Other News

News

“Idle No More” A Growing Movement

For nearly a month Theresa Spence, Chief of the community of Attawapiskat, has been protesting the way First Nations people are treated in northern Ontario.

Spence has not eaten any solid food for about 30 days. This type of protest is called a “hunger strike.”

During a hunger strike, people stop eating in order to make a peaceful protest about something they believe in. Spence is consuming only liquids, like water and broth.

Spence said she will not end her hunger strike until Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with her to discuss First Nations rights.

Last week, Harper said he will meet with First Nations leaders on Jan. 11.

News

Part II Of TKN’s 2012 News Quiz. How Many Of These Stories Do You Remember?

Yesterday we posted a quiz featuring questions from events in the news in the first half of 2012. Let’s see how much you remember from the past six months as you tackle these 2012 news questions.

17) What huge sporting event took place in Summer 2012? Bonus point if you know what city it took place in.

18) The man who famously said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” passed away in August 2012. What was his name, and why was he famous?

19) Name the mayor of Toronto. Name one thing he did that was newsworthy in 2012.

20) “Replacement refs” filled in during an NFL labour dispute. What did they do that irritated many fans?

21) What did the Pope’s butler do in 2012 that made headlines?

22) Who won the World Series in 2012?

23) Why is nine-year-old Caine Monroy famous?

News

Top Stories From 2012 – Take Our Fun Quiz!

Now that it’s 2013, it’s a good time to look back on some of the biggest news stories of the year.

Take our quiz and see how much you remember about these stories from the past year. The link beside each question will take you to the TKN article that will give you the answer.

1) A famous scientist turned 70 on Jan. 8, 2012. Name him. (Article.)

2) Something happened to the Costa Concordia in January. What? (Article.)

3) Where did two teens send a “Legonaut”? (Article.)

4) Why did some Canadian Little Leaguers travel to Africa for a baseball game? Who did they play? (Article.)

5) Who won the 2012 Super Bowl? (Article.)

6) Name the northern Ontario city that declared a “state of emergency” in February. Bonus points if you can spell it correctly. (Article.)

Painting by Canadian artist Rocky Green, Redneck Arts.
Arts

Happy Holidays, From Your Team At TKN

Happy holidays!

Thank you for reading Teaching Kids News and using it in your home or classroom.

During the winter break, please enjoy our archives. There are more than 400 great articles on lots of topics.

Type a key word into our Search box or click on a topic in the “tag cloud” on our home page.

There are lots of articles kids will enjoy in categories like sports, animals, science, space, England, United States, Canada and yes, even politics.

Please also look at our new “In-Class Ideas” section (tab in the upper menu on the home page). There are some terrific ideas for in-class and homeschooling work based on articles from TKN. These are projects that other classes have done successfully with their students. Fun!

Have a great holiday season, and we’ll see you in the new year.

This beautiful, snowy image is by Canadian artist Rocky Green. (Copyright Rocky L. Green.)

Politics

New Rules For Foreign Ownership Of Canadian Companies

Recently Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, has been facing a lot of questions about how other countries invest in Canada.

A Chinese company made a bid to buy a Canadian oil and gas company.

The bid had to be approved by the Canadian government.

This was an important decision for Canada because it would be another country owning a major Canadian resource company and Canadians are protective of the country’s natural resources.

Sports

Christine Sinclair Is Canada’s Outstanding Athlete For 2012

Women’s soccer superstar Christine Sinclair has won the 2012 Lou Marsh Award.

The award is given out each year to Canada’s outstanding athlete. She is the first soccer player to win the award.

Sinclair, 29, is from Burnaby, British Columbia; she is captain of Canada’s women’s soccer team.

She led Canada to a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

She played a spectacular tournament, scoring an Olympic-record-setting six goals.

Lighter

What’s In A Meme? Ikea Monkey Goes Viral

Who knows why something “catches on” through the Internet?

Somehow it sparks the collective imagination and before you know it, it’s gone “viral.”

That’s what happened last week with the “Ikea monkey.”

Bronwyn Page was in an Ikea (furniture store) parking lot in North York, Ont. on Dec. 9 when she saw something unusual.

A little brown monkey wearing a diaper and a tiny, expensive-looking coat.

Lighter News

Lottery Winner In BC Donates Money To Help Community

When blankets arrived for the homeless and new cars appeared for those in need, people in the city of Terrace in British Columbia thought it must be magic.

It turned out the magic was coming from Bob Erb, 60, who won $25-million in a national lottery called Lotto Max.

Erb believes in sharing his wealth.

In fact, since he won the lottery about a month ago, he’s given away more than $7-million.

He has given money to the staff at the gas station where he bought the ticket.

He gave $20,000 to the man who sold him the ticket.

He’s given money and shoes to the homeless. And he’s helped support more than a dozen local businesses.

Erb has been buying lottery tickets for more than 40 years.

One day, the clerk he bought the ticket from accidentally rang up more “plays” than Erb had asked for. But he let it ride.

And it’s a good thing he did, because one of those plays hit the $25-million jackpot.

Erb’s generosity has helped his whole community.

The new vehicles he bought and gave away helped the car sellers have a better year.

And if people he chose didn’t need the vans, they passed them on to someone else in need.

News Politics

New Egyptian Leader Backs Off On Strict Controls

In 2011, during what was called Arab Spring, protests in the Middle East showed that many people were fed up with their dictator leaders.

One of the largest countries in which people opposed their leader was Egypt. 

The protests ended when President Hosni Mubarak was driven out of office and put on trial.

Last June, Egypt’s first freely elected president took office.

But instead of trying to get everyone to agree on how to run the country, President Mohammed Morsi decided to give himself complete power over all laws and all the people.

He said this was the only way to get things done.

Again the protests started as people streamed into the streets because their rights had been removed.

Their message got to Morsi and he cancelled his plans for complete power.