Am I Crazy?

Hello, my name is Marcy. I am 15 years old and I am convinced that my teachers are plotting to make me fail. All throughout my life I have had problems making friends. When I was 12 I made my first friend named Patty. She and I have been inseparable for 3 years. She actually understands who I am and agrees with me about my theories pertaining to my teachers. My parents do not like Patty, telling me that she needs to leave my life forever. They finally made me see a psychiatrist who informed me that Patty never existed. The doctor mandated that I take these red pills and Patty doesn’t come around anymore.

Vocabulary:

Convinced: (Verb) to be sure; to persuade

Plotting: (Verb) planning

Inseparable: (Adjective) stays together

Agrees: (Verb) having the same opinion

Pertaining: (Verb) to belong to

Psychiatrist: (Noun) doctor that focuses on the brain

Pills: (Noun) medication; medicine

Close Exercise:

1. The doctor is making me take these __________________ for my headaches.
2. My brothers ___________________ that I am very annoying.
3. All the information on your sheet is _____________________ to the lab we are doing.
4. I was ___________________ that the magic trick was a fake.
5. My dog and I are ___________________ when I am not in school.
6. Crazy people need to see a ____________________ to get better.
7. My mother is ____________________ to ruin my life.

Additional Exercise:

Write 3 to 4 sentences summarizing the passage and identify as many verbs and nouns as you could in your paragraph

The Scariest Place on Earth

My name is Samuel Gomez and I am a student in Roosevelt Middle School. I am different from many other students because I do not speak the same language as them. I am native to El Salvador. Can you imagine being in a place where most of the people your age does not speak your language? I am scared every day because I sometimes can’t even communicate simple needs. I feel so alone. I have found a way to feel alone in a place with many people. I do not even exist according to many of the native English speakers. I am struggling to learn English because I will not have a voice in this scary place until that voice is in English.

Vocabulary:

Speak: (Verb) verbal communication using words

Native: (Adjective) originating in a particular place

Language: (Noun) system of words common to a people of the same community

Communicate: (Verb) convey a message

Struggling: (Verb) having trouble doing something

Voice: (Noun) Sounds that come from your mouth

Close Exercise:

1. Nobody can hear me because I lost my ______________________.
2. I can’t understand what the teacher is saying because we don’t speak the same ______________________.
3. A fish from the Baltic Sea is said to be __________________ to that area.
4. I want to ____________________ to your manager.
5. There are many other ways to ____________________ what you need other than speaking.
6. I am _______________________ to understand you because you are talking too softly.

Additional Exercise:

Write a short paragraph about your experience in Middle School. You must discuss how you interact with other students.

The Flat Earth Society

There is a group of people called the Flat Earth Society. These people believe that the Earth is flat instead of round. They believe that all pictures of the earth were made the same way that movies are made. They also believe that the sun revolves around the earth as do all of the other planets. This idea is a called geocentric view of the earth which means that Earth is in the center of the universe. These people have no valuable data to prove this idea. Normal people do not agree with this because there is a large amount of evidence to show us that the Earth is round.

Vocabulary:

Believe: (Verb) to think; to have confidence in the truth

Flat: (Adjective) Horizontal level

Round: (Adjective) circular surface

Revolves: (Verb) moves around

Center: (Adjective) in the middle

Valuable: (Adjective) important

Close Activity:

1. A ball is __________________.
2. Allen ____________________ that Susan is part of the Flat Earth Society.
3. The moon ____________________ around the Earth.
4. I like to eat on a _________________ table.
5. Money is very ____________________ in the United States.
6. There is a hole in the _________________ of a CD.

Additional Exercise:

Write whether you agree or disagree with the Flat Earth Society and support your answer using at least three of the vocabulary words.

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

My name is Cassandra and I love Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. This candy is amazing in various ways. First, it has a light sweet flavor that does not spoil dinner. I think I like the consistency the best. It is easily chewed and does not stick to your teeth. It is also kind of gritty. Many of the other candies are chewy and stick in your mouth. There is a major step you need to take before eating a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. You need to freeze them. This transforms the peanut butter into a perfect gritty texture. Freezing the candy is an effective process for my candy of choice but is a major mistake with the candies that are more liquid such as Snickers. When the caramel becomes a solid it becomes too hard to eat and can hurt your teeth.

Vocabulary:

Various: (Adjective) Many; several

Light: (Adjective) Not a powerful flavor

Spoil: (Verb) To go bad

Consistency: (Noun) amount of density

Gritty: (Adjective) texture that feels sandy

Freeze: (Verb) to make into a solid by lowering temperature

Transform: (Verb) To change

Liquid: (Adjective) like water

Solid: (Noun) object that is rigid

Close Activity:

1. If you leave chicken on the counter for days it will ____________________.
2. If I make something cold it becomes a ______________________.
3. There are ___________________ reasons to eat candy.
4. The word, ___________________, can describe food or how bright something is.
5. To transform a _______________ to a solid you need to freeze it.
6. Cassandra does not like Snicker because it is ________________.
7. Another word for transform is ______________________.
8. Gritty is an a word that can describe the ___________________ of food/
9. A food that is _______________ does not stick to your teeth.
10. The __________________ of food is another word for consistency in the paragraph.

Additional Activity:

Write 4 sentences using the vocabulary words but leave a blank for the vocabulary words and let a partner try the close exercise.

Diary of a Bacterium

I am only one cell big. I spend most of my time taking in nutrients and oxygen to make energy and have been caught many times reproducing in public. Some of my grandparents spend all of their time eating and reproducing on dead organisms. I on the other hand prefer to live in a warmer environment, like inside the body of sniffling teenage students. This is very risky because teenagers often cheat when at war with me by using antibiotics to kill me. This is chemical warfare and it is wrong.

Vocabulary:

Eating: (Verb) to chew and swallow

Dead: (Adjective) not alive

Warmer: (Adjective) more heat

Environment: (Noun) surroundings

Sniffling: (Verb) to sniff repeatedly

Risky: (Adjective) dangerous

War: (Noun) fight

Antibiotics: (Noun) medicine that kills bacteria

Close Exercise:

1. Antibiotics are made to kill ______________________.
2. Bacteria use __________________ and ___________________ to create energy.
3. If you are sniffling then you are probably __________________.
4. There is a ________________ between the U.S. and Iraq.
5. Your body becomes _______________________ when you use a jacket or coat.
6. If you are sick you may need to see a _____________________.
7. If someone is ___________________ they can’t move anymore.
8. If you __________________ bad food you will get sick.
9. The opposite of the word “warmer” is the word “________________”.
10. War can cause a large amount of ___________________.

Additional Exercise:

1. Summarize the paragraph in 3 to 4 sentences.
2. You must use 4 out of the 8 vocabulary words.