A brave woman

    Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in a village called Goon. This village had not so many people and all of them were mean, but a girl who are very kind, she lives with her old mother, her name was Flowy. She also went to the forest and found some wood and food to cook, but sometimes she couldn't find any food. One day, she was really mad when she didn't have more food, so she wanted to go out in search for food. She went for three days and two nights. Finally, she found a strange food, but it was on the tree, she really wanted to climb on it and pick it down. There was a big hole under the tree, if she wasn't careful, maybe she fell into that dangerous hole. She was very brave so it didn't matter a lot to her. She climbed up to the tree and picked it down, but the branch of the tree started to shake, and she went down really fast. She was very lucky so she didn't fall into that hole.

- 'It's time to go back home! Mother is waiting for me now.' She said.

    On the way back home, she saw a person who played on the sand, she walked closer, and she noticed that person wanted to kill a fish. She wish to protect it, so she talked to that person:

- 'Hey! Don't kill that fish, I can give you my money and this fish is mine.'

    That person agreed, and he ran away. She looked at the fish and  she saw its tail was injured. She really worried for the fish, but she didn't know what she had to do. Five minutes later, she had an idea:

- 'Don't worried, little fish. You're be fine, I'll go to find some herbs.''

    She went to the bush and found some herbs. Three minutes later, she had some herbs and she helped the fish. Then, she released it into the sea, and the fish appeared to be a pretty girl but she had horns. Flowy was really surprised and put her face down on the ground. 

- 'Thanks for saving me, my name is Jady and what's your name?' The girl said.

- ''My name is Flowy, I live in a village called Goon. It's near this place and... Who are you?' Jady said.

- 'I am the daughter of the Dragon King, I live in the ocean called the Ocean Kingdom. In this place, you can find a lot of medicine for your mom!' Jady said.

- 'Really? But I really hungry, I wanted to go back home and cook food.' Flowy said.

- 'Don't worried! I had a lot of food in my castle.' Jady said

    Flowy agreed, she followed Jady to goes down to the ocean. Then, she remembered that she couldn't breath in the water, but when went down, she could breath, she thought that impossible. She asked Jady:

- 'Jady! How could I breath in the water?' Flowy said.

- 'A! Because I used my magic so you could breath!' Jady said.

    When Jady and Flowy arrived, Flowy saw a beautiful place and she saw a king sit on a throne. 

- 'Thank you for saving my daughter, I repay you everything you want, before I repay, do you want to eat something?' Asked the king.

    The maids took out the food, the food looked so delicious, Flowy really liked it. After eating, the king asked what Flowy wanted to repay. Flowy said she wanted to have some herbs  which could cure her mother's illness.

- 'I don't have that herbs, but you can find it in the place with a lot of trees. This  is the place where the witch live. She looks ugly, but she is really kind.' The king said.

    /After hearing it, Flowy went to the place with lots of trees. Finally, she could find a witch :

- 'Are you a witch?' She asked.

- 'Yes! What are you doing here?' The witch asked.

- 'I want to get some herbs! My mom gets sick, she needs it right now. Can you give me some herbs, please. I will do what ever you want.' Flowy insisted.

- 'Ok! You saved the princess, so I'll get you some. But remember, when your mom will be not sick anymore, your mom is better than ever. If she gets worse, I can't help you. Because, in this Ocean Kingdom, it is the best medicine.' The witch said.

    The witch gave Flowy some herbs, Flowy was very happy, she thanked the witch and she swam up to the surface of the sea. She went home, and she found her mother couldn't breath. Her mom needed herbs immediately. She made medicine, then she gave it to her mom. The miracle made her mother healthy. Then Flowy and  her mother sell that medicine. Then, they had a lot of money, and they used it to helped the others. They lived happily ever after.

                                                            

                                                                                                    The End

Gumboot Dance from South Africa

 Gumboot Dance from South Africa

    The dancers in this photo are performing a kind of dance called gumboot dance. This kind of dancing has a very interesting and important history. How did gumboot dancing come to be? In the 1900s, the government in South Africa had a system of laws that kept white and non-white people apart. This system was called apartheid. Under the laws of apartheid, most of the land in South Africa was kept for white people.

    Because of these laws, many black South Africans were forced to leave their land in rural areas. Some of these black South Africans ended up working in gold mines for white bosses. The conditions in the gold mines were terrible. The work was long, hard, and often dangerous. Workers were treated poorly. Many were forced to wear ankle chains.

    And the floors of the mines were often flooded with water, which could cause disease. To deal with the water problem, supervisors had workers wear tall rubber boots-gumboots. Workers were often not allowed to talk to each other in the mines. So they used their gumboots to communicate.

