There are so many reasons to love and hate a vacation. The anticipation of going away with the family seems exciting but the work that goes with it is insurmountable. I couldn't wait to go to Florida with the family. I was so excited to take the kids to Sea World and Universal Studios. Both highly recommended if you haven't gone. I guess it is well worth the hassle of packing for 5 people and driving 17 hours straight. Honestly, gathering and packing for the children and the husband was a lot more difficult than the drive. Anyway, aside from the few annoyances, it was nice when we were there. I could not have asked for better weather. It was about 80 degrees every day. Sea World is and was always my favorite place. I am always so amazed by the animals and their ability to perform and learn. You feel at peace when you walk around and get to see these creatures so loved and enjoyed. We had the luck of going backstage and feeding the animals first hand. My cousin is the director of heath services there so we really got a royal treatment. My 9 year old did things she never imagined. Her favorite part was feeding the dolphins. What a fantastic experience! We love touching the stingrays too. Now, Universal Studios was another amazing experience. I finally was able to enjoy all the rides with my children because they are older. My little one was able to do things as well. I tell you its been a long time since I have been on rides and I still love it. My son had me go on everything! The best was the Rock-in roller coaster. It was insane! Another intense ride was the Simpson's simulation ride. I actually became a little nauseous. My husband turned his head and closed his eyes. What a chicken! I tell you this was really an enjoyable experience for my family but, once the fun was over I went back to work. Yes, that's right a mother's job is never done. Even though we were at the resort for a few days , I still had to cook meals, wash wet towels and clean up. Florida is a very busy and tiring vacation. You always need a vacation after leaving Orlando. The parks in itself tire you out. I am ready for another vacation but next time I think I am going alone.
anticipation (verb)- to give prior thought and attention to
hassle (verb)- to cause annoyance or inconveinience
annoyance (noun) the act of teasing or irritating
ability (noun)- being able or power to do
nasuseous (adjective)- causint the desire to vomit
vacation (noun)- a holiday, to take time off
1. The children had such _________ before going on the school trip.
2. I could not wait to go on my _______.
3. The rides at Great Adventure always make me __________.
4. I have the __________ to accomplish great things in my life.
5. Cleaning the house always seems to be such a _________.
6. Children become such an _________ after sitting in a car for 17 hours.
grammar point*
What is a helping verb?
'Helping verbs' work with the main verb to give the reader a better idea of when the action takes place - in he present, past or in the future e.g. have, had and shall.
Examples of helping verbs:
List of Helping Verbs
am
is
are
was
were
be
being
been
have
has
had
do
does
did
can
could
may
might
must
will
should
would
ought to
used to
http://www.calvaryharlingen.org/teachers_files/braxton/verbsong.htm
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/language_arts/goforgold/content_builder/dswmedia/g2c28/nadia.htm
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Not Sure If I Agree....
Can Credit Recovery Courses Cut Dropout Rates?
by Brian Thevenot and Sarah Butrymowicz, The Hechinger Report November 5, 2010
Brett Rusnock can follow his students’ every move on his laptop: how much time they spend on computers each day at Waltrip High School in Houston, their scores on quizzes and when they stop working. He even gets e-mail alerts when they toil at home into the wee hours. “I can play Big Brother a little bit with this,” Rusnock says.
Rusnock is not a teacher. He is a grad coach, one of 27 in Houston monitoring thousands of students who take so-called credit-recovery courses online. Like many districts across the state, particularly those with high dropout rates, the Houston Independent School District offers these self-paced make-ups to any student who fails a class. In the spring and summer terms, 6,127 HISD students earned 9,774 credits in such courses, which are generally taken in conjunction with a full load of regular classes. About 2,500 more students are enrolled this fall.
The program reflects a trend in Texas and nationally as school districts seek cost-effective ways to bolster graduation rates. But questions remain over whether the digital curriculum — which school districts buy from Apex Learning and other providers — offers the same quality of education as traditional courses. Little research exists on how much, or how little, students learn.
The Texas Education Agency does not regulate credit-recovery courses or even track their proliferation, though the courses have expanded rapidly over the last decade. Austin ISD and Dallas ISD each reported educating about 4,000 students in credit-recovery courses last year. Pearson Education, makers of the popular credit-recovery software NovaNet, reported its use in 400 Texas schools.
