My Family

I live on Long Island with my mom, my dad, and my younger brother. My mom is loving, responsible, and optimistic. She always points out the positive points in a situation if I am focused on the negative aspects. My dad is diligent, outgoing, and amusing. He loves having a good time and making people laugh. My brother is intelligent, reliable, and cool-headed. I can always count on my brother to be there for me when I need help. My family has tons of great qualities!

Vocabulary
responsible (adjective) - able to be trusted to do what is right or to do the things that need to be done
optimistic (adjective) - expecting good things to happen
focus (verb) - to direct your attention or effort at something specific
aspect (noun) - a part of something
diligent (adjective) - doing hard work carefully
outgoing (adjective) - someone who is friendly and likes being with and talking to other people
amusing (adjective) - funny or enjoyable
intelligent (adjective) -  having or showing the ability to easily learn or understand things
reliable (adjective) - able to be trusted to do what is needed
cool-headed (adjective) - able to think and act in a calm way

Vocabulary Exercise
Create a sentence using each vocabulary word. Don't forget to start with an uppercase letter and end with the appropriate punctuation mark.
1. responsible _____________________________________________________________
2. optimistic _______________________________________________________________
3. focus __________________________________________________________________
4. aspect _________________________________________________________________
5. diligent _________________________________________________________________
6. outgoing _______________________________________________________________
7. amusing ________________________________________________________________
8. intelligent _______________________________________________________________
9. reliable _________________________________________________________________
10. cool-headed ___________________________________________________________

Grammar Point
An adjective is a part of speech that describes a noun or pronoun. For example, I explained that, "My mom is loving, responsible, and optimistic." The words "loving", "responsible", and "optimistic" are adjectives because they describe my mom.

Grammar Exercise:
Which adjectives do you see in my paragraph? Write three sentences using adjectives to describe nouns.

Watch this video if you want to learn more about adjectives!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkuuZEey_bs

My Pets

My favorite type of pets are dogs. When I was younger, I had a cocker spaniel named Buster. He was blonde. Buster enjoyed running around in the backyard and playing with his toys. Buster passed away when he was fourteen years old. I did not have a pet for about eight years after Buster died. Then, I adopted Sherman. Sherman is a shih tzu. He is black and white. Sherman enjoys sleeping and playing with his toys. He also likes to go on walks. Sherman is currently nine years old. I love having dogs as pets!

Vocabulary
type (noun) - a specific group of things or people

pet (noun) - an animal (such as a dog or cat) that people take care of at their home

younger (adjective) - in an early stage of life

cocker spaniel (noun) - a type of small dog that has that has long ears and long fur

blonde (adjective) - light yellow hair on a person or fur on an animal

enjoy (verb) - to have fun or like doing something

backyard (noun) - an area in back of a house

passed away (expression) (phrasal verb) - when a person or animal has died

shih tzu (noun) - a type of small dog that has soft fur and short legs

also (adverb) - in addition

Vocabulary Exercise

Find the 10 vocabulary words in the word search. Good luck!

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

Grammar Point

Personal pronouns are words that are used as substitutes for common and proper nouns when the actual name of the noun has already been used in writing or in a conversation. For example, I explained that, "When I was younger, I had a cocker spaniel named Buster." Then, I told you, "He was blonde." I used the word "he" as a substitute for the noun "Buster." Examples of other personal pronouns are:

I

me

we

us

you

she

her

he

him

it

they

them

Grammar Exercise:

Which personal pronouns do you see in my paragraph? Write three sentences using personal pronouns.

Watch this video if you want to learn more about personal pronouns!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf7UgGyvDCA

This is Us

One of my favorite television shows is This Is Us. This Is Us is a drama about three siblings and their lives. The program also goes back in time and shows the audience the lives of the sibling's parents. The siblings' parents are Jack and Rebecca. The parents were expecting triplets. But, one of the three children died during childbirth. Then, Jack and Rebecca adopted a baby at the hospital that did not have a home. That baby is their son named Randall.  The sibling's names are Kate, Kevin, and Randall. Kate currently lives in Los Angeles, California and has a boyfriend named Toby. Randall lives in New Jersey with his wife Beth, their two daughters named Annie and Tess, and his biological father named William. Kevin previously lived in Los Angeles but recently moved to New York. This is Us is currently in it's first season and it is one of my favorite television shows!

Vocabulary
favorite (noun) - a person or thing that someone likes more than other things
drama (noun) - a television show, play, movie, or radio show that is about a serious topic
sibling (noun) - a brother or sister
audience (noun) - the people who watch, read, or listen to something
triplet (noun) - one of three babies that are born at the same time to the same mother
adopt (verb) - to legally take care of someone else's child
currently (adverb) - happening now
biological (adjective) - related through birth
previously (adverb) - happened in the past
recently (adverb) - happened not long ago

Vocabulary Exercise
Fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary word.
1. I am _________ working as a teacher's assistant.
2. My _______ is 21 years old.
3. Her __________ mother lives in another country.
4. The ________ clapped when the play ended.
5. His friend wants to _____ a child that needs a home.
6. The television show Scandal is a _____.
7. He went to Florida ________, he just got home last week.
8. My friend is a _______, she is one of three girls.
9. My brother's ________ sport is basketball.
10. We __________ lived in Queens, now we live on Long Island.

Grammar Point
Proper nouns name specific one-of-a-kind people, places, animals, things, and ideas. Proper nouns always begin with capital letters, regardless of where they are placed in a sentence.

Grammar Exercise:
Which proper nouns do you see in my paragraph? Write three sentences using proper nouns.

Watch this video if you want to learn more about proper nouns!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfkHRgqCn0M