Wedding Days

Preparing for a wedding can be exciting, frustrating, nerve wrecking and simply a roller coaster of emotions altogether. I remember preparing for the big day myself, mixed with many wonderful feelings and taking that roller coaster ride up and down, up and down.

Now a new preparation begins and in only a few weeks, I will walk down the aisle again. This time I will not walk down the isle as a bride, but as a Maid of Honor or MOH as it is otherwise known. As I think about the many special events that will take place that evening, the terrifying walk down the isle, the exchange of the ring and the vows, the big kiss and that last but not least, the BIG celebration that follows.

 For Helpful hints or wedding planning tips try this link

Vocabulary:

Exciting: to stir up emotions or feelings

Frustrating: feeling disappointed or dissatisfied

Emotions: feelings like joy, sorrow and hate

Preparation: getting ready for something in the future

Aisle: walkway between a long section of seats in a theatre or church.

Maid of Honor : a woman who is the attendant to the bride

MOH : acronym for Maid of Honor

Terrifying: filled with fear

Vocabulary Activity: 

An Acronym is a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words for example MOH is the acronym for Maid of Honor as Wac from Women's Army Corps, OPEC from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or loran from long-range navigation.

Look for 5 existing acronyms and write the acronym and definition below

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Grammar point:

The addition of the letter ly would turn the word terrifying (an adjective) into an adverb, terrifyingly. Adverbs are words that modify verbs or clauses

Grammar activity:

Pick out all of the adverbs or adverbial phrases in this paragraph and underline them , Use them in a sentence of your own.

These are the Days of Our Lives... 

Over the past several years I have had a secret guilty pleasure, watching the soap opera “Days of our lives”. I have watched this show on and off since I was a teenager back in South Africa. It was one of the only shows we got to watch on the local television Networks available to us.

Over the past decade characters have died, moved, given birth, and then mysteriously risen from the dead,  some have even been possessed by demons. The website http://www.nbc.com/days-of-our-lives/ is loaded great pictures, access to online episodes and other great information about the characters on the show.

click here for a sneak peak at an upcoming episode

Vocabulary:

Several-more than one or many

Guilty pleasure- something pleasurable that may make you feel guilty

Teenager-people in their teen years

Networks-television companies producing programs for broadcast

Decade- a period of 10 years

Mysteriously- something that cannot be explained

Possessed-influenced or controlled by something

Vocabulary Activity:  Find the hidden words in the word search

Grammar point:

When you are looking for Propper nouns in a sentence, a good hint is to look for nouns that begin with a capital letter, Pick out the Propper nouns in this passage.

Grammar activity:

Using the Propper nouns that you have picked out write a short poem about a televsion show that you watch.

Wacky Weather???

Since moving to New York in 2001, I have experienced more extreme weather patterns than I had in my entire lifetime in South Africa. The idea that the earth is changing due to Global warming does not seem so far fetched when we actually stop and take a look at our environment and the dramatic weather changes that are very apparent to most people who are paying any attention to their surroundings. To some of us it may seem that our summers are not as warm and our winters are extreme. But before I mention that our winter are harsh, I will stop and take into consideration that there has only been one mild snow storm thus far.

There are several websites available with information about climate changes and global warming. An interesting website that has information about what global warming is and what some solutions may be is http://globalwarming.com/ . The idea that we have done so much damage to our earth simply saddens me. There are many reasons why our earth is suffering and if we dont do something about it now, future generations will pay the price.

Vocabulary:

Extreme-very intense or to a high degree

Lifetime- duration of a lifetime

Global warming-disturbance in earth and oceans temperatures

Dramatic- striking difference

Surroundings- conditions or objects in the nearby environment

Consideration-careful thoughts

Websites- online links

Vocabulary Activity:  fill in the blanks

_______________is a rising concern in our society. Paying attention to our _______________ and the ________________weather changes is important to ensure we keep track of our environment. There are many great ______________ that are available online to us that have information on how we can assist our planet in recovering.

Grammar point:

Verbs are action words or state of being for example: arrive or likes. Pick out the verbs from this passage.

Grammar activity:

Using the verbs from this passage, write a paragraph  or a poem about something that you are passionate about.