Modern Family

Do you ever feel like you have a crazy family?  Do you ever feel like other people would never understand how your family works?  Well, have I got the show for you! Modern Family is a TV sitcom in its third season on ABC.  The sitcom is based on a blended family that lives on the same street.  Phil and Claire are parents to teenagers Haley, Alex and Luke.  Claire's father, Jay, lives next door and is married to Claire's stepmother Gloria, who is around the same age as Claire.  Also living on the block, are Claire's brother Mitchell and his partner Cameron. Mitchell and Cameron are proud parents to their baby girl Lily, who they adopted from Vietnam.  Week after week, millions of people tune into this comedy at nine o'clock to watch the funny cast of characters living their lives in suburbia.  This TV show seemed to be popular right from the beginning of the series.  I would say that is because while everyone might not have a same-sex marriage in their family or step-parents or step-siblings, everyone can relate to how the family relates to one another and is always there for each other.  So when you are feeling like your family could not get any crazier, tune into Modern Family for a good laugh.  It might just make you feel better.

Vocabulary:

1) sitcom: TV comedy

2) season: year of a television show

3) blended: mixed, combined

4) stepmother: when your father remarries, his wife is this to you

5) adopted: a child who gets new parents, different parents from their birth parents.

6) suburbia: towns outside or surrounding a big city

Cloze Activity:  Complete the following sentences by filling in the blanks with a vocabulary word from above.

1) I have a large ____________ family because both my parents remarried after their divorce.

2) The TV show Friends ended after its tenth _____________ on the air.

3) Deer Park, North Babylon and Dix Hills are all towns in ______________.

4) How I Met Your Mother is another popular ______________.

5) I now have a _______________ because my father remarried.

6) My brother and his wife ___________ a baby boy named Ryan from China.

Grammar Point

Question Marks are used when writing a question.  A question is a statement that is seeking information. If the statement is not a question, we use a period or sometimes an exclamation point.

Grammar Activity

Read the following phrases and determine if it is a question or a statement.  If it is a statement, put a period.  If it is a question, write a question mark.

1) When does the TV show start__

2) My favorite TV show is Modern family__

3) What is your favorite TV show__

4) What channel is your favorite TV show on__

5) I like to watch TV with my family__