A Great Gift

My Diamond Candle and my ring!

I have stumbled upon a great gift idea for the holidays or someone's birthday.  Too bad most of the big holidays have passed!  As I was browsing the internet, I saw a special kind of candle.  It is made by the company called Diamond Candles.  A teenage boy and his parents had a wonderful idea for making these special kinds of candles.  They make the candles themselves, and they are soy candles.  Soy candles are made from soybeans, and are said to be more natural than regular candles.  People have also said that soy candles last longer.  The reason these candles are special, is because each candle has a ring put inside of it.  The ring inside could be worth ten dollars to five thousand dollars.  In order to retrieve the ring inside the candle, you must be patient as you wait for the candle to burn long enough where you will be able to get it out.  After hearing about this candle, I decided that I had to try it out for myself.  I went onto the website, and chose the scent that I wanted to try.  I purchased the "Carnival Candy" candle to try it out, and it was pink in color.  I did not really like the smell, but I was still so excited to see what ring was inside.  Of course, I was impatient, so I dug the ring out.  I ended up with a very pretty ring, but you could definitely see that it was one of the cheaper ($10) rings.  I think this idea is such a nice gift for people, especially if you know someone who loves candles.  I enjoyed my candle, and I'm sure I will be buying many more!

 http://www.diamondcandles.com/ - Check out their website!


Vocabulary:

1. Stumbled (verb) - came unexpectedly or by chance
2. Browsing (verb) - looking over, skimming
3. Company (noun) - a bunch of people carrying out business
4. Special (adjective) - distinguished or known for an unusual quality
5. Natural (noun) - something made without human care, not with ingredients that were processed
6. Worth (intransitive verb) - value
7. Retrieve (verb) - to get and bring back
8. Patient (adjective) - waits without complaint
9. Scent (noun) - smell or odor
10. Purchased (verb) - bought

Matching Vocabulary Exercise - Use the words above to match the word with their synonym.

1. ____ Stumbled                           a. aroma, smell
2. ____ Browsing                           b. native, unprocessed
3. ____ Company                           c. bought, gained
4. ____ Special                               d. look upon
5. ____ Natural                               e. fetch
6. ____ Worth                                 f. come across, meet
7. ____ Retrieve                             g. quality
8. ____ Patient                               h. understanding, calm
9. ____ Scent                                  i. organization
10.____ Purchased                         j. particular, significant


Grammar Point with Exercise:
Complete sentences always contain a subject and a predicate.  A subject is what or whom the sentence is about.  A predicate tells about the subject.  A predicate always includes a verb (action word) as well.  For example, let's look at this sentence:  Casey walked to the park.  "Casey" would be the subject, because the sentence is about her.  "Walked to the park" would be the predicate because it tells about what Casey (the subject) did.

This site helps give a better understanding about subject and predicate.

More practice exercises

Grammar Exercise:
 Read the sentences.  Circle the subject in each sentence.  Underline the predicate in each sentence.

1. The astronaut landed on the moon.

2. Stacy went to the movies.

3. Austin created an excellent story.

4. The dog loved to go for walks.

5. He was running around the place.

About Me

Hello! My name is Kerrie and I live in West Babylon, New York.  I am currently enrolled in the TESOL Master's Program at Molloy College.  I am a per diem substitute teacher, which is perfect for me at the moment, because I have a four year old son who keeps me very busy!  I have a Bachelor's degree in Elementary/Special Education.  I love anything that has to do with art.  When I began college, I originally wanted to be an art education teacher.  That quickly changed with the difficulty in acquiring a job.  My favorite painting is Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night".  The colors are bright, and it is just a beautiful painting.  I love to bring my love for art into the classroom, and even at home.  I have been making many "do it yourself" crafts for my home.  In one of my latest creations, I created "Superhero" comic book letters for my son's room with the use of Mod Podge glue.  I also create different kinds of cupcakes, because I love baking and making it fun!  As you can see, I am interested in a variety of things, which keeps me very busy! I am looking forward to creating more blogs.  See you soon!


Vocabulary:

1. Enrolled (verb) - entered or registered to something
2. Originally (adverb) - in the first place or primarily
3. Difficulty (noun) - trouble or struggle
4. Acquiring (transitive verb) - getting or earning
5. Creation (noun) - something that was made
6. Interested (adjective) - drew the attention of
7. Variety (noun) - a number of different things, an assortment


Cloze Exercise (Fill in the Blanks using the Vocabulary words above):

1.  She was having  ________________ with creating her blog during class.
2.  He was extremely ____________________ in collecting Superhero toys.
3.  I am not ____________________ in any math classes this semester.
4.  Mike was very proud of himself when he showed everyone his new Lego ________________.
5.  Paula _________________ wanted to eat a chicken sandwich for lunch, but she changed her mind.
6.  The ice cream shop had a large _________________ of ice cream toppings.
7.  Helen felt proud for ____________________ her Master's Degree.


Grammar Point with Exercise:
This entry includes many nouns, including three that are from the vocabulary list.  A noun can be a person, place, thing, or an idea.  For example, "difficulty" is a noun because it describes a trouble or struggle, which can be seen as an idea.  Other examples of a noun: boy (person), restaurant (place), phone (thing).

Grammar Exercise:
Find all of the nouns in this entry.  Then, create a list in order to categorize whether the noun is a person, place, thing, or an idea.

 http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/grammar/nouns.htm   <--- For practice with nouns, this website features online games!

Van Gogh's "Starry Night"