Thanksgiving Dinner!

My mom's side of the family is very large, she is one of six children. Many of my mom's brother's live in different states. Two brothers live in Chicago, IL, and one brother lives in Orlando, FL. Because they live so far away, we never get to see them or celebrate the holidays with them. But this year, one of my uncles from Chicago drove in with his family to celebrate Thanksgiving! Having my Uncle Bill and his family here with us for Thanksgiving was great! It made me think about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. They had traveled so far from home, leaving many friends and family behind, I should feel lucky that I am able to spend the holidays with loved ones.

Long ago, in 1620, a group of men and women, called Pilgrims, left England to make a new life in Plymouth, MA. They traveled by ship, and it was a long hard journey. Many of the Pilgrims became sick and died on the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. When they finally landed on Plymouth Rock, they had only a short time before winter set in. Winter was rough on the Pilgrims. They didn't have enough supplies to get them through the harsh cold, so the Wampanoag Indians, a Native American tribe, donated food and other supplies to help them. Winter eventually passed, and the Pilgrims were able to start working on their farms. Their new Native American friends continued to help them. And in 1621, the Pilgrims decided to throw a celebration for a successfull growing season and harvest and to thank the Wampanoag Indians for all the help they gave.

Vocabulary:

Different (adjective) - not alike in character or quality; differing; dissimilar
Celebrate (verb) - to observe (a day) or commemorate (an event) with ceremonies or festivities
Think (verb) - to have conscious mind, to some extent of reasoning, remembering experiences, making rational decisions, etc.
Travel (verb) - to go from one place to another, as by car, train, plane, or ship; to take a trip; journey
Pilgrims (noun) - one of the band of Pilgrims who founded the colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620
Journey (noun) - a traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time.
Winter (noun) - the months of December, January, and Febuary in the US and of November, December, and January in Great Britain.
Rough (adjective) - having a coarse or uneven surface, as from projections, irreglularities, or breaks; not smooth
Donate (verb) - to present as a gift, grant, or contribution; makes a donation of, as to a fund or cause

Grammar Point:

Past tense verbs express an action that has already happened and has a definite start and finish. Example: John and Sheila walked the dog yesterday. The ending -ed almost always signifies the appearance of a past tense action verb. Reread the paragraphs above and find 5 past tense verbs, then create new sentences for each verb you have found.

Links:

A great Brainpop video about the origin of thanksgiving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAgtUd27jls

If You Give A Pig A Pancake ...

This series of books is wonderful to use for any class. I have used these books several times to teach cause and effect to students from Pre-K to third grade. The If you give ... series of books, written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond, tell a story of what happens if you give a pig, moose, or mouse something to eat. Each story is filled with silly consequences for each action. For instance, if you give a pig a pancake. She will want some syrup and then she'll probably get all sticky. So she'll want to take a bath and so on.
I've used this book to talk about cause and effect with lower level students. We start out by reading the book once, just to listen at first. Then the second time we read it, the students have to pay attention to what happens. After the second reading, we (as a class) will fill in a cause and effect flow chart that looks something like this:       Pig --> Pancake -->  ___________ --> Sticky --> ______________
This flow chart will include most of the actions and consequences from the story. I think that this is a great way to begin teaching cause and effect, and the kids love it too.

Vocabulary:

Series (noun) - a group or a number of related or similar things, events, etc., sequence
Several (adjective) - being more than two but fewer than many in number or kind
Illustrate (verb) - to furnish (a book, magazine, etc.) with drawings, pictures, or other artwork intended for explanation, elucidation, or adornment
Silly (adjective) - absurd; ridiculous; irrational
Consequence (noun) - the effect, result, or outcome of something occurring earlier
Sticky (adjective) - covered in adhesive matter
Listen (verb) - to give attention with the ear; attend closely for the purpose of hearing
Attention (noun) - civility or courtesy
Chart (noun) - a graphic representation; graph
Flow (verb) - to move along in a stream

Exercise:

Unscramble the words below. Then create your own original sentence for five of the words.

cstkiy
cqoneseucen
teinttano
lsiyl
tharc
enstil
steilulart
folw
eerssi
veerasl

Grammar Point:

A verb is a word that typically expresses action, state, or relation between two things. It may be inflected for tense, mood, or to show agreement with their subject or object.  Ex. teach, give, and fill.  Look through this blog and find five verbs. Write a sentence using at least three of them.

