Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Crow and the Pitcher





One day a thirsty crow found a pitcher with some water in it, but there was so little water that she could not reach it with her beak. She tried as hard as she could but she was unsuccessful. It seemed as though she would die of thirst.

Finally she hit upon a clever plan. She began dropping pebbles into the pitcher; and with each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it reached the brim, and the clever bird was able to quench her thirst.



The moral of the story is this: Necessity is the mother of invention.



VOCABULARY

In the first paragraph. . .
1. a “beak” is a bird’s (a) foot (b) feathers (c) mouth

2. to “die of thirst” means
(a) to be dead (b) to be really thirsty (c) to be deathly ill

In the second paragraph . . .
3. “She hit upon a clever plan” means
(a) She was very intelligent.
(b) She used a hammer.
(c) She thought about or came up with a solution.

4. “At last it [the water] reached the brim.” “brim” means
(a) the edge or rim of the vessel
(b) the bottom of the pitcher
(c) the water overflowed

5. “to quench her thirst” “quench” means
(a) to be thirsty
(b) to stop by satisfying
(c) to pour water into a glass

GRAMMAR

Write down fourteen subjects, their verbs, and tenses the infinitive
1. CROW FOUND past TO FIND
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.





15. There is / was introduces a singular subject
for example: (1) THERE IS A PEN on my desk.*
(2) THERE WAS A PEN on my desk yesterday.
.
NON-COUNT NOUNS are also singular
(3) THERE IS SOME WATER in the pitcher.


(a) so little [singular noun]
THERE IS SO LITTLE TIME to do my homework.

(b) so much [singular noun]
THERE WAS SO MUCH SALT in the food (that) I couldn’t eat it.

*[With THERE sentences, try also using a prepositional phrases.]
(c) Now you write a sentence using SO LITTLE


(d) Now you write a sentence using SO MUCH


16. There are / were introduces a plural COUNT NOUNS assubject
COUNT NOUNS are plural.

for example: THERE ARE PENS on my desk.
THERE WERE SOME PENS on my desk yesterday.

(a) so few (plural noun)
THERE ARE SO FEW PEOPLE here today.
(b) so many (plural noun)
THERE WERE SO MANY WOMEN waiting in line that they had to
open up another

(c) Now you write a sentence using SO FEW


(d) Now you write a sentence using SO MANY

SUPPLEMENTARY GRAMMAR

1. “She began dropping pebbles into the pitcher.”

Words such as begin,
start,
stop,
continue,
finish,
end up,
keep on are often followed by an ING word.
Try writing two of your own sentences using two of these words. You can change them to past tense or future or present perfect if you want to.





2. to rise is a verb that does NOT take an object. It just needs a subject.
For example:
(a) Everyone, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.

RISE in the above example means ____________________.

(b) The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
RISES means __________________________________

(c) I rose at 6:30 this morning.
RISE means ___________________________________

(d) Gas prices are always rising.
ARE RISING means ________________________________

Please write your own sentence using RISE, ROSE, or HAVE/HAS RISEN
(e) ________________________________________________________



CONVERSATION
Talk with your partner and then write answers in complete sentence.

1. What kind of bird is in this story? ___________________________________

2. What did she find? _____________________________________________

3. What was the problem? __________________________________________

4. What was the solution. __________________________________________

5. What does this sentence mean? Explain what you think in your own words.
“Necessity is the mother of invention.” means _______________________________________________________________

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The Fox - folksong

THE FOX as sung by Burl Ives



1.
The fox went out on a chase one night
Prayed to the moon to give him light
For he’d many a mile to go that night
Before he reached the town-o, town-o town-o,
For he’d many a mile to go that night before he reached the town -o
2.
He ran 'til he came to a great big pen
Where the ducks and the geese were kept therein
Said, “A couple of you gonna grease my chin
Before I leave this town o, town o, town-o
Couple of you gonna grease my chin before I leave this town-o.”
3.
He grabbed the gray goose by the neck
Threw a duck across his back
He didn't mind the quack, quack quack
And the legs all dangling down-o, down-o, down-o
He didn’t mind the quack, quack quack and the legs all dangling down-o.
4.
Then old mother Flipper Flopper jumped out of bed
Out of the window she cocked her head
Cryin' ,“John, John the grey goose is gone
and the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o
Cryin’,“John, John the grey goose is gone and the fox is on the town-o”
5.
Then John he ran to the top of the hill,
blew his horn both loud and shrill.
Fox, he said, “I’d better flee with my kill
or they’ll soon be on my trail-o, trail-o, trail-o/
Fox, he said, “I’d better flee with my kill or they’ll soon be on my trail-o.
6.
Well, the fox he came to his cozy den
There were the little ones, eight, nine, ten
They said, “Daddy, better go back again
'cause it must be a mighty fine town-o, town-o, town-o
They said, “Daddy, better go back again cause it must be a mighty fine town-o.
7.
Well, the fox and his wife without any strife
Cut up the goose with a carving knife
They never had such a supper in their life
and the little ones chewed on the bones-o, bones-o, bones-o
They never had such a supper in their life and the little ones chewed on the bones-o.


