Last week, millions of people around the world said farewell to The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Oprah, one of the world’s best-known celebrities, aired the very last episode of her show on May 25.
The Oprah Winfrey Show was on TV every weekday for 25 years. That is longer than most talk shows in the United States.
Oprah became famous as the host of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Her show aired in 145 countries, so she isn’t just famous in the U.S. and Canada.
Both celebrities and non-celebrities felt comfortable talking to Oprah, sometimes about emotional or difficult things.
Oprah spoke to ordinary people with interesting stories. She spoke to people who had overcome hard things in life, like accidents or unhappy families. She also interviewed movie stars, politicians, chefs, queens and musicians, to name a few.
Oprah also spoke to The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and six princesses.
Five presidents of the United States were guests on the show, including Barack Obama, the current president of the United States.
People watching the show were often inspired by the people Oprah interviewed.
Through her show, Oprah inspired people to be the best they can be. She helped people with their health, their relationships and with achieving their goals. It’s no wonder that millions of people tuned in every day at 4:00 to watch her show.
Oprah became one of the most influential people in the world but she wasn’t born into that role.
In 1954 Oprah was born in a small town in the southern U.S. Her family didn’t have much money. Sometimes as a child she wore potato sacks as dresses.
On her final show, she said she was amazed that she had come this far because most African-American women born at the time became either a maid or a teacher for African-American children.
Oprah is now one of the richest people on the planet, with about $2.7 billion. There are only five other women like Oprah in the United States who have made themselves billionaires.
Oprah’s fame has allowed her to do many things. Her Angel Network has built 55 schools in 12 different countries.
The Oprah Winfrey show may be off the air, but Oprah isn’t going to retire. She has started her very own channel, called the Oprah Winfrey Network.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Writing/Discussion Prompt
One of the reasons Oprah has had a very successful career on television is because the people who watch her show feel as though they can trust her–even though they don’t know her. What are the qualities and characteristics in a person that make them seem trustworthy?
Reading Prompt
Today’s article contains many short paragraphs. How does information written in short paragraphs help a reader understand and remember a text?
Primary & Junior
Identify a variety of text features and explain how they help readers understand texts (OME, Reading: 2.3).
Intermediate
Identify a variety of text features and explain how they help communicate
meaning (OME, Reading: 2.3).
Grammar Feature: Auxiliary Verbs (helping verbs)
A helping verb is an action word (verb) that changes the meaning of a second verb. For example, the word “has” in the sentence below is an auxiliary verb because it describes a second verb, “built.”
Her Angel Network has built 55 schools in 12 different countries.
There are many different auxiliary verbs including: am, are, be, being, been, can, could, do, does, did, has, have, had, is, ,must, may, might, shall, should, was, were, will, would.
Create three complete sentences that contain auxiliary verbs.
