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