Entry 4: Outdoors in October

A goat from a petting zoo.

When October comes around, most of us think of Halloween, a special holiday where costumed children roam the town in search of delectable treats. However, you can have a blast doing other things as well as you wait for that one of a kind day. Many people visit local farms or plant nurseries to find pumpkins they can transform into intimidating Jack-o'-Lanterns. There might also be petting zoos at these places where you can pet animals such as pigs, sheep, and goats. I adore goats and never miss up an opportunity to pet or feed them during this season.

If you go to a farm with your family, you may also find a corn maze. When I lived in Rochester, my family would visit me in October and we would go to Long Acre Farms to venture into their massive maze. We could collect pieces of a map at stations hidden throughout the maze, and by collecting them all you could easily find the way out. They change the theme and layout each year so each trip is never the same.

A bird's-eye view of the maze from Long Acre Farms.

Vocabulary
delectable (adjective): yummy
blast (noun, singular): fun time (it can also mean explosion!)
nuseries (noun, plural [singular: nursery]): place(s) where plants are grown
transform (verb, present tense): change
intimidating (adjective): scary
adore (verb, present tense): like very much
opportunity (noun, singular): chance
massive (adjective): very big
layout (noun, singular): position of things

Vocabulary Exercise
1. I visited the ___________ to find flowers that I could plant in the spring.
2. I had a ___________ at the amusement park with my family.
3. The cupcakes my mom baked were ___________!
4. Before you make a Halloween costume, you should ___________ it on paper.
5. The circus tent was __________.
6. I __________ my puppy.
7. Caterpillars ___________ into butterflies while inside their cocoons.
8. Many college students won't pass up the ___________ to get free food.
9. A cluttered ___________ can make a newspaper or magazine confusing to read.

Grammar Point & Activity
A proper noun is the name used for a person, place, or thing. Find all proper nouns in the above passage. Then, write two sentences that contain at least one proper noun each and underline the proper nouns.

Entry 3: Hyenas

A wild spotted hyena

Hyenas are one of my favorite animals! They are native to the African savannas. There are three species: spotted, striped, and brown. The spotted hyena is the most common. They have a reputation of being cowardly; that is not true. They do whatever it takes to survive even if it means fighting lions for food. Hyenas live together in groups of 30 to 40 members ruled by a matriarch. They do most of their hunting at night and can see in the dark. Hyenas are carnivores; they mostly consume the remains of deceased animals. While this may not sound appetizing, it makes them a vital part of their ecosystem! Hyenas have powerful jaws and teeth that allows them to eat bones. They are famous for the "laughing" sound they use to communicate.

Here is one more fact about hyenas: Although they look similar to dogs, they are more closely related to cats.

Vocabulary
reputation (noun): common belief about someone or something
cowardly (adjective): does not have courage
matriarch (noun): woman who is the head of a family
carnivores (noun, plural): an animal that eats only meat
consume (verb, present tense): to eat
deceased (adjective): dead
appetizing (adjective): to taste good
vital (adjective): important
powerful (adjective): very strong
communicate (verb, present tense): to speak
similar (adjective): same

Vocabulary Exercise
1. Squares and rectangles are __________ shapes.
2. Lions only eat meat, making them __________.
3. The big eater _______
4. He did not leave his house on Halloween because he was a ________.
5. A graveyard is a resting place for the __________.
6. The Thanksgiving dinner my grandmother cooked was so ___________.
7. If you want to pass your test, it is _________ that you study!
8. If you have a good __________, people will be kind to you.
9. Hyenas, elephants, and killer whales, are three animals who live in packs led by a __________.
10. The Mets are a _______ baseball team this season.
11. By using a telephone, you can _________ with those who are far away.

Grammar Point & Activity
The semicolon (;) can be used to join two clauses that share closely related ideas. Find all sentences that use the semicolon in the above passage. Then, write two sentences about your favorite animal that use semicolons.

Entry 2: Penn & Teller

A photo of my sister and I with Teller, a famous magician.

Have you ever seen a magician perform? I have!

Penn Jillette and Teller are a duo of magicians who perform under the name Penn & Teller. Over the summer, my sister and I went to New York City to see them perform. My sister is a magic enthusiast and has seen them on television in the past. However, this was the first time I had seen them. They usually perform in Las Vegas but to celebrate their 40th anniversary of working together they performed in New York for several weeks.

The both of us were astonished by their performance. They had many different acts but one of their most incredible and frightening ones involved a nail gun. Penn would switch between firing a nail gun into his body and a plank of wood. Every time he fired into the wood a nail would shoot out. But when he fired it at himself only air would escape! He revealed to the audience that instead of memorizing the pattern in the nail gun he had instead synchronized the order of nails and air pockets in the nail gun to his speech. Depending on how far into his speech he was, he could tell whether or not a nail would shoot out. After the show we got to take pictures with both Penn and Teller. I was surprised by how tall Teller was since he always looks minuscule next to Penn who is of towering height.

Vocabulary
duo (noun): pair
enthusiast (noun): fan
usually (adjective): almost always
several (adjective): more than two, but not many
astonished (verb, past tense): amazed
frightening (adjective): scary
revealed (verb, past tense): to show what was hidden
synchronized (verb, past tense): to go together
minuscule (adjective): very small
towering (adjective): very tall

Vocabulary Exercise
1. On Halloween I saw a ___________ ghost!
2. I ___________ swim on hot summer days.
3. There were ________ cupcakes on the baking rack.
4. The baseball ___________ collected cards of every player.
5. When the magician pulled a rabbit out of his hat, I was ___________.
6. The _________ giant stood before the _________ townspeople.
7. Batman and Robin are one of the most famous dynamic _______s.
8. The stage curtain opened and the actors were _________.
9. I ________ my grandfather clock with my smartphone's clock so that they both showed the same time.

Grammar Point & Activity
When ending a sentence, you need to use either a period (.), an exclamation point (!), or a question mark (?). Periods are used to end statements. Exclamation points are used to end exclamations. Question marks are used to end questions. Find a statement, exclamation, and question in the above passage. Then, create your own.