VOCABULARY

Verse 1
1. “a chase” is (a) for some cheese (b) with his fox friends (c) on a hunt
2. “For he’d many a mile to go” “for” means what? __________________

Verse 2
3. “ ’til ” is short for “until [a preposition]. Can you use this word in a sentence?

4. “gonna” is slang, a sort of street talk (often used in songs and casual conversation)
It means “is or are going to . . .”

“A couple of you gonna [are going to ] grease my chin.” This means
(a) I’m going to eat you.
(b) shave my whiskers
(c) get oil on your clothes

Verse 3
5. “grabbed the gray goose”
“grabbed” is the past tense of the verb “to grab”. “Grabbed” means
(a) ran around
(b) ate
(c) held onto

6. “the legs all dangling down” “dangling” means
(a) stopping
(b) hanging
(c) throwing

Verse 4
7. “she cocked her head” means
(a) She bent her head sideways
(b) She cooked dinner
(c) She looked straight ahead

8. Who is old mother Flipper Flopper? and Who is John?


Verse 5
9. John “blew his horn both loud and shrill” “shrill” means
(a) a quiet sound
(b) a loud high sound
(c) thrilled
This is a common usage: She has a shrill voice.


10. “they’ll soon be on my trail” means
(a) people will go to jail
(b) people will come after me
(c) people will drive their car

11. “I’d better flee” means
(a) I must leave in a hurry
(b) I must kill you
(c) I must stay and eat

Verse 6
12. “The fox came to his cozy den.” “cozy” means
(a) crazy
(b) dark
(c) comfortable

13. “It must be a might fine town.” “mighty fine” means
(a) very strong
(b) very nice
(c) really small

Verse 7
14. “The fox and his wife without any strife” “strife means
(a) got married
(b) did not argue
(c) divorced his wife

GRAMMAR
15. In each verse, please underline every subject with one line, the verb with two lines and next to each verse, tell what tense the verb is.

16. RHYMES are words that have the SAME SOUNDS.
Some rhymes are “perfect rhymes”, as in VERSE 1 “light rhymes with “night”
Some rhymes are “sort of rhymes” as in VERSE 2
“pen” sort of rhymes with “therein” and “chin”,
but “therein” and “chin” are perfect rhymes

17. In VERSE 3, “neck” sort of rhymes with _______________ and ___________ ,
but “quack” rhymes with _____________________

18. In VERSE, “bed” rhymes with _______________ .
and _______________ sort of rhymes with ______________

19. In VERSE 5, “hill” rhymes with _______________ and ______________.

20. In VERSE 6, “ten” rhymes with with _______________ and ______________.
21. In VERSE 7, ”strife” rhymes with with _______________ and ______________.

22. In VERSE 5, “I’d better flee” and in VERSE 6, “Daddy, [you’d] better go back again” HAD BETTER means MUST and is used with the base form of the verb.
Here are sme examples:
(a) He’d better pay me back by tomorrow, or I’ll be very angry.
(b) I’d better go to school now, or I’ll be late.
(c) You’d better do your homework, or you won’t learn the lesson.
(d) Now, please write your own sentence using HAD BETTER.


23. “They never had SUCH A supper in their life” [lives]
SUCH A or SUCH AN is used with a noun
SUCH is used with plural and non-count nouns

For example, singular:
I read such an interesting book last weekend!
I read such a good book last weekend that I want to recommend it for you to read.

plural:
I saw such good movies in the theater that I have to buy the DVDs
They had such good food at the wedding that I wanted to write a thank-you note to the bride.

(a) Please write your own SUCH A/AN sentence.


(b) Try writing a sentence using SUCH


CONVERSATION (Talk to your partner)
1. What did the fox do? __________________________________________________
2. What did John do? ____________________________________________________
3. How many little foxes were in the den? What did they want their daddy to do? Why?



4. Do you think John and Mother Flipper Flopper should be angry at the fox or do you think the fox has the right to feed his family? Discuss what you think with your partner.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gati ©2008

Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Fox and the Grapes

One day a hungry fox saw some beautiful grapes. They were hanging in great bunches from the vine, but they were high above the ground. The fox wanted to eat some so badly that he jumped and jumped, but he could not reach them. Angrily he walked away and said, “They may look beautiful, but I am sure that they are sour inside.

