Logo sm
  • Lessons
    • ELA
    • Social Studies
    • Science
    • Current Events
    • Search Lessons
  • How It Works
    • Product Tour
    • Why Listening
    • Listening Assessment
  • Pricing
  • Support
See All Lessons
Tractor from teens

Image by Pollywog Creek licensed under CC BY 2.0

SOCIAL STUDIES | MIDDLE SCHOOL

Teens in Agriculture

Agriculture Coming of Age

In Texas, vast expanses of farmland have been converted to urban land over the last several decades. As farmland changed to cityscapes, children growing up in these areas have had fewer and fewer opportunities to interact with nature. This audio story follows several students in East Dallas as they experience life on a Texas farm. Listen to find out more about how the urban students responded to working with animals, and how the experience has influenced them.

Low
Language Challenge

Tweet Share on Facebook

Want to Listen?

TEACHERS: Access our entire library of lessons and current events!

With a free teacher account, you get:
  • Our lesson collections for Social Studies, ELA, and Science
  • Authentic audio news stories curated for the classroom
  • Teaching resources to check for understanding
  • And new Current Events every school day
Teachers Join Free

Already a Member? Login Now

Story Length: 2:51

Listen to the Story:

Listening Comprehension Questions

  • In what ways did Andrew Carnegie’s libraries serve their communities?
  • How did Carnegie benefit from a library when he was growing up?
  • Which personality traits helped propel Carnegie from poverty to riches? Bring specific details from the story to support your ideas.
  • According to Carnegie, what should rich people do with their money and why? Why was Carnegie known as both generous and “brutal”?

Discussion Themes

  • In your opinion, what should really rich people do with their fortunes?
  • What does it take for a person to rise from “rags to riches”?

Socrative users can import these questions using the following code: SOC-1234

Listening Organizers

  • Fact, Question, Response

  • Language Identification Organizer

  • Deeper Meaning Chart

Related Lessons

Dust bowl during the great depression
Social Studies • ELL

The Dust Bowl During the Great Depression

The Dust Bowl was one of the worst man-made environmental disasters. It turned the southern Great Plains of the U.S. into a desert. When the native prairie grass was pulled out and replaced with wheat fields, the loose soil had nothing to hold it. The dirt blew away in the wind, and as it traveled it gathered into enormous dust storms that choked people and animals with dirt. In this public radio story you will hear archival interviews with people who lived through the Dust Bowl. You also hear an early recording of the poem "Hard Luck Okie" which examines the reasons why people moved West.

Read More
Homestead act of 1862
Social Studies • ELL

Legacy of the Homestead Act

In the early 20th Century Americans streamed to the middle of the country because of the Homestead Acts. These were federal laws that gave people ownership of the land for free. In this audio story you will hear from people who grew up on homesteads in Montana in the early 20th century. Both families were fairly isolated and self-sufficient, working hard to make a living off the land, but their affection for that lifestyle is still strong.

Read More
7331119710 40435e6b10 k
Science

Learning to Garden and Cook in School

Many schools now have gardens where students grow and harvest food that they cook themselves in class. The “Let's Move Initiative,” a program created by former First Lady Michelle Obama in 2010, has generated awareness about school gardens and teaching cooking skills that enable students to learn about healthy lifestyle habits in an effort to fight the national obesity epidemic. Listen to learn more about how a gardening and cooking project at a school in Maine is a rewarding way to learn about nutrition and healthy lifestyle skills through hands-on class activities.

Read More
2966085308 a7835d0c87 b
Social Studies

Technology, Subsidies, and Cotton

Chances are, you’re wearing something made from cotton. You can check the label on most garments to find out where they were made. But where was the cotton grown that was the starting point? This story tracks down the source of the cotton that went into a T-shirt. A spinning mill in Indonesia is where the fabric may have been made, and the cotton fields of Mississippi is where the cotton may have been grown. But cotton is grown all over the world. Why would a textile mill in Indonesia buy cotton from the U.S. when they can get it from much closer? Listen to this story to find out how technology and subsidies give American cotton farmers an advantage in international trade.

Read More

Language Challenge Level

These levels of listening complexity can help teachers choose stories for their students. The levels do not relate to the content of the story, but to the complexity of the vocabulary, sentence structure and language in the audio story.

NOTE: Listenwise stories are intended for students in grades 5-12 and for English learners with intermediate language skills or higher.


Low

These stories are easier to understand and are a good starting point for everyone.


Medium

These stories have an average language challenge for students and can be scaffolded for English learners.


High

These stories have challenging vocabulary and complex language structure.

  • listenwise white logo
  • LESSONS
  • ELA
  • Social Studies
  • Science
  • Current Events
  • HOW IT WORKS
  • Product Tour
  • Why Listening
  • Listening Assessment
  • PRICING
  • ABOUT
  • Team
  • Press
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • RESOURCE LIBRARY
  • Case Studies
  • Webinars
  • Support Center
  • WAYS TO FOLLOW
  • Listenwise Blog
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Get our Newsletter
Terms & Privacy
  © Copyright 2019 Listenwise. All Rights reserved.
Image Spp signatory rect sm
ACCEPT AND CLOSE

Listenwise uses cookies to provide the best experience possible. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Read our Privacy Policy

Join For Free

Welcome

Sign up for a free account.


I am a Teacher
I am a Student

Welcome Back

Let's get you logged in.


I am a Teacher
I am a Student