Writer lives at a lighthouse

Level 3 Caroline Woodward lives at a light station near Tofino, B.C. The lighthouse is on Lennard Island. The lighthouse is very important. It has lights that guide ships along the rocky shores of the Pacific coast. Caroline and her husband, Jeff, have lived and worked at more than 12 lighthouses along the B.C. coast….

Fun things to do with your children outdoors

LEVEL 2 It’s healthy for children to spend time outdoors. It’s good for their physical and mental health. They get better at: thinking moving creating Children need help learning how to play outdoors. What do you need to do? Stay nearby and keep the children safe. Let the children play on their own. Play with them…

The Summer Jobs Program

In March, Prime Minister Trudeau announced more money for the Canada Summer Jobs Program. The Summer Jobs Program helps students get summer jobs. The program is part of the Youth Employment Strategy.

Fort McMurray is on fire

Level 2 The forest around Ft. McMurray is on fire. Large parts of the city are on fire. Ft. McMurray is Alberta’s fifth largest city. This is the largest wild fire in Alberta history. This is the largest evacuation in Alberta history. Map of the fire zone It all happened in a few days. The…

2016 Canada Census

Level 2 What is the census? The census is information about who lives in Canada. The information is gathered by Statistics Canada. What do I have to do? You will get an envelope in the mail. Follow the directions in the envelope. You can answer the census questions in two ways: You can fill in…

Surprise! We saw bears

LEVEL 2 Newcomers to Canada enjoy learning about camping and wildlife. Last year we went camping. We camped in a national park. We woke up very early. We went bird watching. We didn’t see any birds. We saw a black bear and her cubs! We were very surprised. The bears were far away from us….

Tips to keep your brain healthy

Story adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Patty Bossort LEVEL 1 You can keep your brain healthy. Five simple ways to keep your brain healthy: Reading by: Patty Bossort Listen “Tips to keep your brain healthy

Brother and sister cook up sauce

Level 2 Story adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Patty Bossort Skylar and Chloe Sinow run their own business. They make and sell pasta sauces. They wrote a cookbook. Their business is called Kids Can Cook Gourmet. The sauces They make three kinds of sauces. One hundred and thirty stores in Alberta and B.C. sell…

Ducklings need help

Adapted from The Province Level 2 Sometimes baby ducks are orphans. An orphan is a child without a parent. A baby duck is called a duckling. People find the orphaned ducklings. They take the ducklings to the Wildlife Rescue Association. The Association takes care of them. Read the PDF and do the exercise Ducklings need help…

Meet a cat for coffee

LEVEL 1 Come in. Drink a coffee. Pet the cats. Take one home. Meet the cats at the Catfé This café is in Vancouver. It’s called the Catfé. Michelle Furbacher owns the café. Michelle wants cats to live in the café. She wants people to come and enjoy the cats. Read the story and do…

Retired football player swings an axe

Level 3 Shea Emry always wanted to be a lumberjack. A lumberjack is a person who cuts down trees and cuts them into logs. Shea Emry’s great-great-grandfather was a logger. Most of the men in his family worked in the forest industry. Emry likes to swing an axe. Emry says swinging an axe is better…

April Fools’ Day is fun

Many countries celebrate April Fools’ Day on April 1. Sometimes the day is called All Fools’ Day. On this day people play harmless tricks or pranks. The tricks can be played on friends, family, or coworkers. Often newspapers, TV stations and websites play tricks. No one knows the exact date of the first April Fools’…

Seven steps to a healthier life

Adapted from The Vancouver Sun Level 1 It is simple. Eat less and move more. Lose weight and feel healthier by doing these things. Read the PDFs. Try the exercises. Seven steps to a heathier life Your Health is part of an e-book on healthy living from Best of the Reader Visit the links: Best of the…

