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/