VOCABULARY
1. In this story, what does “great” mean? ______________

2. What’s a “bunch of grapes”? (a) a delicious dessert (b) grapes all together on a single stem (c) grape juice

3. What does “sour” mean? (a) very painful (b) very sweet (c) bitter
The word “sour” has two syllables. It rhymes with “hour” and “flower”.
Name one fruit that is always sour. _________________

GRAMMAR
1. Please look at the story and tell me the subjects, verbs, and what tenses?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
(k)

2. Look at these phrases and write two sentences, one singular and one plural.
singular plural
a bunch of grapes bunches of grapes
a cup of coffee cups of coffee
a lb. of apples 5 lbs. of apples
a glass of water glasses of water
a bag of rice bags of rice
a bottle of wine bottles of wine
a dish of cereal dishes of cereal
a piece of paper/chalk pieces of paper/chalk/pizza/pie/cake
a piece of pizza/pie/cake
a box of cookies boxes of cookies
a herd of cattle (cows) herds of cattle
a flock of sheep flock of sheep
a pair of glasses/jeans/pants/shoes pairs of glasses/jeans/pants/shoes

a.

b.________________________________________________________________

3. “badly” is an adverb. Adverbs tell about (modify) VERBS, ADJECTIVES,and other ADVERBS. What does “badly” tell about in this sentence? The fox wanted to eat some grapes badly. ________________________________________
What does “angrily” tell about in this sentence? “Angrily he walked away and said . . .”
_______________________________________________________________
4. SO (adjective or adverb) THAT
examples:
a. I am SO cold THAT I have to put on a jacket.
b. I was SO tired THAT I couldn’t eat dinner.
c. He always drives SO fast THAT he gets a lot of tickets.
d. She drives SO slowly THAT people always honk their horns.
e. Mary did SO well on her test THAT she is going to UC Berkeley in the Spring.

Can you write a sentence with SO . . .THAT?


CONVERSATION
Talk to a partner. Why do you think the fox said that he was sure the grapes were sour? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sunday, September 7, 2008

The Tortoise and the Hare




A hare was always making fun of a tortoise for his slow manner. One day, the tortoise challenged the hare to a race, and the hare quickly agreed.

They began, and soon the hare left the tortoise way behind. Midway through the race, though, she became bored and began to snack on some tasty grass. The noonday sun was high in the sky, and the hare grew quite warm. Seeing she was far ahead, she found a shady spot and went to sleep, thinking she could always catch up to the tortoise.

Meanwhile, the tortoise plugged along in his slow way, passing and then overtaking the sleeping hare.

The hare overslept and awoke from her nap realizing that the tortoise had passed her by. She then took off at full speed; but even though she ran as fast as she could, she could not catch up, and the tortoise reached the finish line first and won.

The moral of this story is this: Slow and steady wins the race.








VOCABULARY

1. “ to make fun of “ (in Paragraph I) means (a) to have a lot of fun (b) to tease (c) to make a joke

2. The tortoise challenged the hare to race with him.
He said, (a) “I want you to eat lunch with me.”
(b) “I want to eat you.”
(c) “Let’s see who is the fastest runner.”

3. “midway” means (a) in the middle of the road (b) in the middle of the race (c) middle age

4. “to snack” means (a) to eat something between meals (b) to get sick after eating (c) to eat a snake

5. In paragraph 2 where it says “grew quite warm,” what is a synonym for “quite”? _____________________________

6. What does “grew” mean in the verb phrase “grew quite warm”? _______________________________________

7. “shady” means (a) sunshine (b) dirty (c) not in the sun

8. What’s a synonym for “spot” in the phrase “a shady spot”? ________________________________________

9. “catch up” means (a) a tomato sauce we use on hamburgers (b) to sing with other people
(c) when someone is no longer behind or later than others

10. In paragraph 3, “meanwhile” means (a) at the same time something else is happening (b) the definition or meaning
(c) many things

11. “The tortoise plugged along in his slow way.” means (a) stopped along the way (b) kept going slowly
(c) went back to the beginning slowly

12 “overtaking” means (a) talking it over (b) jumping and hopping (c) going past

13. In paragraph 4, “to oversleep” means (a) to sleep over at someone’s house (b) to pull blankets over your head
(c) to sleep past the time you’re supposed to get up

14. What does this sentence mean? “She took off at full speed.”
(a) She ran as fast as she could. (b) She ate until she was full. (c) She took off all her clothes.

GRAMMAR
Please write every subject, verb, and what tense
1.
2.
3.
4
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25. Choose three past tense verbs and write your own sentences.
a.
b.
c.

26. “quickly” is an adverb. “quick” is an adjective
Write two sentences using both words. _________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

27. “quite” is another word for “very” or “really” and is used with an adjective. For example, “I feel quite tired.”
Write your own sentence using “quite.” _____________________________________________________

28. “as fast as” is a way to use an adjective to compare two things or people or ideas that are the same.
For example, She is as tall as I. This means we are the same height.
He is as bad at English as I am. This means his Engish is the same as mine.
Her building is as big as mine. Both buildings are the same size.

You write a sentence using “as (adjective) as” ________________________________________________







CONVERSATION

1. Who are the main characters in this story? ________________________________________________
2. Who was behind? Why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What did the tortoise win? ______________________________________________________________
4. Please explain what “Slow and steady wins the race” means?



5. Can you give a personal example when this statement was true for you or for someone you know?


_________________________________________________________________________________________________