SNOW DAY!

On Friday, February 8, 2013, a blizzard started in New York.  My son, daughter and dog had an awesome time watching the snow come down.  They tried so hard to stay awake all night to watch the snow fall, but they finally fell asleep around 10PM.  The next morning they woke up in a hurry to run downstairs and see what happened while they were asleep.  Their eyes glistened as they saw the fluffy white snow stared back at them through the window.  I told them that they were not allowed to go in the snow unless they ate breakfast.  So they sat down and waited patiently until I put their breakfast down in front of them on the kitchen table.  Within a few minutes, their plates were empty and they were both standing in front of me with their hands folded, batting their eyelashes.  At that point, I did not have a choice.  So I got their gloves, snow pants, hats, boots and snow jackets out and put it all on them.  While I helped the kids put their gear on, my husband got his snow gear on and they all went outside.  They were so excited to be outside in the cold white snow with their father!  They made snowballs to have a snowball fight, they made a giant snowman and got pulled on a sled!  When they came in, they were soaken wet, with their little red button noses and their adorable eyes shining back at me.  They were so happy to have been outside playing in the glistening white snow!     

Vocabulary:

1) blizzard (noun)- a storm with alot of snow and wind
2) glistened (verb)- to shine or sparkle in light
3) breakfast (noun)- first meal of the day
4) eyelashes (noun)- short hairs on your eyelids
5) batting (transitive verb)- to wink your eyes really fast
6) sled (noun)- a piece of material (or wood) that is used to ride on snow
7) soaken (noun)- to be overwet with a liquid
8) adorable (adjective)- very cute and loveable


Vocabulary Exercise:
Directions- Complete the sentence with the correct vocabulary word choice

1) The boy enjoys riding on the ___________________.
     a. breakfast   b. blizzard   c. sled   d. adorable

2) After the ___________, there was a lot of snow on the ground.
    a. soaken   b. batting   c. glistened   d. blizzard

3) The kids are ______________ wet after they came in from playing in the snow.
    a. soaken   b. sled   c. blizzard   d. eyelashes

4) My dog looks ___________ playing in the snow.
    a. glistened   b. adorable   c. batting    d. sled

5) The snow ___________ in the sun.
    a. blizzard   b. adorable   c. glistened   d. soaken

6) The children were not allowed to play in the snow until they ate _____________.
   a. eyelashes   b.  breakfast   c.  batting   d. sled

7) After the children ate, they were ___________ their eyelashes to encourage me to get them dressed.
    a. blizzard   b. batting    c. glistened   d. adorable

8) Their _____________ are so long as I watched them blink at me so quickly.
    a. sled   b. eyelashes  c. soaken  d. breakfast



Grammar Point:

Adjectives: an adjective is a word that describes a noun.

An adjective can tell what kind.

Examples:

A) I own a young horse.

B) He has a black tail.

Directions: Draw a line under each adjective.  Draw a circle around each noun that it describes.

1) There was a lot of white snow on the ground.

2) The children put their snow jackets on.

3) Lizzie's wore a red jacket.

4) Peter wore a black jacket.

5) My dog, Roxy, has black fur.

6) The children made a large snowman.

7) They also made small snowballs.

BONUS:
8) When they were finished they came in and drank warm hot chocolate.

Elizabeth during Christmas

Back in December, I told my daughter Lizzie, who was 3 years old at the time, that Christmas was coming and that meant Santa Claus was going to come to our house.  She immediately knew that meant presents under our huge Christmas tree.  I told her that she needed to be good or there would be no presents under the tree for her.  She told me that she would do everything she could to be a "good girl."  Honestly, she did.  She was able to learn to share toys with her brother, she learned how to throw away what she didn't want to eat for dinner and most of all she used her manners as much as she could.  She really did a good job!

Finally, Christmas Day morning came and here came Lizzie... at 6:00 AM running into my room shouting, "IT'S CHRISTMAS, SANTA CAME, PRESENTS, MOMMY WAKE UP!!!!!"  So we all shuffled downstairs! She stared at all of presents that were so beautifully wrapped.  Within three minutes; there was wrapping paper all over the place, but it didn't matter.   It was such a "treat" to watch her open up her gifts and to see the look on her face when she saw what she got from Santa. 

Lizzie was so excited to get her Dora the Explorer dolls and Princess dolls.  She began to play with them as soon as she could.  She asked her father to open up the packages right away.  Lizzie started to undress them, redress them, play with their hair and then have them talk to each other.  I have never seen her so happy!  I can honestly say that Christmas was my most favorite memory with Lizzie so far!


Vocabulary:

1) daughter (noun)- a girl child.                                                   
2) immediately (adverb)- right now
3) honestly (adverb)- to be honest or true
4) share (verb)- divide or give out
5) manners (plural noun)- good behavior
6) shuffled (verb)- to move quickly
7) packages (noun)- a thing or a group of things that are wrapped
8) favorite (adjective)- liked over all
9) memory (noun)- able to remember things


Vocabulary Exercise:
Directions- Fit the vocabulary words into the story below.

  Once morning, my ___________ Taylor woke up and started to scream.  I quickly _________ up to her room and _____________ asked her what was wrong.  She said that she had a bad dream.  I ______________ thought that my heart was going to pound out of my chest.  I began to tell her a story about my _____________ ____________m of Christmas to try to get her mind off of her dream.  I told her about all of the ____________ that would be underneath the tree waiting for me to open.  I also told her about the milk and cookies that Santa would get and he would probably have to __________ them with the elves.  She then reminded me that Santa has good _____________ and that he would definitely divide his cookies among his elves.  She began to smile, so we decided to get out of bed and start to make breakfast!




