulary exercise found below the poem, and there’s also a selection of additional resources on Robert Frost and iambic pentameter.
Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year. Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. And make us happy in the darting bird That suddenly above the bees is heard, The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still. For this is love and nothing else is love, The which it is reserved for God above To sanctify to what far ends He will, But which it only needs that we fulfil.VOCABULARY EXERCISE FOR ESL LEARNERS
Match the following words found in the poem with their definitions:
ORCHARD (n.) | DILATE (v.) | THRUST (v.) | SWARM (n.) | SANCTIFY (v.) | DART (v.)
To check your answers, please click here.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
‘A Prayer in Spring’ read by Robert Frost
Iambic pentameter – an Encyclopedia Britannica entry
‘October’ by Robert Frost
#AmericanLiterature #English #EnglishLiterature #EnglishVocabulary #learningEnglish #poetry #readingSkills #RobertFrost
“A Song for New Year’s Eve” by William Cullen Bryant
William Cullen Bryant was a 19th century American romanticist poet, abolitionist and civil right advocate. Originally a lawyer, he started publishing poems in the early 1820s. Later in the decade he became the editor of the New York Review and the New York Evening Post, solidifying his position as a prominent man of letters and progressive politics.
William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)As a writer, he is often brought into connection with the famous Hudson River School of art. What the painters of that school did on their canvases, Bryant did on paper, painting wonderful landscapes and nature scenes with his pen. If you like nature writing, you will love Bryant’s poetry!
In this post, however, I’ll present a poem of his on a holiday theme. Entitled ‘A Song for New Year’s Eve’, this one is a bittersweet parting with the old year, and a hopeful plea for better things coming with the new year. (It’s a bit of a tradition here on Grammaticus to end the year with a poem on a New Year theme – check out the previous one, “Ring Out, Wild Bells” by Lord Alfred Tennyson).
As always, this poetry post contains a simple vocabulary exercise for English language learners.
Stay yet, my friends, a moment stay—VOCABULARY EXERCISE
Find the words in the poem with the following meaning:
You can check your answers by clicking on this link.
ADDITIONAL READING
Books by William Cullen Bryant (available on Project Gutenberg)
William Cullen Bryant Homestead (a National Park Service webpage)
COVER IMAGE
Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
#AmericanLiterature #EnglishVocabulary #learningEnglish #NewYear #poem #poetry #readingComprehension #readingSkills #vocabulary #WilliamCullenBryant
Guilty pleasures
[The following post is intended primarily for English-language learners, CEFR levels B1 and above. It includes a vocabulary exercise with the answer key.]
We all enjoy doing, watching or listening to certain things that others find unusual, strange or low-quality. For example, a person might be an accomplished scholar or a top scientist and a lover of cheap paperback romance novels. Or maybe you really enjoy watching B-rated movies with little to no artistic value – but there’s just something very satisfying about them.
In English, such an activity is known as a “guilty pleasure.” The phrase implies that it’s something you love doing (it’s very pleasing and enjoyable), but at the same time you don’t want others to find out about it because that would be embarrassing. You know others would judge you for it, and you feel they would probably be right: so you feel guilty!
The phrase can also be used in the context of food and drinks: eating or drinking something you know you shouldn’t because it’s bad or harmful can be a guilty pleasure. Eating a packet of crisps just before bedtime or eating an entire container of ice cream in one go…You know such things are bad for you, but sometimes you just can’t resist them.
Guilty pleasures may be embarrassing, but they can also be really good for you. There’s nothing wrong about doing things that bring you joy! People usually find comfort in their guilty pleasures or a helpful distraction from an otherwise stressful life. A guilty pleasure can help you relax and be kinder to yourself. It can also help you become more tolerant and less defined by various rules and commonly accepted norms.
There’s also a mental health connection, as the feelings of guilt, embarrassment and fear of being judged by others can have a very negative effect on your overall quality of life. By embracing a quirky guilty pleasure you allow yourself to be more authentic and free from some of the social expectations and conventions.
Let me share with you about one of my guilty pleasures. If you’ve been following my blog, you know I’m an avid reader with a special taste for classical poetry and 19th century literature. But you know what? I also happen to love trashy supermarket tabloids! My fascination with them started over 20 years ago when I stumbled upon an issue of (now defunct) Weekly World News. It was such a wild, crazy and bizarre magazine, I instantly fell in love with it!
From there, my appreciation for tabloids evolved into a truly guilty pleasure of reading the National Enquirer and Globe. I know – yikes! So embarrassing! There’s no journalistic quality there whatsoever, it’s all gossip and sensationalism, but that’s precisely it: they are so bad that they are good! Whenever I’m extremely stressed or agitated, I know what will help – a nice hot cup of tea and a few pages of Globe. For me, it’s really not about the topics they cover, which are usually the royals and pop culture celebrities, but the outrageous way they do it, with the ridiculous wording and the unflattering accompanying photos. It’s very satisfying, which is what guilty pleasures are all about.