A Fantastic Concert

Last night was such a great time! Last week, I won tickets to a concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom. I called my friends, Emily and Doug, and we got dressed up in hysterical costumes. I dressed up as an ‘Aspiring Actress,’ I wore a plain white tee shirt, a big blonde wig, and a black apron. Doug bought a referee shirt that was little too small, so he ripped up the shirt put on some makeup and became a ‘Zombie Referee.’ Emily was less creative when she bought an adorable red dress that looked like a guitar.

We took the train into the Manhattan and walked to the concert hall. Every one at the venue was dressed up in costume. We saw some one dressed up as Pee Wee Herman, Octo-Mom (Nadia Suleman), the Three Blind Mice, Snookie, and Bob the Builder. They all looked fantastic! Even though the headlining band, Devo, canceled their performance, we still got to see the band Neon Trees. They were phenomenal! The lead singer was dressed in a skeleton outfit, and when they turned on the black lights, all you could see were the glowing bones on his costume. I would definitely see that band again. After the concert we went to a few local bars and danced the night away. 

Vocabulary:

Concert (noun)- a public musical performance in which a number of singers or instrumentalists, or both, participate.

Hysterical (adjective)- causing unrestrained laughter; very funny

Plain (adjective)- ordinary, simple, or unostentatious

Adorable (adjective)- very attractive or delightful; charming

Referee (noun)- a judge having functions fixed by rules of the game or sport; umpire

Guitar (noun)- a stringed musical instrument with a long, fretted neck, a flat somewhat violinlike body, and typically six strings, which are plucked with the fingers or with a plectrum.

Performance (noun)- a musical, dramatic, or other entertainment presented befor an audience.

Phenomenal (adjective)- highly extraordinary or prodigious; exceptional.

Glow (verb)- to emit bright light and heat without flame; become incandescent.

Exercise:

Unscramble the Vocabulary words. Then create original sentences using four of the vocabulary words.

rpaforemnce

gwlo

eefeeerr

turiga
hemopenaln
hsriecytal
crencto
linap
draabole

Grammar Point:

Adjectives are words that modifies or describes a noun. For example, if you were writing a sentence about a dog you could use an adjective such as black to further describe the dog.

Ex. the black dog, the blue house, an adorable red dress.

 Find four adjectives in the paragraphs above.  Write down the adjectives and nouns they describe. Then create a sentence using adjectives.

Links:

Watch this little cartoon about adjectives to learn more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJdUXSMi1lo

Halloween Is Almost Here!!

Halloween is fast approaching. I absolutely cannot wait for it to arrive! It is one of my favorite holidays. I love all of the decorations that my neighbors put up on their front lawns. Especially, when they go all out and put up entire Halloween scenes. There is a house around the corner from me that creates a huge haunted path in their driveway for the children to walk through while they trick-or-treat. 

Another one of my favorite parts of Halloween is seeing all of the adorable costumes that the neighborhood children wear. This year’s Halloween is particularly exciting because it is my first year working in an actual classroom. We have been practicing all month for our Halloween Parade. We will sing a couple songs and then parade around the gym so all of their parents take lots of pictures. Even the teachers get to dress up in costume. The classroom teachers, Mrs. S and Mrs. R, will be dressing up as sunny side up eggs and the classroom aides, Mrs. Z and myself, will be dressing up as bacon. I think that the children will get a kick out of it when they see us.

All week we have been asking the children, "What are you going to be for Halloween?" So far all of the girls are dressing up as either a princess, Jesse from Toy Story 2, or a kitten and the boys all said Woody, from Toy Story, Iron Man, or a firefighter. I am so excited for this week! You should be too.

Vocabulary:

Favorite (noun)- a person or thing regarded with special favor or preference.

Decoration (noun)- somethin used for decorating; adornment; embellishment. 

Neighbor (noun)- a person who lives near another.

Create (verb)- to evolve one's own though or imagination; as a work of art or innovation.

Costume (noun)- fashion of dress appropriate to a particular occasion or season. 

