IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders Fields is a poem written by a Canadian, John McCrae. He wrote it during the World War in 1915.  He was sad when he wrote it. He wrote it after a close friend died in the war. John McCrae never returned from the war. He died of pneumonia in France. It was 1918 and the last year of war.

John McCrae wrote the poem by the grave of his friend. His friend and hundreds of other Canadian soldiers are buried in the cemetery, Flanders Fields, in France. He begins the poem,

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow 

Between the crosses, row on row

 I learned In Flanders Fields in school as a young girl. My mother learned it in school as a young girl and my daughter did too. It is a famous poem read for Remembrance Day.

Now you will learn more about Remembrance Day

• First, go to search in the right margin.
• Type the words, Remembrance Day.
• Then choose "Scavenger Hunt".
• Finally, find the answers to the questions.

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 .  




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30 Years Ago in History:Terry Fox

April 12, 1980, a 21 year old university student started his run across Canada. Terry Fox had lost a leg to cancer and was determined to run a marathon a day on his one good leg. According to CR24, his goal was to raise 1 million dollars for cancer research, but he later changed that goal to 24 million which represented one dollar from each Canadian. Unfortunately for Terry, he never completed his run. He started in the east coast and his popularity grew as he ran through many towns and cities. By the time he reached Toronto, thousands of supporters met him at city hall, but he never made it out of Ontario. The return of his cancer, forced him to return to his home in British Columbia. In memory of Terry Fox, people all over the world participate in the Marathon of Hope.

To mark the 30th anniversary of his run, the Fox family are meeting in St John's where his marathon began. Hopefully, the Terry Fox Marathon will continue until a cure for cancer is found. Here is a news report that tells Terry's story. Since 1980, Terry Fox has helped raise over 500 million dollars for cancer.

Canada Gets 14 Golds

I wanted to present a look back at the Vancouver Olympics 2010 via a video, but the Canadian Broadcasting Station, CTV, 'owns' all the best moments. Here's the best I could do which is a link to OlympicsCTV. This video shows some of the greatest moments and the collective energy felt by all Canadians. Press here

The final gold metal was from the Canadian Hockey Team. Hockey is our national sport, so it was important to Canadians to win this final gold. The arena was one big mass of red as so many fans dressed in their Canadian colour or wore their favourite hockey players sweater to cheer on Team Canada..... a tie breaker that ended in overtime. What a storybook ending!

Then the closing ceremonies brought the Vancouver 2010 Olympics to an end. The ceremonies showcased some of our most popular celebrities. It was fun to see Canadians make fun of themselves. Yes, we have the beaver, moose, mounties, maple leaves and yes, we tend to be polite and say sorry a lot. Did you see how many Canadian Olympic participants apologized for not winning a medal? Yes we say ,"I'm sorry" a lot, but we also say, "Thank you". So, thanks for blessing Canada with so many healthy determined young athletes. May we all strive in our own ways to be the best at what we do.

....and celebrate those moments.

Street Party Photographs, February 28, 2010: (bottom)Downtown Toronto by Scorlirk and (top) Downtown Vancouver by Ecstaticist,Flickr



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Winter in Toronto: The Olympics

Andrew Hesp, Flickr

For me, the olympics started about 2 months ago when the torch passed through Toronto for the first time. It was a cold night and I was heading for a meeting at Yonge and St Clair when people started to line the street. In 10 minutes, the crowd was able to see the flame coming. It towered above the runner as it does in this photo. It was a small event, but I felt lucky and honored to have seen the historical flame.

Today in History: White Christmas

December 1, 1977, David Bowie and Bing Crosby sang White Christmas together. The Christmas celebrations brought together two famous singers from two generations and two different countries. Bowie is British and Crosby was very American. Also, at the time, the younger Bowie was a popular rock n roll singer and Crosby will always be remembered for his role in the Christmas movie, White Christmas. Many people still buy Bing Crosby's Christmas album and listen to his songs at Christmas.

Last December, I featured another song, Little Drummer Boy. It was sung by David Bowie and Bing Crosby. If you would like to watch it, press here

Netherlands' Gift of Spring Flowers

It was the love for the Dutch's royal mother that started the annual gift of tulips to Ottawa. During World War 2, Princess Juliana and her two children fled the violence in the Netherlands and took refuge in Canada. Then came the birth of the royal family's third child, Margriet which means daisy. There was one problem. How could the royal child be an official citizen of the Netherlands? The baby was born in Canada, but a room at the Ottawa Civic Hospital was declared 'Dutch soil'. Margriet was born January 19,1943, and the royal mother and her children continued life in Canada.

In 1945 the government became more stable, so the princess and her children were able to return to the Netherlands. In thanks, the Dutch people sent a gift of 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa, the capital of Canada. The following year, Princess Juliana sent 10,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa.

Each year, the Netherlands continued to give thousands of tulips to the capital of Canada. About five years ago, Queen Juliana died at the age of 94, but the Dutch Royal family decided to continue the tradition in memory of the late queen.

The Ottawa Tulip Festival begins every May in Ottawa. It is Canada's biggest tulip festival. For more information about the Tulip Festival and the gift of the tulips, visit the Ottawa tourism site. Ottawa is a fun place to visit in the spring or summer. Be sure to rent a bike and enjoy the many parks and gardens along the canal.



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Obama or the Academy Awards

I had to make a decision. Should I blog about Barack Obama or the Academy Awards? Obama just completed his first visit to Canada on Thursday and the Academy Awards aired Sunday evening. Obama won out for two reasons. First, some ESL students are not familiar with the latest American movies though they often know the major movie stars. Secondly, everyone is a little bit curious about this new president who offers hope to the Americans. Besides doesn't he have that American star quality?

Many Canadians like the fact Obama's first official visit was to Canada. It's well understood that United States (USA) is not just Canada's neighbour. While Canada is larger in size than USA, it has a much smaller population and our economy in many ways depends on USA. There is a common saying here. If USA sneezes, Canada gets a cold. So, when Obama came to lunch with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, many people were watching closely.

What did they talk about? Well, there is always the three Es, economy, environment and energy. Harper was interviewed before Obama's arrival on CBC. He also added international affairs. After all, the Middle East is still a mess. Wouldn't it be great to end those wars?

We'll never know what they talked about but there was some talk about trade. There is a lot of movement of goods between the two countries and there's that ongoing crisis with the struggling car companies. It was a pretty tight schedule according to the Toronto Star. For example, the Governor General Michaelle Jean was given 15 minutes to meet Obama at the airport, and the leader of the liberal party got about half an hour.

Obama did manage to squeeze in some quick shopping at Byword Market,Ottawa where he got some maple treats for the girls. Maple syrup products are always popular with the tourists. I kind of like them myself especially the maple candies. The Canadians came out in big numbers to be a part of Obama's first visit to Canada. However, this was not Obama's first visit to Canada. His brother-in-law is a native of Burlington which is a small city west of Toronto.

Well, Obama has come and gone, but it seems he is trying to develop a workable relationship with the Canadian government. Now we have to wait and see what will develop in North America.