Hiking is my favorite activity to explore my surroundings and experience the beauty of nature. There are countless hiking trails throughout the United States, and many of them will take you through some of the nation's most famous parks and landmarks. The Grand Canyon, for example, is an iconic landmark that I had the chance to explore by hiking down into the canyon. Although the vast landscape and picturesque views were visible from the top rim of the canyon, I got to see the plants, animals, and rock formations up close and personal while hiking down the Bright Angel Trail of the Grand Canyon. I even saw a mountain goat from only about 10 feet away!

Definitions:
surroundings (noun)- the things around a person or thing
countless (adjective)- very many
iconic (adjective)- famous, symbolic
vast (adjective)- large, immense
picturesque (adjective)- visually attractive
visible (adjective)- able to be seen 


Synonyms:
Write a synonym for each vocabulary word. 

surroundings 
countless 
iconic 
vast 
picturesque 
visible 

An adjective is a word used to describe a noun. Please write 5 sentences using adjectives to add detail and description in order to create interesting sentences!

New York City is one of the largest cities in the world and I am very fortunate to only live a train ride away. For Christmas every year, my Aunt Wini and Uncle Ron are nice enough to take my sisters and I to a Broadway play. We go into the city and see the Christmas tree, eat lunch, and go to a Broadway play. We also always go into the St. Patrick's Cathedral and walk around Times Square. New York City is a beautiful place to visit int he winter. It is a great place to spend quality time with your family, especially during Christmas time.

Definitons:

New York City (noun)- one of the biggest cities in the world located in the state of New York

fortunate (adjective)- favored or lucky
Broadway play (noun)- a group of theaters who perform live shows in New York City
St. Patrick's Cathedral (noun)- a Roman Catholic church that is a landmark in New York City
Times Square (noun)- a major tourist intersection in New York City
quality (adjective)- special

Questions:

What is one of the biggest cities in the world?
What would someone who likes musicals see?
What is a big tourist attraction in New York City?
Where might a person go to pray in the city?
What is another word for spending special time with somebody?
What might a person who is lucky be called?

A proper noun is a name used for an individual person, place, or organization. Proper nouns are always capitalized. Write a paragraph using at least 4 proper nouns. 

Birthdays are very exciting to celebrate. It was my best friend's birthday a few weeks ago and I wanted to make sure that it was a special day for her. I decided to make her a birthday cake. I went to the store in order to buy the ingredients that were necessary in order to make the most spectacular cake that she has ever seen. I purchased bright purple frosting for the cake along with white and black sprinkles and decorations to decorate the cake. I went home and began to bake the cake. I mixed the ingredients together to get the consistency just right. I put the cake in the oven and when it was ready, I took the cake out, cooled it, and decorated it. I worked extremely hard on the cake and I could not wait for my friend to see it. As the day went on, the suspense was killing me. Finally it was time for the cake to be revealed to my friend. All of my hard work was worth it, she loved the cake!

Definitions:

celebrate(verb)- to honor 

spectacular (adjective)- beautiful or impressive

purchased (verb)- to buy 

consistency (noun)- how a substance is held together, thickness or fluidity 

suspense (noun)- excited or anxious uncertainty

revealed (verb)- to allow something to be seen 

Antonym:

Write an antonym for each vocabulary word.

1. celebrate__________________

2. spectacular____________________

3. purchased __________________

4. consistency__________________

5. suspense_____________________

6. revealed_____________________


The past tense is expressing and action that already happened. Please write a story of your own about something that already happened. 

     Running around and playing outside on summer days were some of my favorite pastimes as a child. Playing with dolls, playing tag, and playing kickball were all some of my favorite activities. Most children were happy to be off from school for the summer and be carefree and not have to wake up early. I on the other hand, I could not get enough of school. Ironically, the activity that I enjoyed most was “playing school”. Rather than being the student however, I always wanted to be the teacher. I loved making the worksheets, writing on the chalkboard and whiteboard, grading tests, and teaching the other kids on my block.

     Being so young, this was just a fun game to play with my friends, but as time passed I slowly began to realize that this game of “playing school” was not just a game. It was turning into a career path that I would want to take in the future. As I went through middle school and high school I was constantly helping my friends with math homework when they struggled. I even moved forward to tutor any student who needed help or students who asked for help through the honor society. I felt so accomplished being able to help others understand concepts that they never thought that they could. I loved the feeling of helping others and watching them grow and develop as a learner. The moment that I recognized this passion is the moment that I knew that I would go to school and become a teacher.

     I attended SUNY Cortland and received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Adolescent Mathematics Education (for grades 7-12). After all of my hard work through school and my student teaching experience, I finally felt like I was ready to move on and become a teacher of my own. I began to send my resume to hundreds of different places and waited for phone calls, emails, and interview opportunities. Getting a job as a new teacher quickly became one of the hardest, most stressful things that I have ever had to do. After many responses and interviews, I was beginning to lose hope. Just as I was ready to give up, I saw a phone number that looked familiar calling my phone. I picked up my phone and it was the principal of Holy Family School calling me to offer me the 7th and 8th grade math position. I immediately started jumping up and down and crying out of excitement and happiness. That was one of the best moments that I have had in my life, and I could not be happier to have accepted the position. 

