Where The Wild Things Are

This weekend I saw the movie, “ Where The Wild Things Are.” I thought this movie was fantastic! This movie is based upon a children’s book called, Where The Wild Things Are. When I was a child, I absolutely loved this book. I must have read this book a thousand times when I was little. This book is about a little boy who has a wild imagination. One night he gets in trouble and has to go to his bedroom with no dinner. While he is in his room he imagines he is in this crazy jungle. His bedroom actually turns into a jungle. The trees start to grow on his walls and ceiling. It was so cool. All of the sudden, he was walking through a wild forest. While he was walking in the forest, he comes across the monsters, which are called wild things. At first these wild thing seem scary, but they turn out to be nice. The little boy, Max, actually becomes their king. They have a fantastic time together, but eventually Max has to return home. Max wakes up in his bed and finds a hot bowl of soup for him left by his mother. When this book came out there was a lot of controversy. Many parents thought this book was too scary and too violent for children to read. That does not seem to be the case and children everywhere love to read this classic story. The movie pretty much stayed to the same storyline as the book. The only real difference is in the movie Max runs away and imagines the forest, instead of being sent to his room. I thought the movie was wonderfully done. The wild things actually looked real. The graphics were amazing. I recommend anyone who loves the book to go and see this movie.

Vocabulary:

fantastic- wonderful, great

absolutely- totally, completely, entirely

wild- crazy

imagination- creativity

jungle- forest, trees

comes across- walks by, meets

monsters- not human

wild things- the type of monsters in the story

eventually- finally, some day

violent- powerful, not nice

controversy- argument, disagreement

does not seem to be the case- it is not true

classic- the best

graphics- pictures

Activity:

In the last blog we learned about nouns which are a part of speech. Another part of speech are adjectives. Adjectives are words that describe the nouns. Usually the adjectives come before the noun in the sentence, but sometimes it comes after the noun too. For example, “I thought this movies was fantastic.” The noun is “movie,” and the adjective is, “fantastic.” The word “fantastic” is describing how the movie was. Find 6 adjectives in the blog written above.

1. ____________________________

2. ____________________________

3.____________________________

4.____________________________

5.____________________________

6.____________________________

Zac Brown Band

The Zac Brown Band has become one of my favorite bands. They released their first album this year, and it was a total hit. I cannot stop listening to the music. Every time I am in my bedroom I listen to their CD. One of their most famous songs is “Chicken Fried.” I love this song. “Chicken Fried” is a song about just enjoying life. This song says how the little things in life are what mean the most. It does not matter how much money you have, where you live, or what type of clothes you wear. What matters most in people’s lives are the people they love, their children, their wives, their mothers, and their friends. They are in their backyards having barbecues with fried chicken, listening to the radio, and watching the sunrise. I totally agree with this song, and I think this is an important message for children of today’s world to understand.

Zac Brown Band- a country music group

favorite- most-liked

album- CD

total hit- everyone loved it

famous- really well known by a lot of people

enjoying life- being happy

type of clothes- brand names or no name brands, expensive or not expensive

barbecues- backyard party

fried chicken- when chicken is cooked in oil and bread crumbs

sunrise-when the sun comes in the morning

totally agree- completely thinking the same thing

message- idea

Activity:

In the English language as in many other languages, there are different parts of speech.

The part of speech we will be focusing on today is nouns. A noun is a person, place, or thing. For example, a person or people- wives, place- world, thing- song. Find 10 nouns in the blog and state whether they are a person, place, or thing.

1.________________________________________________

2.________________________________________________

3.________________________________________________

4.________________________________________________

5.________________________________________________

6.________________________________________________

7.________________________________________________

8.________________________________________________

9.________________________________________________

10.________________________________________________

I bought Carrie Underwood’s new CD, “Play On,” this month. I think the songs are very nice. There are a lot of slow moving songs on her CD, but overall I think it is a good CD. Her most popular song from the CD is called “Cowboy Cassanova.” I think this song is great. It has a wonderful beat to it, and the lyrics are excellent. My favorite two songs on the CD are “Undo it” and “Temporary Home.” “Undo” it is more of an upbeat song, and it is about making mistakes that a person cannot take back. “Temporary Home” is a slower, more serious song. This song is about how everyone’s life no matter where one is living, is just a temporary home, because the permanent home is in Heaven. I think this song is very heartwarming, and I just really enjoy listening to it.

