Literature, Literacy and Current Events

March 1941: Rosie begins riveting

March 12, 2025 - In 1941 when 25 women completed training at a Vultee airplane factory, their first day of work was scheduled for April 1.

Word of the Day

: 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

Today In History

July 3

1863: Library of Congress: Union troops repelled a massive artillery assault on Cemetery Ridge during the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg in southern Pennsylvania. During the early morning hours Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered General Longstreet to prepare General Pickett's troops for the assault. Longstreet advised Lee of his reservations about the success of such an advance, which he did not feel Confederate troops could sustain. Lee disregarded Longstreet and maintained his order for a heavy bombardment of Union defenses on the Ridge followed by an advance of Pickett's men. After two hours of heavy shelling, Confederate Colonel Alexander sent word to General Pickett that the Union troops were withdrawing and encouraged him to come quickly in the interval. Pickett sent his note to General Longstreet who, based on Lee's orders and despite his own reservations, approved the charge. The attack, commonly known as Pickett's Charge or Longstreet's Assault, was an attempt to penetrate the center of Union forces on Cemetery Ridge. During the attack, only one Confederate brigade temporarily reached the top of the ridge - afterwards called the high watermark of the Confederacy - led by Brigadier General Lewis Armistead who, just before being shot, yelled, "Give them cold steel, boys!" The charge ultimately proved disastrous for the Confederates, with casualties approaching 60 percent. As a consequence, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was forced to retreat and ultimately abandon his attempt to reach Washington, D.C. via Pennsylvania.

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.