Literacy Speaks Volumes

Wikipedia Page for Qin Shi Huang Primary text THE FIRST EMPEROR OF CHINA by Jonathan Clements Anticipation Guide He faked a foreign threat to justify an invasion. He ruled a nation under 24-hour surveillance. He ordered his interrogators to torture suspects. He boiled his critics alive. He buried dissenting scholars. He declared war on death itself. The First Emperor In 1974, Chinese peasants made the discovery of the century: thousands of terracotta soldiers guarding the tomb of a tyrant. Ying Zheng was born to rule the world, claiming descent from gods, crowned king while still a child. He was the product of a heartless, brutal regime devoted to domination, groomed from an early age to become the First Emperor of China after a century of scheming by his ancestors. Local craftsmen created and erected the terracotta arm next to Qin Shi Huang's burial site. Qin was the first emperor of China. Chinese folklore says that these warriors were real soldiers ...

James Knox Polk was born November 2, 1795, and died June 15, 1849. He was the eleventh President of the United States. He was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 13th Speaker of the House of Representatives--the only president to have served as House Speaker--and Governor of Tennessee. Polk was the dark horse candidate for president in 1844, defeating Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party by promising to annex Texas. Polk was a leader of Jacksonian Democracy during the Second Party System. his nickname was "Young Hickory" because of his close association "Old Hickory", Andrew Jackson. Polk is often considered the last strong pre-Civil War president, having met during his four years in office every major domestic and foreign policy goal set during his campaign and the transition to his administration: When Mexico rejected American annexation of Texas, Polk led the nation to a s...

Research projects Book projects Using the Internet to Create Thematic Units Middle School Integrated Thematic Units and Service Projects Lincoln High School, Los Angeles, California Thematic Project Curriculum Scholastic thematic units

Santa Elena was a Spanish settlement on what is now Parris Island, South Carolina. It was the capital of Spanish Florida from 1566 to 1587. Pedro Menendez de Aviles, the first governor of Spanish Florida, established the fort for Spain. There had been some earlier attempts to establish colonies in the area by both the Spanish and the French. Menendez's Santa Elena settlement was intended as the new capital of the Spanish colony of La Florida, shifting the focus of Spanish colonial efforts north from St. Augustine, which had been established in 1565 to oust the French from their colony of Fort Caroline. The Spanish troops built Santa Elena at the site of the abandoned French outpost of Charlesfort, founded in 1562 by Jean Ribault. Santa Elena followed the destruction of the French Fort Caroline by Menendez in 1565. The settlement housed a sizeable community and became the base of operations for the Jesuits and military working in the northern zone of Spanish Florida. Fr...

Who was Susan B. Anthony? Susan Brownell Anthony was an American social reformer and feminist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to social equality, she collected anti-slavery petitions at the age of 17. In 1856, she became the New York state agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. "The true woman will not be exponent of another, or allow another to be such for her. She will be her own individual self. She will stand or fall by her own individual wisdom and strength. She will proclaim the glad tidings of good news ot all women, that woman equally with man was made for her own individual happiness, to develop every talent given to her by God, in the great work of life." Library of Congress Susan B. Anthony page In 1851, Susan met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who became her lifelong friend and co-worker in social reform activities, primarily in the field of women's rights. In 1852, they foun...

Miss Annie Oakley, also called Little Miss Sure Shot, was an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter in the latter part of the 19th century. She and her husband, Frank Butler, traveled with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show entertaining audiences with her incredible talent at gunmanship. Annie shoots glass balls New York Times article "Where Cowgirls go to get their Due." National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame American Experience: Annie Oakley (part 1) *All parts of the episode are available. My students usually only watch two parts at one time as we only have a 55-minute class period. I like for them to have a chance to do a writing exercise that goes along with the video. For example, the students might write about how Annie's early life motivated her to become a good shot. The Annie Oakley Biography page with a historical video. The Annie Oakley Center Foundation The Library of Congress Annie Oakley page

Again the blackbirds sing; the streams Wake, laughing, from their winter dreams, And tremble in the April showers The tassels of the maple flowers. ~John Greenleaf Whittier, The Singer , stanza 20 Where does the name "April" come from? The Romans named the fourth month "Aprilles", which is Latin for "to open." The month of April was sacred to the goddess Venus, who was the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. By Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany - The Forum of Caesar (built near the Forum Romanum in Rome in 46 BC) and the Temple of Venus Genetrix, Imperial Forums, Rome, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45895528 The Anglo-Saxons called it "eastre-monap." "Eastre" is the root of the word "Easter." April was celebrated as the month of the goddess Eostre. By Eduard Ade - Felix Dahn, Therese Dahn, Therese (von Droste-Hülshoff) Dahn, Frau, Therese von Droste-Hülshof...