Blog #3 - Ms. Tornincaso

I was born into the Catholic religion, and for my whole life that is all I have known.  Sure, through the years I have grown to learn about other religions and cultures, but I've never been immersed into another culture.  My boyfriend of ten months is Jewish, and his family has graciously invited me to spend the Passover holiday with them.  I gratefully excepted with excitement, however, I must admit, I am somewhat nervous.  I am aware that Passover is a very important holiday in the Jewish religion and there are certain rules to abide by.  For instance; I would like to bring something to dinner, but what is allowed?  What is "kosher" and what is not "kosher"?  Whatever I do decide to bring, must follow specific rules of the religion and the holiday.  I am aware that some sort of prayer or ceremony takes place during the Passover dinner.  I'm not sure what it is all about, or what I am supposed to do.  I guess I'll just sit quietly and politely.  I'm not sure what Passover is really about, and to be honest, I am curious.  That's just my nature.  I'm a curious person.  So my next question is:  Is it rude or impolite to ask question about the Jewish faith or the holiday?  Despite any anxiety I might have about the dinner, I am very excited and honored to be invited.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Vocabulary

immerse - (verb) to cover something completely, or to be completely involved in

gracious - (adjective) kind and polite

admit - (verb) to tell the truth.  Or to let someone in to someplace.

nervous - (adjective) worried or frightened

instance - (noun) for example

kosher - (adjective) food that has been made to correctly follow the Jewish religion

Passover - (noun) a Jewish festival celebrated in the Spring

anxiety - (noun) a feeling of worry or being nervous


Vocabulary Exercise

Matching Exercise.

___ kind and polite                                                                     A.   anxiety

___ worried or frightened                                                       B.    immerse

___ food that has been made to correctly                       C.    Passover
         follow the Jewish religion

___ a feeling of worry or being nervous                           D.   gracious

___ to cover something completely, or to be                E.   kosher
         completely involved in

___ to tell the truth, or let someone in to                        F.   admit
         someplace

___ for example                                                                          G.   instance

___ a Jewish festival celebrated in the Spring                  H.  nervous


Grammar Point:  The paragraph is written using a lot of adjectives to describe my feelings about the situation.

Grammar Point Exercise:  Write a paragraph using at least eight adjectives to describe how you feel about a certain situation that happened to you.

Blog #2 - Ms. Tornincaso

Since I was four years old, my family has owned a house in Fort Pierce, Florida.  Every year we would go to Florida the day after Christmas Day to spend a week vacationing with our extended family.  During the week we would spend time doing different things.  Me and my brother would spend time swimming in our in ground pool and hot tub.  We would walk along the dock in the backyard fishing or looking for manatees that happened to wander into the canal.  If we happened to see a manatee, we would hang the hose over the edge of the dock to give them some fresh water to drink and some lettuce to eat.  We visited the chocolate factory to watch how chocolates were made, and buy treats to take home with us.  We also spent time at a citrus fruit farm picking out oranges, grape fruits and homemade jams.  Going to the beach was one of my favorite things to do with my family in Florida.  Spending the day from morning to night at the beach was an ideal day for me.  Each night we would all get ready and go out to a fantastic restaurant to eat some of the most delicious food I can ever remember eating.  My memories of this Florida house and my family vacations are some of the best of my life.  I spent a lot of time with my grandparents on these vacations.  These are some of the most cherished times of my life.  I will never forget the years I spent at my Florida house with my family.

Vocabulary:

extended - (verb) made longer.  Stretched or pulled.

manatee - (noun) a large sea animal.  Gray in color.

canal - (noun) a narrow man made water way used for travel.

factory - (noun) a building or group of buildings where products are made in large amounts.

fantastic - (adjective) very great, almost not believable.

ideal -   (adjective) a perfect mental picture of something. 


Exercise:
Fill in the blank.

Joseph and Angela walked along the dock looking out at the __________ to see if they could spot any sea animals such as a _____________ .  There was a loose board in the dock. Joseph ____________ his hand in Angela's direction to help her over the loose board.  The weather was sunny, warm and just ______________ .  Their mother called them inside to take a trip to see how chocolate is made at the chocolate ______________. It was sure to be an _____________ day!


Grammar Point:  The paragraph is written in the past tense using specific past tense words and past tense endings on words.

Grammar Point Exercise:  Write a paragraph of at least 10 sentences about an experience you had, or a day you remember using past tense words and endings.

Blog #1-Ms. Tornincaso (1/17/13)

My name is Angela Tornincaso.  I am a 7th grade self-contained teacher in Ozone Park, Queens.  I have twelve students; six boys and six girls.  In my self-contained classroom I teach English Language Arts and Math.  Each student in my class has a disability and very specific individual needs.  The age range in my class is from twelve years of age to fourteen years of age.  My students are anywhere from a first grade reading level to a sixth grade reading level.  I have one student who can not read and write at all.  Every day I set aside thirty minutes to sit with him and teach him how to read and write.  Every day is a challenge, and every day presents another issue or situation that must be dealt with.  My students live in a high needs area where most families are either a single parent home, or a home exposed to divorce.  Most students do not have a parent at home to help them with their school work and they struggle to get through school each and every day.  I give them as much of myself as I can.  There are days when I am completely frustrated and ready to give up, and then there is that one moment, every day, without fail, that reminds me of why I do what I do and why I love it.

Vocabulary:

self-contained (adjective) - completely independent or separated.

disability (noun) - a physical or mental condition that limits a person's activities.

situation (noun) - a place; or something that happens.

frustrated (adjective) - annoyed because of being unable  to do something.

without fail (idiom) - if something happens without fail, it always happens.

issue (noun) - important topic or problem. (verb) - to give or supply with. 

Exercise:
Matching Exercise.

                        Definitions                                                        Vocabulary Words
___ completely independent or separated                                      a. disability

___ annoyed because of being unable to do something                 b.  issue

___ important topic or problem. To give or supply with.              c.  self-contained

___ a physical or mental condition that limits a person's              d.  without fail
        activities.

___ it always happens                                                                    e.  situation

___ a place; or something that happens                                         f.  frustrated

Grammar Point:  The paragraph is written in the first person point of view using specific key words, such as: I, me, my, mine, myself.

Grammar Point Exercise:  Write a paragraph of at least ten sentences describing you, your family and your life at home using the first person point of view.  Be sure to use the specific key words used in first person point of view.