Grammar Point:
The Verb BE- They do not name actions.  This verb tells what someone or something is or is like.
Examples: am, are, is, was and were

These verbs must agree with the subject of the sentence.
Examples: This letter is for me.
                  OR
                The letters are for me.


Directions: A) Find two different verbs of be in the passage and underline them.
B) Read each sentence below.  If there is an action verb, circle it.  If it is a form of the verb BE, underline it.

1) This letter is from Lizzie.

2) She lives in Levittown, New York

3) Lizzie is three.

4) She goes to a small school in Wantagh.

5) She rides to school in the car.

6) Wantagh is a very cold city.

7) There is a lot of snow on the ground.

Rocking Horse Ranch

When I was a kid, my family and I went to a place called Rocking Horse Ranch.  It was located in Highland, NY, which was about four hours from where I lived when I was a kid.  It was a glorious place that had so many different things for kids like us to do.  My family use to go away with another family, therefore it was always my sister, my brother, my two friends and myself who could always play together at Rocking Horse Ranch.  In the winter, we would be able to ride horses, go skiing, snowtubing, have hot chocolate, and go swimming in the indoor swimming pool.  It was so much fun!  However, in the summer it was even better.  There would be an outdoor swimming pool with a slide and a diving board.  There was also tennis courts, basketball courts and shuffle boards for us to play.  Our most favorite thing to do in the summer in Rocking Horse Ranch was to go into lake that was located behind the resort.  We would be allowed to swim, banana boating and water skiing or wake boarding.  All of those things were so much fun for us to do during the summer.  I think that our most favorite aspect of the lake was the ability to go paddle boating because we would be able to go with a friend.  My friend and I used to go by ourselves and we would be out there for a couple of hours just talking about the boys and "gossip".  I loved going to Rocking Horse Ranch!

Vocabulary:

1) skiing (verb)- to go over snow with skis
2) snowtubing (verb)- to go over snow in a large rubber tube
3) courts (noun)- a certain area where people play a game
4) shuffle boards (noun)- a game where large discs are glided to get a score using long sticks
5) resort (noun)- a place where people go to relax or enjoy themselves

6) banana boating (noun)- a boat in the shape of a banana that floats on water

7) wake boarding (noun)- using a wakeboard (a board that is used to ride on water)
8) aspect (noun)- a part of something
9) paddle boating (noun)- a boat that needs to riders to paddle (like a bicycle) to get the boat to move

Vocabulary Exercise:

Directions- Use the vocabulary words to answer the riddles below.

1) Name something you would need a wakeboard for: ____________________

2) Where can I go to relax: _____________________

3) I want to play a game where I can slide large discs to get points: _________________

4) Name another word for a part: ____________________

5) Name an activity where I would need skis: _______________

6) I want to do this with a friend and use my legs like I would ride a bicycle: __________________

7) What is an activity that I would be able to use a large rubber tube: _______________________

8) Name a place where most people play basketball: _________________________

9) Name an activity that I could ride on the water on a boat in the shape of a fruit: __________________

Grammar Point:

Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense- Some verbs have a special spelling to show past tense. 

They go to the show.
They went to the show.

Directions- Read each sentence and underline the irregular past tense form of the verb.

1) She came on the stage.

2) The band ran to their places.

3) The crowd saw the singer.

4) The singer went to the microphone.

5) She began her performance.

6) She did a wonderful job.

7) The she went backstage.

8) She ate her snack.

Aruba



ARUBA



In a few weeks, my husband and I will embark on a trip to Aruba.  We will begin by packing our suitcases and bags.  The car service will pick us and drive us to the airport.  Our plane takes off at approximately 7:00am, therefore we are going to have to get there around 5:00am.  Once our airplane takes off, there will be plenty of time to read my book.  Approxmately two and half hours later the plane will land and my husband and I will be in paradise. 

After we get off the plane and arrive at our hotel, we will begin our trip by checking-in to the hotel and putting out suitcases in our room.  We will then put our swimsuits on and go to the pool for some relaxation and sun.  We are going to be enjoying meals that include fresh fish and delicious beverages!  After about one week of vacationing in Aruba, we will be getting back on a plane to come back home to New York.

Vocabulary:

1) embark (verb)- to begin or start

2) airport (noun)- place where airplanes come and go

3) approximately (adverb)- almost or about

4) paradise (noun)- a place of beauty or joy

5) arrive (verb)- to get to a place

6) checking-in (verb)- to let a place know that you are there; such as a hotel
7) relaxation (noun)- the act of being calm

8) delicious (adjective)- have a good taste

9) vacationing (noun)- a period of rest

Vocabulary Exercise:

Directions: match the word with the correct definition

1) embark                                             a) a period of rest
2) vacationing                                        b) place where airplanes come and go
3) delicious                                            c) to get to a place
4) airport                                               d) have a good taste
5) arrive                                                e) the act of being calm
6) approximately                                    f) to let a place know that you are there
7) relaxation                                          g) a place of beauty or paradise
8) checking- in                                       h) to begin or start
9) paradise                                             i) almost or about



Grammar Point:

Future Tense- action verbs tell about what will happen in the future.  Use the verb will  to tell about the future.

Directions: Underline the verb in the sentence.  Rewrite the verb so it tells about the future.

1) Architects design dome cities. ___________________________

2) Colonies exist on distant planets. ___________________________

3) People farm under the water. ___________________________

4) We swim with dolphins. ______________________________

5) They eat on the beach. _______________________________

6) People see fish under the water. ___________________________

7) Divers help us put on our snorkel gear. ____________________________

8) We fly on the airplane to Aruba. _______________________________