What would You Bring with You?

About five years ago, my family and I had a house fire. We felt displaced and totally lost. We had lost many of our possessions, but thankfully no one was injured. Family, friends, and neighbors all pitched in to help us. Whether they gave us a kind or encouraging word or made us a meal, people were there to help and it truly meant a lot to all of us. At that point in time, I gained a new perspective on life. I really felt what it was like to be homeless. It a was a frightening and disturbing feeling.Surprisingly, however, I feel that that dreadful experience made me less materialistic. I now realize that things, such as televisions and computers, are just things in the grand scheme of life. Our families, friends, beliefs, and happy memories are what keep us going and moving on through life. This also brings up a question in my mind: what were the things that were dear to me that were worth saving? I remember trying to grab my mother's wedding photo album, my pictures, my bible, my animals, and my father's acoustic guitar. Those things had some sentimental value to my family and me. To this day, I always count my blessings and prioritize what is most important in my life. What is important to me are not those things that I was able to salvage from the house fire, it is my family.
Vocabulary:
displaced: move from its usual place
encouraging: helpful
possessions: things one owns
injured: harmed or hurt
frightening: scary
disturbing: upsetting
dreadful: horrible
materialistic: having to do with material things; superficial
grand: big
perspective: point of view
Activity:
Using at least 2 of the vocabulary words, write about the things that you own that are of importance to you. Why are they important to you? Why would you bring those things? Be specific.
Grammar Point: I italicized the family, friends, and neighbors to show where to place commas when you are listing items in a sentence.
Grammar Activity: Pretend that you will go shopping. Write a few sentences that contains a list of items in a sentence using commas.

Leap Year

From the time I was in high school, I have always had the desire to go to Ireland. I have seen countless photographs of the lush, emerald green landscapes and azure seascapes. Just recently, my good friend and I decided to purchase the movie Leap Year. The movie stars Matthew Goode and Amy Adams. I figured that the majority of the movie takes place in Ireland so, I would get to see some of Ireland through this movie.The movie is about this young woman, Anna, played by Amy Adams, lives in Boston, Massachusetts and is longing for her boyfriend, a cardiologist, to propose to her.However, he does not make any moves to do so. Anna's boyfriend had to attend a conference in Ireland. Being an Irish-American, Anna is informed about a tradition that exists in Ireland where every leap year, a woman can propose to her boyfriend. So, Anna sets out on a mission to propose to her boyfriend in Ireland. Unfortunately for Anna, her plans get derailed.She is stuck in some remote area in Ireland and needs to get to Dublin in time to propose to her boyfriend. She meets Declan, a handsome bar owner who is being paid to help Anna get  to Dublin. At first, the two do no get along. However, along the way, the two begin to fall for each other.  In the end, Anna does not marry her boyfriend, the cardiologist. She decides to stay with and marry Declan in Ireland. Overall, I found this movie to be very sweet and got a chance to see some scenes in Ireland.
Vocabulary:
desire: the string wanting for something
countless: too many to count
lush: a lot of growth
azure: sky blue
majority: more than half
cardiologist: heart doctor
propose: offer marriage
attend: to go to or be present at
derailed: run off the rails or ruin
overall: at the end
Activity:
Find the vocabulary words in the word search puzzle.

l	s	t	l	e	a	l	t	c	e	m	i
t	s	i	g	o	l	o	i	d	r	a	c
s	e	d	t	a	z	u	r	e	l	j	i
e	l	r	y	u	g	r	s	l	l	o	e
o	t	o	i	t	h	o	a	i	u	r	y
c	n	u	i	s	p	r	t	a	r	i	e
a	u	s	u	o	e	v	t	r	g	t	o
e	o	l	r	v	r	d	e	e	a	y	r
s	c	p	o	o	p	i	n	d	g	i	a
c	t	p	a	a	t	j	d	d	e	e	e
u	e	r	p	m	o	l	o	h	a	y	r
d	a	r	d	l	p	e	v	e	n	i	o

desire
countless
lush
azure
majority
cardiologist
propose
attend
derailed

Reference: http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch/Data/2011.04/2420/24205204.749.html
Grammar Point: Common nouns need to be capitalized. In the paragraph, I capitalized the manes of the actors in the film that I love.
Grammar Activity: Write at least three sentences containing at least 3 common nouns.

