One More Day

Happy Leap Year! The 29th of February comes only once every four years, and 2012 is one of those years. A fun fact that I have learned is that it takes the earth 365.24219 days to revolve around the sun, and that is why we have an extra day every four years! Another interesting piece of information is that on leap days a woman may ask a man to marry her. In 2010, movie called “Leap Year” came out and was based on this tradition set in Ireland. It was a romantic comedy, with the Academy Award nominated actress Amy Adams as the lead actress.

There are 366 days in a leap year. How can you remember which months have thirty days and not thirty-one? There is a rhyme to help you remember: “Thirty days has September, April, June and November. All the rest have thirty-one, except February which has twenty-eight, in fine till leap year makes it twenty-nine.”

I think that using rhymes to help retain information is a useful tool to use. Another way to remember the number of days in a month is something I learned while studying French in college. We learned the months of the year by using our knuckles; either a knuckle or the space in between them represented each month.

Vocabulary Words

Leap Year- a year with 366 days
Revolve- to move in a circle or to come around again
Romantic comedy- a movie that has both romantic and comedic elements
Academy Award- an award in the American film industry for excellent performances
Rhyme- words that end in the same sounds
Knuckle- the joints of the finger (rounded parts when the finger is bent)

Vocabulary Activity- Answer the following questions using your new vocabulary words. If necessary, re-read the blog to help you find your answers.

1. How many days are in a Leap Year?
2. What revolves around the sun?
3. What is one romantic comedy?
4. Who has been nominated for an Academy Award?
5. Do the words fun and sun rhyme?
6. Where are your knuckles?

Grammar Point- Rhymes exist between words that sound the same, but do not start with same letter.

Grammar Activities-

Part 1- Identify the words that rhyme in the “Leap Year Rhyme.”

Part 2- Which of the following words rhyme? Don’t forget to say the word out loud to be sure a rhyme exists.
Year Day Knuckle Rhyme
Buckle Time Play Clear

Part 3- Create your own rhyme of four lines. Themes that you can write about include: holidays, colors, sports, and animals.