Texas Road House

When you walk into Texas Road House there are barrels and barrels of peanuts for you to snack on before you are seated. While you wait you can view the fresh selection of steak through a butcher’s window. Upon seating, you instantaneously receive delicious homemade bread with cinnamon butter. There are so many amazing appetizers such as, buffalo wings, blooming onions, and my favorite, the spectacular chili.

The first time I ever went to this restaurant was in Pennsylvania and I had instantly fallen in love. I always wanted to return to that state, just to eat there. Fortunately, they opened one up here in long island, not too long ago.

Texas Road House has become my favorite place to eat. I enjoy savoring their famous BBQ chicken with ribs and am delighted when the flavor of the fully loaded sweet potato enters my mouth. The satisfaction of the entrée and appetizer alone has never allowed me to order desert, however I’m sure it’s amazing as well!

Vocabulary
Barrels (noun) – a cylindrical container, traditionally made out of wood
Instantaneously (adjective) – occurring, done, or completed in a very short space of time or moment
Savoring (verb) – to enjoy the taste or odor of a food
Delighted (adjective) – to be pleased or happy
Spectacular (adjective) – an object or thing that is impressive and often thrilling
Satisfaction (noun) – a state of being content or happy

Vocabulary Exercise

Grammar Point: Proper Nouns
A proper noun has two distinctive features: 1) it will name a specific item (person, place, or thing), and 2) it will begin with a capital letter no matter where it occurs in a sentence.

Identify as many proper nouns as you can, using the writing.

A Zoo?

“OMG!!! Is that a cow? Look a giraffe…a horse…an alligator!” These are the types of conversations that wake me up every single weekend. No, I’m not at a zoo. No, I’m not watching a movie. Nor, is it some sort of crazy dream! I live near two diners and my house has gradually become a sort of a tourist attraction. My house is unlike any other house.

We have a collection of animals on our front yard. They’re not real, just a mix of ceramic and plastic statues that has grown over the years. Our collection includes a life size cow, an 8-foot tall giraffe, alligators, chickens, dogs, and a dolphin. We even have a giant toad with dreadlocks. My grandmother started collecting these statues years ago and as time went on the collection grew and grew.

Vocabulary
OMG – an abbreviation for the phrase, “Oh my God!”, used to express shock, excitement, or disbelief
Tourist attraction (noun)- a place of interest where tourists visit
Gradually (adverb) – happening in a slow manner
Collection (noun) – a group of objects or an amount of material that has been accumulated in one location
Dreadlocks (noun) -- a hairstyle in which the hair is washed but not combed and twisted while wet into tight braids or ringlets hanging down on all sides
Conversation (noun) – the informal exchange of ideas by spoken words

Vocabulary Exercise
Directions: Write each vocabulary word on one side of an index card. You should have a total of six index cards, for your six vocabulary words. On the other side of each index card and write the definition of the corresponding word. Use these flashcards to quiz yourself and others!

Grammar Point: Coordinating Conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions are words that connects part of a sentence by using words such as: and, but, or, yet, nor, so

Find two or more sentences in the writing and combine them by using coordinating conjunctions.

Sebi

I walk into my house and there are toys everywhere! I ask my uncle where my mom is and he says “In the bathroom giving Sebi a bath”. I respond by stating “What a mama’s boy!” All of a sudden my mom runs out the bathroom and starts screaming, “He is not a mama’s boy!”

Excuses for Sebi are always given to me as responses to my questions. For example, if I ask for dinner my mother’s response pertains to feeding Sebi first. I ask where my sweater is and she blatantly states, “Wait! I’m with Sebi!”. I go into her room to kiss her good night and she says, “Hey, don’t wake up Sebi!”.

Now you’re probably thinking, Wow! This girl is really envious of her little brother. I must admit, sometimes I am overcome with jealousy. I come from a household of being raised as an only child. Don’t get me wrong, I do love Sebi, however I’m not talking about a person. I’m talking about my family dog.

Beware, never let my mom hear you calling him a dog. To her, he’s “a baby boy”. He is the most spoiled dog you will ever meet. He follows my mother anywhere and everywhere she goes. I can’t give her a hug or a kiss with out him trying to attack me, because he does not like anyone touching her.

Even though, he may not be so nice to me, the joy he brings to my mother and my family is something beautiful. I will not trade him for anything in the world. I love you Sebi!

Vocabulary
Respond (verb) – to reply or answer in words
Envious(noun)—to be jealous of
Pertains (verb) – to relate to
Blatantly (adjective) – in an unashamed manner
Overcome (verb) – to become affected with
Beware (verb) – to be cautious or careful of
Trade (noun) – to exchange

Vocabulary Exercise
Directions: Please match each vocabulary word to the correct definition.

Grammar Point: Verbs
A verb is a word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence

Identify all of the verbs in the writing.

Opening Day

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! April 6, 2015 marks the opening day for the New York Yankees. The 162 game journey begins today. All the heartache, the disappointment, and sadness from last year no longer matters. Every one is on an equal playing field.

My beloved New York Yankees are taking on the Toronto blue jays. My wish is that I could be at the stadium, but instead, I have no choice but to view it on television. Pride enters my soul as the announcer states, “Ladies and gentlemen your 2015 NEW YORK YANKEES”, however as they start introducing all of the players, something saddening crosses my mind. This will be the first time since I started watching baseball that Derek Jeter will not be playing and my positivity on the season starts to fade.

