Readable, teachable news.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Roberto Osuna is a professional pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. But on Friday, June 23, when the Jays needed a pitcher to come in and help them win the game, Osuna didn’t pitch.
Osuna was the logical choice to come into the game; he is known as a closer, someone who comes in to pitch near the end of the game, to save it. The 22-year-old has saved games before–in fact, 18 of them this year.
In Canada, it will soon be a law that transgender people cannot be treated differently than other people are treated.
What is transgender? It refers to a person who doesn’t feel like they are the gender (male and female are two genders, for instance) that they were assumed to be when they were born. For instance, a person who was originally thought to be male and who is known as male, but doesn’t feel like they are male. (And the same for female.)*
Last week, Bill C-16 was approved by the Canadian Senate. It says no one can discriminate against transgender people. (In this case discriminate means treat them differently than they would be treated if they were not transgender.)
Malala Yousafzai has a message for Canadian kids: Don’t wait, to make a difference. Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you can’t be a leader.
Yousafzai is an activist for children’s rights, and particularly the right for girls to get an education.
In this case, “activist” means that she tries to get that message out, no matter how difficult that may be for her.
On April 9, Canadians commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in the First World War.
Vimy Ridge is in France, and it was there that a Canadian military force took back the area from the Germans in a battle that many people at the time considered unwinnable.
Booboo the cat was a stray, wandering around in Guelph, Ontario in Canada.
Someone brought her into the Guelph humane society. When the employees there checked Booboo’s microchip* to see where she was from, they found something that surprised them.
It turns out, Booboo was from California, in the United States–more than 3,000 kilometres away. She had gone missing in 2013, four years ago.
Students at public schools in Boston, Massachusetts, will soon be looking at the world in a new way. Social studies teachers there will be using a new type of map that shows the world’s continents in slightly different sizes and positions than we usually see them.
The poster says “take what you need.”
It’s common to see such posters on bulletin boards or telephone poles, advertising items for sale or inquiring about lost pets.
Normally, the rip-off tags would be a phone number or an address where you could buy the item.
Millions of people around the world joined protest marches on January 21 to show their support for women’s rights and other causes.
The marches were inspired by the Women’s March, which was held in Washington, D.C., the day after Donald Trump officially became President of the United States. The Women’s March was organized to protest Trump’s policies. Many people believe his policies are a threat to basic rights and freedoms for women and for people of minority religions and races.
Will the gray jay be Canada’s new national bird?
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) thinks the gray jay should be named the national bird of Canada. It is hoping the federal government will make it official in time for the country’s 150th birthday in 2017.
Leonard Cohen, one of Canada’s best-known songwriters and poets, has died at the age of 82.
He wasn’t “born with the gift of a golden voice,” as one of his songs famously put it. In fact, his voice was deep, gravelly and could even said to be tuneless. But that was part of his charm.