State Education Commissioner Robert Scott says he's concerned that some districts may be offering an easy way out of a rigorous curriculum, rather than an avenue back to regular classes. “Any tool that helps get kids credit toward graduation is certainly worth having,” Scott says. “But any time you’re accelerating education that quickly, there’s a concern that the quality of the content standards you’re going over will be lessened.”
Apex, Houston’s provider, supplies written tests in addition to the standard computer-based multiple-choice assessments, and school districts determine whether to use them. NovaNet does not provide such tests. Austin ISD uses its own written tests in combination with the company’s online curriculum — without this safeguard, students would be able to earn an English credit without writing a single sentence.
Credit recovery is just part of a larger devolution in the traditional 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., lecture-and-textbook high school model, which educators increasingly acknowledge fails many children. Other trends include raising the maximum age for Texas high school students to 25. There has also been a rapid growth of "dropout recovery” charter schools that exclusively serve troubled teenagers. For accelerated students, the number of dual-credit classes taught in partnership with local colleges has increased.
T. Jack Blackmon, who heads up the Dallas ISD credit-recovery program, predicts the old model will continue to crumble. “It’s the vision for the future as far as I’m concerned: kids going at their own pace,” Blackmon says. “The traditional school is only good for about a third of the kids, the ones who want football or choir or social activities — kids who have the school bug. For the rest of them, it’s just standing in line, waiting for the factory model to give them an education. A lot of kids don’t want to wait in line.”
Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier expanded Houston’s credit recovery offerings in January. He had successfully started similar classes in San Diego and in Guilford County, N.C. In those cases, the dropout rate was cut in half during his tenure, though credit-recovery was just one of the programs at play.
One of Grier’s goals upon arriving in Houston last year was to make similar improvements. District officials put the Houston’s dropout rate at 15.8 percent — higher than the self-reported rates in New York (13.5 percent) but lower than Indianapolis (29.8 percent) and Los Angeles (34.9 percent).
The district prides itself on academic rigor and student support, provided mostly by grad coaches who make daily decisions about when students have mastered the material and how much time they should spend on a particular skill. Students in Houston take an average of 61 days to complete credit-recovery courses — about 26 days less than a typical semester-long course — and are required to take written tests.
Rusnock supervises statistical progress, but he also looks beyond the numbers and tries to divine learning. Students retake quizzes until they pass them, but if a student fails one three times in a row, it is up to Rusnock to decide how to proceed. Frequently, he will make a student stay on that lesson, but he assesses on a case-by-case basis. “We’re not producing cars here,” he says.
In Houston, students can work from home or in a grad lab at their school. In Austin, every high school has a Delta credit-recovery lab. During a recent day at Austin High School, students got a heavy dose of one-on-one help. In a long, skinny classroom, about 40 computers lined cinder-block walls adorned with motivational sayings and posters, including one that showed a frog hanging halfway out of the mouth of a pelican, reaching its arms out to strangle the bird. The message: Never give up.
Martha Louis, a 37-year teaching veteran, runs the Delta lab with the help of another teacher and two assistants. Twenty to 40 students drop by throughout the school day. She says the classes are a great alternative for students who might struggle for a variety of reasons, but that they are not a replacement for traditional learning.
Louis insists that students, even those working rapidly, must work methodically through the content. “They can’t just click-click-click-click-click and go straight to the quiz,” she says. “They have to take notes.”
But students are permitted to use those notes on quizzes, which is a tremendous help to Monique Romero, a freshman. “I have trouble remembering,” she says, while scribbling in her notebook about the Russian geography unit on her screen. Several students describe the courses as “easier,” a reference more to the method than to the material.
Students end up in the Delta lab for a variety of reasons. Krendon Reynolds, a junior, takes mostly Advanced Placement classes. But he failed one of his classes, he says, because he did not do the homework. “I’ve just got a lot of other things to do at home,” including a job, he says.
In one extreme case, a 19-year-old who was a freshman last year earned enough recovery credits to become a senior this year. The student raced through economics in just four weeks, Louis says. Most take longer, but the main reason that all of them can move faster is because they have seen the material before — even though they got an F, they learned something.
Quilson Norales, a senior at Yates High School in Houston, snoozed through Spanish — his native language — and failed. The Apex version of the class took him only three hours to earn back the credit he had squandered during a semester’s worth of naps.
Some grad coaches worry that such extreme examples might give other students the wrong impression. Rusnock says he tried to get across the message that passing the first time beats staring at the same material on a screen.