Vocabulary:

Carrie Underwood-a country singer

CD-compact disc(what music is recorded on)

slow moving- when the song is not fast

beat- the pattern the sound makes

lyrics-the words in the song

upbeat-fast, happy

mistakes- something that was done wrong

serious- not funny, important

permanent- it will last forever

heartwarming- uplifting, happy, sincere

Activity:

In the English language there are words that mean the same as other words. These words are called synonyms. For example, the word think is similar to the word believe. These words are called synonyms.

Directions: Choose five words from the blog and write down a synonym for each word.

1. ______________________ __________________________
2. ______________________ __________________________
3. ______________________ __________________________
4. ______________________ __________________________
5. ______________________ __________________________

CMA's

The Country Music Awards were on the other night. Taylor Swift won Entertainer of The Year. I personally did not agree with this win. I thought she deserved all the other awards she won, but not this one. She is only 19 years old and this past year is when she had her first tour, so she does not have that much experience. Yes, I think she is very talented and does put on a great show, however, I think she was just too young to win this award. Being 19, she is the youngest person to ever win this award. The other nominees for this award included Keith Urban, Brad Paisely, Kenny Chesney, and George Strait. Kenney Chesney has won this award four out of the past five years. I have never seen him in person, but I have seen his concerts on TV and I think he is wonderful. I have seen Keith Urban and Brad Paisley in concert and I think they are both amazing performers. If I had to choose I would have liked to see Keith Urban win this award. I mean whatever, it really is not that big of a deal, and I do not really care that much. I wanted to express my opinion.

Vocabulary:

Country Music Awards- this is when country music singers are given all different types of awards depending on how good they sing and perform.

Entertainer of The Year- the person who sings and puts on the best concerts

Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, George Strait- they are all country singers

deserved- if you earned something because of a lot of hard work

award- prize, trophy

past - what happen before

performers - singers

whatever- an American saying

express- to say

opinion- what one believes in

Assignment:

Write about a time you disagreed with the results of a contest and be sure to state why you disagreed.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A Wonderful Vacation

Where is the one place you would like to visit? For me, my favorite place to visit is Rome. I would like to spend two weeks in Rome, with the first week touring the city, and I would like to spend the second week just relaxing. I would like to visit the Coloseum, the Vatican City, the ruins, and all the amazing historical places in Rome. I think it is just so fascinating to learn about all the history and then to actually see the historical sites. I would like to wake up early in the morning to get a head start on the day, and I would like to start touring the city right away. I want to see everything. I would be sure to take plenty pictures and to write in a journal everyday, so I will not forget anything. While I am in Rome, I will be sure to eat plenty of gelato because gelato is just amazingly delicious! There are so many tasty flavors. One of my favorite things to do while I am in Rome is to just sit down across from the Coloseum in the afternoon, eat my lunch, and just stare at the Coloseum. I think that structure is the most amazing site I ever seen in my life. No matter how many times I see it, I am always blown away by it. It is just so huge and so fascinating. It was built so many years ago, and it is still standing, which I think is spectacular. If you go to Rome, you should definitely visit the Coloseum. After I am done touring the city, I would like to just enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of Rome. I want to just walk around the city, sit in cafes and people watch, and basically just enjoy the view. The perfect ending to my trip does not exist because I would never want to leave. That being said, hypothetically, the perfect ending to my trip would be to go out to a nice authentic Italian restaurant for dinner, which would be followed by a lovely walk around the city. As I am taking the walk, I will be sure to visit the Trevi Fountain, which is where I will eat my last gelato of the trip, and then I will end the night by viewing the fantastic Coloseum one last time.

