Antonyms and Synonyms

You all probably know what those are, but might not remember the terms or never learned them. I might have learned the terms, but they didn't stick until college and I was learning how to teach them.

Quick review: Antonym: A pair of words that describe opposite things, such as hot and cold or up and down. Synonym: Different words that mean the same thing (all of which can be found in a Thesaurus), such as cold, frigid, freezing, icy...

Well, my students got the concept for the most part, although mix up which is which now and then, but the cutest part is that one or two of them can't say synonym. Then end up saying 'cinnamon.' My heart is warmed and I can't help but smile every time I hear it.

When it rains; It pours!

I am learning a new sense of meaning to that phrase. At least when it comes to actual rain. About twenty minutes ago a thunderstorm started to roll into the area. About ten minutes ago we had two huge claps of thunder that sounded like a cannon has blasted just a block away. Now, the rain falling from the sky in a way that can only be described as torrential! I can already see the rain more than puddling in the street. This happened yesterday, as well with hail and the storm rainfalled and bounced it's way into the school! Needless to say the kids lost focus, but I was happy because I love thunderstorms. Thankfully they seem to be popular this time of year in this area.

connections

The other day I watched an episode of CSI New York and it had to do with people who buy and sell the possessions of the victims of the Holocaust. It was quite well done and struck cords with me on several levels, but the most fascinating moment because it caught me completely off guard was when one of the characters spoke German at the very end of the episode and 1) I understood his statement before it was translated by another character and 2) the key word was one that my students had taught me just three days before.

It's awesome when I can learn from my students and even more so when it's applicable later on.

Another story along these lines was when I needed to pick up some cloves from the store to use in a recipe. Not ever buying these before, I searched on the Internet for a picture and then translated the word online, so I could know what word to look for. And, as I was walking home from the store unsuccessful in my search, I realized that a street I walk on at least every other day is named 'nelken' or 'cloves'!

I love making connections!!!