Disney Day 7

Alas, our final day has arrived; the following day we'd be boarding a plane back to New York and back to life as we know it. We tried to make the most out of our last full day. We went back to Magic Kingdom

and tried to do all that we didn't do on the first day. First we ate breakfast at "The Sleepy Hollow Inn." Being someone who teaches literature, I found it imperative that I go there for my waffles. After breakfast we walked over to everyone's favorite ride to hate and love "It's a small world." This ride puts its guests in a boat and the ride takes you through different countries all while playing the same song on a loop. Although the song can be an earworm, it's a memory you won't forget. After that we decided to walk the park and go on the famous rides like "Splash Mountain," "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad," and "Space Mountain." These rides have been around for years and although they are older, they are a fan-favorite when people come to Disney World. We stopped for lunch and got a bite to eat. Next we went to the Haunted Mansion ride where we waited for a long time, but it was worth it. We didn't want to be late for our dinner reservations so we hung around the restaurant until it was time. We ate at "Cinderella's Royal Table,"
which was located inside the famous Cinderella's castle. The dinner was an experience because periodically throughout the night, different Disney Princesses would walk around and take pictures with guests. After dinner we finally used the Fast Pass that we won on the first day to go on the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride, based on Snow White. After the ride we went to the front of the park to find a good spot for the firework show. After the firework show, we got some ice cream and took some pictures. After that, it was time to say goodbye to our Disney vacation. After arriving back in New York the following night, plans started being made for the next Disney vacation. 

Vocabulary
Literature-written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit
Earworm-a catchy song or tune that runs continually through a person's mind
Fan-favorite-something that is very popular with the supporters
Experience-practical contact with and observation of facts or events
Periodically-at regularly occurring intervals

Disney Day 6

The 6th day, New Year's Eve, we went back to Epcot for the day.

 We arrived at 7:45 A.M to make sure we were in the park as early as possible. We ate breakfast and went on some rides, trying to go on whatever we didn't go on the first day, and try the new stuff. This day, we spent less time in Future World and more time in The World Showcase. We took our time going through each country pavilion and tried to savor and enjoy what each pavilion had to offer. We tried different foods from the different countries and many of the different cultural drinks they had to offer. We did what is called "snacking around The World" which means we went to each country and had at least one thing to eat from each. This allows people to become more cultured and explore diversity. We went on some of the rides offered by the pavilions but not all. We stopped at some shops in the pavilions as well and got some souvenirs from the different countries. This experience was really fun for anyone who hasn't been out of the country or hasn't had the opportunity to travel much. We ate dinner at The Coral Reef again and then decided to find a spot to enjoy the fireworks. After much persuasion, I was able to get us entry into a private section where we had a perfect view of the fireworks. The firework show was the same as the last Epcot day but this time they celebrated the New Year with each individual country pavilion and then finally at midnight we celebrated the New Year in Florida. After we left, we experienced a heavy delay of traffic in the parking lot. We waited over 3 hours to leave the parking lot and didn't get back to the hotel until 3:30 A.M.

Vocabulary

Savor- Take time to enjoy

Cultured- characterized by refined taste and manners and good education.

Diversity- the state of being diverse; variety

Opportunity- a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

Persuasion-the action or fact of persuading someone or of being persuaded to do or believe something.

Finish the Sentence

1. The boy wanted to savor the taste of his food because....

2. Janet couldn't pass up the opportunity because.....

3. After a lot of persuasion, Maurice was able to.....

4. The diversity of the school made it easy for Charlie to...

5. The cultured girl had no problem in school because....

Grammar Point

The activity for this blog gave the students the opportunity to be a bit creative and finish the sentence on their own. The ability to be creative helps students develop skills that they wouldn't get from factual writing. Students need to be able to do creative writing to help expand their minds and vocabulary. 

Disney Day 5

On the 5th day, we went to Disney Springs.