The crowd cheers for the players as they are introduced, then Alex Rodriguez enters the field. He was suspended for the whole year. Surprisingly, he gets the loudest cheer. Introductions are over and the game starts. Tanaka throws a 1-2-3 inning and all of a sudden my mood changes from thinking, “This is a rebuilding year” to me thinking of October, the playoffs, and a world championship. Even though, we end up loosing the game 1-6 and disappointed crosses my mind once again, I realize there are 161 more games to go, and even more if you count the play offs.

Vocabulary
Journey (noun) – a distance or course that takes a long time
Heartache (noun) – emotional pain
Disappointment (noun) -- a feeling or failure, defeat, or frustration
Beloved (adjective) – greatly loved
Pride (noun) – a high opinion of one’s importance
Saddening (verb) – to make or become sad
Positivity (noun)-- a state of being positive
Suspended (verb) – to come to stop, usually temporarily

Vocabulary Exercise
Directions: Unscramble the vocabulary words below.

Grammar Point: Nouns
A noun is a:
1. Person -- ex: Derek Jeter
2. Place -- ex: Toronto
3. Thing -- ex: field
4. Idea -- ex: disappointment

Write a sentence, including a noun from each category.

Monsters!!

Monsters…we fear them as children. They’re portrayed as hairy, having enormous teeth, and massive claws. We’re told they are evil , later to find out its all make-believe and part of a fantasy world.

What if I told you, there’s a monster that I love? Not only is it hairy and has big teeth, but it also has enormous claws. Her name is Diamond. She weighs over 100 pounds, and is the friendliest, cutest monster ever! She is my fiancés dog.

Vocabulary
Fear (verb)-- to be afraid of
Portrayed (verb) -- to represented in pictures, words, and/or verbally
Enormous (adjective) -- to be of a large, uncommon size
Massive (adjective) -- large and heaving looking
Evil (adjective) -- morally wrong or bad
Fantasy (noun) -- the forming of mental images, especially of strange things

Vocabulary Exercise
Directions: Search up, down, forward, backward, and on the diagonal to find the hidden vocabulary words.

Grammar Point: Contractions
Contractions are formed by replacing missing letter(s) with an apostrophe.
They are formed either by shortening a word or merging two words into one.
For example: They're --> They are, It's ---> it is, we're ---> we are

Write 4 contractions and their phrase form.

The Best Experience of My Life

Becoming a wife has always been a lingering thought in the back of my mind. After sharing your life with a person for six years, you start to wonder if this is the person that you can envision spending the rest of your life with. Could I see my entire future with him? I guess these thoughts were lingering in my partners mind as well. The day he asked me to marry him, all of the wonderful thoughts of our relationship rushed into my mind, and I realized that I could never imagine a life without him. Therefore, the best experience of my life was getting engaged.

Our engagement was something magical that we could cherish for a lifetime. It took place at the location we initially met, Nassau Community College. He brought me there, expressing his intentions of picking up a transcript for graduate school; however, I soon came to realize these were not his intentions. When tears filled his eyes and he got down on one knee, I realized that this was a proposal. My proposal!

A lot of people imagine this day in, what they consider, perfection. This was truly my idea of perfection. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It feels as if our relationship is brand new, expect we’ve known each other for a while. This experience has truly been the best one yet; however, I know that throughout the years many more wonderful experiences will come with him by my side.

Vocabulary
lingering (adjective)-- lasting for a long time
envision (verb)-- to imagine
cherish (verb)-- to value or treasure
initially (adverb)-- at first
intentions (noun)-- an aim or plan
transcript (noun)-- a written or printed version of academic grades

Vocabulary Exercise
Directions: Please use the correct vocabulary word to complete the sentence and fill in the crossword puzzle.

Across
3. I __________ the earrings my grandmother gave me.
5. Mary had a __________ thought in her mind.

Down
1. John wanted to view all of his grades, so he ordered a __________.
2. My __________ for school include, getting good grades and making friends.
4. __________, I wanted a red car, but then I changed my mind.

Grammar Point: Punctuation
When writing a statement, always use a period (.).
When writing a question, make sure to use a question mark (?).
When writing an exclamation, use an exclamation point (!).

Write a statement, a question, and an exclamation. Please include the correct punctuation.

Welcome to My Blog!

I have never had an opportunity to use technology to blog. It will be a new experience to create writing for the simple enjoyment of expressing myself. Writing has always been one of the many things that I viewed as a requirement for my chosen career as an educator. I am hoping that with this new blog, I will be able to view writing as more than just a requirement and ultimately be able to enjoy it.

I look forward to expressing myself and am hoping you can feel pleasure from getting to know a little more about me.

Let the blogging begin!

Vocabulary
opportunity (noun) -- a chance
to blog (verb) -- to write in a web journal (web + log = weblog = blog)
experience (verb) -- to do or see something or have something happen to you
enjoyment (noun) -- a feeling of happiness
requirement (noun) -- something that is needed or that must be done
ultimately (adverb)-- at the end of a process or a period of time
pleasure (noun)-- a feeling of happiness

Vocabulary Exercise
Directions: Please fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary word.
Mary had never had an _________________________ to use the computer ____________________ and express herself. Her ____________________________ with writing has just been in school. She thought that writing was just a _____________________________ and did not know that it could bring her _______________________ and ______________________. _______________________, she was happy to use the computer for this task.

Grammar Point
The sound of a word’s first letter allows you to know whether to use the indefinite article of an instead of a. If a word starts with a vowel sound, you should use an. If the word starts with a consonant sound, you should use a.

Write a sentence for each noun on the vocabulary list and determine whether to use an or a.

Link to information on an and a