ReadOasis Step 2 Tiny Tim walked onto the stage. His long black hair swung down to his shoulders. He made a shy face, and he rolled his eyes. Then he started to play the ukulele and sing. His voice was very high. The song was cute, but also strange.... Read more
Lady Sings the Blues (Part 1)
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ReadOasis Step 2 Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees These sad words open the song “Strange Fruit.” The song was written by Abel Meeropol, and it was... Read more
Isaac Watts: Father of Hymns (Step 3)
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ReadOasis Step 3 By Maria Sonora A hymn is a song of praise to God. In many cultures, people sing hymns at church services and on special celebrations like Christmas. Many prominent musicians today, such as Beyonce Knowles, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, and Carrie Underwood mastered singing and performing... Read more
By Cielo Vera ReadOasis Step 2 Gillian Lynne could not sit still. She was eight years old now. And her teachers worried about her performance at school. Perhaps she had a learning disorder. Gillian's mother worried, too. She took her daughter to see a doctor. At the doctor's office,... Read more
Photo Art: Composition (1 in a Series)
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ReadOasis Step 2 Cameras and photos are everywhere today. For example, Flickr is a photo sharing site. People put thousands of photos on Flickr every minute. And some of these photos are excellent. The photographer Ansel Adams once said this. "You don't take a photograph, you make it." This... Read more
ReadOasis Step 4 (Part 1) On June 2, 2010, President Barack Obama stood on a small stage in the White House. In the audience sat a mix of elite leaders and famous musicians. The President was about to give America’s highest award for popular music to Paul McCartney of the... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 Mr. Jones stood in front of his English class. The students looked sleepy and bored, so Mr. Jones decided to open with an interesting story. He told the students a famous joke, and here is what happened… The Joke. Two older couples ate dinner together. After... Read more
The Motown Sound (Step 3)
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ReadOasis Step 3 The Motown Museum (Wikipedia) Soul music combines rhythm and blues and gospel. Like the blues, soul arose out of the black experience in America, and soul musicians took these styles out of the black church and into the world and the streets. They confidently and proudly... Read more
W.C. Handy: Father of the Blues (Step 3)
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ReadOasis Step 3 "Then I saw the beauty of primitive music." W.C. Handy, Father of the Blues W.C. Handy at Age 19 W.C. Handy grew up in a small town in Alabama in the southern part of the US. His father was the pastor of a church, and Handy... Read more
A Traditional Children's Song ReadOasis Step 1 This old man, he played one, He played knick knack with his thumb, With a *knick, knack, paddy whack, Give the dog a bone; This old man came rolling home. This old man, he played two, He played knick knack with my... Read more
By Robert Louis StevensonReadOasis Step 5 Berit Watki Winter in Merstham (Creative Commons) Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;Blinks but an hour or two; and then,A blood-red orange, sets again.Before the stars have left the skies,At morning in the dark I rise;And shivering in my nakedness,By... Read more
ReadOasis Step 3 Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was a Japanese artist, painter, and maker of prints, called UKIYO-E. During his life, he was the leading expert on Chinese painting in Japan. His most famous work is The Great Wave off Kanagawa, created in the 1820s. The Great Wave comes from... Read more
One day, Johnny Cash took the stage. He smiled wide. His black clothes shined. He said, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." He picked up his guitar. He began to sing. His voice was deep, like a river's flow. The song was about a man. The man was in prison. The... Read more
Stevie, The Musical Wonder
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ReadOasis Step 3 The announcer opens the envelope. He looks down at the card, then smiles. "And the winner is, Stevie Wonder!" The crowd cheers and cheers. Their happiness fills the room. It was the 1989 Academy Awards. Stevie Wonder just won "Best Original Song." The song was "I... Read more
The Death of Bach and His Music
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ReadOasis Step 2 Johann looked at the piece of music. But he just saw clouds of dark marks on a page. He couldn't see the notes. He needed help. So, he asked a famous doctor to fix his eyes. The doctor's name was John Taylor. But Johann did not... Read more
The Queen of Glamour Rock
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ReadOasis Step 4 Freddy ran onto the stage pumping his fists. And the crowd of 72,000 fans roared. Bouncing over to the piano, he sat down. And for just a moment, everyone hushed. Then Freddy's fingers danced on the keys, playing well-known chords. Cheers erupted over the audience. As... Read more
In 1907, Rudyard Kipling received the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was the first English-language writer to receive the prize. Kipling was a innovator in the art of short stories. His children’s books, like Jungle Book, are classics of children's literature. Kipling also wrote poetry. One of his famous poems... Read more
Master of Words: Bob Dylan (Part 1)
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ReadOasis Step 2 It was January 1961. In the cold north of Minnesota, a young man of 19 years packed his bags. He was going to New York City. By car, the trip would take over 18 hours. And he was travelling by his thumb. In other words, he... Read more
ReadOasis Step 3 A man sits at night in his room alone. He is deeply saddened by the death of his lover. Her name was Lenore. Deep in despair, he begins to hear a tapping at the window. He looks up and opens it. And there stands a large... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2(Part 1) El Expolio by El Greco El Greco wanted to be a great artist. (His name means “the Greek.”) Like many Greek artists of his time, El Greco moved to Venice, Italy. Venice was alive with cultural change, achievement, and art during a period of time... Read more