Literature, Literacy and Current Events

Full force of American spirit - and spirits - hitting COVID-19

March 26, 2020 - Businesses large and small are stepping up to help solve shortages of vital medical equipment and supplies needed by millions of nurses and doctors at hospitals to treat tens of thousands of COVID-19 patients. Coppercraft Distillery is making hand sanitizer. And Ford Motor Company is using parts from its F-150 truck to make ventilators. The American spirit today is an echo of the WWII Home Front and the Arsenal of Democracy.

Word of the Day

shortages: noun;situations that arise in which there are not enough products, supplies or equipment to handle a crisis; Find it in blue in today's top story!

Writing Practice

Practice your writing skills with the story above!

Complete this Writing Practice. Then print or email your document, or if available, save it to Google Drive.

Writing Progress

Track your progress all year. For your Student Summary Report Form:
Click Here (pdf)

Weekly VOCAB

Week of March 23

drastic: adjective; severe, serious;
WHO declares COVID-19 pandemic

epidemiological: adjective; related to epidemiology, the study of the incidence and spread of disease and other medical conditions;
Epic epidemiological effort underway

proactive: adjective; aggressive, early, in advance of;
CDC: Risk of coronavirus is low

reluctant: adjective; hesitant, not ready to do something;
Women who flew through the clouds to reach the stars

Today In History

March 29

2012: National Vietnam War Veterans Day was first commemorated and in 2017, became an official, annual commemoration on this day.

1979: The House Select Committee on Assassinations released its final report on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.

1976: "The Metro" in Washington D.C. ran its first passenger train. The first phase had five stations and covered 4.6 miles.

1955: Earl Campbell, Pro Football Hall of Fame running back, was born in Tyler, Texas.

1790: John Tyler, the 20th president of the United States (1841-1845), was born in Virginia. He succeeded to the presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison.

Featured Unit

Chemical Elements "Off the Wall"

Studio glass art is a recent development but creating functional glass from silica sand is thousands of years old. Through this Student News Net video, tour the Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, Washington to marvel at the beauty of glass and the chemical elements! Student News Net was there in 2017.

Read More: Seattle sights are simply stupendous

Pink diamonds are rare

Over 90 percent of the world's pink diamonds come from The Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia. Pink Diamonds are very rare and very expensive, but all diamonds are tetrahedrons of carbon atoms.

A rush for gold ended quickly

The story of the short-lived Klondike Gold Rush (1896-1899) is told at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in downtown Seattle.

Glass: a hot and cool combo of art and science

Glassblowing is a red hot, totally cool combination of art and science.

Independent Practice and Activities for Printing

IP: Pink diamonds are rare
IP: Rush for gold ended quickly
Quiz: Rush for gold ended quickly
IP: Glass a hot and cool combo of art and science

In The News

View Student News Net articles with less than 800 words.

View Student News Net articles with less than 1000 words.


	Practice your writing skills by summarizing the information contained in the story at the left. What is the main point of the story? What are the key findings? Why is the story an important one? What are its implications? When finished, you can print or email your document or save it Google Drive.