Parade (verb)- to cause to march or proceed for display.

Aide (noun)- an assistant or helper, esp. a confidential 

Exercise:
Unscramble the vocabulary words below.


atecre
deai
sumecto
vftoiaer
praead
nigohber
odanictroe



Grammar Point:


There are four different types of sentences declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and imperative. 
A declarative sentence makes a statement. 
An interrogative sentence asks a question.
An exlamatory sentence 
An imperative sentence makes a demand.


Find one example of each type of sentence in paragraphs above. Write each one down and label it, then create a sentence for each type on your own.


Links:

Try this link to learn more about Sentence Types:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpnVNiSpac4

Pumpkin Picking!

This past weekend we were lucky to have gorgeous weather.  Two friends, Karen and Joanne, and myself took advantage of the wonderful weather and drove out east to Riverhead.  There we found a nice, not so crowded pumpkin farm.  We had such a great time.  Immediately, we grabbed a wheelbarrow and headed to the 26-acre pumpkin patch.  We took our time picking out the best pumpkins and then made our way back to the cashier.  The woman at the register said that we could buy any pumpkins we could carry at once, in our own arms without asking for help for only $25.  And I did it!  I carried five pumpkins 10 feet and only paid $25!  My friends even took pictures of me doing this.

After buying the pumpkins, we walked around the farm for a little.  We found a corn maze and decided to try it.  The woman at the entrance gave us a choice, we could either go through the maze on our own or we could use trivia to help us through.  We chose to use trivia to get through the maze.  It was very confusing but we finally finished.  We then bought some roasted corn, which was delicious.  Joanne, Karen, and I had such a fun day.  We can’t wait to do this again next year!

Vocabulary:

Lucky (adj.) – having or marked with good luck; fortunate.

Advantage (noun) – benefit; gain; profit.

Pumpkin (noun) – a squash fruit grown on a vine, usually orange in color when ripe.

Cashier (noun) – an employee, as in a market or department store, who collects payments for customer purchases.

Maze (noun) – a confusing network of interconnecting paths or passages.

Delicious (adj.) – highly pleasing to the senses, especially to taste or smell.

Trivia (noun) – matters or things that are very unimportant.

Exercise:

1)   It will be to his ________________ to learn his chess rivals’ strategy before the chess match.

2)   At Halloween, my family and I always carve a scary face into a _______________.

3)   The _________________ at Stop & Shop was embarrassed when she gave me too much change back for my purchase.

4)   My dad is full of useless __________________ that he enjoys sharing with everyone he meets.

5)   Every Thanksgiving, my Aunt Murielle makes the most _______________ pumpkin pie.

6)   Watching the lab rats run the twisting and confusing _____________ was fascinating.

7)   Jacob is very ________________, he always wins the radio call-in contests.

Grammar Point:

A Noun is a person, place or thing. Can you find 10 nouns in the paragraphs above?

My Dog, Yoda

Yoda is my amazing dog.  She is nine years old and a pure bred Boston Terrier.  She has the breed’s traditional black and white coloring with some reddish spotting called brindle on her sides.  Her snout is very short, my dad says it’s like she walked right into a wall.   Yoda got her name from the Star Wars character because when my parents brought her home, she had these huge pointy ears and big bulging eyes much like the Star Wars character.  Yoda was so tiny and playful, she was also very accident-prone.  When she was two months old, my mom and sister were playing with her in the front of the house when she got her leash tangled up in one of our bikes.  She tried to pull away and the bike fell on her.  Yoda was alright except for a broken paw.  For the next two months, Yoda had on cast on her entire leg, we had to get it re-wrapped every week because she kept chewing holes in the cast.  We eventually had to get her one of those plastic cones to prevent her from chewing.  Unfortunately, the cone was too big for her and she couldn’t reach her food bowl.  She looked so sad and pathetic with the cone and cast.  Now, nine years later, she is perfectly healthy, though a little afraid of loud noises and she jumps when something large falls on the ground.

Until recently she never really barked at anyone, except for the mailman.  All day, all she does is lie around the house napping. She will nap in any bed, on any couch, in the middle of the hallway, and even under the dining room table.  She loves chasing the squirrels and birds out of our back yard and will sit on the deck watching for something to chase.  She brings so much joy to our family, I don’t know what we would do without her!

