Thursday, September 29, 2016


You Say Tomato, I Say Tomato

One of the reasons I will miss the summer is that I won't have any more home-grown tomatoes.  Every May my Dad plants tomato seeds in a large, bulky plant pot.  After endless days of watering the soil green starts to green sprouts begin to emerge from the brown dirt.  By July the tomato plants grow to sky-high levels and we need to enclose them in tomato cages.  Tomato cages surround the plant to help them stay straight so they don't droop or break down.  Even in the end of September, my family and I collect numerous cherry tomatoes from our plants daily.  We use every tomato that comes from our plants.  We make tomato sauce, even in scorching summer, and we freeze the sauce so we can make warm meals like baked ziti and lasagna during the chilly winters.  A delicious, new recipe I recently learned to make is bruschetta.  The best part about all of these homemade recipes is the home-grown ingredient they are made with! Yum!


Grammar Point
Synonyms are words or phrases that share very similar meanings. For example, "shut the door" and "close the door" have the same meaning because the words shut and close are synonyms. Create synonyms for the bolded keywords. Use words that come before and after the keywords to help you.
bulky (adj): 
emerge (v): 
enclose (v): 
surround (v): 
droop (v): 
numerous (adj):
scorching (adj): 
chilly (adj): 
delicious (adj): 



Were You on the Right Track?
bulky (adj): taking up much space
emerge (v): to come into view
enclose (v): to be closed off by something
surround (v): to be all around
droop (v): to bend 
numerous (adj): many
scorching (adj): very hot
chilly (adj): uncomfortably cold
delicious (adj): highly pleasant to taste

Activity 2
Substitute the keywords with your synonyms.

One of the reasons I will miss the summer is that I won't have any more home-grown tomatoes.  Every May my Dad plants tomato seeds in a large, _________ plant pot.  After endless days of watering the soil green starts to green sprouts begin to ___________ from the brown dirt.  By July the tomato plants grow to sky-high levels and we need to _________________ them in tomato cages.  Tomato cages _______________ the plant to help them stay straight so they don't __________ or break.  Even in the end of September, my family and I collect __________ cherry tomatoes from our plants daily.  We use every tomato that comes from our plants.  We make tomato sauce, even in ______________ summer, and we freeze the sauce so we can make warm meals like baked ziti and lasagna during the _______ winters.  A _____________, new recipe I recently learned to make is bruschetta.  The best part about all of these homemade recipes is the home-grown ingredient they are made with! Yum!


Wednesday, September 14, 2016


My Trip to the Dog Park
Have you ever been to a dog park? They are so much fun! You see many furry four-legged friends and lots of two-legged companions too.  This is a great place for dogs to make friends and for their owners to meet like-minded, dog-loving people.  If you decide to visit a dog park make sure you watch where you're stepping and avoid puddles and piles on the ground.  Most importantly, make sure you keep any treats out of sight and smell or else you may be the most popular doggie-friend at the park!

Vocabulary:
 companion: a person or animal who spends a lot of time with another person or animal
avoid: keep away from
popular: liked by many people
owner: having something in possession
importantly: showing serious meaning
furry: covered with fur
ground: surface of the Earth

Grammar Point
Punctuations tells us how the narrator is presenting an idea. If the narrator is asking a question a question mark (?) will be placed at the end of the sentence. If the narrator is making a statement or making a command a period (.) will be placed at the end of the sentence. If the narrator is shouting or yelling, an exclamation mark (!) will be placed at the end of the sentence. Create one sentence for each vocabulary word and use the three punctuations at the end of the sentences.

Let's See What we Know!
Fill in the crossword puzzle with the vocabulary words above.