Irving Berlin

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/irving-berlin

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Irving Berlin born?May 11, 1887
2. Where was Irving Berlin born?Mogilev, Russian Empire (now Belarus)
3. When did Irving Berlin die?September 22, 1989 (age 101)
4. Who was Irving Berlin?Irving Berlin was a songwriter who grew up in New York City after moving from Russia. He wrote many songs that people loved to sing.
5. How many songs did Irving Berlin write?He wrote about 1,500 songs over a career that lasted more than 70 years.

Tin Pan Alley: The collective name for the music publishing industry in New York City during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Vaudeville: A popular form of live entertainment in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, featuring a variety of acts.
Zeitgeist: The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.