Yankees

YANKEES 

 The New York Yankees is one of the best baseball teams in my opinion!  They’re such a strong team and they can’t be compared to any other baseball team.  Ever since I was little I was a huge Yankees fan.  My dad, grams and I would watch the games together in the living room and make wings and eat pizza together.  My favorite players on the team are Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Nick Swisher, and Mark Teixeira I haven’t been to as many Yankees games as I would like to, but I always watched the games on television.  I went to the original stadium a few years ago with a friend and I am so glad I did because that was truly history!  I remember my first time walking into the stadium I couldn’t believe I was finally there!  When I walked out and headed to find my seat and saw the Yankees line up and saw Andy Pettitte take the mound I couldn’t believe my eyes.  You could just feel the excitement from the crowd as they applauded.  The whole experience was just great.  Just this past August I went to the new Yankee stadium with a friend, who was not nearly as fascinated by the Yankees as I am, however, it was just as amazing.  Again when I saw C.C. Sabathia take the mound I still couldn’t believe that I was there.  It’s a feeling no one will understand unless you are a huge fan and go to a game for the first time.  I will never forget the memories I had and I can’t wait to make some new memories.             

Vocabulary:

1. New York Yankees- a baseball team in New York

2. Opinion- a personal viewpoint

3. History- past events in a period of time

4. Stadium- the area where the game is played

5. Excitement- the feeling over enjoyment

6. Applauded- clapping hands to praise

7. Fascinated- Interested

Vocabulary Activity - Match the following related words:

Fascinated                                       A. Interested

New York Yankees                         B. Personal viewpoint

Opinion                                           C. Clapping hands to praise

Excitement                                       D. A baseball team in New York

History                                             E. Past events in a period of time

Applauded                                       F. The feeling over enjoyment  

Stadium                                           G. The area where the game is played

Grammar Point: Parts of Speech

Nouns: person, place, thing, idea

Verbs: demonstrate action or being

Adverbs: most adverbs tell you how, where or when something is done. They modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs

Adjectives: describing words, describe nouns or pronouns.

Grammar Exercise: Parts of Speech

1. Identify the parts of speech for each of the seven vocabulary words.  The parts of speech for the vocabulary words include:  nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives.

My Dad

My Dad

September 11, 2001 forever changed my life as it did for many people.  I still remember that day like it was yesterday.  I was eleven years old and stayed home from school because I was sick and my two older sisters headed to school.  My dad, who was a NYC Fire Fighter, left early to head into work that day.  It wasn't too long later that my mom, grams and I heard and saw the first Tower collapse.  Just before the second tower collapsed my mom, grams and I got the scariest phone call of our lives.  My dad called us to tell us that he was OK, scared and loved us.  In the middle of the phone conversation his phone went dead and the second tower collapsed.  We had no idea if he was alive or not.  The whole day we were glued to the television and on edge waiting to hear from my dad.  It wasn't until the next morning that we got a phone call from St. Vincent Hospital telling us that my dad was OK, but hurt.  They wanted him to stay longer in the hospital, but my dad just wanted to go home to his family.  When my dad returned home we all hugged him I thought to myself we made it through the worse and experienced a miracle.  From that day on, my dad never returned to work.  He was forced to retire and live with his injuries.  The years that followed were the best years of our lives.  My dad was there for every school function, every holiday, and was there every day which we all spent so much time together.  Again, we all truly thought we survived a miracle.  The summer of 2006 my dad started getting sick and by June 2007 my dad passed away from his injuries he sustained on 9/11.  It was unbelievable and truly still hard to believe that he is not here today.  It has been five years this past June and each year it just keeps getting harder to believe and accept.  Since then we have had three memorial services for him; One in Brooklyn at Fire Department headquarters, one out in Nesconset on the island and one at Engine 74 at his firehouse where his name is on plaques and engraved on to walls.  My dad is my biggest hero and forever he will be considered a hero.  He will always be spoken about with the highest respect and especially to my family in the future one day.

Vocabulary:

1. Collapse- Fall down

2. Respect- looking up to someone, a feeling of admiration to someone / something

3. Conversation- People talking

4. Experience- involvement in an activity, event

5. Miracle- an event or action that is amazing / unexpected

6. Sustain- to be affected by something, to experience setback, injury

Vocabulary Cloze Exercise: Put the correct vocabulary words in the blank.

1. After Chris ran the marathon he ___________with exhaustion. 

2. Because Kelly was involved in a car accident she __________critical injuries.

3. When Kathy received a 100 on her social studies test it was a _____________considering she did not   

    study for it.

