Literature, Literacy and Current Events

Grants available to schools for free milkweed plants

Jan. 21, 2021 - So far winter 2021 has been relatively calm without any major snowstorms or blizzards dropping feet of snow on millions of people. With each passing day, spring is one day closer so it's the perfect time to plan for spring planting. For schools, grants are available for free milkweed plants to provide habitat for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Students can step outside to watch very hungry caterpillars eat and grow!

Word of the Day

community: noun;group of people who share a location or similar interests, such as concern for saving the monarch butterfly; 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 January 18

diversion: noun; an action (or actions) that diverts (verb form) or distracts from another action, either on purpose or unintentionally
Year in Review: The Great Conjunction

mutation: noun; a change in the genome of a virus, a plant cell or an animal and human cell
CDC: COVID-19 and Flu update

normality: noun; normal times; normalcy; regular times and conditions;
FedEx ships first wave of COVID-19 vaccine

Today In History

January 21

1915: Now a global service organization, Kiwanis International established its first charter in Detroit, Michigan.

1824: Library of Congress: Stonewall Jackson, one of Robert E. Lee's most outstanding generals in the Army of Northern Virginia, was born in Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia). Orphaned at a young age, Jackson spent much of his childhood moving between the homes of various family members. In 1842, he was awarded an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. A commissioned officer during the Mexican War, he served as a second lieutenant of artillery, was promoted to first lieutenant, and later won brevets to captain and major.

1738: Ethan Allen, Revolutionary War hero and leader of the Vermont "Green Mountain Boys" was born in Litchfield, Connecticut. He died in Burlington, Vermont in 1789.

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.