There are 12 e-books, a Teachers’ Guide, and a 2010 calendar of special days and holidays on this site. Each of the e-books has six to eight stories, and each story has exercises and activities to go with it. There is also an answer key in each e-book.

Most of the stories, recipes, puzzles, and other material are from past issues of The Westcoast Reader (1982-2009), a newspaper for adults who are improving their English reading skills.

You have permission to download, print, and distribute all the material on this site. To view and print the e-books, you may need to download and install the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Stories include:

• Students and teacher deliver baby
• Climber loses nine fingers
• Pi is lost for 26 days
• Two amazing friends
• People rescue trapped horses

Click the link to download the e-book Amazing Stories.

Articles include:

• Canada quiz
• July 1 is Canada’s birthday
• Helping newcomers adjust to Canada
• Workers find dinosaur tracks in B.C.
• Terry Fox is a Canadian hero

Stories include:

• Susan Aglukark
• Small business is a big success
• A Haida legend
• Susan Point is a Coast Salish artist
• National Aboriginal Day

Click the link to download the e-book Canada’s Aboriginal People.

Stories include:

• A family farm
• Sikh family celebrates
• Helping children learn
• Trinidadian family is happy in B.C.
• Family life with Baby Blues (cartoons)

Click the link to download the e-book Families.

Stories include:

• Driving in the winter
• Boy saves neighbours from fire
• Tips for preventing falls
• Personal safety
• Safety tips at the ATM

Click the link to download the e-book Keeping Safe.

Stories include:

• Small loans help poor people
• An ESL class finds a way to help
• Mehdi helps Jonathan learn
• Simon works to save rare bears
• Students send quilt to Afghanistan

Click the link to download the e-book Many Ways to Help.

Stories include:

• Window washer has a great view
• Alix works at a garden centre
• Ferry captain is at the top
• Honoré has a radio show
• RCMP officer is from Mexico

Click the link to download the e-book People and Jobs.

Recipes include:

• Healthy snacks
• Fruit smoothie
• Greek salad
• Sweet chili tofu stir-fry
• Cranberry pear crumble

Holidays include:

• Thanksgiving
• Lunar New Year
• Remembrance Day
• Easter
• Ramadan

Click the link to download the e-book Special Days and Holidays

Stories include:

• Swedish twins are hockey players
• Grey Cup
• Joannie is an Olympic athlete
• Olga is a track star at 90
• Two Brazilian soccer players

Click the link to download the e-book Sports.

Puzzles include:

• Crosswords
• Find the differences
• Sudoku
• Word play
• Find the words

Click the link to download the e-book Word Games and Puzzles.

Articles include:

• Choose healthy food
• Exercise is good for you
• Take care of your teeth
• Protect yourself from colds and flu
• How to read a medication label

The guide has four sections: Pre-reading Activities, Listening and Speaking Activities, Reading Comprehension Activities, and Activities for Developing Vocabulary. Each section has an introduction and sample activities.

I hope that teachers will be able to customize the suggested activities to fit the needs, interests, and ages of their students as well as their language and reading levels.