Quilson seems to be getting it. As he slouches in a plastic chair and works his way through his final English test, he vows never to take another class twice. “I ain’t going through this again,” he says.
After reading this article, I am a little unsure about this. I get the fact that we want our kids to graduate and try to get them to do something. But, is this an easy way out? What happened to going to school and doing your work? How about the ability to have the privilege of going to a school? I think we are to spoiled in this country. I think the wave of technology is great but we do need to hold our ground on certain issues. A program like this will only create more students to become lazy (easy way out). I believe that every student that has the privilege of graduating has worked hard and deserved it. There should not be an easy way out. For those students who work and need to work , we need to give them credit for that . Maybe a school can collaborate with a boss/supervisor and find way to assess the student in his field of work. I don't care how busy you are, everyone has time to answer questions or write a brief paper. The students using this program are not required the same hours as a regular students in a school day. Maybe it's helpful to recover the credits but I would not let these students graduate on time. It's not fair to all the students who have done it the right way. Does this mean for those students we should give merit and reward for doing it right? Where does it end. What happened to rewarding students with the grades they deserve for all their accomplishments?
collaborate(verb)-to work jointly together
squander(verb)-to spend extravagantly or wastefully
adorn(verb)-to make more pleasant by decorateing
issues(noun)-a point under dispute
privilege(noun)-a right or special benefit enjoyed by a special person or a small group
assess(verb)-to estimate the value for the purpose of
1. The government has many _____to resolve.
2. Traveling to other countries is a great _______to have.
3. My house looks a lot better when I ____ my walls with pictures.
4. Esl students should be ______on what they can do.
5. ________amongst teachers is a great way to bring more knowledge to the classroom.
6. The banks in this country love to _____ the people's money.
*grammer point- dependent clause is a clause that cannot stand alone, because something about it implies that there is more to come. Left on its own, its meaning would be incomplete.
Example:
When Ron saw the movie, he laughed a lot.
You can't just say: When Ron saw the movie. (the reader wants to know what happened?)
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/subordinateclause.htm
http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/lrw/grinker/LwtaDependant_Clauses_and_Phrases.htm
by Brian Thevenot and Sarah Butrymowicz, The Hechinger Report November 5, 2010
Brett Rusnock can follow his students’ every move on his laptop: how much time they spend on computers each day at Waltrip High School in Houston, their scores on quizzes and when they stop working. He even gets e-mail alerts when they toil at home into the wee hours. “I can play Big Brother a little bit with this,” Rusnock says.
Rusnock is not a teacher. He is a grad coach, one of 27 in Houston monitoring thousands of students who take so-called credit-recovery courses online. Like many districts across the state, particularly those with high dropout rates, the Houston Independent School District offers these self-paced make-ups to any student who fails a class. In the spring and summer terms, 6,127 HISD students earned 9,774 credits in such courses, which are generally taken in conjunction with a full load of regular classes. About 2,500 more students are enrolled this fall.
The program reflects a trend in Texas and nationally as school districts seek cost-effective ways to bolster graduation rates. But questions remain over whether the digital curriculum — which school districts buy from Apex Learning and other providers — offers the same quality of education as traditional courses. Little research exists on how much, or how little, students learn.
The Texas Education Agency does not regulate credit-recovery courses or even track their proliferation, though the courses have expanded rapidly over the last decade. Austin ISD and Dallas ISD each reported educating about 4,000 students in credit-recovery courses last year. Pearson Education, makers of the popular credit-recovery software NovaNet, reported its use in 400 Texas schools.
State Education Commissioner Robert Scott says he's concerned that some districts may be offering an easy way out of a rigorous curriculum, rather than an avenue back to regular classes. “Any tool that helps get kids credit toward graduation is certainly worth having,” Scott says. “But any time you’re accelerating education that quickly, there’s a concern that the quality of the content standards you’re going over will be lessened.”
Apex, Houston’s provider, supplies written tests in addition to the standard computer-based multiple-choice assessments, and school districts determine whether to use them. NovaNet does not provide such tests. Austin ISD uses its own written tests in combination with the company’s online curriculum — without this safeguard, students would be able to earn an English credit without writing a single sentence.
Credit recovery is just part of a larger devolution in the traditional 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., lecture-and-textbook high school model, which educators increasingly acknowledge fails many children. Other trends include raising the maximum age for Texas high school students to 25. There has also been a rapid growth of "dropout recovery” charter schools that exclusively serve troubled teenagers. For accelerated students, the number of dual-credit classes taught in partnership with local colleges has increased.