Disney Springs isn't a park, it's an outlet for shopping. There were some shops that had designer clothing and accessories while other shops had Disney themed items. Disney Springs was fun to walk around and explore but if you're not a fan of shopping, it's not the best place for you. After going in and out if several stores, I began to feel hungry. One of my favorite things about Disney World was the fact that there were always kiosks and food stands selling popcorn and pretzels. Some stores are specific to certain movies and themes. For instance, there is a store dedicated to Star Wars, a store dedicated to Marvel, a Lego store, etc. These stores are fun to go through for fans of those movies and brands. The restaurant options are also very good. The Rain forest Cafe is a restaurant that is famous for its wildlife atmosphere. Many people enjoy it because it's fun for families and adults. Another option is a restaurant called T-Rex, which is similar to The Rain forest Cafe but instead of wildlife, it is dinosaur themed. As someone who grew up loving anything dinosaur related, I was inclined to dine at this restaurant. The food was great and the atmosphere was very fun. After dinner we decided to go home. 

Vocabulary

Outlet - a place from which goods are sold or distributed

Accessories- a thing that can be added to something else in order to make it more useful, versatile, or attractive

Kiosks- a small open-fronted hut or cubicle from which newspapers, refreshments, tickets, etc., are sold

Wildlife- wild animals collectively; the native fauna of a region.

Inclined- feel willing or favorably disposed toward

Fill in the blanks
1. I don't feel __________ to help those who are mean to me. 
2. I went to the ______________ to buy some new stuff.
3. The small _________ at the mall sells newspapers.
4. My favorite part of the safari was seeing all the ____________.
5. I bought a new phone case in the ____________ section.

Vacation Day 4

The 4th day was a bit unconventional when compared to the rest of the trip. We woke up late, we had no reservations, no fast passes, no plan whatsoever. Around 12:00 P.M. we decided to veer off our Disney trip and take a ride to Universal Studios. Universal is broken up into two parks, Island of Adventure and Universal Studios. Island of Adventure had more comic book themed roller coasters while Universal Studios had more cinema and TV based attractions. The Minion ride had a 3 hour wait so we decided to skip that ride. We went to some 4D shows before heading to the back of the park where a new section called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter had been created.

We started in Diagon Alley there are shops and restaurants and rides that are all Harry Potter themed. We then got on line to board the Hogwarts Express. This took you to Island of Adventure's portion of Harry Potter World. On this side there were more rides, including one that took you through and inside the Hogwarts Castle. After waiting on lines for most of the night, we decided that we were ready to leave. On our way to the exit, we came across many shops with souvenirs for our friends and family. Although we enjoyed our day at Universal, we were ready to get back into our Disney mindset the following day.

Vocabulary

Unconventional:  very different from the things that are used or accepted by most people

Veer: change direction 

Cinema: the production of movies as an art 

Souvenirs: a thing that is kept as a reminder of a person, place, or event.

Mindset: a way of thinking

Scrambled Word	Definition	Unscrambled Word
Dmtenis	a way of thinking
Vouserins	a thing that is kept as a reminder of a person, place, or event
Reev	Change direction
Namenic	The production of movies as an art
Tanilonecvunn	very different from the things that are used or accepted by most people

Grammar Point

Time Order Words are very important when writing a personal narrative. Using words like first, next, then, after, before, tomorrow, etc. really allow the reader to get an understanding on when things are happening and the order in which they happen. Time order words are used in our every day speech but often times students forget to use them in their writing. A lesson on time order words allows the students to be more conscience of their writing and their use of time order words.

Disney Day 3

The third day of our trip was spent in Epcot, which I learned was an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Epcot was filled with cool things to see. This park, is geared more towards adults than the Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios parks. This park is split up into two main areas, Future World and the World Showcase. These two areas are then broken up into their own respective pavilions and attractions. For instance, Future World has Spaceship Earth, also known as the giant globe like structure in the center of the park, The Land, The Sea, Test Track, etc. while The World Showcase brings different cultures and countries to Disney. The World Showcase houses 11 pavilions that all represent different countries. Upon entering, you can go left or right. The countries included from the left entrance are as follows: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, United States, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada. If you were to enter from the right, it would be reversed. Each pavilion had shops, restaurants, and attractions from those countries. We started off in Mexico where there is a small ride showing the culture and architecture of Mexico, after Mexico was the most popular, Norway. Norway is currently the most popular pavilion due to the fact that it recently opened a Frozen themed water ride. Most pavilions had a character highlight. Mexico had Donald Duck, Norway had Elsa and Anna, China had Mulan, Germany had Snow White, France had Belle, etc. At night, we had dinner at a restaurant called The Coral Reef which was part of The Sea pavilion in Future World. This restaurant had a glass wall that allowed you to eat with fish swimming on the other side of the glass. After dinner we rushed to the United States pavilion for a Candlelight procession in honor of the Christmas season. After that we waited around for the firework show and then went home.