Definitions

pasttimes (noun)- an activity that a person used to do often 

carefree (adjective)- free of worries 

ironically (adverb)- unexpected 

constantly (adverb)- continuously, always happening

concepts (noun)- an abstract idea

adolescent (adjective)- a young person

immediately (adverb)- instantly, without delay

Synonyms:

Give a synonym (similar word) for each vocabulary word

1. pasttimes _______________________

2. carefree ________________________

3. ironically ________________________

4. constantly________________________

5. concepts ________________________

6. adolescent ________________________

7. immediately ________________________

An adverb is a word that is used to modify an adjective, verb, other adverb, or word group. Please write 5 sentences. Once you have written these sentences, go back and add adverbs to the sentences to make them more interesting!

My sister was home from college the past week. She was able to come to school and observe what the day in the life of a teacher is like. She was overwhelmed by the welcoming that the students gave her. The students were excited to meet Ms. Carrigan's sister and even wanted her to co-teach with me. My sister did not co-teach with me, but she did go around to students and help them individually. My sister could not believe how positive the students' reactions were to her. Having my sister come to work with me for a day was a great privilege and I am very lucky that I was able to do so.

Definitions:

college (noun)- education after high school
observe (verb)- to watch or notice
overwhelmed (verb)- strong emotional effect
co-teach (verb)- to teach with another person
individually (adverb)- separately
reactions (noun)- an action or feeling in response to an event
privilege (noun)- a special right or advantage


Matching

_____ 1. individually                                     a. to watch or notice
_____ 2. college                                             b. separately
_____ 3. privilege                                          c. education after high school
_____ 4. co-teach                                           d. to teach with another person
_____ 5. reaction                                            e. a special right or advantage
_____ 6. observe                                            f. an action or feeling in response to an event
_____ 7. overwhelmed                                   g. strong emotional effect

A verb is used to describe an action. Please write a paragraph using verbs about your day so far. 

I have been a diehard Mets fan for my whole life. Since 2006, I have waited for the NY Mets to play in postseason baseball and finally this year, 2015, they have done it! Monday, October 12th was the first postseason game ever and Citi Field and I was lucky enough to be there. The atmosphere was like no other; it was unbelievable. The fans were all cheering and screaming for their team, chanting "Lets go Mets!" As the game begins and each pitch is thrown the crowd is watching intensely await the call from the umpire. The tense atmosphere lessons as the Mets finally begin to score and run after run the fans were happier and happier. The Mets played like a true World Series team and I could not wait for the postseason to continue to watch the Mets hopefully go on to win the World Series.

Definition:

diehard (adjective)- never give up
NY Mets (proper noun)- the name of the baseball team of New York
postseason (noun)- the time following the regular season in a sport
atmosphere (noun)- the tone or mood of a place
unbelievable (adjective)- so great or extreme that it is hard to believe
intensely (adverb)- very concentrated
umpire (noun)- an official who enforces the rules in a game
World Series (noun)- the name of the baseball games between the champions of the two baseball leagues

Fill in the blank:

1. New York's baseball team is the __________________.
2. The _________________ are the baseball games between the champions of the two baseball leagues.
3. A _______________ fan never gives up.
4. The girl __________________ concentrated on her test.
5. The person who enforces the ruled in a game is the _________________.
6. It was a very exciting night, the ________________ was crazy.
7. After the regular season, some teams get the chance to play in the _________________.
8. The dinner was too good to be true so the boy described it as __________________.

A proper noun is a noun used to name a person, place or organization. Proper nouns are always capitalized. Write some examples of proper nouns in your life.

This past weekend was my cousin's wedding. Even though we live in New York, the wedding was in Chicago, Illinois. Usually getting to Chicago would only be a short flight away; however, my trip was not that simple. There were bad thunderstorms in both New York and Chicago so my flight was cancelled. After searching for another flight to Chicago for hours, it became clear that there were not any direct flights to Chicago until the next evening. The next evening was the wedding rehearsal and I needed to be in Chicago for that. I kept on searching and searching for a way to get to Chicago early the next day. I finally was able to find a connecting flight. I ended up flying to Minneapolis and staying there over night. Then early the next morning I took a flight to Chicago. I arrived there safely and thankfully on time for the wedding rehearsal. I even managed to find time to squeeze in some sightseeing. The weekend did have a rough start, but after the wedding and a lot of good family bonding, I had a fantastic time!

Definitions

Flight (noun)- airplane ride

Thunderstorm (noun)- a really bad rainstorm with thunder and lightning

Direct flight (prepositional phrase)- an airplane ride that goes straight from one place to the next

Wedding rehearsal (noun)- a practice for a wedding 

Connecting flight (prepositional phrase)- an airplane ride you take to one place and then board a different                                                                  airplane in order to get to where you want to go 

Sightseeing (noun)- visiting places that are interesting and fun to go to

Rough (adjective)- difficult, hard

 Word Scramble

hnstormterud

dgindewheleararsh

tgilfh

olicnecnghtgfnti

grhou

eistsenhgig

irdehtctfgli

A noun is a person, place, or thing. I use nouns to help add detail to my story. Please write a story about a day in your life using nouns.