Trick or Treat

Trick or treat? Only children go out for candy on Hallowe'en. High school kids are too old. The kids go door to door in the neighbourhood. Sometimes they say, "Trick or treat" and then they are given a wrapped candy or chocolate bars. They do not get sweets like cake or cookies.


Every neighbourhood has decorated houses. Some of the houses have jack-o-lanterns near their doors. Decorations include scary images such as skeletons, monsters, ghosts, coffins, graveyards or spiders in cobwebs. Some houses have scary noises coming from inside. The children are not afraid of the scary decorations because it is all part of the fun.


The costumes are important to the children. They choose who they want to be for Hallowe'en. The child can be good or bad. For example, a girl might choose to be a witch or a princess. Animals, heroes and scary characters are popular.


 Try this word game. These are popular costumes for the children. The vowels are missing. Complete the  words.


1.   D__v__l                            9.    W__tch
2.   Ang__l                             10.   P__r__t__
3.   S__p__rm__n                  11.   Bl__ck  c__t
4.   B__tm__n                        12.   Gh__st
5.   Sp__ d __ rm__n             13.    Pr__nc__ss
6.   Cl__wn                            14.    Z__mb__ __
7.   L__ __n                           15.     V__mp__r__
8.   Sk__l__t__n                    16.     M__nst__r  

How to Make a Jack-o-lantern

     Thanksgiving and Hallowe'en are the two celebrations in the fall. Hallowe'en is always the last day of October or October 31st. Before Hallowe'en, there are many orange pumpkins in the groceries stores. Many people like to buy them to decorate their homes on Hallowe'en night. But first, you must carve them into a face or cut out a picture on the pumpkin. After, you put a candle inside and it becomes a lantern to place outside the front door. How do you make a jack-o-lantern? Today, we have a guest writer, Munirah. She will explain step by step.

It is easy to make a jack-o-lantern. First, pick up a pumpkin and cut the stem like a lid. Then clean the pumpkin and take out the seeds. Next, carve the eyes, nose and mouth. After that, take one candle and light it and melt the wax into the the pumpkin. Finally, put the candle on the wax in the pumpkin and cover the pumpkin with the lid. Lastly, put the pumpkin in the window. Also, don't forget to use the broom and dust pan to clean up.

Happy Hallowe'en!

     

Fall in Ottawa

It's fall or autumn. Can you answer these questions about fall?


1.  When is the first day of fall?


2.  What month do you think I took these photos?


3.  Last fall, I was in Ottawa for a Canadian holiday. Do you know what holiday?


4.  Do you know any good places to visit in Ontario during the fall season? Where?


5.  Can you think of any areas in Toronto that will be pretty in the fall? Where?


6.  What is the name of the leaf on the Canadian flag?


7.   Do you know the name of 2 kinds of popular trees?


8.   Do you know the name of a tree that doesn't change colours?


9.   Do you like the fall? Why or why not?


10. What does "autumn years" mean? What do you want to do in the autumn years of your life?

At the Movies:E.T.,1982

E.T. is almost thirty years old. Here is an advertisement for when the movie became twenty years old. Steven Speilberg is the director and the young girl in the movie, Drew Barrymore, has become a famous American actress.


 Movies are a part of our culture. We talk about the movies we watch and two generations have seen E.T.. I saw the movie and so did my kids. Also, movies show the behaviour of people. For example, you see a family in this movie, a separated mother and her three children. The kids order pizza, and ride bikes. The mother reads a child's story, Peter Pan, to her young daughter before she goes to bed. In this movie, the family enjoy a popular celebration in October called Hallowe'en. Understanding the culture makes learning English easier.


The movie, E.T., won awards for its music, sound and visual effects. The actor, E.T.,  was a robot which was a big deal back in 1982. It cost 1.5 million to make the robot. It couldn't walk, so a person was used sometimes. They did not want to pay an additional one million to make the robot walk (1)  Enjoy the advertisement which is called a movie trailer




Talking about movies. Answer the questions.


1.    What kind of movie is E.T? (horror, romance, comedy, sci-fi, action movie)


2.    Who is the director?


3.    Where does the story take place?


4.    What is about?   


5.    E.T. talks. What does he say in the movie trailer?


6.    How does the movie end?


7.    What is your favourite English movie?


8.    Who is your favourite Canadian or American actor or actress?


9.    What kind of movie do you like to watch?


10.  How often do you watch movies?






(1)  www.fiftiesweb.com

Action Verbs: Simon's Cat

Simon and his cat are sleeping in an armchair. Then a fly arrives and wakes up Simon's cat. His cat chases the fly and makes a big mess. Answer the seven questions.

1. What does Simon's cat spill?
2. What does this pet knock over?
3. What does Simon's cat drop on the floor?
4. What does this cat tear?
5. What does this cat rip in several places?
6. What does Simon's cat finally kill?
7. What does poor Simon swallow?

Past time: When was the last time you .....

1. spilled something? What did you spill?
2. knocked over something? What did you knock over?
3. dropped something? What did you drop?
4. tore something? What did you tear?
5. ripped something? What did you rip?
6. killed something? What did you kill?
7. swallowed something terrible? What did you swallow?

How old is Canada?

By Green Wellies

Happy Canada Day!
Originally uploaded by Green Welliesa

Canada Day is July 1st. That means this Friday is the start of a long weekend. This weekend there will be lots of celebrating around Toronto. There will be free music at all the city squares and some of the parks..........and don't forget the fireworks! Some people buy fireworks and have private parties. Others go to public fireworks at different locations in the city.


