The World News Crossword - June 17th, 2018 is a 6 page PDF containing: A crossword based on last week’s news events, A Search and Cloze puzzle that helps explain the Kashmir conflict, Another Search and Cloze puzzle that helps explain the Yemen War, and A crossword all about Yemen. (Did you know there are just 70 Arabian leopards alive in the wild? And they’re all in Yemen.) So what happened last week? Raphael Nadal won the French Open for the 11th time. Boris Becker claimed diplomatic immunity in Central African Republic to avoid bankruptcy proceedings. About 700 immigrants were turned away from Italy but were allowed to land in Spain. An immigrant in New York was captured as he delivered pizza to a military base. FIFA announced the world cup will be hosted by USA, Canada, and Mexico (assuming they’re all still friends then). Russia beat Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the world cup opening match. Saudi Arabia’s military led a coalition of Arab countries in support of Yemen’s government, attacking the Yemen port city. And an 18th century Chinese vase found in someone’s attic sold for 16 million Euros.

The World News Crossword - July 29th, 2018 is a 6-page PDF document made up of 4 puzzles based on the events of last week’s news. It’s a quick and simple process to buy and download the resource and it can be stored on a flash drive ready for printing. All for just £2. What’s in this week’s document? (1) A crossword based on the events of last week’s news, (2) A search & cloze puzzle giving a little more detailed explanation of wildfires such as the ones occurring in California and some parts of Europe, (3) A crossword all about Cambodia, in the news this week for the flooding caused by a collapsed hydro-dam, and an election that is unlikely to have any effect because opposition and criticism have been prevented by the incumbent prime minister of 30+ years, and (3) A crossword all about climate change which was in the news again - a heatwave in Europe, wild fires in Greece and USA, flooding in Japan, and extreme monsoon rain in Myanmar. The puzzle usually takes a class about 30-45 minutes to complete, leaving some time for discussion on some of the more interesting news stories. The puzzle seems to work best when done in pairs or small groups, to generate discussion. The goal of course is to have students learning more about the world around them, and to prompt them to ask questions, especially ‘why…?’ What happened in last week’s news? Social media was in the news again. Facebook’s shares crashed. Belgium’s tourist board wrote to Mark Z complaining about the censorship policy was blocking famous paintings. A Kuwaiti make up artist used social media to whine that her maid was now entitled to…, wait for it…, one day’s leave per week. And the employer now isn’t allowed to retain the employee’s passport. The make up artist promptly lost sponsors Max Factor Arabia and Shiseido. And a US swimmer posted a photo of himself receiving an illegal ‘infusion’ and was then banned from competition for 14 months. Wildfires caused extensive property damage and killed many people in Greece and California. Flooding occurred in Japan, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. A Penn State Professor said this is the face of climate change. Elections were or will be held in Cambodia, Pakistan, and Mali. This resource, used on a weekly basis, is an excellent way to ensure your students’ are ‘internationally minded’ (a fundamental requirement of any of the IB’s 4 programmes).

The World News Crossword - August 5th, 2018 is a 6-page PDF document made up of 4 puzzles based on the events of last week’s news. It’s a quick and simple process to download the resource and it can be stored on a flash drive ready for printing. All for just £2. What’s in this week’s document? (1) A crossword based on the events of last week’s news, (2) A search & cloze puzzle giving a little more detailed explanation of Zimbabwe and the events leading to last week’s election, (3) A crossword all about Zimbabwe - where is it? What are its neighbouring countries? What are its lakes, mountains, and rivers? (3) A crossword all about India which was also in the news last week. The puzzle usually takes a class about 30-45 minutes to complete, leaving some time for discussion on some of the more interesting news stories. The puzzle seems to work best when done in pairs or small groups, to generate discussion. The goal of course is to have students learning more about the world around them, and to prompt them to ask questions, especially ‘why…?’ What happened last week? On Lombok (in Indonesia) about 500 stranded tourists were rescued after an earthquake, but then another very large earthquake struck about a week after the first, prompting. a tsunami warning for the region. Wildfires continued in California and Europe experienced a heatwave. Students in Bangladesh protested for better traffic and street safety. Evidence of a 2000 year old library was uncovered in Cologne. A plane crashed in Mexico. A helicopter crashed in Siberia. And a plane crashed in the Swiss Alps. A new government was elected in Zimbabwe and 6 people were killed in protests following the result. The boys who were rescued from the cave in Thailand returned home after their 9 days as novice Buddhist monks. And someone kidnapped a shark, disguised as a baby in a pram, from an aquarium in Texas.