4. The ___________between Jen and Kristiana was very loud.

5. Student teaching was a positive _______________in my college career.

6. I ________ my father who was a fire fighter and involved in 9/11.

Grammar Point: This passage has many verbs in the past tense.  List those verbs and any other words that indicate the past tense such as, changed and so on.

 Grammar Exercise:  Write a paragraph explaining a hero in your life that you look up to.  Be sure to use past tense verbs and any vocabulary words.   

Fall

Fall

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year!  I absolutely love the transition from summer into fall.  The whole situation of the weather changing to the color of the leaves on the trees is just beautiful.  Around this time of the year, my family and I begin to cook our family tradition recipes.  We try to make as many recipes as possible on the weekends considering the weekdays are truly hard to find time let alone have the family together due to everyone’s hectic schedule.  Some of my all time favorite family recipes are: pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, candy apples, apple crisp, cream of broccoli soup, lasagna and many more!  All these recipes have been passed down from my grams, who just recently passed away a few months ago, who taught me everything I needed to know about cooking.  Around this time of the year it has always been a tradition to cook some recipes, celebrate my grams birthday and prepare for Halloween.  Halloween was always special to me.  I have some really great memories of Halloween with my family and friends.  I remember being so excited about dressing up for Halloween that I would plan my costume out weeks before Halloween even approached.  The smell of my grams cooking filling the air in the house while my sisters and I were getting ready to go trick-or-treating and having food ready so that we can all eat after a long day of walking.  It is truly sad that time has gone by so quickly.  I will forever cherish the memories I have of my family, friends and our traditions together.  I catch myself reminiscing on the past a lot of times and having this overwhelming feeling of such happiness.  I will never forget my childhood and I will always carry my family traditions with me which I will pass down to my family one day and make new ones in the future.        

Vocabulary:

Transition- A process of change

Beautiful- Pleasing to look at, listen to

Tradition- Custom or belief, long established pattern in a group of people which have been passed down

Hectic- Always busy

Cherish- Love, care value something highly

Reminisce- Tell about the past

Vocabulary Cloze Exercise: Put the correct vocabulary words in the blank.

1. I love it when my parents _______________about my childhood.

2. Working full time and going to full time can be ________.

3. Family recipes which have been __________ are what I look forward to the most during the holidays.

4. My family always taught my sisters and I to __________our elders. 

5. The ______________between a teenager and becoming an adult is a hard process.

6. The Botanic Gardens in the Bronx is __________________.

Grammar Point: This passage has many verbs in the present tense.  List those verbs and any other words that indicate the present tense such as, celebrate and so on.

 Grammar Exercise:  Write a paragraph explaining some of your family’s traditions that you still do today.  Be sure to use present tense verbs and any vocabulary words.   

Teaching Experience

Teaching Experience

               On August 9, 2012 I received the best news of my life!  I was asked to come in for an interview for a leave replacement position at St. Agnes Cathedral School in Rockville Centre.  After the interview I was told that I got the job!  I was ecstatic to say the least.  Here I am, twenty-two years old after just graduating in May from the Molloy Education Program and I got an amazing job.  It was a dream come true!  When I started working the first week of September it was very overwhelming.  I am the computer room teacher and I teach first grade all the way up to eight grade.  I even go into the kindergarten classrooms and teach them as well.  I believe that technology is very important to use in the schools to teach students.  Technology has come a long way and it will only get more advance therefore, we need to start students with technology early on.  I was so surprised at how many students all have their own ipads at home and know so much about it at such a young age.  After a few days little by little everything started falling into place and it all quickly became a routine.  I have great colleagues who I can go to for advice and who I can collaborate with for assignments.  Everyone in the school couldn't be nicer and more helpful to me.  I am truly grateful for this amazing opportunity.       

Vocabulary:

Replacement- Substitute

Ecstatic- Happy, excited

Overwhelming- Stressful

Technology- Inventions, machines, easier way of life through science

Colleagues- Co-workers

Collaborate- Wok with others

Vocabulary Cloze Exercise: Put the correct vocabulary words in the blank.

1. When Kelly got an A+ on her science project she became _______________. 

2. Working full time and being a full time student can get a bit _______________________ at times.

3. The Outback Steak house __________________ are all going out to the movies on Friday night.

4. When you work in a school it is very important that you ___________________with your co-workers.

5.  The first grade teacher was absent so the school had to hire a ________________teacher for the day.

6. _________________makes our everyday lives easier.

Grammar Point: This passage has many verbs in the past tense.  List those verbs and any other words that indicate the past tense such as, asked and so on.

 Grammar Exercise:  Write a paragraph explaining your best life experience.  Be sure to use past tense verbs and any vocabulary words.