Wildlife returning to the city

Story adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Patty Bossort LEVEL 2 Black-tailed deer left Vancouver 30 years ago. Elk disappeared from the False Creek area a century ago. The last cougar in Vancouver was shot in Stanley Park in 1911. People in Vancouver did not want large wild animals to live in town. Parts of…

Prime Minister Trudeau in Washington

  LEVEL 3 Americans are excited about Prime Minister Trudeau. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the President of the United States. He stayed for three days. This was the first official visit of a Canadian Prime Minister to the United States in 20 years. Hundreds of people greeted Prime Minister Trudeau at the White House…

New country, new babies

LEVEL 2 2016 is a year of new beginnings for many Syrian families in Canada. The Ktifan family is from Syria. They arrived in Vancouver on January 7, 2016. Amjad and Wadaa Ktifan left Syria with their children. They fled to Jordan. Now they are in Canada. They are refugees. New babies On February 29…

Raise Your Hands Against Racism

LEVEL 2 Spice Radio Vancouver 1200 AM is asking people around the world to raise their hands. They want you to show your hands in colour. They want to show that skin colour should not define or separate us. Shushma Datt started it Shushma Datt and friends started the event in 2015. The Hindu festival…

Baseball treasures found in the attic

Story adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Patty Bossort                           LEVEL 1   Edward Bradford loved baseball. He liked to save things. He was a “packrat”. Download the story Baseball treasures found in the attic Listen to “Baseball treasures found in the attic” Reading…

Education First Nations style

LEVEL 3 Eighty children go to a special school in Vancouver. They learn in First Nations style. The Aboriginal Focus School is the only one in Vancouver. Seventy of the students are aboriginal and 10 are not aboriginal. They have room for more students. The school helps students develop cultural pride. Students learn about the…

Employers are hiring more apprentices

Story adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Patty Bossort LEVEL 3 More employers are starting to hire and train apprentices. Hiring apprentices helps corporations get good workers. Working as an apprentice helps workers gain skills on-the-job. Why do we need more apprenticeship opportunities? Skilled trades workers “don’t grow on trees,” says one employer. Workers need to be…

Four female rowers rescued in Atlantic

Adapted from The Vancouver Sun level 1 Four women tried to row across the Atlantic. They were from England. The women planned to row over 4,000 km. They planned to row from Spain to Barbados. Read the story Four female rowers rescued in Atlantic

Eagles flock to the dump

Level 2 “They are all over the place. I don’t think you’re going to see any other place with this many,” says Albert Shamess. Shamess is the director of waste management for the City of Vancouver. “Anything that sticks out of the ground has an eagle on top of it.” Sometimes a dozen or more…

City of Richmond says signs in bus shelters must be in English

  LEVEL 3 Bus shelters are good places to advertise. Signs in bus shelters advertise real estate, toothpaste, credit cards, beer, entertainment and more. Most signs in bus shelters in Richmond are written in both Chinese and English. In 2015, 58% of sign permits were for “mixed language” signs. Recently, Budweiser put up an ad…

The Great Bear Rainforest becomes a park!

Story adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Patty Bossort LEVEL 2 The Great Bear Rainforest will become a park in the spring of 2016. People fought to make this area a park for over 20 years. It took 10 years to make a deal. The deal will protect the environment. It allows some logging and…

Family Day in British Columbia

Adapted from The Province by Patty Bossort Level 1 The first Family Day holiday in BC was in 2013. Family Day in BC is on the second Monday of February. Other provinces have their holiday on the third Monday of February. Change the day? A lot of people want BC to change the day. They want…

Building community in the Lunar New Year

Story adapted from The Vancouver Sun Level 3 Lunar New Year begins on February 8 this year. It is the same day as the BC Family Day holiday. The annual parade in Vancouver will be on February 14. It will start at 11:00 in China Town. Lunar New Year is also called Chinese New Year…