    They would slap their boots, stomp their feet, and even rattle their chains to communicate with each other. This is how gumboot dancing was born. Gumboot dancing involved rhythmic, percussive moves. The dancers used their bodies as the drum, making noise with their boots and hands.

    They drew from their traditional dances and rhythms to make new movements and songs. The songs that went along with their dances often had to do with the difficulties of their work lives. Apartheid ended in the 1990s. Since then, gumboot dancing has thrived in South Africa and beyond. This unique rhythmic dance has inspired dancers and musicians around the world.

Vocabulary:

performing            :        biểu diễn 

government          :        chính phủ

apartheid               :        phân biệt chủng tộc

forced                     :        bị ép

rural areas              :        vùng nông thôn

conditions              :        điều kiện

gold mines             :        mỏ vàng

treated poorly        :        đối xử tồi tệ

ankle chains           :        chuỗi mắt cá chân

deal                          :        đối phó

supervisors             :        người giám sát

communicate         :        giao tiếp

rattle                         :        lạch cạch

involved rhythmic  :         liên quan nhịp nhàng

traditional                :         truyên thông

rhythms                   :         nhịp điệu

movements            :        sự di chuyển

thrived                     :        phát triển mạnh

beyond                    :        vượt ra ngoài

unique rhythmic    :        nhịp điệu độc đáo

inspired                   :        lấy cảm hứng

Picture of the year

 Pictures of the Year 

    The Lakota are a tribe of Native Americans who live on the northern plains of North America. For generations, the Lakota recorded important events through drawings like the one above. These drawings are called winter counts. 

    People today take lots of photos. Many people use cell phones to photograph their daily lives with friends and family. Some photographs are really memorable. They capture important events, such as birthday parties or weddings, or they show beautiful places. Years later, people may look at these special photos to remember the past. 

    Long ago, however, cameras had not been invented yet. How did people back then record important moments? Some people told stories about old times. Others wrote down what they remembered. Some people made special drawings to help them recall important moments. Among those people were Native Americans of the Lakota tribe.

    Every year, Lakota leaders decided which event was most important. A Lakota artist was then asked to draw a special picture of that event. Because each year's picture was decided on during the winter, the drawings became known as winter counts. 

    For a long time, winter counts were drawn on animal skins. Later, the drawings were done on paper. The pictures told the history of the tribe. Each year, the newest winter count was added to the Lakota collection of pictures from earlier times. That helped people keep track of the years.

    Today, winter counts are important records of the Lakota's past.

Vocabulary:

tribe            :        bộ lạc

northern plains        :        đồng bằng Bắc Bộ

generations :        các thế hệ

winter         :        tính mùa Đông

memorable :        đáng nhớ

capture        :        chiếm lấy

events          :        sự kiện 

invented       :        phát minh

recall            :        gợi nhớ

leaders         :        các nhà lãnh đạo

collection     :        bộ sưu tập

records         :        hồ sơ

Saving the world

Saving the World from Smallpox

    For hundreds of years, a disease called smallpox took the lives of many people. No one could figure out how to prevent the deadly disease. But then, in the late 1700s, a doctor named Edward Jenner found a way to prevent people from getting smallpox. 

    Sometimes to solve a tough problem, you have to ask the right questions. If you look carefully, you can find the right questions to ask. Edward Jenner was a doctor who lived hundreds of years ago. He solved one of the toughest problems around and saved thousands of lives by preventing a disease called smallpox.

    For hundreds of years, smallpox was one of the worst diseases you could catch. "Pox" are bumps filled with pus, and they showed up on sick people's skin. Thousands of people died from smallpox every year. Smallpox was around for a long time-even Egyptian pharaohs caught it. A lot of the people who caught smallpox died, but most of the people killed by smallpox were children. People who didn't die had ugly scars afterwards.

    No one knew how to prevent people from catching smallpox. Doctors knew t
hat if you had smallpox and didn't die, you couldn't catch it again. Some doctors thought you could inoculate against smallpox. That meant that if you gave people a mild version of the disease, they would be protected from getting the bad version.

Vocabulary:

disease        :        dịch bệnh

figure          :        nhân vật

prevent        :        ngăn ngừa

smallpox     :        bệnh đậu mùa

solve           :        giải quyết

tough           :        khó khăn

bumps         :        va chạm

pus              :        mủ

skin             :        làn da

scars            :        vết sẹo

thought        :        nghĩ

inoculate      :        cấy giống

mild version :        phiên bản nhẹ nhàng

bad version  :        phiên bản xấu

3/9/2021

Levic

The turtle in the garden

 Clara and Phillip The Turtle 

    It's a hot summer's day, and Clara is outside on her back porch drinking lemonade. Her mom is in the backyard cutting the grass with a lawn mower. The lawn mower is loud, and Clara wishes her mom would play with her instead. 