Here's a quick quiz to see what you know about Canada. Do you know which ones are true or false?


1. Canada became a country in 1867.

2. The first prime minister was John A MacDonald.


3. Canada started with ten provinces.


4. The last province to join Canada was British Columbia.


5. The first immigrants in Canada were from Britain and Spain.


How did you do? Ask your teacher about the last one.  Would you like to know the  other answers and more about Canada? Go to an earlier post, Happy Canada Day .  




Related Posts:

• Happy Canada Day
• What is Canada?

Where in the World?

Last May, I left Canada for another continent. Perhaps you will recognize where these videos were taken.

1. The first video was taken at night. This city has a huge population, so it has streets full of high rises on busy streets. In Toronto, I live in a house and beside me are other houses. There are no high rises on my street. There are no buildings over two or three stories high.

It was very different for me to stay on the 37th floor and walk down a street with tall apartment buildings beside each other. Also, at night, this city is full of lights. In Toronto, my street only has street lights beside the sidewalks and some neighbours leave on their front door light.

2. This is further south in the same country. Again, this city has a large population. This is Saturday night in an area full of restaurants and a bizarre. Look at all the lights! It must be expensive to pay for all this electricity. Bright signs and people are everywhere.

3. This video is in a smaller city in the south. At night, many people joined activities in the parks and other open spaces. Here, couples are dancing outside. I also saw people participating in exercise classes. One exercise class met under a bridge and there were hundreds of people exercising together.

So, did you decide what country I visited? China? The first place is Shanghai, then Hong Kong and finally, Meizhou.

When you think of your native country, is it different than Canada? How is it different than Canada? How do the people live? What do they do?

Ontario:Trivia and Facts

Yes, it's spring and I am a gardener, but these are wild flowers. In fact, this is Ontario's official flower, the trillium. It grows at the edge of the woodlands in May. These photos are from High Park near Grenadine Pond. If you are in any big parks or in the Ontario countryside, look into the forest. You will see these small white flowers scattered under the trees. If you are really lucky, you will see a dark red trillium which is rare. One warning! Please don't pick the trilliums. It is illegal to pick our provincial flower.

To celebrate this Ontario flower, here is a trivia quiz about the province. Are you an Ontarian? Then you should know the answers to most of these questions.

Remember, if you do not understand a word, double click the word. Then you will get the meaning and more information.

1. The capital of Ontario is

a) Toronto b) Ottawa c) Kingston

2. Ontario is between

a) Alberta and Quebec

b) Nunavut and Manitoba

c) Quebec and Manitoba

3. Ontario is beautiful, but is does not have

a) Niagara Falls b) Rocky Mountains c) Algonquin Park

4. Toronto is the biggest city. Tourists will not find

a) CN Tower b) Casa Loma c) Banff

5. The premier of Ontario is

a) Dalton McGuinty b) Stephen Harper c) Jack Layton

6. The large body of water to the south is Lake Ontario and to the north is

a) Atlantic Ocean b) Lake Erie c) Hudson Bay

7. Which Canadian singer was not born in Ontario

a) Shania Twain b) Celine Dion c) Justin Bieber

8. This Canadian actor or actress was not born in Ontario

a) Jim Carrey (The Mask, Dumb and Dumber)

b) Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future, Stuart Little)

c) Ellen Page (Juno, Inception)

9. The official bird of Ontario is the

a) Canadian Goose b) Loon c) Blue Jay

I have lived most of my life in Ontario, so the first questions are easy for me to pull from my head. The next questions are Ontario statistics and I got some help from "Ontario Travel". Try these questions. Then check your answers below.

10. Ontario has 250,000 lakes or

a) 20% of the world's fresh water

b) 1/3 of the world's fresh water

c) 1/10 of the world's fresh water

11. The population of Ontario is 12 million or

a) 1 in 5 Canadians

b) 1 in 10 Canadians

c) 1 in 3 Canadians

12. Spring is from March to May. The average spring temperature is 8 Celsius (46 Fahrenheit) to

a) 18 degrees Celsius (64 Fahrenheit)

b) 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit)

c) 15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahrenheit)

Would you like to learn more about Ontario? Try these sites.

• About Ontario
• Ontario Travel
• Government of Ontario

Answers: 1a, 2c, 3b, 4c, 5a, 6c, 7b, 8a, 9b, 10b, 11c, 12a

Spring in Toronto:High Park

Picnic season is starting. One of the best places for a picnic is under a cherry tree in High Park,Toronto. Better yet, if you go at the end of the cherry blossom season, the pink flowers will fall of the tree and float down around you. Cherry blossoms fall off rather than fade away.

This photo is from the weeping cherry tree in my backyard. For a spectacular show, see the rows of mature cherry trees in bloom at High Park right now.

Where are the blossoms?

High Park Blossom Map

What's at High Park?

High Park is a huge park in the west end of Toronto. I've taken a bike on the subway to the High Park stop. You can bike in the park. There's a children's playground, a free zoo, a swimming pool, a dog park and a restaurant. In the summer, there's an outdoor theatre. Watching a play under the stars is a lot of fun. For more information, check out the official High Park site.

High Park Toronto

Related Posts:

• Spring in Toronto 3
• Spring in Toronto 2

April Buds Open

April showers bring May flowers.

Yeh! The flowers are blooming. The last photo (below) shows the buds in rainy April. Now look at the colour in May! It's just starting.