The Best Experience of My Life

The best experience of my life was hands down the birth of my niece, Charlotte, or Charlie as we call her.  She was born on July 19, 2015 at Winthrop University Hospital.  Even a year and a half later I can take myself back to this day and remember the pure joy I felt holding my niece.  I can remember the morning exactly. It was sunny and mild, perfect beach weather.  I went to the beach with my best friend around ten in the morning, and before the clock struck eleven I got a call that my sister had gone into labor, two weeks early!  I raced the hospital where I met my sister’s husband in the waiting room just in time for him to tell us that the baby was almost here.  One long hour later Elvis came back into the waiting room and announced it was a girl.  I remember immediately fighting to get back into the room.  Being my sister’s best friend, I was the first to hold the baby after her and Elvis.  I will always remember the moment they told me my niece's name was Charlotte, and asked me to be her godmother.  

Vocabulary:

Experience (noun): the observation of facts or events that someone encountered

Remember (verb): to be able to bring one's mind back to a past event or fact

Pure (adjective): free of contamination

Announced (verb): to publicly give information

Godmother (noun): a woman who parents a child in a spiritual way at the child’s baptism

Niece (noun): the daughter of your sibling

Vocabulary Activity:

My _________ is named Charlotte and I am lucky enough to be her ___________.

I will always ____________ holding my niece for the first time.

I still feel __________ joy whenever I get to spend time with Charlie.

I __________ to the world that my niece was born almost immediately on Facebook.

The best ___________ of my life was meeting Charlie for the first time.

Grammar Point: Active Voice

The active voice describes writing in which the subject of the sentence is performing the action that is being discussed.  This is opposed to the passive voice where the subject of the sentence is being acted upon.

Grammar Activity:

Write a story using the active voice.  This story should be between 4-6 sentences and can be fictional or factual.

American Flag

The American flag is one of the nation's strongest symbols of nationalism.  Almost every house has a flag hanging outside, some even attach small flags to their cars.  The legend of the first American flag tells the story Betsy Ross, a friend of George Washington, presenting the flag at the second continental congress meeting on June 14, 1777.  It displayed thirteen stripes, six being red and seven being white, with thirteen white stars on a blue background to represent the thirteen colonies.  Since 1777 the flag has gone through many changes, twenty six to be exact.  As each state was added to the union a new flag was created in order to add a star representing the state.  Today the flag has thirteen stripes that still represent the thirteen original colonies and fifty stars to represent all the states that make up the United States of America.  Americans display the flag as a symbol of nationalism, a feeling that runs through the veins of all Americans, proud to call this our home.

Vocabulary:

Symbol (noun): a character that is used to portray a feeling, a word, etc.

Nationalism (noun): a feeling of pride in your country

Legend (noun): stories that are thought of as historic without factual evidence

Represent (verb): a symbolic way to portray a thought, idea, feeling, etc.

Union (noun): the north in the civil war, or, a group representing a common interest
Thirteen original colonies (noun): the thirteen areas of land in America that Britain owned before

     the American Revolution

Vocabulary Activity:

The American flag is a ________ of American __________.

The north was considered the ________ during the civil war.

Greek mythology contains a lot of __________ , where gods were sent to participate in Greek life.

The ________ _________ __________ were the first states to be added to the United States of America.

The flag is meant to _________ our pride in being Americans.

Grammar Point: Gerund

A gerund is a word that comes from a verb, but is acting as a noun, often ending in -ing, though there are exceptions.  The rules are as follows:

1. If the verb ends in E, remove the E and add ING.
2. If the last two letters of the verb are EE, add ING.
3. If the last two letters of the verb are IE, remove the IE and add YING.
4. If the last letter of the verb is a consonant and the letter before the consonant is a short vowel, double the short vowel and add ING.
5. If the last letter is a consonant and the two letters before the consonant are vowels, add ING.

Grammar Activity

Change the verbs below into their gerund forms.

To ask         →      _________

To discuss  →       _________

To like        →       _________

To try         →       _________

To begin    →       _________

Millenials

Millennials are the group of people born between the years 1977 and 2000.  Those who fall under this label have been stereotyped by older generations for being lazy and unmotivated.  The deciding factor when this stereotype was created was our obsession with technology that has divided the generations.  Millennials are basically the people you see that are always using their phone to Snap chat, scroll through Instagram or Twitter, and of course text.  While the millennials believe that technology enhances all aspects of life, the older generations feel that beloved traditions are slipping away.  Social media is taking over the lives of millennials who feel the need to take pictures of everything that they eat and tweet all of their thoughts.  This has been linked to higher rates of depression and poor relationship building skills.  Older generations are calling for a return to old traditions, such meeting new people in person and spending time together without out phones.  Overall, both generations have interesting points, while technology will surely advance our way of life, people skills will always be needed to form relationships.  We will need to find a way to balance technology in our lives, but for now millennials will remain divided.

Vocabulary:

Stereotype (noun): a widely held idea based on a small percentage of a large group

Generation (noun): a group of people born during the same set of years

Technology (noun): machinery or equipment made from scientific knowledge such as computers

                              and cell phones
Divide (verb): to split up

Depression (noun): an overwhelming feeling of sadness

Advance (verb): to move forward

Balance (verb): to keep in a steady position that is evenly distributed

Vocabulary Activity:

Different ________ have different views because they grew up in different time periods.

It is important to find a ________ in life where important events do not outweigh others.

Some new _________ from this generation is the iPhone, the iPad, and the Apple watch.

It is important to not let small problems _________ your family in two.

John’s therapist diagnosed him with ________ after he spent three days feeling too sad to leave his bed.

There are many _______ surrounding women and different races, many of which are only based on a small percentages of those populations.

My boss told me I could get an ________ on my paycheck since I was leaving for vacation before pay day.

Grammar Point: Singular/Plural

Singular words represent one, while plural words represent more than one.  Plural words often end in the letter ‘s’ but there are exceptions where some do not, and even times that singular verbs end in ‘s’.  This is most often deciphered within the context of the sentence.

Grammar Activity:

Fill in whether the bold word is singular or plural.

The girls are all running to school.      ____________

My mother took her car to the beach today.   ___________

I caught many fish with my sister today.  ____________

I love to read many books, but my favorite book is written by Jodi Picoult.  _______________