Courses | ReadOasis

The Festival of Lights

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ReadOasis Step 3 The sky is filled with fireworks. And the home is bright with the light of candles. Little children are dressed in colorful clothes. Their smiles are wide with the tastes of traditional sweets. And they dance to the beat of Indian music. This is the Festival... Read more

The Doll Festival (Step 2)

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By Zoe NovaReadOasis Step 2 Japan is a land of festivals. And on March 3, Japanese families may celebrate the "Hina Matsuri" or Doll Festival. This is also called Girl's Day. On Girl's day, families pray for the health and happiness of their girls. During the Doll Festival, you... Read more

Rakugo: A Funny Side of Japan

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ReadOasis Step 2 Sakura started to cry. "No Tora-san! You can't leave again! I know that life is hard for you here. But when you leave, it's harder for me." Tora-san watched Sakura cry and wipe her tears. He felt so sorry for her, but he didn't say anything.... 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

$80,000 for One Song

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ReadOasis Step 2 The room is dark. You are alone. You are drinking a coke and downloading some songs from the Internet. Then you hear a crash. Your heart stops as you hear a man shout. "This is the police!" You catch your breath and say, "What?" Then another... 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

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

Black History Month

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ReadOasis Step 2 February is Black History Month in the US. The month honors important people and events about Africans who are spread out around the world. This tradition began in the US. The US and Canada celebrate black history in February, and the UK does so in October.... Read more

A Force for Good in Music

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ReadOasis Step 3(Part 1) U2 in Concert It was a cool winter night in January 2002 in New York. The city that never sleeps was wide-awake and full of movement. Even in the cold, you could feel the energy of arts, entertainment, culture, and money. That week, top business,... Read more

JK Rowling and Harry Potter (Step 2)

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ReadOasis Step 2 After finishing university in 1983, JK Rowling was living in London. She worked for the human rights group Amnesty International. But in 1990, she decided to move to Manchester. After spending a weekend looking for an apartment, she took the train back to London. It was... Read more

Drifting Cowboy: Hank Williams (Step 3)

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By Maria SonoraReadOasis Step 3(Part 1) By MGM Records via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain) Hank would never make it to his destination. There were too many problems. It was icy cold outside. Covered with a blanket, he sat in the back seat of his light blue Cadillac. He was... Read more

Making Work Fun: The Levity Effect (Step 2)

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ReadOasis Step 2 A manager at a company was interviewing a job candidate. The manager said, ?We need a very responsible person for this job. We need someone who can take charge.? The candidate?s eyes lit up, and he answered with great confidence. ?Sir, your search ends here! I?m... Read more

Bill Gates: A Model for Business?

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By Tek SmithReadOasis Step 2 As a young man, Bill Gates had the idea to make a company. In 1975, he left Harvard University, and he started Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen. By 2007, Microsoft employed 78,000 people in 105 countries. Today about 90% of the world?s computers... Read more

Awarding Excellence: The Pulitzer Prize

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ReadOasis Step 3 The Color Purple The Pulitzer Prize The Color Purple is a book about a black woman named Celie. The story tells of her life and struggles, as she grew up in the Southern United States during the 1930s. The book was written by Alice Walker. And... Read more

Paul Desmond and Take Five

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ReadOasis Step 3By Maria Sonora ?I would also like to thank my father, who discouraged me from playing the violin.? These are the words of Paul Desmond. He is one of the most popular musicians to come out of the West Coast cool jazz scene. Surely, he liked violin... Read more

A Musical Money-Making Machine

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ReadOasis Step 3 Carrie Underwood by Eva Rinaldi (Creative Commons) Carrie was a country girl from Checotah, Oklahoma. She lived on a farm, and in the mornings, she would help her father feed the cows. Carrie loved to sing. She started singing at church when she was 3 years... Read more

Fred Astaire, Dancer Extraordinaire

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ReadOasis Step 3 "Some people seem to think that good dancers are born, but all the good dancers I have known are taught or trained." -- Fred Astaire It was a dark time. In 1929, the American economy crashed. Many people lost all their money. Almost half the banks... Read more

The Boy who Became Buddha

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ReadOasis Step 2 He was born in 1935 -- in a poor farmer's home in northeast Tibet. At age 2, he was recognized as the 14th Buddha of Compassion. Buddha's soul had again appeared in a child. And this boy was the Buddha. He was taken to a palace... Read more