The World News Crossword - June 24th, 2018 is a 6 page PDF containing: (1) A crossword based on last week’s news events, (2) A Search and Cloze puzzle that helps explain the causes and issues associated with immigration to the USA, (3) Another Search and Cloze puzzle that explains the FIFA World Cup tournament, and (4) A crossword all about Turkey. (Did you know Turkey’s border with Azerbaijan is just 18 kilometres long and the that whole border is a river?) So what happened last week? Well, speaking of Turkey, they had an election and almost 90% of eligible voters voted. There were blasts at political rallies in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. Syria’s army dropped more barrel bombs in the south of the country. A residential building in Germany exploded. Over 100,000 people protested in London, demanding another Brexit referendum. An Afghan asylum seeker on Nauru was flown to Australia for palliative care. The leader of Romania’s ruling party went to jail, guilty of corruption. Israel’s Prime Minister’s wife was charged with fraud. And New Zealand’s Prime Minister gave birth to a baby girl and women in Saudi Arabia were allowed to drive cars.

The World News Crossword is a downloadable PDF. It’s quick and simple to download, save onto a flash drive, and rint from when the time’s right. This week’s PDF contains: (1) A crossword based on the events of last week’s news, (2) A search and cloze puzzle based on modern day slavery in India (3) A crossword about India’s geography, and (4) A crossword from the soon-to-be-released book ‘Women who changed the world’ - a puzzle all about Indira Ghandi, India’s third Prime Minister. From last week’s news… Germany was eliminated from the FIFA World Cup. Prince William visited Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories. New Guinea reported its first case of polio in 30 years. Turkey re-elected its President. Harley Davidson said it would move some production out of the US because of the tariffs imposed on imported steel. Canada imposed tariffs on US-made ketchup in response to US tariffs on Canadian-made steel. Samoa and Mumbai banned single-use plastic bags, cups, food containers, and drinking straws. India’s interior minister waa attacked on social media for receiving a kidney transplant from a Muslim. About 50 people were killed when a bus went off a mountain road in northern India. 12 Thai boys and their football coach were trapped in a flooded cave system for 9 days before being found by an international team of rescue personnel. It’s good to know about these things. It’s even better to discuss why these things happen and what may happen next - because it’s good for us to discuss what happens in the rest of the world and how it may affect us as well as how what we do might affect others.

The World News Crossword - July 8th, 2018 is a 6-page PDF that includes: a crossword based on events from last week’s news, a search & cloze puzzle that focuses on the background of one of last week’s stories (this week it’s the background story of the boys who have been trapped in the cave system in northern Thailand), a crossword about Thailand, and a crossword about Thailand’s neighbour and frequent subject of news stories, Myanmar. This resource is excellent for keeping students informed about the world’s current events. It takes about half an hour for students to complete the main crossword and the rest of a lesson to review (and discuss) the answers. It’s good for use in homeroom or PSHE lessons, or it’s excellent for a homework activity. I prefer to use the news puzzle as a small-group activity. The students then tend to discuss the events more, asking why and wanting to know more about many of the stories. So what happened last week? The Thai footballers and their coach, trapped in a flooded cave system dominated my week. I was checking my phone frequently, waiting for updates and imagining how I wold cope in that situation. A dive boat capsized off Phuket in Thailand and tourists were drowned. Flooding in Japan resulted in deaths and mass evacuations. A wildfire in California also resulted in evacuations. Police in the USA challenged the suitability of 2 novels on a high-school’s reading list. An American woman was attacked on social media for killing an elderly giraffe in South Africa. And 2 rhino poachers were eaten by lions, also in South Africa. And in Queensland, Australia, a possum was rescued by the RSPCA from a Nutella jar. Yes, really.

The World News Crossword - November 25th, 2018 - a crossword based on the events of last week’s news from around the world. A crossword based on the events of last week’s world news. A crossword about Germany which has featured in the news over the past few weeks, A crossword about the UK which has also featured in the news - when will Brexit ever end?, and A crossword about women musicians and singers. So, what were some of last week’s news events? The UN called for a truce in Yemen, but everyone ignored that. There was probably another gas attack in Syria. There was a suicide attack in north-west Pakistan, another in Afghanistan, and an attack on the Chinese Consulate in Karachi. Protests in France about fuel prices continued. The new Maldives government has no idea how much the country owes to China. A storm in Australia closed airports. And the Italian government ordered a rescue ship to be confiscated because migrant’s clothes may have been infected with tuberculosis, meningitis, and HIV. (No, you don’t catch these diseases from clothes!)

