Category Archives: ESL and Literacy Articles

Race with a thief

Posted on by
1
Josefine Hass, Trudy Wieczorek, and Otto Haas Photo courtesy of The Province

Josefine Hass, Trudy Wieczorek, and Otto Haas
Photo courtesy of The Province

Adapted from The Province

Level 1
December 2010

Otto Haas was a famous runner in Germany.
He ran 100 metres in 12.5 seconds.
And over 70 years later, he raced again.
Otto, his wife Josefine, and her sister, Trudy, live in Kelowna.
They visited Vancouver in 2009.
In a parking lot, a young thief took Josefine’s purse.
Otto ran after him.
Josefine screamed and screamed.
Help came.
The thief could not escape.
Otto said, “I am surprised I could run that fast.”
Otto was 90 years old!

Read the PDF. Try the Exercise.
Race with a thief-PDF

www.TheWestcoastReader.com©2012 The Official Westcoast Reader

Start a container garden

Posted on by
1
Mark Macdonald shows seed packets. Photo by Ian Smith, The Vancouver Sun

Mark Macdonald shows seed packets.
Photo by Ian Smith, The Vancouver Sun

Level one
April 2011

Save money

  • Grow your own vegetables.
  • It is a great way to save money.

Start your garden

  • You don’t need a big space.
  • You can grow many things in a pot or a container.

Plant vegetables

  • You can plant some herbs, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes and peas this month.

Put in a sunny area

  • Vegetables need about six hours of sunlight everyday to grow well.

Read the PDF. Try the Exercise.
Start a small container garden-PDF

Continue reading →

www.TheWestcoastReader.com©2012 The Official Westcoast Reader

Father of Haida manga

Posted on by
Reply
Haida Art, by Thomas Granade

Haida Art, by Thomas Granade

Red, a comic by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Courtesy of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

Red, a comic by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Courtesy of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

Manga, iStockphoto

Manga, iStockphoto

Story adapted from The Vancouver Sun

Level 2
March 2010
Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a Haida artist.
He was born in Prince Rupert, B.C. in 1954.
But Michael was raised in Haida Gwaii
The old name for Haida Gwaii is Queen Charlotte Islands.
(Click here for a map of Haida Gwaii.)

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas Photo by Glenn Baglo, The Vancouver Sun

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
Photo by Glenn Baglo, The Vancouver Sun

Read the PDF. Try the Exercise.
Father of Haida magna-PDF


Continue reading →

www.TheWestcoastReader.com©2012 The Official Westcoast Reader

BC garden wins

Posted on by
Reply
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden in Chinatown Photo courtesy of The Vancouver Sun

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden in Chinatown
Photo courtesy of The Vancouver Sun

Adapted from The Province

Level 2
January 2012

A new National Geographic book names
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden the number one city garden in the world.
National Geographic is a very popular and old magazine.
It is famous for its stories and photographs.
B.C.’s Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden beat
other famous city gardens in 2012
in Paris, Hawaii, and New York.

Read the PDF. Try the Exercise.
BC garden wins-PDF

Continue reading →

www.TheWestcoastReader.com©2012 The Official Westcoast Reader

The Great Blue Heron

Posted on by
Reply
Herons in a tree Photo by Ward Perrin, The Vancouver Sun

Herons in a tree
Photo by Ward Perrin, The Vancouver Sun

A young heron looks for food. Photo by Lez Bazso, The Province

A young heron looks for food.
Photo by Lez Bazso, The Province

Adapted from the B.C. Ministry of Environment and The Province

Illustrations by Nola Johnston

Level 2
May 2011

In BC, people can see Great Blue Herons all year.
Herons live on the coast.
They also live in the southern part of B.C.
The heron is a large bird:

  • It is taller than many 8-year-old children.
  • It weighs about the same as a small newborn baby.

Over 5,000 herons live in B.C.
The B.C. government protects these birds.
It also protects their nests and their eggs.
More than 100 heron nests are in Stanley Park in Vancouver.
There is also a heron park in Chilliwack.

Read the PDF. Try the Exercise.
The Great Blue Heron-PDF

Continue reading →

www.TheWestcoastReader.com©2012 The Official Westcoast Reader

Shop smart

Posted on by
Reply
An aisle at a store Photo by Nila Gopaul

An aisle at a store
Photo by Nila Gopaul

Level 2
October 2009

Save time

  • Write out a list of food you need.
  • Only buy what is on your list.
Read the PDF.
Shop smart-PDF

Save money

  • Shop on the outside aisles (parts) of the store.
    There are healthier foods there and foods in season, which are cheaper.
  • Eat less meat. Meat is expensive.
    Protein such as tofu, beans, legumes, nuts, and fish are cheaper.
    These foods are healthy, too.
  • Check your prices. “On sale” does not mean the best price.
    If it is a good deal, buy more than one.
  • Pay attention at the check out!

Most big stores in Canada follow this rule:
If the store charges you more for one of the items you bought, they must:

  • give you $10 off the price (if it cost more than $10).
  • give it to you for free (if it costs less than $10)!

 

A woman is buying fruit and vegetables. Photo by iStockphoto

A woman is buying fruit and vegetables.
Photo by iStockphoto

www.TheWestcoastReader.com©2012 The Official Westcoast Reader

From housewife to queen: Cindy Lee sells T&T* Supermarkets for $225 Million

Posted on by
Reply
Cindy Lee holds a crab at T&T Supermarket. Photo by Bill Keay, The Vancouver Sun

Cindy Lee holds a crab at T&T Supermarket.
Photo by Bill Keay, The Vancouver Sun

Adapted from The Vancouver Sun and
T&T Supermarket company website

Level 2
October 2009

Cindy Lee came to Vancouver from Taiwan in 1972.
She just wanted to have a simple life.
Lee shopped in Chinatown in the rain
with her three children.
Shopping in Chinatown
was not convenient (con-vee-nyint).
There were no shopping carts.
There was no parking and there were no washrooms.


Continue reading →

www.TheWestcoastReader.com©2012 The Official Westcoast Reader

Moving troubles

Posted on by
Reply
Packing before a move Photo by Aberdeen Proving Ground, Flickr

Packing before a move
Photo by Aberdeen Proving Ground, Flickr

by Dorsa Ghiassi

Level 2

Moving has a lot of troubles and difficulties.
I had this experience three times.
Moving for me is one of the hardest things
you could do on earth.
Because you go into an entirely new environment.
The hardest part would be for children
when they change schools.
Especially when they come
to a school in the middle of the year.
Other students already made good friends,
and they don’t want to come and rely on a new person.
They’d rather be with the friend
who they already know about.

Read the PDF.
Moving troubles-PDF

Continue reading →

www.TheWestcoastReader.com©2012 The Official Westcoast Reader

Women in Trades

Posted on by
6
B.C. wants more women to take trades training. Photograph courtesy of Thompson Rivers University

B.C. wants more women to take trades training.
Photograph courtesy of Thompson Rivers University

Adapted from The Vancouver Sun

Level 3

Members of B.C.’s building trades
have worked on most big projects in B.C.
The skills of these people have made
many dams and pipelines.
These projects give us power and heat our homes.
The bridges and highways take us to work, and home again.
We travel on them when we go on holiday.
The hospitals we use, and the schools
our children attend have been built by skilled workers.
The world of the trades has been a world of men.
But this world is slowly changing.

Read the PDF.
Women in Trades-PDF

Continue reading →

www.TheWestcoastReader.com©2012 The Official Westcoast Reader