T. Jack Blackmon, who heads up the Dallas ISD credit-recovery program, predicts the old model will continue to crumble. “It’s the vision for the future as far as I’m concerned: kids going at their own pace,” Blackmon says. “The traditional school is only good for about a third of the kids, the ones who want football or choir or social activities — kids who have the school bug. For the rest of them, it’s just standing in line, waiting for the factory model to give them an education. A lot of kids don’t want to wait in line.”
Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier expanded Houston’s credit recovery offerings in January. He had successfully started similar classes in San Diego and in Guilford County, N.C. In those cases, the dropout rate was cut in half during his tenure, though credit-recovery was just one of the programs at play.
One of Grier’s goals upon arriving in Houston last year was to make similar improvements. District officials put the Houston’s dropout rate at 15.8 percent — higher than the self-reported rates in New York (13.5 percent) but lower than Indianapolis (29.8 percent) and Los Angeles (34.9 percent).
The district prides itself on academic rigor and student support, provided mostly by grad coaches who make daily decisions about when students have mastered the material and how much time they should spend on a particular skill. Students in Houston take an average of 61 days to complete credit-recovery courses — about 26 days less than a typical semester-long course — and are required to take written tests.
Rusnock supervises statistical progress, but he also looks beyond the numbers and tries to divine learning. Students retake quizzes until they pass them, but if a student fails one three times in a row, it is up to Rusnock to decide how to proceed. Frequently, he will make a student stay on that lesson, but he assesses on a case-by-case basis. “We’re not producing cars here,” he says.
In Houston, students can work from home or in a grad lab at their school. In Austin, every high school has a Delta credit-recovery lab. During a recent day at Austin High School, students got a heavy dose of one-on-one help. In a long, skinny classroom, about 40 computers lined cinder-block walls adorned with motivational sayings and posters, including one that showed a frog hanging halfway out of the mouth of a pelican, reaching its arms out to strangle the bird. The message: Never give up.
Martha Louis, a 37-year teaching veteran, runs the Delta lab with the help of another teacher and two assistants. Twenty to 40 students drop by throughout the school day. She says the classes are a great alternative for students who might struggle for a variety of reasons, but that they are not a replacement for traditional learning.
Louis insists that students, even those working rapidly, must work methodically through the content. “They can’t just click-click-click-click-click and go straight to the quiz,” she says. “They have to take notes.”
But students are permitted to use those notes on quizzes, which is a tremendous help to Monique Romero, a freshman. “I have trouble remembering,” she says, while scribbling in her notebook about the Russian geography unit on her screen. Several students describe the courses as “easier,” a reference more to the method than to the material.
Students end up in the Delta lab for a variety of reasons. Krendon Reynolds, a junior, takes mostly Advanced Placement classes. But he failed one of his classes, he says, because he did not do the homework. “I’ve just got a lot of other things to do at home,” including a job, he says.
In one extreme case, a 19-year-old who was a freshman last year earned enough recovery credits to become a senior this year. The student raced through economics in just four weeks, Louis says. Most take longer, but the main reason that all of them can move faster is because they have seen the material before — even though they got an F, they learned something.
Quilson Norales, a senior at Yates High School in Houston, snoozed through Spanish — his native language — and failed. The Apex version of the class took him only three hours to earn back the credit he had squandered during a semester’s worth of naps.
Some grad coaches worry that such extreme examples might give other students the wrong impression. Rusnock says he tried to get across the message that passing the first time beats staring at the same material on a screen.
Quilson seems to be getting it. As he slouches in a plastic chair and works his way through his final English test, he vows never to take another class twice. “I ain’t going through this again,” he says.
After reading this article, I am a little unsure about this. I get the fact that we want our kids to graduate and try to get them to do something. But, is this an easy way out? What happened to going to school and doing your work? How about the ability to have the privilege of going to a school? I think we are to spoiled in this country. I think the wave of technology is great but we do need to hold our ground on certain issues. A program like this will only create more students to become lazy (easy way out). I believe that every student that has the privilege of graduating has worked hard and deserved it. There should not be an easy way out. For those students who work and need to work , we need to give them credit for that . Maybe a school can collaborate with a boss/supervisor and find way to assess the student in his field of work. I don't care how busy you are, everyone has time to answer questions or write a brief paper. The students using this program are not required the same hours as a regular students in a school day. Maybe it's helpful to recover the credits but I would not let these students graduate on time. It's not fair to all the students who have done it the right way. Does this mean for those students we should give merit and reward for doing it right? Where does it end. What happened to rewarding students with the grades they deserve for all their accomplishments?