Mickey and Mantle

I really love animals. However, my uncle takes the cake when it comes to being fond of animals.The other day, my mother received a call from my uncle. To her surprise, it was not just any phone call. My uncle had called to inform us about his two new additions to the family. These new additions are actually baby squirrels. I could not believe it! Squirrels? Many questions were whirling around in my mind. How did he manage to get these squirrels? My uncle is actually a breeder; he breeds parakeets. Apparently, my uncle was out gardening and he heard a strange noise coming from the shed where he houses the birds. He set out and searched for what was making the noise.To his delight, he found two abandoned baby squirrels. Since then, my uncle has been raising the two babies. He has been feeding them a mixture of milk for puppies and baby food. They are getting bigger everyday and they are little rascals. They love to climb on whoever is holding them and love to cuddle with each other in the pouch that my uncle made for them.  Even though he is not much of a baseball fan, he decided to name the two squirrels Mickey and Mantle.
Vocabulary:
fond: to like
surprise: shock
inform: to give information about something
whirling: twirling and moving around quickly
apparently: evidently
parakeets: small birds
search: to look for
strange: unusual
abandoned: to leave alone
rascals: things that cause mischief
Activity: Unscramble the vocabulary words.
Reference:
http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/words/scramble/scramble.cgi

 

SuperKids Word Scrambler

	Scramble	Answer
1	fdon
2	ecahsr
3	salarsc
4	abeadnnod
5	sartneg
6	mirofn
7	hignwirl
8	eateprsk a
9	tpapeylrna
10	seirrusp

Grammar Point: Synonyms are words with similar meaning. Instead of using the word love, I used the word fond.
Grammar Activity: Think of a word to describe yourself. Then, think of two synonyms for that word. Use a dictionary to help you.

Northport

Have you ever had a special place that you really enjoy frequenting? Did that place bring you joy? Well, this special place for me is Northport, Long Island. It is about 40 minutes away from where I live. It has such a quaint town that is very nice to walk around. It is also by the harbor. I absolutely love walking down the pier and sit and watch the sailboats go by. It is so peaceful. In Northport, there is a very cute diner called the Shipwreck Diner. The food there is absolutely delectable. If you ever get a chance to go to that diner, try the quiche. It is fantastic. I find Northport to be so inspiring that I have written a poem about it.

As I walk down the pier, I feel the salty breeze brush against my cheeks.

I am in love.

This place, this charming place, is a place I long to see and be and makes me content.

When I am not there, my hearts sails across the sea to be there and my mind

whispers to my heart that I belong there.

Take me away, heart, to the place I want to be. To the place where I feel and can be . . .me.

Vocabulary:

frequent: visit often

quaint: charming

harbor: protected inlet for ships

pier: landing place over the water

quiche: hot, custard pie made with cheese

charming: nice

content: happy

whispers: talk quietly

belong: be a part of

inspiring: arouse a feeling

Activity: 

Fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary word:

1. I walked on the _________  over the water.

2.At the ______, I saw many anchored ships bobbing up and down in the water.

3. I would love to try the delicious ________ that has cheese in it.

4. Her story about helping the poor was so _______ that I would love to help as well.

5. I would love to _____ to the club in school.

6. We have been so _______ because we have been on vacation. 

7. In the library, the girl _______ or talks quietly to the person next  to her.

8. The town is so ______ , ________, and nice. 

9. All of the kids in town like to ____ the movie theater.
Grammar Point: Antonyms have opposite meanings. For example, an antonym for content is sad.
Grammar Activity: Think of a word. Make a semantic map with the antonyms for that word. Use a dictionary to help you.

Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park

This past Thursday my family and I went to the Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, Long Island. It is truly a beautiful place to visit. It was the estate of the Coe family. The Coe family purchased the property in  1913 for $750,000. The estate is now under the control of New York State. My mother's favorite part of the estate is the Camellia House. It is a greenhouse that has the original camellias purchased by William Coe. My father is quite partial to the orchid room in the main greenhouse. I really love going to the Tea House and Italian Blue Pool Garden! Evidently, the Italian Blue Pool was originally the site of the tennis court and tennis house. This I found to be interesting. I strongly recommend going to the Planting Fields Arboretum. If the weather is nice, pack your picnic basket and quilt and prepare for the most pleasant day.
Vocabulary:
arboretum: a place where many kinds of trees are grown
estate: piece of land with a residence
truly: really
purchased: buy
greenhouse: heated glass building where plants are grown
original: first
partial: favoring one over the other
evidently: apparently
recommend: suggest
pleasant: very nice
Activity:
Using at least three of the vocabulary words, write about your favorite plant or flower. What does it look like? What does the flower or plant remind you of? Draw a picture of your favorite plant or flower.
Visit this website to get some inspiration: http://www.plantingfields.org/
Grammar Point: Exclamation points are punctuation marks that show emotion. I used an exclamation point to show how much I enjoyed the tea house.
Grammar Activity: Write a sentence containing an exclamation point.

The Royal Wedding

The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate will be held on April 29th. Many people are very excited for this joyous event for the couple. It is said that the Middleton  family received a coat of arms. Their coat of arms contains three acorns, which represent the Middletons' three children, and the colors red, white, and blue for England's flag.People are curious to see what the soon-to-be princess will wear on her wedding day. After all, Kate is quite fashionable. The wedding, for those viewing it in the United States, will begin at 4am. It will be a very early wedding indeed. Interestingly enough, my neighbor's daughter will be attending the wedding. I am extremely excited for her and I hope that she has an enjoyable time. Overall, I am elated for the couple and cannot wait for the special day to arrive.
Vocabulary
royal: regal, having to do with royalty (example: king and queen)
excited: very happy
joyous: gladness
received: to get
contains: have in it
represent: to stand for
curious: eager to know
quite: really
enjoyable: nice
elated: happy
Writing Activity:
Watch part of the royal wedding on television or use the internet to help you find out information about the wedding. Write 3 to 5 sentences about the wedding. Is it interesting to you? Why? Why not?
Grammar Point:Adjectives describe nouns. For example, the elegant bride walked down the aisle. Elegant is the adjective describing the noun.
Grammar Activity: Using at least 5 adjectives, describe Kate Middleton on her wedding day.

How Embarassing!

            Embarrassing moments can truly leave a burning mark on a person. The most embarrassing moment that I had resides in my memory to this day and I can remember it as if it had occurred yesterday. It happened my freshmen year at Molloy College. I was coming from a mathematics class that I was taking and going to an English class. I was running a little late for my English class so I was in quite a rush. I remember only thinking about getting to class promptly. I was headed for Kellenberg. At that point, I was racing to the class. Then, all I remember is descending the stairs and then feeling airborne. I was falling. I slammed right into the wall and collapsed to the ground. I recall a concerned professor leaning over me asking if I was alright. I responded deliriously to her saying, “I just need to rest for a moment, thank you.”

Vocabulary:

embarrassing:   feeling self-conscious

resides: live

occurred: to happen

quite: really

rush: hurry

descending: going down

airborne: lifted up in the air

slammed: hit

collapsed: fell

deliriously: confused 

Activity:

Directions: Using the vocabulary above, fill in the blanks with the correct words.

1) The airplane became ______ once it lifted off the ground.

2) The girl fainted and _______ to the ground.

3) At the four-way intersection, two cars ____ into each other.

4) He was running late to work and had to ____ to get to work on time.

5) What happened to me was so ________ that I turned bright red.

6) She _____ resides in Brooklyn.