In the English language there are four types of sentences: simple, complex, compound, and compound-complex.
-A simple sentence has one subject and one predicate such as, “The dog ran away.”
-A complex sentence is a simple sentence and one or more dependent clauses such as, “If I come late, start without me.”
-A compound sentence contains at least two simple sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction such as, “The dog and cat ran away.”
-A compound-complex sentence is made up of two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause such as, “When the teacher assigned the reading for the exam, many students were stunned, but they agreed to study as well as they can.”

Exercise:
Write at least one example for each of the four types of sentences.
1. (Simple Sentence): ________________________________

_______________________________________________

2. (Complex Sentence):________________________________________ _______________________________________________

3. (Compound Sentence):______________________________
_______________________________________________

4. (Compound-Complex Sentence):________________________
_______________________________________________

Are You Hungry?

On the weekends I babysit a little boy. Every Saturday we cook dinner and bake a dessert. Today I am going to share a recipe with all of you. The recipe is macaroni and cheese. There are three ingredients to this recipe: macaroni, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. You will need half a pound of macaroni, 8 ounces of cheese, and 8 ounces of sour cream. The first thing you need to do is fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Then place the macaroni in the pot. When the macaroni is cooked, strain the macaroni. Next, place the macaroni in a baking dish. After that, put the sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese in the baking dish too. Then mix all the ingredients together. Finally, place the baking dish in the oven for about 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Vocabulary

weekends- Saturday and Sunday

babysit- to take care of a child

share - to give

recipe- directions for making food

ingredients- what food you need for the recipe

bring it to a boil- when the water is very hot and it bubbles

strain the macaroni- take out all the water

baking dish- a glass dish that can go in the oven

shredded- cut up into very small pieces

mix- put together, combine

Activity

• In today’s blog I wrote how to make macaroni and cheese. I explained the steps to take. What to do first, second, third, and last. I used the words, first, then, after that, and finally. This is called sequencing.
• Tell me how to do something using at least five steps.
• For example, how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, how to make a paper airplane, or how to draw a picture.
• Make sure you use the sequencing words first, then, after that, and finally. You may also use second, third, or any other sequencing words.

1. ____________________________

2. ____________________________

3. ____________________________

4. ____________________________

5._____________________________

6._____________________________

7. _____________________________

It is Time For Baseball

Oh boy, do I love playoff baseball. This time of the year is so exciting. The Dogers and the Phillies are playing for the National League Championship Series, and the Yankees and the Angels are playing for the American League Championship Series. I am a huge Yankee fan. I absolutely love the New York Yankees. Every game played in the playoffs is just so exciting. To win this series a team has to win four of the seven games played. Today the Yankees played an awesome game! They won the game 10 to 1! There were some really great plays in today’s game. The pitcher pitched an amazing game. He only gave up one run and pitched 8 innings. The Yankees hit numerous home runs today. They also made some great defensive plays. They now lead the series three games to one. All they have to do is win one more game, and they go to the World Series. I can’t wait for that to happen. I am so excited! This is their year!

Vocabulary:

Oh boy- an American saying that shows excitement

Playoff basesball- When teams are playing extra games to see who is the best team

Dogers, Phillies, Angels, Yankees- Names of professional baseball teams

National League and American League Championship Series- the second round of playoffs. First their is the division Series, then the championship series, and then the World Series.

Fan- a person who really likes a team and wants them to win

Absolutely- totally, definitely, for sure

Awesome- wonderful, fantastic, great

Plays-when the ball is hit and the player in the field gets the ball

Pitcher- the player who throws the ball to the batter.

Batter- the player who hits the ball with the baseball bat

Baseball bat- a piece of wood used to hit the ball

Run- a point, a goal, when you score a run, you get a point for your team

Innings- in baseball the players play 9 innings. That is how long the game is.

Numerous- a lot, many

Home runs- when the ball is hit out of the field into the stands where the fans are sitting

Defensive plays- when he players in the field get the ball

Lead- to win

This is their year- they are going to win

Activity:

• The highlighted words in the paragraph are known as homophones.
• Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different meanings and spellings

Write down five pairs of homophones.

1. __________________ and ________________

2. _________________and _________________

3. ________________ and _________________

4. ______________ and ____________________

5. ________________and ____________________