    But her mom says because it's been sunny and then rainy and then sunny again, the grass has had everything it needs to grow. Now it is very long and has to be cut. Suddenly, the lawn mower turns off. Clara's mom looks upset. Clara wonders what is wrong. Her mom bends over and picks something up out of the grass, and walks over to the porch.

    Clara's mom has a turtle in her hand. The turtle is small, and as Clara looks closer, she sees that one leg is at odd angle. "I think I broke its leg," Clara's mom says. "I'm really very sorry. Will you help me nurse it back to health?"

    Clara feels bad for the little turtle. Turtles move slowly, so it probably could not run away when it saw the lawn mower coming. And Clara's mom could not see the turtle in the long grass! It was a mistake, but Clara and her mom will make it right. Clara names the turtle Phillip.

    Clara and her mom take Phillip the turtle to the veterinarian. The vet takes an x-ray of Phillip's leg, and confirms that it is broken. Phillip the turtle gets a little splint and bandage for his broken leg. The vet tells Clara that Phillip needs plants to eat and water to drink, plus a place to live.

    Clara and her mom buy a small tank at the pet store on the way home for the turtle to recuperate in. At home, Clara takes good care of Phillip the turtle. She puts water and rocks in the tank. She brings him fruit and leaves to eat, and keeps his water bowl clean. Phillip seems to be in a better mood.

    After eight weeks, Clara and her mom take Phillip back to the vet, who says that his leg is healed. Clara is both happy and sad. Happy because Phillip is better, but sad because she has to let him go now.

    When Clara gets home, she kisses Phillip's shell, says goodbye, and lets him go in the backyard. Clara will always remember Phillip.

2/9/2021

Levic

Dust storm

A Dangerous Dust Storm

    Have you ever been in a storm when it was raining so hard that it seemed like all you could see was water? How about a storm when it seemed like all you could see was dust ?Storms like those are called dust storms. During dust storms, the wind picks up clouds of dust and sand and blows them violently through the air, with dangerous consequences. Read on to learn more about these dangerous dust storms. 

    

    One day in 2011, in Phoenix, Arizona, a woman was getting in her car, which was parked in her driveway. Suddenly, her husband ran out of the house. He was waving his arms and yelling.

    Without another word, the woman ran back in her house and shut the front door. The husband and wife stood at their front window. A few minutes later, the sky began to darken. And then, sand and dust were everywhere, blowing all around the house. This lasted for almost an hour.

    The woman and her husband were watching an especially violent type of dust storm. A dust storm is a kind of storm where wind picks up clouds of sand and dust from the desert and blows them into the air. Phoenix is located in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. It gets several dust storms every year. Most of the dust storms are very small, but some of them are very big. A large, thick dust storm hit Phoenix in 2011. It was more than a mile tall and 50 miles wide. Severe dust storms can last for up to three hours.

    These dust storms happen in other areas too. Countries in the northern part of Africa can get very violent dust storms that last a long time. If this type of dust storm strikes near a farm, it can cover the farm with dust and sand. This means the farmer can no longer plant crops. Often the farm must be abandoned.

    Dust storms can be very dangerous. When a dust storm hits, it makes it difficult to see. If you are outside during a dust storm, you may not be able to see more than a few inches in front of you. When a dust storm is approaching Phoenix, the local weather stations start broadcasting warnings for people to get off the street. People are told to park their cars, so they don't crash. Airplanes are not allowed to take off from or land at the Phoenix airport because the pilots cannot see well.

    The dust in a dust storm can also make people sick. Some of the dust can carry pesticides and toxins. People go inside during a dust storm so that they do not inhale the dust. People with pets, like dogs and cats and horses, also bring their animals inside so that they do not get sick.

    Weather forecasters are always trying to get better at predicting when a dust storm will happen. The sooner they know a dust storm is coming, the sooner they can warn people about it. The sooner people are warned about a dust storm, the more lives will be saved. This is because more people will be able to get to safely before the dust storm strikes.

    Paul Fisher and his family have lived in Arizona for more than 20 years. He can remember seeing many intense dust storms during that time. One time, he was out walking his dog, Jimbo, shortly after he had moved to Phoenix. As he was walking, he looked out at the desert and saw what looked like a big, dark wall. He started at it for a few minutes. Suddenly, he realized what he was looking at. He grabbed Jimbo and ran back to the house. He was just able to get inside before the storm hit.

    "Once you're in a [violent dust storm], you never forget it," he said. "It's like a thunderstorm. But instead of rain, all you can see is sand."

1/9/2011

Levic