collaborate(verb)-to work jointly together
squander(verb)-to spend extravagantly or wastefully
adorn(verb)-to make more pleasant by decorateing
issues(noun)-a point under dispute
privilege(noun)-a right or special benefit enjoyed by a special person or a small group
assess(verb)-to estimate the value for the purpose of
1. The government has many _____to resolve.
2. Traveling to other countries is a great _______to have.
3. My house looks a lot better when I ____ my walls with pictures.
4. Esl students should be ______on what they can do.
5. ________amongst teachers is a great way to bring more knowledge to the classroom.
6. The banks in this country love to _____ the people's money.
*grammer point- dependent clause is a clause that cannot stand alone, because something about it implies that there is more to come. Left on its own, its meaning would be incomplete.
Example:
When Ron saw the movie, he laughed a lot.
You can't just say: When Ron saw the movie. (the reader wants to know what happened?)
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/subordinateclause.htm
http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/lrw/grinker/LwtaDependant_Clauses_and_Phrases.htm
Why Become a Teacher?
A career change and going back to school has defined who I am today. It has taken me 16 years to finally realize that I truly belong in the classroom. More so, I belong with ESL students because it was and is a part of me. My hopes are to be a great educator and an advocate for ESL students and the need for multi-cultural education. But, I see there will be many road blocks ahead. This starting with the underpaid employment of being a teacher with the sub-title mother, counselor, banker, secretary, janitor, union rep/advocate etc. (you get the gist). Well, we all know that we as educators don't do it for the money, otherwise I myself would have stayed in the business career as I'm sure the greatest of teachers would have chosen otherwise. Secondly, I fear the political involvement to push many of our programs aside when in fact as a failing country, we need them. I love how politicians feel the need to get involved in a classroom when the have never even observed one. Lastly, I'm stressed to know that teachers will be evaluated differently. I find it repulsive to know the system blames teachers for everything. But why? Because no one has the audacity to blame the parents. That's right. Parents should be held accountable for their children who do not want to learn and follow the rules. Education is a privilege! As a society we need to embrace how lucky we are as a nation to have the education system that we have. I'm not saying that all teachers are great because I do know that there are some kinks out there as well, and we need to get rid of them. For the most part, teachers should be the hierarchy in this nation. Not one person would be as successful in their lives if it wasn't for a teacher. We start our basis of life at home, but for the rest of time until adulthood, we are guided by our teachers. Many students spend more time with their educators than their own family. I read this article that really put things into perspective for me. I know that as an educator I will be fighting and advocating until the day I die. I hope that my big mouth one day will be heard for all to finally give teachers the respect, dignity and value that they deserve.
Please read this article:
http://neatoday.org/2010/09/24/a-teachers-letter-to-oprah/
advocate (noun)- a person who argues or defends the cause of another
political (adjective)- relating to politics or government
repulsive (adjective)- disgusting
audacity (noun)- boldness; daring; spirit
privilege (noun)- a right or special benefit enjoyed by a person or special group
hierarchy (noun)- a group of persons or things grouped in order of rank
1. The protestors usually ________for a good cause.
2. Before elections, there are always________events going on.
3. Halloween has many ________treats.
4. Can you believe the _____of people to say that teachers are not doing their jobs?
5. Education in the United States is a great _______ to have.
6. My grandmother is the ________of my family.
*grammar point- A simple sentence is called an independent clause. It contains a subject and a verb and it expresses a complete thought.
Example: Some students like to study in the mornings.
The subject is students and the verb is like
http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/simple_sentences.html
http://www.abcteach.com/free/g/grammar_simplesentence_predicatesubject.pdf
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-28396.php
Please read this article:
http://neatoday.org/2010/09/24/a-teachers-letter-to-oprah/
advocate (noun)- a person who argues or defends the cause of another
political (adjective)- relating to politics or government
repulsive (adjective)- disgusting
audacity (noun)- boldness; daring; spirit
privilege (noun)- a right or special benefit enjoyed by a person or special group
hierarchy (noun)- a group of persons or things grouped in order of rank
1. The protestors usually ________for a good cause.
2. Before elections, there are always________events going on.
3. Halloween has many ________treats.
4. Can you believe the _____of people to say that teachers are not doing their jobs?
5. Education in the United States is a great _______ to have.
6. My grandmother is the ________of my family.
*grammar point- A simple sentence is called an independent clause. It contains a subject and a verb and it expresses a complete thought.
