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Summer Camps And Independence Day (July 31, 2002)
Summer Camps
Kids in grades 1-12 may visit summer camps during summer vacation.
The following is a typical summer camp:
The camp is sponsored by a church, a scouting troop, or a foreign language
society. The camp lasts one week and
is located in the woods near a lake.
The campers ride to the camp in school buses 1).
They
stay in cabins or lodges, and sleep in bunk beds.
Meals are served in large dining halls.
There are many activities at summer camps, such as arts and crafts, archery,
canoeing, swimming, fishing, softball, sand/beach/water volleyball, hiking,
sailing, and even horseback riding. In
the evenings, campers gather around campfires to chat, watch the fire, sing
songs, tell stories 2), and toast marshmallows 3).
At foreign language camps, campers are usually required to use only the
foreign language they are trying to learn, such as Spanish, French, German, etc.
Summer camp may cost as much as several hundred dollars, but the kids have fun,
make new friends, and improve social skills.
Their parents also enjoy being free from their children for a week.
Here is an example of a “Summer
Camp.” < http://www.troutlakecamp.org/ >
Independence Day
July 4th is Independence Day 4).
We celebrate this day with parades, fireworks, and cooking out with
family and friends (picnics). Even
small towns host parades and celebrations. This
day has the biggest fireworks displays of the year.
New
York
,
Washington
,
D.C., and
Boston
are famous for their televised fireworks.
Some states ban people from using fireworks, unless they have a license.
Minnesota
used to ban almost all amateur fireworks, but beginning this year residents may
now play with limited types of fireworks: for example, firecrackers are still illegal.
_______________________________________________________________
1) School
bus: 23.5
million elementary and secondary school children ride school buses twice a day
throughout the
United
States!
450,000 yellow school buses provide transportation service daily nationwide! :
Sources: < http://www.schoolbusinfo.org/
>< http://hometown.aol.com/hamjoe/busmain.html
>
2) Scary stories are typical.
These fictitious stories are usually about a murderer, monster,
or ghost that is lurking near the campground. The older
kids like to scare the younger kids with such things.
3) In order to toast marshmallows, you can use a stick (often a long twig), or you can use long
metal forks: <
http://www.firepies.com/forks.html
> for example.
4) Independence Day celebrates the birthday of the
United
States of America.
America
became independent from
England
on
July 4th,
1776
,
with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and
America
is celebrating its 226th birthday this year, 2002: Sources:
< http://www.holidays.net/independence/
> <
http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/declaration/declaration.html >
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