Vocabulary:

Breed (noun) – lineage; stock; strain.

Snout (noun) –  the part of an animal’s head projecting forward and containing the nose and jaws.

Accident (noun) –  an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occurs unintentionally and usually results in harm, injury, damage, or loss.

Cast (noun) – a rigid surgical dressing, usually made or bandage treated with plaster of Paris.

Eventually (adverb) – finally; ultimately; at some later time.

Prevent (verb) – to keep from occurring; avert; hinder.

Afraid (adjective) –  feeling fear; filled with apprehension.

Chase (verb) – to pursue in order to seize, overtake, etc.

Joy (noun) – the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying.

Exercise:

1) Johnny broke his arm after falling off the swing, he had to wear a __________ for six weeks.

2) During last night’s rainstorm, I went around the house and closed all the windows to _________________ the rain from coming in.

3) Sheila didn’t realize she was ________________ of heights until she reached the top of ladder.

4) When  you are looking for a dog, you should first decide what type of __________________ you want.

5) It was an _____________________ when the kids broke the neighbors window during wiffle ball game.

6) Dad said that it would ____________________ stop raining on our vacation.

7) The dog was so hungry that he shoved his _______________ into his food dish before the boy even put it on the ground. 

8) Everyone seems to be filled with ___________ during the Christmas season.

9) We have to keep our dog, Ginger, on a leash when we take her outside or else she will _______________ our neighbor’s cat.

Grammar Point: 

A pronoun takes the place of a noun. Can you find at least 10 pronouns in the paragraph above?

The Runaway Pancake!!

As a Pre-K teacher, I am always looking for new books to read to my students. I recently stumbled upon TumbleBooks. It is a website that has hundreds of books, for reading levels K-5, to read online. Many of these eBooks are read aloud by the authors and have animated illustrations to go along with the readings. My class has been enthralled by "Marsupial Sue Presents: The Runaway Pancake" written by John Lithgow. It is a great story that is very similar to the story of the Gingerbread Man.
In this story, Auntie May makes a pancake, but the Pancake comes to life and runs off down the road. As Auntie May chases after the Pancake, several other animals join in. They all hope to catch the pancake and eat it for lunch. Their plans arefoiled, however, by the sly old Fox. The Fox, who pretends to have bad hearing, tricks the Pancake into rolling closer and closer so he can hear the Pancake's song. You'd think that was the end of the story, wouldn't you ... well it isn't! But, I'll stop here because I don't want to ruin the whole story for you.
I think John Lithgow is an excellent author because he uses words likeexpostulation, decipher, declamation, bray, and apprehend (among others) within the story. Many of these words are not used in everyday language, at least not in Pre-K.

Vocabulary:
stumble (verb) -  to discover or meet with accidentally or unexpectedly (usually followed by on, upon, or across)
animate (verb) - to give motion to; to give life to
enthrall (verb) - to captivate or charm
marsupial (noun) - any viviparous, nonplacental mammal of the order Marsupialia, comprising the opossums, kangaroos, wombats, and bandicoots
similar (adjective) - having a likeness or resemblance, especially in a general way
hope (verb) - to believe, desire, or trust
foiled (verb) -  to prevent the success of
sly (adjective) -  cunning or wily
expostulation (noun) - earnest and kindlyprotest
bray (noun) - the loud, harsh cry of a donkey


Exercise:
1) The donkey's _______ was very loud and startled the young child.
2) During the summer, Johnny and Eva _______ that their mother will take them to the beach.
3) Kangaroos, wombats, and opossums are all ___________.
4) Every teacher hopes their lessons will ________ their students.
5) In spite of my ________________, he insisted on driving me home.
6) The ________ fox avoided the hunter's trap.
7) Our plans for a picnic were __________ by the sudden rainstorm.
8) The stories of "The Runaway Pancake" and "The Gingerbread Man" are ___________.
9) While Mary was going through her emails, she ___________ upon a coupon for free pancakes at IHOP.
10) The history teacher always tried to _____________ her lessons for her students.


Links: 


http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/full_book.asp?ProductID=3204