Mother's Day

Every May, the second Sunday of the month is dedicated to extraordinary women all over the country. These women are mothers. Everyday throughout the entire year, mothers work very hard to take care of their children and families. A woman by the name of Anna Jarvis created this holiday in 1908 to honor and thank mothers for everything that they do for their families. She promoted the holiday for years until President Woodrow Wilson finally agreed to officially make it a national holiday in 1914. The holiday soon became a highly commercialized and some even consider it a “Hallmark Holiday” with an overwhelming commercial purpose. When Jarvis died in 1948, she died feeling regret for what became of the holiday she had created. Today in the United States, Mother’s Day is still one of the biggest days for buying flowers and greeting cards for mothers. It is also a big day for long-distance phone calls for people who live far away from their mother and want to wish her a happy day.

Vocabulary:

extraordinary (adjective)- exceptional in character
honor (noun)- a source of credit or distinction
promoted (verb)- to help in organizing to exist
commercialized (verb)- to use for financial gain
overwhelming (adjective)- excessive amount
regret (noun)- to feel sorrow or remorse

Fill in the blank with the appropriate vocabulary word.

1. The police officer had a party to ___________ his dedication to keeping the city safe.

2. The boss finally agreed to have casual Friday every week after his employee ______________ it for several weeks.

3. The child felt __________ for teasing her younger brother after he started to cry.

4. The _______________ man rescued his whole family when their house caught on fire.

5. Greeting card companies ______________ the new holiday by trying to get everyone to buy the cards they had just designed for it.

6. The mean teacher gave his students an ___________________ amount of homework.

Grammar Point:
Write a paragraph about your mother. Be sure to use plenty of adjectives to describe her.