7) They were _______ the stairs very slowly.

8) A special event had ________ the other night at the school.

9) The woman was so tired, she _________ responded to the question.

10) Going on the ride at the amusement park was ____ exciting!
Grammar Point: Here, I italicized the quotation to show how to put quotations around a direct quote.  
Grammar Activity: Write a journal entry containing at least one direct quote using quotation marks.

Perfect Prepostions!

Prepositions, according to Martin Parrott's Grammar for English Language Learners, "often define place,  the position, or movement." Prepositions can be a very difficult part of grammar to teach to English language learners. However, that does not mean that teaching prepositions cannot be fun!! When I was in the sixth grade, my teacher gave us the lyrics to the "Preposition Song." I memorized the lyrics then for a class assignment; however, I remember this song to this day. Here are the lyrics for the "Preposition Song." This song can be used as a motivation prior to a lesson on prepositions for English language learners.
The Preposition Song
(Sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle Dandy)
About, above, across, after, against, along,
among. Around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides.
Between, beyond, by, down, except, for, from, onto, on,off.
Over, through, throughout,till, to, toward, up, under, upon.
Enjoy!
Vocabulary:
lyrics: words to a song
memorized: to commit to memory
prior: before
assignment: work that needs to be completed
remember: think of again
Activity:
Directions: Match the words in the first column to their correct definitions in the second column.
Words                                                          Definitions
1. lyrics                                                       __ before
2.prior                                                        __ think of again
3. remember                                               __ work that needs to be completed
4. assignment                                              __ to commit to memory               
5. memorized                                              __ words for a song
Grammar Point: Here, I had gone over prepositions. I defined prepositions and gave a list of some of the prepositions.
Grammar Activity: Use two preposition words from the song and write three sentences.

Feeling Like a Graceful Swan

When I was two years old, my mother and father signed me up for ballet lessons. From that point on, I became enamored with the art of ballet. One year with my dance school, I participated in The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. Dancing became a way to channel my creativity and express myself in a very unique way. Once I was old enough, I began to take point which calls for the point shoes that allow a dancer to dance on the tips of her toes. It was challenging yet extremely blissful. Whenever I put my point shoes on and began dancing, I felt like a graceful swan swimming in a lake. Unfortunately, the dance school I had attended for so many years closed. I was devastated---to say the least. I had not taken ballet for the past three years. After my dance school closed down, I tried to make the best out of the situation and attempted other dances such as International Folk Dancing and Modern Dance. Even though I found those types of dancing to be interesting, I truly missed ballet and felt that those dances could not replace ballet. At the beginning of the school year, I began tutoring at an after-school program once a week. I thoroughly enjoy it. When I filled out an application to be able to volunteer, one of the questions asked to list the hobbies I had. On the line I wrote "ballet." I had forgotten all about it. Just a few weeks ago, one of the employees at the after-school program approached me and asked if I would be interested in teaching ballet to the girls who are in the program. I accepted. Now, I am pleased to say that I now teach ballet. My students are very excited and really enjoy ballet. At the beginning of every class, I remind my students to remember that as they dance, they should feel like a graceful swan.
"Ballerina"
The tiny and elegant ballerina loves to dance. She swirls and twirls without a care.
All she can hear is the piano singing out a beautiful tune.Her mesmerizing steps, call to the  excited audience who watch her from their seats. The music plays and plays; seems endless to me. How can this wonderful ballerina end her graceful performance?
Vocabulary:
creativity: being able to create
express: to show
unique: special
blissful: full of happiness
graceful: pleasingly nice
unfortunately: not lucky
attempted: tried
replace: to take the place of
approached: to speak to
remind: to help to remember
Activity: Word Search
Directions: Look for the vocabulary words.