The World News Crossword - November 18th, 2018 4 crossword puzzles, downloaded as a PDF to print for your whole class. A crossword based on the events of last week’s world news. A crossword about Yemen which has featured in the news over the past few weeks, A crossword about Great Britain which has also featured in the news over the past few weeks - Brexit!, and A crossword about women political leaders around the world. So, what were some of last week’s news events? A bus caught fire in Zimbabwe and whole towns in California were destroyed by fire. Brazil’s new foreign minister thinks climate change is a Marxist conspiracy. Fish in the Amazon with plastic in them. EU politicians asked Amazon to stop selling products that glorified the USSR. Finland summoned the Russian ambassador to explain why Finland’s GPS was messed about with. A Norwegian navy frigate was sunk after it hit an oil tanker and a naval submarine that sank a year ago was found. Morocco inaugurated the fastest train service in Africa, from Casablanca to Tangiers. Scientists voted to change the way the kilogram is defined. New Zealand’s police discovered almost 200 kilograms of cocaine in a shipment of bananas, but that was small bananas compared to this: Iran’s government intercepted 6 tonnes of heroin being shipped to Europe. And finally - Britain said it would ‘urge’ the UN Security Council to initiate a truce in the Yemen war.

**The World News Crossword - December 2nd, 2018 A crossword based on the events of last week’s news - excellent for all Middle and High School students. Critical thinking, international mindedness, research skills, group/team skills. It’s less about what happened and a lot more about why - students complete a crossword and in doing so they learn about world events and then they ask why… why polio vaccinations in Yemen when Western countries are supplying weapons to Saudi Arabia and Iran to use in Yemen? Why is there still a war in Syria? (It’s lasted longer than World War 2.) Why did hate crimes increase by almost 50% in 2017 in Canada? This resource is a 6-page PDF: (1) The World News Crossword (2) A crossword about France, which was in the news this week for protests against rising fuel prices and for a new law that prohibits parents from smacking their children, (3) A crossword about Kiribati, a Pacific Island nation that is already losing islands due to rising sea levels, and (4) A crossword about Christine Lagarade, the Managing Director of the IMF (taken from the recently released book, ‘Women who changed our World’). This week, Christine Lagarde warned the G20 leaders that trade wars and tariffs will hinder world economic growth. So what happened in last week’s news? Australian school-children were inspired by one Swedish girl - they protested against the Australian government’s inaction on climate change. Russia confiscated Ukrainian naval ships and Ukraine blocked entry to all military-aged Russian men. The G20 gathering started in Argentina. The Ebola virus in Congo is now the 2nd-largest ever. There were major earthquakes in Alaska and Indonesia.

A crossword based on the events of last week’s news (with 3 bonus crosswords, each expanding on an aspect of last week’s news). This worksheet is ESSENTIAL for any teacher wanting to develop international mindedness in their students. It asks what happened in the world last week and it prompts students to ask why. Remember the Afghan boy who hit internet fame for wearing a plastic bag adapted to be a Lionel Messi football shirt? His family had to move from their home, because the Taliban attacked them, demanding money - because that internet fame made them rich, right? Why did the last refugee rescue ship operating in the Mediterranean cease operations? Why was it operated by an N.G.O. and not a government? And why are refugees needing to be rescued in the Mediterranean? There’s a crossword about Angela Merkel who will stand down from her role as Germany’s Chancellor soon. There’s another crossword about Australia too - where there was an earthquake and where a man was jailed for killing a kangaroo, and filming himself doing it, and posting the video to social media. And there’s a crossword about Afghanistan. Can your students find Afghanistan on a globe? You have a globe in your classroom - don’t you?

