New York basketball fans have been going crazy over Knicks new player Jeremy Lin.  Lin has brought new life to basketball in the city.  Jeremy Lin has been lightening up the NBA court with his outstanding defense skills.   The big question on everyone’s mind is how long will Linsanity last?  There are many who think that this is just a short lived famed but others have a different perspective.  Those who are doubters believe that ever since the Miami Heat game that they would slow him down.  Lin has put those rumors to rest and continues to keep on producing points on the court.  Jeremy Lin can flat-out play which is a novelty to see.  In a matter of a couple of weeks, he has bought Knicks fans back to Madison Square Garden.  There is a new dynamic on the court and the players as well as the fans are excited to watch and cheer for their beloved team.  Jeremy Lin is a player that we don’t see too often.  Every interview he does, he’s either talking about the teammates or on the whole team in general.  He much rather deflect the spotlight, and focus more on the game.  His teammates have respect for him and his shooting abilities.  He has become an icon for the New York Knicks and should only improve as he gains more experience.  Get your tickets while he’s hot!  

Vocabulary :

Knicks:  New York Basketball Team                       

NBA:  National Basketball Association

Court: play basketball on     

Defense:  guard a person on the opposing team

Perspective: how one views something

Doubters: someone who sounded have faith

Rumors: false statements

Novelty:  a new or original thing

Madison Square Garden:  sports stadium   

Dynamic:  activity or progress

Spotlight: someone on stage

While he’s hot:  doing good, while it last

Match the correct vocabulary word to the correct definition.  

Spotlight ____                                                     A. New York Basketball Team 

Dynamic ____                                                     B.  doing good, while it last

While he's hot  ______                                        C. National Basketball Association

Madison Square Garden ______                         D. a new or original thing

Novelty _______                                                 E. play basketball on

Court _____                                                        F.  false statements

Defense ______                                                   G.  how one views something

NBA ____                                                         H.  someone on stage

Knicks ____                                                       I.  guard a person on the opposing team

Perspective _____                                              J. someone who sounded have faith

Doubters ____                                                   K. activity or progress

Rumors      ____                                                 L. sports stadium 

Grammar Point

Irregular Verbs 

A verb that does not follow the usual rules for verb forms is known as an irregular verb. Verbs in English are irregular if they don't have a conventional -ed form. Irregular verbs are those whose past tense (for example, "I rode") and past participle (for example, "I had ridden") have forms that do not follow the standard rules. There are many irregular verbs in English, including be, break, bring, come, cut, eat, go, meet, run, swim, and many more. Learning the form of irregular verbs is one of the few areas where, I feel, memorizing the LIST actually works. Here is an activity that can help you with both forms and uses of irregular and regular verbs.

Matching Exercise: 

Math the items on the right with the items on the left.  Connect the correct verbs with the 

irregular verbs

write – wrote-                                                                                     thought

teach- taught-                                                                                     told

wear-wore-                                                                                                 worn

win-won-                                                                                                woken

wake- woke-                                                                                                 written

           

think-thought-                                                                                    taught

understand- understood-                                                                        understood            

tell-told-                                                                                                 won

After learning the definition and some of the irregular words it time to practice what you learned.  Using the words from the activity above, create sentences that use the correct form of the irregular verbs.                          

Website for Additional Irregular Verbs: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/irregular-verbs/