Example: Some students like to study in the mornings.
The subject is students and the verb is like
http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/simple_sentences.html
http://www.abcteach.com/free/g/grammar_simplesentence_predicatesubject.pdf
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-28396.php
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Happy Halloween
Halloween Eve is such a busy day in my house. It consists of baking all day, preparing music to scare the children and creating delicious candied apples. My family loves this holiday. Aside from the fact that they are all candy addicts, they thrive on being frieghtned. On Saturday night, my husband could not wait to go to the Haunted House in Bayville with the kids. He' s nuts! As they waited on line, their fear began to settle within. My husband was prepared to strike for protection. It was so much fun to watch. I, on the other hand am not that crazy. There is no need for me to be walking through a haunted house in the dark not knowing where I am, or feeling like someone is breathing down my neck. As my husband walked in one of the rooms, he felt like there was something around him. Sure enough, it was a scary being that made him jump. His heart almost hit the floor. As my husband and family came out of the house, I could see their white faces glow in the dark.
So, today as Halloween slowly passed by, I enjoyed the scary music, watching all the cute little children in their costumes and seeing my husband's excitement from all the candy my daughter received. They never grow up!
Here is a cute poem:
Haunted House
By Jack Prelutsky
There's a house upon the hilltop
There's a house upon the hilltop
We will not go inside
For that is where the witches live,
Where ghosts and goblins hide.
Tonight they have their party,
All the lights are burning bright,
But oh we will not go inside
The haunted house tonight.
The demons there are whirling
And the spirits swirl about.
They sing their songs to Halloween.
"Come join the fun," they shout.
But we do not want to go there
So we run with all our might
And oh we will not go inside
The haunted house tonight.
consist (verb)-to be made up of; to be comprised of
thrive (verb)-to prosper; to be successful
protection (noun)- to take care of someone; the act of protecting
haunted (adjective)- supposedly visited by ghosts
demon (noun)- an evil spirit; a mean person
demon (noun)- an evil spirit; a mean person
whirling (verb)- to turn around rapidly; to spin
The police are supposed to be around for _________.
Some people say that cemetary's are ___________ with __________.
Artists _________when they produce and sell a new work of art.
Halloween _______of lots of candy and scary costumes.
The ghosts like to go __________through the dark skies.
*Grammer point
A superlative compares three or more nouns. This takes the comparison of nouns to the highest degree. An example would be: “My mother’s cooking is the best.”
One syllable words - add “est” to the word. Remember that it is sometimes necessary to double the final consonant. Examples are: strong to strongest and big to biggest.
One syllable words ending with an “e” - only add “st” like fine to finest or rare to rarest.
Two syllable words ending with a “y” - change the “y” to an “i” and add “est.” Two examples are crazy to craziest and silly to silliest
One syllable words ending with an “e” - only add “st” like fine to finest or rare to rarest.
Two syllable words ending with a “y” - change the “y” to an “i” and add “est.” Two examples are crazy to craziest and silly to silliest
Can you add superlatives to the poem above.
Example: The greatest house is upon the Hilltop
For that is where the scariest witches live
Monday, October 18, 2010
I Can't Believe It!
Last Wednesday night, My friend Lj and I were driving home from school as we always do. While we were driving, we had a couple of close encounters. We could not believe how many times we were cut off on the road. People were speeding and driving like crazy. Needless to say, when I left her house, I ended up having a car accident. I could not believe it! I was driving east on Jericho turnpike when I noticed that the car to my right was beeping his horn because a woman drove from the outer right lane and cut him off. Well instead of stopping, she continued to drive into my lane and hit my car on the passenger side. She continued to drive on my car until she was able to pull off and get in front of me. I thought because of traffic, she would drive until she could pull over. We drove a couple of blocks and I started to think she wasn't going to pull over. So, I blinked my lights and followed her until she pulled into Wendy's. I could not believe what I was saw in front of me. She pulled up to the drive thru window to order food. That was it! I pulled up next to her and got out of my car and started screaming like a crazy person. You just hit my car lady! You #$@&*#@$#&*#@. I banged on her window until she finally looked at me. My blood pressure went up so much I thought I was going to choke the living life out of this woman. The worker's in the restaurant heard everything through the intercom. I screamed "CALL THE POLICE!, this crazy woman just hit my car!" So, I pulled my car up to the window and the workers looked at me like I was nuts. I noticed they spoke Spanish so I started to explain to them what happened and the woman would not stop. The called the police again and then the Manager said, "look, she is driving away." I ran out of my car to get her plate number and she drove off. Can you believe this? I was involved in a "Hit and Run" accident. What nerve of that woman to drive away. The police finally came and said they will try to find her and I need to calm down because its only an infraction on her part because my car was not badly damaged. Bologna! If this happened to the police, they would have gone nuts. So, I am still waiting for my police report and hopefully the cops can do their job well enough to find this woman. So, just in case there is a release of video from Wendy's to channel 12 news, I am really not as crazy as you might see on the video. I could just picture the headlines, "Crazy woman attacking a car at the Wendy's drive thru because she was starving for a burger!"