A lot happened in the world last week. Some of it was important and some of it was just silly. Most of it is worth knowing about. I hope this week's crossword prompts discussions that start with 'Why...' The US president went to Belgium and ate lots of chocolates and the Belgian royal family disapproved of a Burger King advertisement. Diesel cars are still being sold despite emitting 18 times the legal level of pollution. So much for the Paris Agreement on climate change, speaking of which, more than 90 people were killed and over a hundred more are missing in Sri Lanka after huge rainfall caused flooding and landslides. In Sicily the US First Lady wore a coat that retails for more than $50,000. More than 150 children under 5 die every day in Myanmar because of fighting and poverty. Sailing in the America's Cup began and Arsenal won the FA Cup. In Australia a teenager ran across the horse racing track because someone dared him. Also in Australia, a Jetstar plane revved up ready for taxiing while a ground crew member was still attached to the plane's nose, but in London, BA cancelled all flights because their computer system crashed. Construction work began on a huge telescope in Chile and a Brazilian mother who stole an Easter egg for her kids was given a harsher prison sentence than the politicians who stole millions of dollars of public money. This week there are THREE bonus puzzles - Climate change, European countries, US states... It's a pdf document. It's quick and easy to download / save to a flash drive on your keyring. Then you have a simple and very worthwhile lesson activity in your pocket. Brilliant!!

The World News Crossword (August 6th, 2017) is a simple crossword based on last week’s news events. There are three BONUS crosswords included - all with the answers of course. The resource is a pdf document so it's quick and easy to download and store on a flash drive. What happened in our world last week? The Philippines president called the North Korean leader a ‘chubby fool’ for firing rockets. China and India are involved in a border dispute. An Indian boxer beat a Chinese boxer but offered to give the title back to the Chinese boxer as a peace gesture. GM recalled almost a million trucks. Pearson, the educational publisher announced it would cut 10% of of its jobs. Ethnic violence in the DRC resulted in more than 250 people killed. Australia’s greenhouse emissions rose to their highest level ever. Dutch police arrested criminals who stole iPhones from a moving truck. A heatwave spread across Europe and monsoon flooding killed hundreds of people in India. Police in Sierra Leone banned groups of joggers. It’s not so much what happened but why, and hopefully this is what the students will be talking about as they complete the crossword and go to their next lesson. Why did only two cities apply to host the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics? Why is the Polish government still allowing logging in its ancient forest? Why are George and Amal Clooney helping 3000 Syrian children attend school in Lebanon? And why was Martin Shkreli the most hated man?

The World News Crossword - October 28th, 2018 A 6-page PDF document that includes: A crossword based the events of last week’s news, A crossword about countries and their capital cities, A crossword about capital cities and their countries, and A crossword about Queen Victoria (from our recently published Women who Changed the World book). So, what happened in the news last week? There was an earthquake in the Ionian Sea. The 12 Thai boys rescued from the flooded cave went to Manchester to watch ManU play Everton. Israel’s Prime Minister visited Oman. Pakistan blocked all Indian television channels because India is damming rivers that flow into Pakistan. Croatia’s police found more than 100 illegal migrants in a truck and Mexico offered work and schooling to its illegal immigrants. A 45 year old man was arrested for trying to steal an original copy of the Magna Carta. (What is an original copy?)

The World News Crossword - November 4th, 2018 A one-page crossword based on the events of last week’s news stories. A crossword about India which was in the news for air pollution that was 6 times greater than the acceptable limit, a man-eating tiger was shot, the world’s tallest statue was unveiled, and a curfew was imposed on people living in Jammu & Kashmir, A crossword about Yemen where civil war fuelled by Saudi Arabia and Iran is causing catastrophic famine, and A crossword about Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor and Europe’s longest-serving national leader. So what happened in last week’s news? A bus crashed off a bridge in China, a passenger plane crashed into the Java Sea, and a Russian fighter plane crashed in Egypt. Air pollution in and around Delhi reached levels 6 times greater than the acceptable limit and politicians blamed politicians. Turkey will not be exempt from US-imposed sanctions against Iran. The Secretary-General of the UN said the civil war in Yemen will cause catastrophic famine. Storms resulted in deaths in Italy. Palau announced it will ban sunscreen because of its toxic effect on coral. Estonian traffic police handed out fines to speeding drivers, and brochures relating to organ donation and Russia’s traffic police announced that 5 million traffic tickets were incorrectly issued because of ‘a technical glitch’.

A simple PDF document that contains a crossword based on last week’s news, and three bonus crosswords (France 1, France 2, and Egypt). The solutions are included. So what happened last week? Russians doping at the Olympics, 6 Brazilian footballers being red-carded, and a protest at the Olympics by South Korean politicians. Suicide bombers in Aden, kidnappers in Nigeria, and bribery in Greece, maybe. 17 people killed when a rubbish pile in Maputo collapsed, a plea to ban palm oil to save forests, an Asian toad invasion in Madagascar, and a whole lot of people volunteer to clean up the beaches and rivers in Bali. And finally, a ceasefire in Syria (perhaps). Crosswords are excellent for prompting discussions about the news events. Why are these events happening? What would you do, if you could? What can we do? Crosswords are good for encouraging research, neat handwriting, and correct spelling.