E  B  Q  F  R  O  R  M  I  R  Z  U C  Y  W  S  L  E  B  L  J  U  Z  H A  Y  W  S  R  S  M  M  N  I  Q  U L  T  O  E  L  G  M  I  F  B  Z  I P  I  W  R  S  A  Q  I  N  J  X  T E  V  M  P  Z  U  M  B  E  D  I  F R  I  H  X  E  W  T  I  Q  H  S  U R  T  D  E  H  C  A  O  R  P  P  A D  A  B  G  R  A  C  E  F  U  L  C V  E  A  T  T  E  M  P  T  E  D  G T  R  G  L  U  F  S  S  I  L  B  E R  C  V  K  J  P  N  X  P  K  Z  B

approached

attempted

blissful

creativity

express

graceful

remind

replace

unique

Reference:
http://www.puzzle-maker.com/cgi-bin/wswo.cgi
Grammar Point: In the poem, I highlighted the adjectives that were in the poem. This poem could be used to English language learners how adjectives are used. Poems are very fun to read and so this could make presenting adjectives interesting to English language learners.
Grammar Activity: Write a short poem using 5 adjectives.
Visit this website about the NYC Ballet. There are interesting videos on this website.
http://www.nycballet.com/nycb/home/

Merlin

For the last couple of years I have become absolutely obsessed with the British television show Merlin. Colin Morgan plays the young Merlin and Bradley James plays the character Prince Arthur. The premise of the story is rather interesting. It takes place prior to the traditional King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The series begins with Merlin. Merlin is a young warlock and he is a fledgling in the magical world. He is living in a time where Prince Arthur's father, King Uther, is reigning over the kingdom of Camelot. This causes quite a problem for the magical beings in residence there being that King Uther has made all magic in the kingdom illegal and those who practice it could face banishment or worse, death. Merlin, however, is truly a brave young man and knows that he must fulfill his destiny which is to help Prince Arthur become King of Camelot despite the threat of facing the consequences of being a wizard.The viewer is transported to a time where dragons, knights, noblemen and peasants become alive.One will become entranced by the storyline as he takes a journey with Merlin, Prince Arthur, Morgana, and Gwen.
Vocabulary: 
fledgling: young person or animal; child
reigning: to rule
kingdom: country ruled by  a king or a queen
residence: home
illegal: against the law
banishment: to get rid of
fulfill: to complete
destiny: fate
transported: to be brought
entranced: to carry away with delight
Activity:
Directions: Read the sentences. Using the vocabulary list above, select the correct words to fill in the blanks.
1) The king and queen ruled over a beautiful __________ in England.
2) A criminal will be going to jail because the crime he committed was ____________.
3) His performance in the play was so wonderful that I became _________ by his acting.
4) The luggage from the airport needed to be _________ from one terminal to the next.
5) One of my dreams that I needed to ___________ was graduating from college.
6) The little bird was a _________.
7) I had a great time at the concert. I became _______ by the beautiful music.
8) The knight felt that he needed to fulfill his ________ by slaying the dragon.
9) The king who was __________ over his kingdom was very kindhearted.
10) The _________ of the people from the kingdom showed that crime does not pay.
Visit the website below to learn more about  Merlin and play some of the games!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/merlin/
Grammar Point: I highlighted the last sentence of the blog to show the use of commas when listing names.
Grammar Activity: Place the commas where they belong in the sentences below.
1. At the store, I bought apples juice bread butter and pasta.
2. Jim Jack Jess and I are going to the mall tomorrow.

January 25, 2011

Today is my first day blogging and I am really excited about it. I feel as though I am entering the rest of the blogging society. I am really looking forward to the semester ahead and what I will learn from this class. In addition, I am truly happy that I decided to go into the TESOL program. I feel as though this will be a very rewarding field to go into. Now, I'd like to talk a little about myself. I graduated from Molloy College this past May with a Bachelor's degree in Childhood/Special Education. Currently, I am a teacher's assistant and I absolutely love my job! I enjoy singing. Actually, I was apart of the Molloy College choir for a couple of years. For 19 years I took ballet and have always been in love with dancing. Well, that is all for tonight, everyone! I hope you enjoyed learning some facts about my life!