Social Studies

Duke Ellington

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Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, "King of the Keys," was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C. "He was a smooth-talkin', slick-steppin', piano-playin' kid," writes master wordsmith Andrea Pinkney in the rhythmic, fluid, swinging prose of this excellent biography for early readers. It was ragtime music that first "set Duke's fingers to wiggling." He got back to work and taught himself to "press on the pearlies." Soon 19-year-old Duke was playing compositions "smoother than a hairdo sleeked with pomade" at parties, pool halls, country clubs, and cabarets. Skipping from D.C.

Author: 
Andrea Davis Pinkney
Lexile: 
AD800L

The Future of Water

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From ancient civilizations to current day metropolitan cities, all societies have been shaped by the struggle to control water. The future of humankind will be shaped by the element of water and this struggle for control will establish the balance between peace and war, profoundly influencing relations between countries and continents. Climate change will also greatly affect water resources in the future. In the next decades huge water projects will radically change the face of the Earth.

“Charles Fishman: Why College Students Should Start Paying Attention to Water

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Water speaker and The Big Thirst author Charles Fishman outlines how almost everything that's important in the world relies on water, and water issues will quickly find a place atop the list of priorities for the young people of today.

The Lavin Agency, “Charles Fishman: Why College Students Should Start Paying Attention to Water,” YouTube (video), February 25, 2013. Accessed August 14, 2013.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM7S0_Qi3B4.

Why Care about Water?

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National Geographic, “Why Care about Water?” National Geographic (video), n.d. Accessed August 14, 2013.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/freshwater/env-fre....

Tibet Through the Red Box

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A father's diary, an artist's memoir. By the author of the best-selling Three Golden Keys. While my father was in China and Tibet, he kept a diary, which was later locked in a red box. We weren't allowed to touch the box. The stories I heard as a little boy faded to a hazy dream, and my drawings from that time make no sense. I cannot decipher them. It was not until I myself had gone far, far away and received the message from my father that I became interested in the red box again . . . In New York, Peter Sis receives a letter from his father. "The Red Box is now yours," it says.

Author: 
Peter Sis
Lexile: 
AD870L

New York Bottled Water Ban

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CNN Video about tapwater.

CNN, “New York Bottled Water Ban,” Riverkeeper (video), September 2, 2009. Accessed August 14, 2013, http://www.riverkeeper.org/campaigns/tapwater/.

Water Is Life

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Article explores whether we will have enough water to sustain an ever-growing population on earth.

Barbara Kingsolver, “Water Is Life,” in National Geographic (April 2010), http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/04/water-is-life/kingsolver-text.

Policy Statement: Children, Adolescents, and the Media

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12. Victor C. Strasburger and Marjorie J. Hogan, “Policy Statement: Children, Adolescents, and the Media,” in Pediatrics (Vol. 132, Issue 5), Nov. 2013, 958.

You Trouble

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Justin O’Neill, “You Trouble,” in Scholastic Choices, Sept. 2012.

Growing Up Digital

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Matt Richtel, “Growing Up Digital,” in Scholastic New York Times Upfront, Jan. 31, 2011, as found at http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/this_issue/....

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