What’s in the news around the world?

What’s in the news?

Do you wonder about the world– what’s in the news everywhere? I’ve a favorite website I love to visit to read interesting news from around the world.

The site is called TweenTribune, and its stories are curated by the Smithsonian and others. I can search by the topics I’m interested in and choose a news article. I can also choose by grade level and Lexile level [which might make your teacher happy]. It’s free to read — you don’t need to sign up, although your teacher might want the benefits of signing up [class lists, quiz results, lessons].

What are the topics?

The articles chosen are just right for anyone who has an interest in the amazing things in the world:

How do I read it?

I choose my grade level first.

Next, I choose a topic from the list above in the right sidebar, then I skim the titles and images until I spot something I wonder about.

Today I chose one of my favorite topics, ART. Since it’s Women’s History Month, I chose the article: How women broke into the male-dominated world of cartoons and illustrations.

Then I enjoy the article and learn a bit about the topic.

How do I blog about it?

Since this is not an assignment for class, I read about it and think mainly about what surprised me or what history I already know about the topic.

I also bookmark it so I can find it later [How to Bookmark in Chrome].

I write about

  • What I knew that connected with the article
  • What surprised me

What did surprise you about the article?

In the article  How women broke into the male-dominated world of cartoons and illustrations, I knew that in the 1800s and the 1900s that women did not have the opportunities that men did. I knew that expectations were different. For example, when I was in elementary school in the 1958, I was expected to be a secretary, a teacher, or a nurse — if I was allowed to work by my husband. That, of course, changed in the 1960s so by the time I graduated, I could choose about any career I wanted– but it still would not be easy; women were still considered less than capable.

The article mentioned that drawing was a “male-dominated field,” so that fits with what I already knew.

I was surprised that, in order to break through in a career of drawing, women had to:

  • carefully choose their topics [some were limited to cute kids or animals]
  • change their name so it was “male”
  • form clubs to work together to succeed and get published with their work

This makes sense since the art field was male-dominated and was not considered a career for women.

Despite that, many succeeded to have their art on magazines like Vanity Fair and the New Yorker. One created the Campbell’s Soup kids. And many became book illustrators.

Go ahead, read the article to find out who they are and perhaps do your own research on one of the artists, especially if you are an artist.

Then choose another article and blog about what you already knew and what surprised you.

What article will you choose?