She said WHAT???What are some of your guilty pleasures? If you don’t feel too embarrassed, do share about them in the comments section below!
VOCABULARY EXERCISE
Match the words highlighted in the article with the following definitions / synonyms. To check your answers, click here.
ADDITIONAL READING
Guilty Pleasures Are Good for Your Brain, Psychologists Say
Guilty Pleasures That Are Good For You
IMAGE CREDIT
Photo by Szabo Viktor via Unsplash
#English #EnglishVocabulary #guiltyPleasure #learningEnglish #readingComprehension #readingSkills #tabloid #vocabularyQuiz
Free ebook: “The Mesmeric Mountain” by Stephen Crane
Dear friends and followers of the Grammaticus blog,
I’m happy to announce the release of the seventh title in the Grammaticus Free Library series. Published quarterly, each ebook in the series consists of a short story with the accompanying vocabulary notes (and sometimes additional exercises) intended for learners of English as a second or foreign language – CEFR levels B2 and above.
The latest title is “The Mesmeric Mountain”, a curious tale of a man convinced he’s being followed by a mountain. It was written by Stephen Crane (1871-1900), a prolific American writer whose innovative style influenced generations of authors, particularly those writing in the tradition of American Naturalism.
To download your PDF copy, please click on the link below. You can also find it, along with all the previous Grammaticus Free Library titles, in the Library section of this website.
#AmericanEnglish #AmericanLiterature #ebook #English #EnglishVocabulary #freeDownload #freebie #learningEnglish #literature #readingComprehension #readingSkills #shortStory
“For decades, the common explanation for why children struggle to read has stayed remarkably consistent. Smart kids read well. Kids who don't simply aren't smart enough. [...] Dr. Daniel Hajovsky, associate professor in Texas A&M University's Department of Educational Psychology, has led one of the largest analyses ever conducted on the relationship between cognitive abilities and reading. [...] The results offer a new perspective. Visual processing showed no meaningful relationship to reading ability anywhere in the analysis. General intelligence mattered, but far less than earlier research had claimed.”
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-years-struggles-obvious-massive-analysis.html
For decades, the common explanation for why children struggle to read has stayed remarkably consistent. Smart kids read well. Kids who don't simply aren't smart enough. And when children strain over a page, the assumption has often been that something about how they see the text is getting in the way. By this logic, reading comes down to intelligence and visual processing.
Free ebook: “Departure” by Sherwood Anderson
Dear all,
It’s the spring equinox and the time for another quarterly ebook. This time it’s a short story by Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941), American novelist and short story writer best known for his book ” Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life.”
Departure comes from that same collection of stories. It’s about a young man leaving his small hometown to begin a new life in a big city. As he sets off, thoughts about the familiar people and places fill him with melancholy. It’s a bittersweet story that I hope you will enjoy!
To get your PDF copy with vocabulary notes, please click on the link below:
If you’d like to access more ebooks, visit the English Library section of this website.
NOTES
I’m a freelance language tutor (English, Latin, Classical Greek), researcher, and a literary scholar currently based in Belgrade, Serbia.
If you wish to receive new content from my blog – as soon as it’s published – please enter your email address in the subscribe box below.
To support my work, you can send me a donation via PayPal. It would be greatly appreciated!
COVER PHOTO CREDIT
#AmericanLiterature #ebook #English #EnglishLiterature #EnglishVocabulary #freeDownload #freebie #learningEnglish #literature #readingComprehension #readingSkills #shortStory
“The Brook in February” by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts
Charles G. D. Roberts (1860-1943) was a prominent Canadian author and public intellectual, often referred to as the father of Canadian poetry. He wrote numerous works of fiction, but he also did a lot of nature and travel writing, largely focused on Canadian themes.
The short poem presented here was first published in his collection “The Book of the Native” in 1896. Set in the cold and silent month of February, it captures the tension between winter’s stillness and the hidden vitality of the coming spring.
If you’re an English language learner, don’t miss the vocabulary exercise found below! (Answer key available.)
A snowy path for squirrel and fox,VOCABULARY EXERCISE
Match the following words from the poem with the definitions:
WIND (v.) | FIR (n.) | MUFFLED (adj.) | BABBLE (v.) | BLOSSOM (n.)
To check your answers, please click here.
ADDITIONAL LINKS
Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts (The Canadian Encyclopedia)
E-book versions of C. G. D. Roberts’ works (Project Gutenberg)
NOTES
I’m a freelance language tutor (English, Latin, Classical Greek), researcher, and a literary scholar currently based in Belgrade, Serbia.
If you wish to receive new content from my blog – as soon as it’s published – please enter your email address in the subscribe box below.
To support my work, you can send me a donation via PayPal. It would be greatly appreciated!
COVER IMAGE CREDIT
Photo by Richard Wang via Unsplash
#Canada #CanadianLiterature #CharlesGeorgeDouglasRoberts #English #EnglishVocabulary #February #learningEnglish #literature #nature #poem #poetry #readingSkills #winter
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