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!