Wanted: More female bobsledders

Story adapted from The Vancouver Sun Level 3 Canadian women win gold Two women raced in the fastest bobsled. They won the gold cup in Whistler, BC. Kaillie Humphries was the pilot of the sled. She comes from Calgary. “It was a lot closer than I wanted it to be,” Humphries said. Humphries raced against eight…

A new totem pole for the Haida Gwaii

Adapted from The Vancouver Sun Level 1 A totem pole is a carved log. The carvings tell stories and history. The new totem pole is 14 metres tall. Read the PDF.  Try the Exercise. A new totem pole for the Haida Gwaii-PDF Visit the links: Watch this video.  See the community set up the new…

Puppets Casey and Finnegan

Puppets Casey and Finnegan alive and well on Hornby Island Adapted by cbc.ca by Nancy Carson Level 2 Listen to Casey and Finnegan– Level 2 Reading by Jessica Heafey For 27 years, a little child and a dog made many Canadian children very happy. Casey, the child, and Finnegan, the dog, were puppets. They were part of…

B.C. man’s harpsichords

B.C. man’s harpsichords used around the world Adapted from The Northshore News by Nancy Carson Level 3 Craig Tomlinson was 16 and living in Coquitlam. It was the 1960s and folk music was very  popular again. Many folk musicians played the dulcimer.* Tomlinson looked everywhere for one. *dul-si-mer Never gave up Tomlinson said, “You could…

The Word of the Year

The Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year is a pictograph: 😂. This is the first time Oxford chose a pictograph as the Word of the Year. The ‘Face with Tears of Joy’ is the name of the emoji. In 2015, this emoji was used more than other emoji in the U.K and in the U.S. The word emoji comes from…

Andong Song

Adapted from The Province and NHL.com by Nila Gopaul Level 1 Listen to “Andong Song”– Level 1 Reading by Jessica Heafey Andong Song is 18 years old. In June 2015, he became the first Chinese player in the NHL. “I am the first,” he says. Andong started to play ice hockey in China. He was six years…

A bouquet you can eat

Adapted from WE Vancouver by Nancy Carson Level 2 We often visit friends or family for a meal. Sometimes we take flowers as a gift for the host. Flowers are nice but they last about a week. Sometimes we take chocolates. However, some people do not want to eat candy. They don’t want their children to…

Woman, 80, lands plane

  “Cessna Grand Caravan” by PinCheck is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0  Adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Nila Gopaul Level 1 Helen Collins flies to Florida with her husband. They enjoy eating and sitting by the ocean at Easter. John Collins, 81, is a pilot. They start to fly home.

Crisis in Syria

Crisis in Syria Adapted from The Vancouver Sun, CBC News, CNBC, and Aljazeera America by Nila Gopaul Listen to “Crisis in Syria”– Level 3 Reading by Corey Muench Civil war started in Syria in 2011. The war continues today. Over 100,000 people have died. Syria is a country in western Asia. Its population is 22.5 million. About 5,000 Syrians…

How old is a lobster?

Adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Nancy Carson Level 1 Now scientists know the age of a lobster. They count the lobster’s rings. We do this with trees. We count the rings in the wood. Visit the link: Some interesting facts about lobsters for teachers Crustaceans, like lobsters and shrimp

The spirit bear

The Spirit Bear Adapted from CBC News by Nancy Carson Level 3 A creature of legend lives on the central coast of British Columbia. This is the only place in the world where it can be found! This creature is the Kermode Bear. It is also called the “Spirit Bear” or “Ghost Bear”.

