THE WHITE HOUSE: home to a Nation ...

The White House is the oficial residence of the President of the United States of America. It was built in the 1970s. Over the years the building has had several names. It was the 'President's House', the 'Executive Mansion', and the 'President's Palace'. Michelle Obama prefers to call it the 'People's House'. She says 'It is a historic building, but it is also a place where everyone is welcome'. Each year about 10 million people visit the White House. Free public tours of the White House are available for citizens of the United States. To reserve tickets, they must all contact their member of the Congress. In the past international visitors could also arrange for tickets for tours of the White House by contacting their country's embassy in Washington D.C. Unfortunately this service is not available at the moment, but we hope that the situation Will change in future. For more information, visit the following address: www.whitehouse.gov/about/tours-and-events. (Speak Up magazine).

HALLOWEEN

October 31 is Halloween. It is a fun event in the United States of America, Great Britain and, now, in many other countries too. Halloween has Celtic origins. The Celtic calendar was in tow parts: summer and winter. Summer was from May to the end of October, and winter was from November to the end of April. The ancient Celtic festivity Samhain celebrated the end of the year: the start of winter. It began on the evening of October 31 and continued until the next day. Druids were Celtin priests. On October 31 they performed religious rituals and talked about future events. The Celts believed that ghosts, witches and evil spirits entered the body of a person or animal. they wore frightening costumes and mad big fires to send them away. The colours of Halloween - orange and black - are of Celtic origin too. Orange was the colour of the harvest, and black was the colour of winter and long nights. The Druids believed that black cats had special powers and could feel if spirits were near. So black cats have become symbols of Halloween. The Romans invaded Great Britain in AD 43. After this invasion Samhain became a harvest festival, and on October 31 the Romans honoured their goddess of fruit trees, Pomona. During centuries, the Roman Catholic Church put Christian festivities in the place of pre-Christian festivities. In the eighth century the Church decided to call 1 November All Saint´s Day. Another name for this day was All Hallows´Day. The evening of 31 October was All Hallows´Eve. This became Halloween.

COLUMBUS DAY

On the second Monday of October Americans celebrate Columbus Day, they remember Christopher Columbus'voyage to América in 1492. Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, a city on the north-west coast of Italy. At this time Genoa was a very important commercial port. The young Christopher often went to the port and watched the ships leave. Many people at this time thought the world was flat, but others - Columbus included - believed that the world was round. Columbus wanted to test this idea. He went to sea when he was 14. Columbus went to Live in Portugal. When he was 23 he had the idea of going to India, China and Japan by sailing west, if the world was round, this was possible, but he needed money, ships and men. He asked a lot of people for support, including the kings of Portugal, England and France, but he got not help. Then he explaned his idea to the King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain and they decided to help him. They gave him Three ships, the Santa María, the Niña and the Pinta. On 3 August 1492, Columbus and the ninety sailors left Palos, on the coast of Spain. Three ships arrived at the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas on 12 October 1492. Columbus claimed these new islands for Spain. People in Europe called the new islands the 'New World'. The First celebration of Columbus Day was on 12 October 1792, in New York city, Three hundred years after Columbus'voyage.

WOODLANDS JUNIOR SCHOOL: a great web with great resources ...

Caring about learning - proud to shine http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/

ROALD DAHL day, an extraordinary man

Roald Dahl is one of the most famous children's writers in the world. He died in 1990, but children still love his many books, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twists and Matilda. Every year children celebrate his life and stories on Roald Dahl Day, September 13th, -the writer' s birthday-. Roald Dahl Day was originally organised by his widow, Felicity Dahl, in 2006. She wanted to celebrate Dahl's 90th birthday. She remembers, "Roald loved birthdays and treats. Now children celebrate his birthday every year. I am sure he is very happy". The Roald Dahl website offers free materials and it also give details of the Roald Dahl Relay. Visit the website www.roalddahlday.info and download activities, posters and games.

QUORA, finding the answer

Do you have a question that no one can answer?. There is a website that can help, Quora. It is a question and answer website, a Yahoo Answers on steroids. Users post questions, and experts give detailed answers and retell anecdotes. All you have to do is register at www.quora.com and you can ask your questions. It's free, it works, it inspires.