Tag: grade 6

Sports

A Celebration Of Canadian Football

On Sunday night, Canada celebrated a great game and a big anniversary.

It was the 100th anniversary of the football championship that decides who takes the most important prize in the Canadian Football League — the Grey Cup.

Across the country, and all over Toronto, Canadians were cheering for the Toronto Argonauts or the Calgary Stampeders.

At noon on Sunday, fans converged on Varsity Stadium in downtown Toronto for a “fan march,” a big parade of Canadian football fans.

The Argos’ mascot, Jason, bounced around the crowd giving people high-fives.

The Stampeders’ mascot, Ralph, made his way through the mostly Toronto crowd.

But it didn’t matter who you were rooting for–the real celebration was about the game itself.

“The only play is the next play,” the coach for the Argos told his team before the big game.

At the same time, in the other dressing room, the coach for the Stampeders reminded his team that, “one word — team — is why we’re here.”

News Sports

Canada Gets Grey Cup Fever, Toronto Hotel Gets A Visit From A Horse

Excitement is building as Canadians everywhere are getting Grey Cup fever.

The fever is particularly high in Toronto. Not only will the game be played there, but the Toronto Argonauts are one of the teams vying for the championship.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Grey Cup championship, which decides which Canadian Football League (CFL) team is the best.

It is played between the winners of the CFL’s East and West Divisional playoffs.

The Toronto Argonauts are set to play the Calgary Stampeders on Sunday.

The winner will take home the trophy known as The Grey Cup.

Toronto was the site for the first Grey Cup, back in 1912.

The 2012 game will also be played in Toronto, at the Rogers Centre.

It’s unusual for the city hosting the Grey Cup to also have their team playing in the Grey Cup.

The last time Toronto won the Grey Cup while playing at home was in 1952.

News Politics

PEN Gives Support To Jailed Writers In Turkey

In some countries, people aren’t allowed to say anything bad about their government. They don’t have “freedom of expression.”

Some writers who have spoken out against their governments have been put in jail by those governments.

Fortunately, there is a group called PEN International, which defends freedom of expression. PEN International fights for the rights of writers around the world.

Last week, PEN International went to Turkey. The group was led by Canadian author John Ralson Saul, the president of PEN International.

They met with Turkish President Abdullah Gül to show their concern for writers and journalists in Turkish prisons.

PEN asked the Turkish government to consider shortening jail time for prisoners before their trials. This period can often last for years.

Another problem is that prisoners aren’t able to see their lawyers quickly. According to one report in The Toronto Star, one man has been kept from talking to his lawyer for over a year.

News

Celebs Sleep Outside For Homeless Fundraiser

Celebrities can usually afford a nice home, a comfy bed and tasty food.

But last Thursday, Arlene Dickinson and Brian Burke slept outside on the ground in only sleeping bags.

That night, the temperature dropped to 0-degrees C.

Dickinson is one of the “dragons” from TV’s Dragon’s Den, a show in which wealthy businesspeople invest in new businesses.

Burke is the General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.

Both of them have plenty of money and can afford nice accommodations.

They were “sleeping rough” to help raise money for Covenant House, which provides shelter and services to homeless kids in Toronto and other big Canadian cities.

Sports

Proposed Blockbuster Trade Could Put Blue Jays In Contention For World Series

The Toronto Blue Jays stunned and excited their fans last week when rumours surfaced about a blockbuster player trade.

The trade is not finalized yet, and it still has to be approved by the Commissioner of Baseball.

If the trade goes through it would be, arguably, the biggest trade in Blue Jays’ history.

Twelve players are involved: seven going from the Blue Jays to the Miami Marlins and five going from the Marlins to the Blue Jays.

Entertainment News

Selena and Justin — Why Do We Care?

Who knows what’s going on with Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez? Well, they do, for sure—but does anyone else?

Bieber is, of course, a famous teen pop idol and Gomez is a television actress; the couple has been dating on and off for the past couple of years.

But what do we really know about the couple?
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That they had been dating. They have probably broken up.

It may have been her decision or it may have been his decision.

In other words, what do we know? Not much. Almost nothing, in fact.

Some media report one thing, some media report something completely different. Here’s why. It’s because the couple themselves aren’t talking about it.

Gomez? Isn’t talking.

Bieber? Isn’t talking.

Everyone else? Talking!

News Politics

EU Donates Peace Prize Money To Children Affected By War

The European Union has decided to put all of the money it won for the Nobel Peace Prize towards projects that help children in war zones.

The EU includes 27 countries in Europe that are closely tied in business and politics.

The EU was awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in keeping the peace in Europe for more than 65 years.

The Peace Prize is a very prestigious honour; the winner receives a medal and eight million Swedish kronor—about $1.18 million.

That money will be put towards projects that help children who live in areas of the world that are experiencing conflict or war.

“Children are the future of any society and at the same time the most vulnerable,” the European Commission said in a statement about the prize money.

What those projects will be, and how the money will be divided, will be decided in the next few weeks.

Animals News Science

Baby Superb Fairy-Wren Sings For Its Supper

If a baby Fairy-Wren wants food, he has to give the password first.

He’ll know it off by heart—because he learned it before he was hatched, while he was still inside his egg.

The Superb Fairy-Wren (its scientific name is Malurus cyaneus) is an Australia bird.

It teaches its babies a single note, even before the baby is hatched.

The mother wren sings the note over and over to her unhatched eggs.

The mother teaches the note to the father wren so he can sing it to the eggs, too.

Environment News Science

No Signs Of Life On Mars… Yet

Scientists have not found any signs of life on Mars yet, but they say a robotic vehicle called “Curiosity” is helping them learn a lot about the planet’s history and climate.

Curiosity landed on Mars in August 2012 after travelling through space for more than eight months.

It was sent to Mars by scientists from NASA in the United States.

Curiosity is a motorized vehicle called a “rover” which is controlled by scientists back on Earth.

It is about the size of a car and has six wheels that allow it to travel across the planet’s surface and climb over sand and rocks.

It also has a robotic arm, cameras, and instruments such as a scoop, drill and microscope that allow it to examine things it finds on the surface.

Then it transmits the information back to Earth.

The main purpose of Curiosity’s mission is to find out if anything could live on Mars, either now or in the past.

On Nov. 2, NASA scientists held a press conference to discuss what Curiosity had found in its first two months on Mars.

Kids News

World Honours Young Activist With “Malala Day”

The United Nations declared Saturday, Nov. 10 “Malala Day.”

It was a special day around the world, honouring a brave Pakistani girl named Malala Yousafzai.

Amid terrible opposition, she stood up for the rights of girls and women.

Malala was injured but she has nearly completely recovered now.

In Pakistan, a group of militants and terrorists known as the Taliban believe that girls should not be educated.

In Jan. 2009 they issued a ban that said girls are not allowed to go to school.

When she was 11 years old, in 2009, Malala started writing in an online journal (or blog) that was part of the BBC’s news website.

She told people about the things the Taliban were doing in her village to stop girls from going to school.

Note: This article contains information that some children may find frightening.