The World. News Crossword - October 14th, 2018 is a 6-page resource that simple to use, easy to download and only costs $1. It’s a PDF document and it includes: The World News Crossword - October 14th, 2018 A crossword all about Afghanistan, A crossword all about Zimbabwe (A to Z, right?), and A crossword from our just-published Women who changed the World book. So what happened in the world. You could be forgiven if you thought the US president and Brexit were the only thing happening in the world, but no… earthquakes, flash floods, hurricane winds. In Germany there was a light plane crash, a train fire, and a hostage situation in a pharmacy (and a protest march against the far-right movement). And New Zealand announced its Bird of the Year. It’s the…

The World News Crossword - September 23rd, 2018 - a crossword based on the events of last week’s news from around the world. There are 4 puzzles in this downloadable PDF document: (1) The World News Crossword, (2) a crossword about The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (from our book of Shakespeare Word Puzzles), (3) a crossword about Brazil (from our A World of Crosswords series), and (4) a crossword about Florence Nightingale (from our soon-to-be-released ‘Women who changed the world’ book). So, what happened in last week’s news? A tornado in Canada and an eruption in Mexico. Oktoberfest in Munich, a fire because of German army rockets, and a driver-less tram in Potsdam. A rowing boat is rescued just short of Scotland, a boat of migrants off Lebanon’s coast capsizes, and a ferry in Tanzania capsizes. Cholera in Zimbabwe and Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. India cancels talks with Pakistan. Pakistan asks China to be nicer to ethnic Muslims. And China opens an embassy in the Dominican Republic.

The World News Crossword - June 10th, 2018 is a action-packed teaching & learning resource to help students learn more about last week’s world news events. This week’s crossword… Water shortages in Australia and Iraq caused concerns. Plastic products were banned in both New Zealand and India. Someone left the G7 summit in a mess, but at least they pledged $3 billion to girls’ and women’s education. And there were protests in Amman, Jordan. And Ethiopia’s government announced it would agree to peace agreement with Eritrea. This week there is a backgrounder search & cloze puzzle that helps students learn more about volcanic eruptions - what are they, what causes them, and why are they so destructive? And another search & cloze puzzle to help explain the economic crisis in Jordan. And there’s a bonus crossword to help explain that peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

A 50 slide presentation taking the students through demand, supply, equilibrium and disequilibrium. Many of the slides are animated to show the step-by-step analysis of how the price mechanism creates the market price. Suitable for (I)GCSE Economics, A Level Economics, IBDP Economics, AP Economics. Teaching idea: print the 50 slides as a handout (in the print function), three slides per page and have the students paste these pages into their workbooks and then write their own notes on and next to the slides. This will leave plenty of time for students to ask questions, discuss sections of the presentation and of course allow time to practise drawing neat supply and demand graphs. The presentation ends with a review and several questions / tasks to give students the opportunity to practise drawing the graphs (and for teachers to evaluate the students' learning_.

Climate Change Crosswords is a pdf document containing 5 crosswords that focus on the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change - and what we can do about it. There isa bonus puzzle about the Amazon Basin - perhaps the most significant region in terms of climate change. There's another crossword on The Might Mi__i__i__i River. (And then some more on Africa, Asia and Europe - for a rainy day.) Climate change is real, it’s here, and it’s getting worse, but there’s hope. That’s the message of these crosswords. Climate change is happening because of global warming which is happening because humans burn too much fossil fuel, cut down way too many trees, use cars instead of bicycles, throw away too much food, and farm too many animals. The glaciers are retreating. The ocean is warming. The polar ice masses are melting. The sea level is rising. More extreme weather events are occuring. And the worst affected are the poorest people because they tend to live near the edges of rivers and the sea. What can we do about it? Each puzzle includes suggestions. Hopefully these crosswords educate students about what is happening to the earth’s climate and its people. Hopefully they’ll learn why it’s happening and how climate change can be stopped, or mitigated. There’s something a little sneaky and tricky about crosswords. Kids feel compelled to finish them. Try them.