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United States

A Plan for Parks

April 27, 2018

The National Park Service (NPS) has backed down from a controversial plan. It has decided not to double admission prices at 17 popular national parks. Instead, it will raise fees by $5 at 117 parks across the United States. In November, the NPS announced that it…

Arts

8 Questions for Amanda Gorman

April 27, 2018

In 2017, Amanda Gorman, then 19, was named the first National Youth Poet Laureate. She spoke with TFK’s Brian McGrath about how poetry can give voice to a new generation of leaders. Has poetry always been a part of your…

World

A Prince is Born

April 27, 2018

Britain’s royal family has a new member. Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, welcomed their third child on April 23. The couple presented the baby to photographers just seven hours after his birth. Prince William said they…

World

End of a Dynasty

April 27, 2018

For the first time in almost 60 years, Cubans will have a president who is not a member of the Castro family. President Raúl Castro (above, right) formally stepped down on April 19 and the Cuban government appointed Miguel Díaz-Canel…

Time Off

All in the Family

April 27, 2018

Everyone’s favorite family of superheroes is back in theaters on June 15. In Pixar’s Incredibles 2, Elastigirl is busy fighting crime while Mr. Incredible takes care of their kids, Violet, Dash, and baby Jack-Jack. Life isn’t easy for the family,…

Time Off

Unfinished Business

April 27, 2018

In 2013, Gennifer Choldenko published the third book in her Tales from Alcatraz trilogy. At the time, she thought she was finished with the series. It tells the story of Moose, the son of a guard at the prison on…

United States

Cactuses at Risk

April 20, 2018

The sun goes down and a truck pulls up to a giant saguaro (sa- wah -ro) in the Sonoran Desert. Poachers wearing protective gloves step out. They dig up the cactus, wrap it in a carpet, and drive away. Cactuses…

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Community

Inspiring Educators

April 20, 2018

This year, Teacher Appreciation Week runs from May 7 to 11. To celebrate, TFK asked five successful people to write about one of their most memorable and inspiring teachers. Bill Gates Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates uses his wealth to help…

Time Off

Liar, Liar

April 19, 2018

Can you tell when someone is lying? Pants on Fire is a new podcast game show by Gen-Z Media that puts listeners’ truth-detecting skills to the test. In each episode, kid contestants are asked to decide which of two “experts”…

Time Off

Rhyming in the Ring

April 19, 2018

Knockout, by K.A. Holt, is about a boy named Levi. As a baby, Levi suffered from a medical condition that made it hard for him to breathe. Now a seventh grader, Levi has recovered but still feels trapped. His dad…

Business

TFK Explains: The Facebook Data Breach

April 13, 2018

What exactly happened? In 2014, a political data company based in the United Kingdom 
gained access to personal information about Facebook users. The company, Cambridge Analytica, used that information to get to know many American voters. Its purpose was to…

Time Off

The Key to Creativity

April 13, 2018

Where does creativity come from? And what does it look like? These are the questions Colby Sharp, a fourth-grade teacher in Michigan, wanted to help his students answer. “I realized that ideas can come at any time and can take…

Time Off

Learning to Bounce Back

April 13, 2018

A bright-orange tour bus is hard to miss. Even more so when it’s branded Rebound —the title of the new book by Kwame Alexander. In the book, Charlie Bell can’t seem to make the right choices after a family tragedy.…

Science

Science Fair Fun

April 12, 2018

I know what it feels like to be transported into a completely new world—a world of innovation, science, and discovery. That’s because I attended the USA Science & Engineering Festival, held April 7 and 8, in Washington, D.C. (The day…

World

Kids of Kakuma

April 11, 2018

KAKUMA, Kenya — Wild animals roamed at night, but Rose Peter and the 19 other children she was with still managed to sleep in the bush. In daylight, they walked. “One week,” Rose tells me when I ask how long…

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Environment

Sweet Solutions

April 6, 2018

Last year, Americans spent more than $22 billion on chocolate. But the tasty treat comes at a far greater cost than this. That’s because farmers in Africa and South America often cut down trees in the rain forest when…

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Spanish

Environment

Hope for the Wild

April 6, 2018

One of the last unspoiled areas of Amazon rain forest lies in a remote region of northeastern Peru called Yaguas. The lush land stretches along 125 miles of the Putumayo River. Amazon rain forests are so massive that they…