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Inventors and Inventions
The United States Grows
(1865-1900)

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 3 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.12

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    fiber, totally, provided, railroad, hearing, telegraph, bamboo, traveled, working, phonograph, twice, longer, power, bulb, lived, thing
     content words:    Civil War, Thomas Edison, Charles Edison, New Jersey, Mary Had, Little Lamb, Menlo Park, Edison National Historic Site

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Thomas Edison
By Cathy Pearl 		  
1     The railroad wasn't the only thing that changed this country after the Civil War. Electricity also changed it. Americans no longer had to go to bed when it was dark. Edison's ideas changed the way that people lived.
 
2     Thomas Edison was born in 1847. He started school at age seven. But his teacher quickly became annoyed with his endless questions. Edison's mother took him out of school and taught him at home.
 
3     Edison had a problem with his hearing. He eventually became totally deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other. It didn't stop him from working on his inventions.
 
4     Edison married twice in his life. With each wife, he had three children. One of his children, Charles Edison, was later elected the governor of New Jersey.

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