Super Bowl LI

American football is more than just a sport, to American’s it can be as important as a religion.  Men and women carefully watch their state’s teams in hopes that they will make it to the big game, the Super Bowl! Even when your team is not a part of this game, the first Sunday of February is a family event.  People come together by watching the game on the biggest television they can access and eating a lot of appetizers.  Everyone has a different favorite part of the day, while I love to watch the football game, my sister waits all night for the halftime show, and my dad is just happy to have his whole family in one place.  The one thing everyone can agree on is that the worst part of the Super Bowl is it being on a Sunday which means that everyone needs to get back to their daily routines of school and work on Monday.  To make the most of the day my family has a long standing tradition where we compete to make the best appetizer.  The only contestants are my dad, my mom, my sister, and me and everyone else at the party acts as our judges who ultimately choose the winning dish.  This year my mom made cheeseburger sliders which are just small cheeseburgers, my dad made buffalo wings with many different sauces, my sister made buffalo chicken dip, and I made pigs in a blanket which are small hot dogs wrapped in dough.  Once everyone is done eating we pass out score sheets and tally the points.  My mom won this year, but next year I will be victorious!  With all of the fun going on it is tough to even spend time watching the game, but this year the fourth quarter got everyone's attention.  Even though I was rooting for the Atlanta Falcons, the New England Patriots deserved to win the game by their performance in the last minutes of the game.  Hopefully next year I can root for the New York Giants on the most American Sunday of the year!

Vocabulary:

Football (noun) : a game where two teams each try to score as many touchdowns(goals) as possible

Super Bowl (noun) : the final game of the football season, decides the winning team for the whole season

Appetizers (noun) : small snacks served before the main course, often before dinner

Routines (noun) : a set order of doing things

Tradition (noun) : a common act or event a shared group such as a family continuously practices

Contestants (noun) : those participating in a contest or competition
Ultimately (adverb) : the end of a process or a period of time

Tally (noun) : points given to teams or individuals during a competition

Victorious (adjective) : to win

Vocabulary Activity:

Please finish the sentences with the vocabulary listed above.

1. The Giants are the ____________ team for New York state.
2. Many families have their own ________ that they practice each year around the holidays or other occasions.
3. Each of my family members gave their favorite dish a __________ in order to cast their vote.
4. The Super Bowl was very exciting because the score was tied but  ___________ the New England Patriots won.
5. My sister made buffalo chicken dip as her entry into our family __________ competition.
6. Everyone has a daily ________ that they follow each morning when they wake up, whether they eat a large breakfast or take a shower in the morning.
7. After the tallies were counted, my mom reigned __________ over the appetizer competition.
8. The _________________ is the championship game of the football season which decides the team that ultimately reigns victorious over the rest.
9. My mom, dad, sister, and I were all ___________ in the appetizer competition fighting for a chance to win, while the rest of my family acted as judges.  

Grammar Point: Proper Nouns

Proper nouns are nouns that contain the specific names for individuals, places, or organizations.  Each proper noun begins with a capital letter to signify its importance.

Grammar Activity:

Choose the proper nouns out of the list below. Hint: There are 6!

Mexico

paper

Rachel Carlson

Tennessee

grandma

steps

Applebee’s

New York Yankees

beach

Zac Brown Band

pencil

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