encounter
speeding
traffic
blinked
intercom
infraction
headlines
attacking
encounter (verb)- to meet unexpectedly; to be faced with problems
speeding (verb)- quickness; to go quickly
traffic (noun)- the movement of a number of vehicles
blinked (verb)-to flash on and off; open and close eyes rapidly
intercom (noun)- a system of intercommunicating (communicating); talking device
infraction (noun)- a violation of law
headlines (noun)- printed line at the top of a newspaper
attacking (verb)- to set upon violently; to make an assault; to be violent to someone
*Grammar point- A modal verb modifies another verb; it expresses possibility or necessity. Verbs like may or might suggest possibility. Examples: can, shall, must, should could, will, have better, have got to, have to
You can use the word "not" to make modal verbs negative. Example:He should not be late.
He might not come to the store.
Using the list of Modal verbs, can you write a paragraph suggesting what should be done after the experience above. Example: You should call your insurance company. You have got to call your mechanic.
Word Search
| r | e | e | g | l | r | b | m | i | m | a |
| e | t | a | a | l | p | i | n | h | o | h |
| t | s | t | i | e | o | i | t | e | c | d |
| n | k | t | p | a | e | r | n | a | r | t |
| u | e | a | r | c | a | e | n | d | e | c |
| o | r | c | c | f | i | d | u | l | t | n |
| c | s | k | f | n | l | a | t | i | n | r |
| n | o | i | t | c | a | r | f | n | i | r |
| e | c | n | g | n | i | d | e | e | p | s |
| r | s | g | n | c | a | i | c | s | f | a |
| b | l | i | n | k | e | d | o | a | e | o |
speeding
traffic
blinked
intercom
infraction
headlines
attacking
Monday, October 11, 2010
LIFE IS A HIGHWAY
As I looked back into my life, I realize that my life truly was a highway of twists and turns. But, the final result is now here, and it was all worth the struggle. With great pride and happiness my first child graduated High School and I sent her off to a great College to prepare her for a prodigious future. Needless to say, I did not know I would now face numerous roadblocks. I left my daughter alone for the first time with 7 girls to share a room. I had to walk away knowing that I no longer have control. So, I left with a knot in my stomach and and a prayer that she would be fine. Well, I am proud to say I raised a very good and self sufficient daughter. But, she still needs me! Yeah! She has been sick and I have had to pick her up twice for her medical needs. The passed two weeks have also been quite an experience as well. My daughter turned 18 years old and should have enjoyed this momentous peak of childhood, but instead, she sat in her room crying. Why? Because of her boyfriend. Yes, she has been struggling to balance a long distance relationship. It is not working at all. I found myself trying to pick up all of her broken pieces. Not only has it drained her, and made it difficult for her to focus on midterms but it has given me more gray hairs and holes in my stomach. Her relationship has been suffering through cyber bullying and jealous people. I had to intervene with parents and "face book"to stop harassment. I can't believe this has happened to my daughter. As reluctant as she may feel to get back on her feet again, I remind her of my life and where we are today. As the days move on, I know she will get passed this horrible experience. Maybe these words can be a guide for her or anyone that feels that life has taken them on a highway.
Life Is A Highway lyrics
Whooo umm yeah...
Life's like a road that you travel on
When there's one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind
There's a world outside ev'ry darkened door
Where blues won't haunt you anymore
Where brave are free and lovers soar
Come ride with me to the distant shore
We won't hesitate
To break down the garden gate
There's not much time left today
Whooo umm yeah...