Vocabulary
Pavilion:a building or similar structure used for a specific purpose
Showcase: a place or occasion for presenting something favorably to general attention
Prototype:a first model of something
Procession:the action of moving forward as part of a ceremony.
Architecture:the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings.



































Grammar Point

Specificity is often times very important in writing. In many cases, an author wants to leave something to the interpretation of the reader, such as poems. However, in many cases, the author has a specific message he wants the reader to read. In this event, an author can not be ambiguous. That is why I chose to be very specific in describing the way the park was set up, it gives the reader a better understanding of how my day went and which paths I took.

Disney Day 2

Our second day at Disney World was spent at Hollywood Studios, my favorite park of all. Hollywood Studio is the park that houses the majority of the Star Wars rides, memorabilia, and shows. Ever since I was little Star Wars has always been my favorite movie franchise and now that Disney owns the license, we Star Wars fans get to have Star Wars stuff at Disney parks. When we entered the park we were immediately stopped by a "parade" of Stormtroopers walking through the park as part of one of the shows. After the parade/show was over, we decided to get something to eat. The food at the restaurant we chose wasn't as good as the previous day's lunch but it was still good. After lunch we caught another Star Wars show that ran every hour. We walked through the park going on some rides and seeing some other shows the park had to offer. The day went by very quickly. Before I knew it, it was already dinner time. Dinner was at a 1950's style diner that was decorated like the inside of a house during that time period, it had a very cool, retro, feeling to it. After dinner the fireworks started, but we decided to skip the fireworks and take this time to get on line for one of the newer rides, Toy Story Mania. Due to the fact that everyone was watching the fireworks, the line for this was very short. After the ride, we went through a museum with original memorabilia from Walt Disney himself, as well as watch a short film about his life. We walked around the park until it was closing time. We got in the car and drove back home. 












Vocabulary
majority: The greater number
memorabilia: memorable or noteworthy things.
franchise:a general title or concept used for creating or marketing a series of products, typically films or television shows.
retro:imitative of a style, fashion, or design from the recent past
parade: walk or march in public in a formal procession

Grammar Point

Verbs tell the reader what I am doing. Saying things like" I ate at the diner" or "I watched this show" use verbs to let the reader know what I was doing while at Hollywood Studios on this day.  The use of past tense allows the reader to know when something took place. Had I said "I eat at the diner" or "I watch this show" it would indicate that I am currently at the diner or am currently watching the show. When teaching ELLs they might not understand how to conjugate verb tenses because it might be different in their native languages. 

Disney Day 1

Every year, for as long as I can remember, I have spent New Year's Eve with my family. We would eat a big meal, we would tell stories and laugh, and we would watch the countdown on T.V. This year was a bit different. To ring in 2017, I took a trip to Walt Disney World with my girlfriend and her family. I landed in Orlando the day after Christmas and drove to the hotel. After unpacking and resting a bit, we drove to Magic Kingdom. The first thing we did was eat at the Liberty Tree Tavern. The food was great and the service was even better. The waitress asked us some brainteasers and awarded us a free fast pass. After eating we decided to go on a few rides. After a few hours we for dinner at the Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant called Be Our Guest. The food was great and the atmosphere was very fun if you're a fan of the movie. After dinner we went on a couple more rides and then found a nice spot to watch the fireworks.

Vocabulary
Countdown: an act of counting numerals in reverse order to zero
Tavern: an establishment for the sale of drinks and food
Fast Pass: Special ticket that allows customers fast access to a specific ride
Atmosphere: the tone or mood of a place, situation, or work of art.
Fireworks: a pyrotechnic display.

Fill In The Blanks
1. I really wanted to go on my favorite ride but the wait was too long, I should have gotten a ____________
2. Every July 4th, my family and I go to the pier to watch the ____________
3. The dark room gave off a really upsetting ____________
4. We stopped at the ___________ for a refreshment before going on with our day.
5. Once the clock reached 0:00, the __________ was complete


Grammar Point:

Nouns give the reader and idea of what is being referred to. Nouns are people, places, ideas, or things. The vocabulary words that I selected from my passage are mostly nouns which help the reader understand where I went and what I did.