Solly’s cinnamon buns go around the world

Adapted from WEVancouver by Nancy Carson Level 2 Leah Markovitch owns Solly’s in Vancouver. Solly’s is a bakery and deli. The bakery makes Jewish baking. They serve soup and sandwiches, too. You can sit down. You can have a snack. Or you can eat a nice lunch. Visit the link ]Watch bagels being made in Seattle…

Aboriginal veterans honoured

Adapted from The Province and CTV News by Nila Gopaul On Sunday, November 8, about 100 people marched through Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The marchers sang and beat on native drums. The event was the city’s 10th annual National Aboriginal Veterans Day March. The march started at Carnegie Centre and ended at Victory Square. At Victory Square,…

“In Flanders Fields” poem is 100 years old

“In Flanders Fields” poem is 100 years old Adapted from Canadian War Museum and Wikipedia by Patti-Lea Ryan Level 3 This year is the 100th anniversary of the writing of the poem “In Flanders Fields”. The poem was written in 1915 by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. Who was Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae? Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae was a…

Buy a poppy

People honour soldiers and veterans Adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Nila Gopaul Remembrance Day is on November 11. Every November, plastic poppies are made and sold. Canadians wear these poppies on their left lapels, close to their hearts. They wear poppies to remember Canadians who died in wars. Poppies are a symbol of Remembrance Day.

Diamond Poems

We are a class of LINC 4 students with the Immigrant Welcome Centre in Nanaimo B.C. Every month we study The Westcoast Reader, and we noticed that there was a poetry contest last month. We would like to submit some poetry of our own done in the ‘diamante format’. These poems are in the shape of…

Movember is here!

Story adapted from The Province by Nila Gopaul In November, men and women join together. They talk about men’s health. They call November “Movember”. Mo means moustache. Many men do not talk about health issues. Movember encourages* men to talk about issues, such as prostate cancer and depression. *encourages (en-KER-re-jez) – gives hope to someone

Halloween is on October 31

Halloween safety tips Adapted from The Vancouver Sun by Nila Gopaul Listen to “Halloween safety tips” Reading by Nila Gopaul Halloween is on October 31. Trick-or-treating is a Halloween custom in Canada. On this day, many children dress in costumes. In the evening, children go to houses.* They knock on doors or ring bells. Children say “trick or…

Bike education

Bike education Story by Jafar Eshraghi, LINC student Illustrations by Nola Johnston Windsor Neighbourhood Learning Centre, in collaboration with HUB Cycling, http://www.bikehub.ca, organized two biking events this past summer. All LINC students and their families were eligible, so my wife, my daughter and I decided to join the “How to Ride Safely on the Road”…

A young inventor

A young inventor Adapted from The Province by Nila Gopaul Level 3 Listen to “A young inventor” – Level 3 Reading by Corey Muench Ann Makosinski is a young inventor. She and her flashlight are famous. The Victoria, B.C., teenager won a top prize at the 2013 Google Science Fair. She has been in Time Magazine and on…

A good business

A good business Adapted from The Province by Nila Gopaul Level one Listen to “A Good Business”– Level 1 Reading by Jessica Heafey Jason Vanderveen has a very good business. Vanderveen Hay Sales is in Surrey, B.C. Every day, it gets many calls. Farmers call to buy hay. They use the hay to feed their…

Canada has a new prime minister

Canada has a new prime minister Adapted from cbc.ca by Nila Gopaul Canada has a new prime minister. Justin Trudeau is the leader of the Liberal Party. Justin Trudeau’s Liberals won 184 seats of the 338 seats in parliament. The Liberals will form a majority government. The Conservatives will form the Official Opposition. Trudeau, 43, was a…

Harvest time is the right time for giving thanks

Harvest time is the right time for giving thanks Adapted from Canadian Living: “How to cook a turkey” and BC Turkey Growers by Patti-Lea Ryan Level 2 What better time to give thanks? Farmer’s markets and stores are filled with fresh vegetables. The vegetables are fresh and colourful. Carrots, brussels sprouts, broccoli, yams and corn, to…

October is National Anti-bullying Awareness Month

Bullying Adapted from bullyingcanada.ca; thebullyproject.com; and The Vancouver Sun by Nila Gopaul Level 2 Bullying happens when a person or people hurt or scare another person, again and again. Bullying is wrong. Bullies want to make a person feel small and powerless. Here are four examples of bullying: