Started: The New Teen Titans Volume 12 by Marv Wolfman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4aFU2ze       (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

Everyday Clothes Vocabulary

(TESOL Materials--Clothing Vocabulary)

* Lin's Day of Clothes Storybook--Created from this chat here  (Made using Google Gemini Storybook).  [If you look at the chat, you'll notice I messed up the prompt slightly--I said it was the topic of people at work.  This was because of copying and pasting the same prompt from another lesson, and forgetting to change the name of the topic. Thus clothing vocabulary is mixed in with work situations.  But I think it still works.]

* Clothing Vocabulary slideshow: slides, pub

* Clothing worksheet to color: docs, pub

[Notes: These are all materials that I used to supplement the lesson Everyday Clothes p.28-29 from Oxford Picture Dictionary Content Areas for Kids, and the specific choice of vocabulary in the storybook is influenced by that lesson.  However, I think these materials could be used for any general lesson on describing homes, and so I'm including them here.]

Clothing Vocabulary

(Specific Vocabulary Sets)

* Everyday Clothes Vocabulary

* Quizlet only for Clothing: English World 2 Unit 4 Clothing (from English World 2 Unit 4 Review)

* Clothing Vocabulary lesson from English World 2

* Reading and Clothing Vocabulary lesson from English Word 2

* Clothes and Fashion: docs, pub (from Conversation Questions for the ESL/EFL Classroom)

Mickey 17: Movie Review

(Movie Review)

This is my first time watching this movie, so according to my new rules, I'm doing this as a video only review.

Mickey 17: Movie Review

Links to stuff mentioned: 

6th day - Clone strips and steals the clothing from his real person: https://youtu.be/sC5gXkf_4h4?si=GWNDaHVeyfGQhZtf

Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_17

Related Playlists: 

Movie Reviews Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6N06WoIoV2fLb6xRYrepTk&si=iWMhXdwlxxKxm6r6

Movies that I watched in 2025: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x67grGI4ZJsBc8QYFa5cSvu&si=oZDgEqLXtgLsGB2A

Check out this movie on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KEaYf1             (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

My Favorite Narrative History Books

This is part of my so-called "Scripted Review" series, in which I make a Youtube video based on an old blogpost.  For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE:

https://youtu.be/HgneyXvRI04  

and HERE: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2018/12/vlog-scripted-book-reviews-i-ramble-on.html

In this case, the old blog post is here: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2013/12/my-favorite-narrative-history-books.html

Links to stuff mentioned:

* Revolutions of 1848 by Priscilla Robertson: https://youtu.be/psZm98XOuUE

* Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the Destruction of Cambodia by William Shawcross: https://youtu.be/1qJzQ4LTwzQ

* The Fall of Paris by Alistair Horne: https://youtu.be/blWPy94ENOM

* The Great Upheaval by Jay Winik: https://youtu.be/RfFZX5URUSc

* The Judgment of Paris by Ross King: https://youtu.be/tlQqTGuKfN8

* The Scramble for Africa: 1876-1912 by Thomas Pakenham: https://youtu.be/oy8fySdy4zw

* Three Empires on the Nile by Dominic Green: https://youtu.be/J3YKiMu7otA

* Monarchy From the Middle Ages to Modernity by David Starkey: https://youtu.be/6Qe8C8LP1mM

* The Storm Before the Storm by Mike Duncan: https://youtu.be/6AfNvXDgUS8

* Mayday 1971 by Lawrence Roberts: https://youtu.be/epphSQTizO0

* Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann: https://youtu.be/H6TdMJi7m08

* Conspirator: Lenin in Exile: The Making of a Revolutionary by Helen Rappaport: https://youtu.be/QXJAsfU1zgI

* For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette and Their Revolutions by James R. Gaines: https://youtu.be/9YeASwuLEdQ

* Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan: https://youtu.be/Q7XX8zXjIPE

* Karl Marx: A Life by Francis Wheen: https://youtu.be/8ev1gt7wJvs

* Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore: https://youtu.be/b4B35afhzHk

* The Life of Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer: https://youtu.be/CerNpLfTD8E

Related Playlists:

* My Favorite Narrative History Books Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4UNr3YnflpbkIwTpO07ui-&si=QqWoyIomhY7pXUGv

* Book Review Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7dao6py7ODX_PkUvrAEch7

* Scripted Reviews Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x5BKcEIufNKlS58JHU_glyL&si=Pje0KQqIqOgWGGUI

* History Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x52uI39vSXVrJvUFjdN9QkL&si=IkwsRH5HTXptL1kk

