Blog #4 - Ms. Tornincaso

In addition to being a teacher, I am a cheerleading coach at a High School. Just like teaching, being a coach is a very rewarding experience. Each day I teach, encourage, and condition a group of fine young girls into all around athletes. Cheerleading is often incorrectly addressed as not being a sport. In the state of New York, cheerleading is considered a sport, and one of the most dangerous at that. In cheerleading these girls have to run and jump. They tumble and flip landing on their feet, ready to run to their next spot. They cheer, dance, fly, lift and catch.  All while smiling and remembering to breath.  They have two minutes and thirty seconds to hit a perfect routine and show how talented they are.  There is no "making a come back" in the second half of the match or the fourth quarter of the game. You have exactly two minutes and thirty seconds to put it all out there and not fall, trip, slip, or drop someone.  Each mistake costs you a point deduction. Something as small as not smiling will cost you a five point deduction. Step off the mat, and you just cost your team minus ten points for a safety infraction. Cheerleading is not what it used to be, and we only have two minutes and thirty seconds to prove that to you.

Vocabulary:

rewarding - (noun) something that is given in return for doing something good or well.

encourage - (verb) to inspire with spirit.

condition - (verb) to mold or work on over and over to make something the way you want it.

routine - (noun) a regular course of action done the same way all the time.

deduction - (noun) to take away or to be subtracted.

infraction - (noun) something done wrong; a violation.


Vocabulary Exercise

L U G V D V I P Z C H E N A A 
N Z L N J W D Q J N J G R X A 
Q P J G I L I G U L G A Q L K 
X E G Y A D H D W L J R X W Z 
N O I T C A R F N I P U B A T 
T R J A J K G A N H B O E T P 
B O O M U L S O W D T C B P V 
D E D U C T I O N E V N N K E 
D Z B C T T M Q L M R E H Q C 
K Y O Z I I G G M X P F A M Q 
A B H D J B N E I Z O C U H S 
S A N N J U W E Z G M Z N L X 
X O G Z F K S Y O A A N O A K 
C Q X G Y K J R S K T U X O K 
P J V X O L U T B X P T W I H 

CONDITION
DEDUCTION
ENCOURAGE
INFRACTION
REWARDING
ROUTINE

Grammar Point: The paragraph is written using a lot of verbs to describe the different actions, and create a picture to help the reader visualize what is going on.

Grammar Point Exercise: The students will write a paragraph about something they are doing using as many verbs as possible to help us visualize what they are doing and how they are doing it.