Life's like a road that you travel on
When there's one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind
There's a world outside ev'ry darkened door
Where blues won't haunt you anymore
Where brave are free and lovers soar
Come ride with me to the distant shore
We won't hesitate
To break down the garden gate
There's not much time left today
[Chorus:]
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long
Through all these cities and all these towns
It's in my blood and it's all around
I love you now like I loved you then
This is the road and these are the hands
From Mozambique to those Memphis nights
The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights
Knock me down get back up again
You're in my blood
I'm not a lonely man
There's no load I can't hold
Road so rough this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Just tell 'em we're survivors
[Chorus]
Gimme gimme gimme gimme yeah
[Chorus]
There was a distance between you and I (between you and I)
A misunderstanding once
But now we look it in the eye
Ooooo...Yeah!
There ain't no load that I can't hold
Road so rough this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Just tell 'em we're survivors
[Chorus: (x3)]
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long
Gimme gimme gimme gimme yeah
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long
Through all these cities and all these towns
It's in my blood and it's all around
I love you now like I loved you then
This is the road and these are the hands
From Mozambique to those Memphis nights
The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights
Knock me down get back up again
You're in my blood
I'm not a lonely man
There's no load I can't hold
Road so rough this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Just tell 'em we're survivors
[Chorus]
Gimme gimme gimme gimme yeah
[Chorus]
There was a distance between you and I (between you and I)
A misunderstanding once
But now we look it in the eye
Ooooo...Yeah!
There ain't no load that I can't hold
Road so rough this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Just tell 'em we're survivors
[Chorus: (x3)]
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long
Gimme gimme gimme gimme yeah
momentous (adjective)- very important
prepare (verb)- to make ready; to make oneself ready
prodigious (adjective)- extraordinary, fabulous
suffering (noun)- to experience
peak (verb)- reach highest point
reluctant (adjective)- unwilling, offering resistance
1. After the girl completed her Masters degree, she felt as if she had reacher her ________.
2. Their 50th wedding anniversary was a ___________occasion.
3. The little boy was _____to give the stranger a helping hand.
4. People go through a lot of _______ after the loss of a loved one.
5. Students will need to _____ for the regents exams.
6. The wedding planner could not wait to throw her first _____ wedding bash.
*grammar point: a noun can be a person, place or thing and sometimes an abstract idea.
Can you name some nouns from the song above?
Example: road, wind, world
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Columbus Day
I remember learning about how Christopher Columbus was a great man that discovered America. I remember reapeting "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue". We colored pictures of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria and acted out little skits in the class . Now that I am older, I think about "Why do we celebrate this day?" Colunbus first of all discovered the island of Hispaniola. Acccording to Samuel Eliot Morison, the Harvard historian, the author of a multivolume biography and himself retraced Columbus's journey, tells us of the horrible man Columbus truley was. In his book Christopher Columbus, Mariner, he tells about the enslavement and the killing: "The cruel policy initiated by Columbus and pursued by his successors resulted in complete genocide." In this book Morison refuses to lie about Columbus. He talks about his mass murders and describes with the harshest words: genocide. In Howard Zinn's book "A Peoples History of the United States," he says, "My point is not that we must, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is to late for that; it would be useless scholarly exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress (Hiroshima and Vietnam, to save Western Civilization; Kronstadt and Hungry, to save socialism; nuclear proliferation, to save us all)-that is still with us." Zinn continues to say," One reason these atrocities are still with us is that we have learned to bury them in a mass of other facts, and give them exactly the same proportion of attention that teachers and writers often give them in the most respectable of classrooms and textbooks."
So my friends, now that you are all becoming teachers, remember to think of this when you need to teach about Columbus. In my opinion, maybe you should do your own research before celebrating a lie and celebrating a man who committed genocide.
Link: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html
discovered(verb) to see, find or learn of for the first time.
biography (noun) a person's life written by another
retraced (verb) to go back over; to trace back to a source
genocide (noun) the killing of a whole race of people
atrocities (noun) a cruel act
deplorable (adjective) shcking; extremely bad
Unscramble each of the clue words.
PIRHAYBOG __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
CENDOEGI __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
BALPDROEEL __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
CERADETR __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
ASRECTIITO __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
SECDOIREDV __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
*grammer point: A verb tells about a type of action, such as to fly or to wish. It can also be used to describe a state of existence, such as to live.
Can you name some verbs from the paragraph above?
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