Veteran's Day: November 11, 2015

VETERAN'S DAY

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

As you can tell from the picture, Veteran's Day is a day where we honor all of the people who serve in our nation's military.  In the United States, there are five active military branches: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.  People who serve in the military risk their lives so that our country can be safe.  

Veteran's Day is not only a day of honoring people in today's military, but it is also a holiday of remembrance.  There are countless families that lost people they love because they were fighting for our country, and there are still veterans alive that we should thank every day for their service in the many wars our country faced in the past.  Our nation is one of the best in the world because of our military's effort through all of the past and current wars.  For example, imagine if we didn't have out amazing military to defend against the terror in the Second World War?  

Do you think we would be in a country of freedom and democracy if we lost?  Even better, imagine if we lost the Revolutionary War.  Do you think we would be living in the a country called the United States?  We as a country need to put our lives into perspective and remember that we are living in a safe and wonderful country because of our veterans and today's military.

Vocabulary

Honor: (verb) to show respect for a person or a group of people

Risk: (verb) to take a chance 

Remembrance: (noun) the act of remembering

Defend: (verb) protect from harm or danger

Democracy: (noun) a system of government where every person has a right to vote or make a decision for their country

Perspective: (noun) an attitude or point of view

Vocabulary Practice

1. Veterans day is a day of ___________________ for all the veterans who served in our military.

2. Everyone has their own ____________________, or point of view about our nation's government.

3. Our five branches of military _______________ our country every day.

4.  People in the military _____________ their lives when they serve in the military.

5. We must show ___________ and respect to all the people who served and are currently serving the military.

6. The United States' government is a ________________.

Let's Learn Grammar!

If you reread this sentence, "In the United States, there are five active military branches: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.", you notice that you see a colon in the sentence.  The colon is in bold so that you can see what it looks like.  A colon is a punctuation mark that writers use to introduce a quotation or a list of items.  In this sentence, I used the colon to list the five active military branches.

Let's practice: What are your favorite types of food?  Write a sentence using a colon to state your favorite types of food.  Example: I have three favorite foods: pizza, pasta, and hamburgers.

References

http://www.myfuture.com/military/articles-advice/types-of-military-service

Halloween: October's Holiday

HALLOWEEN: OCTOBER'S HOLIDAY

OCTOBER 31, 2015

Why did I name this title, "Halloween: October's Holiday"? Everyone celebrates and prepares for this holiday throughout the entire month of October. Everyone is always excited about this holiday. But why?

Throughout the month, people celebrate different fall activities that leads up to Halloween. People go pumpkin picking so they can carve or decorate the pumpkins. 

Also, families and friends attend different fall festivals and farms. There, people go through corn mazes, drink apple cider, and enjoy the fall weather.  

There are many people that want to be frightened during the month of October. These people attend different haunted houses. Every haunted house has a theme, and depending on the theme, actors dress up in specific costumes to scare the people walking through the houses.

Watch this funny video from the Ellen show!

Do you think you can walk through a haunted house?

Halloween is a time for people to dress up into different costumes that showcases a specific person or event. People like to dress up to be funny or scary. People attend different parties or events to present their costumes. People buy them through a store, and there are many people that make them from scratch. 

Children love Halloween because of all the candy they get during Trick or Treating.  Trick or Treating is where children walk to different houses in their costumes and say "Trick or Treat" to every house, and in return they get candy. Children carry big bags around town by the end of the night, and the poor parents have to watch out because they don't want all of them to get cavities.

Vocabulary List

prepare: (verb) to get something ready beforehand

excited: (adjective) very enthusiastic or eager

depending: (verb) to be determined or rely on
theme: (noun) a main topic that surrounds the overall setting

from scratch: (phrase) doing something from the very beginning

cavities- (plural noun) damages to the structures of your teeth

Vocabulary Practice

Fill in the correct word.

1. We are very ______________ to go trick or treating tonight!

2. My mom makes her pasta sauce ________________.

3. We have so much to ________________ before the Halloween party.

4. I may walk through the haunted house ______________ how scary it is.

5. So many children may get _______________ if they don't brush their teeth.

6. This haunted house has a circus ______________. We have to walk through a scary Big Top Tent.

Let's Learn Grammar!

When we write sentences, we always capitalize the first letter of every sentence.  When we are writing a name of a person or an event, we capitalize the first letter of the name even though it is in the middle of the sentence.

Go through the reading on Halloween and point out all the times I included a capital letter.

Check out this website!
Listen and watch the video about Halloween, and answer the questions based on what you heard and saw!
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/autumn-festivals/halloween/history-of-halloween-listening.html

Columbus Day: October 12, 2015

Columbus Day 2015: October 12, 2015

There is no school next Monday because we will be celebrating Columbus Day!  This annual holiday is known for the anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in the Americas.  Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, and he was famous for sailing the Atlantic Ocean and discovering the New World, or the Americas.

Watch this quick video about the voyage to the New World!

What were the names of the three ships that set sail?

On this holiday, most states observe this day as a national holiday, where they celebrate through parades and different events.  In New York City, there are around 35,000 marchers that participate in the city's Columbus Day Parade down Fifth Avenue.

Interesting fact:  There are four states that do not recognize Columbus Day (Alaska, Hawaii, South Dakota, and Oregon).  These states either replaced or ignored this day with their own holiday.  There are a lot of different views about Christopher Columbus.  For example, even though he was the leader in finding the "New World", he was known for mistreating the natives of the New World.  There are many resources where you can read more into the history of Columbus' travels to the Americas.

Vocabulary List

Annual: (adjective) happens every year

Famous: (adjective) has a reputation and is favored or known by everyone

Observe: (verb) to see and notice something

Recognize: (verb) to to identify and show knowledge about something

Mistreat: (verb) to be mean

Resource: (noun) a place of help and support

Vocabulary Exercise: Fill in the blanks

1. I want to be a good soccer player.  I should _____________ some soccer games.

2. My mom said to me, "Don't ____________ my brother."  In other words, I should not be mean to him.

3. We have an _______________ show every year to celebrate Columbus Day!

4. My teacher told us that we should find one ________________ to help us write our paper.

5. Taylor Swift is very ______________.

6. Most states __________________ Columbus Day as a national holiday.

Let's Learn Grammar!

We show possession when we add the apostrophe to a singular noun.  For example, "the children's bus" shows that the bus belongs to the singular noun "children".

HOWEVER! Did you notice in the blog this sentence: "...you can read more into the history of Columbus' travels to the Americas."  There are many singular nouns that end in the letter "s", for example Columbus.  When we see that kind of singular noun, we just simply add an apostrophe to the end of the noun (the letter s).  

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day#Local_observance_of_Columbus_Day

http://www.nycgo.com/events/columbus-day-parade2