* Lists Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6Gk86iLUhEIsqdwtFnCjhQ&si=rwR4fCLM5I5SWJx5

Gula Hymn of Bullutsa-Rabi (from Before the Muses by Benjamin R. Foster): Summary and Discussion

(Book Review--Blogging the Canon, Classics)

From my reading of Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature Edited by Benjamin R. Foster

Gula Hymn of Bullutsa-Rabi (from Before the Muses by Benjamin R. Foster): Summary and Discussion

Links to stuff mentioned:

* My video on the Epic of Anzu: https://youtu.be/4N19KSSkuRY

* Wikipedia article on Bullussa-rabi's Hymn to Gula (stub): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullussa-rabi%27s_Hymn_to_Gula

* Wikipedia article on Bullussa-rabi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullu%E1%B9%ADsa-rabi

Related Playlists

* Classic Books Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x53EsuWSZ-z0uFGL_0Jl6F1&si=giDKwvKMzCWtXvzl

* Book Review Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7dao6py7ODX_PkUvrAEch7&si=kiFeTonJJ3Ux5H1T

* Books I read in 2025: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7Fev7Uv6_tzuSf84LtYwQu&si=Im1rdozRXrgGnr99

* Babylonian / Akkadian Literature Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x5BtyzrSv3NMPA3VpzLIuq8&si=x0yeQPCkXyxtPCr4

* Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4Cvg1Yw4LQyKEXIwDwo1m0&si=X6OZ7Ectw-fzHbCn

* Akkadian Literature: The Mature Period 1500-1000 BC Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x545tikwEDqcgD_qmFqtLUF&si=XlI2gaYNnh1HGPyf

I was able to read this book thanks to the Michigan statewide state-wide interlibrary loan service called MeLCat, which may be in danger thanks to a Presidential executive order.  If you, like me, enjoy using MeLCat, contact your local representatives and let them know. 

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4k08VgZ            (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

You'll never get a job with that degree (the sympathetic version)

This video is 6 months old, but I just discovered it today.

I don't know how many of these "don't go to graduate school in the humanities" stories I've heard over the years, (and a number of them I've linked to on this blog before in the past), but I still find them interesting.  This, for me, is the path not taken.  And I sometimes still catch myself feeling regretful that I never pursued a PhD in history.  But then I watch a video like this, and I'm reminded of why it would never have been a good idea.

Valerie June - Joy, Joy!--Sharing Music I Like

Yet another song I discovered by listening to community radio (88.1).  I liked the sound of it, so I thought I'd make a note of it here so I so I don't forget it. 

I'd never heard of this artist before, but she has a Wikipedia page here.

A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer

(TESOL Materials--Story Time)

I've posted versions of this book twice before (here and here), but I've retooled this for one of my Story Time lessons.  I used the images on this youtube video for creating the slideshow.

My materials for this book are below:

Google Drive HERE

Slideshow: slides, pub

A great sequencing activity can be found here on Teachers Pay Teachers.  (This particular resource is free, although you will need to create an account and log-in.)

Coloring sheet: docs, pub

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4pPoP0O     (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

Vocabulary for Jobs

(TESOL Materials--Jobs)

* Storybook 1: Pili's Busy Day--Created from this chat here (Made using Google Gemini Storybook)

* Kahoot for Storybook 1: People at Work

* Slideshow for storybook 1: slides, pub (I used this slideshow to present the vocabulary, and also to do a board race)

* Storybook 2: People at Work--Created from this chat here 

* Kahoot for Storybook 2: People at Work 2

* Slideshow for storybook 2: slides, pub

* Kahoots 1 and 2 combined: People at Work (1+2 combined)

[Note: This vocabulary is based on the vocabulary from pages 20 and 21 of Oxford Picture Dictionary for the Content Areas.  But I believe this material could also be used independently for any lesson on jobs vocabulary, so I'm posting it here.  Because the lesson contained so many vocabulary words for jobs, I broke the vocabulary up into 2 different lessons, with 2 different presentations.  I originally tried to fit all the vocabulary words into one storybook, but that proved too crowded.  That storybook is here:  Elara’s Walk and the Working Town--created from this chat here.  I also experimented with creating a sequel, City Heroes, Special Skills--created from this chat here.  FYI: Google Gemini seemed to have a bit of a glitch, so the character designs preserved in the chats are different than the ones in the storybooks.  In the chats, at least at the time of posting, the character designs are consistent between the original story and the sequel, but not in the storybook links.]