I'm a teacher too.
All of these resources are simple and quick to download. They can be stored on a flashdrive, attached to a keyring and then they live in your pocket as easy and as ready to use as a hanky when a sneeze is coming on.
Try the Nonsense Rhymes Crosswords. If you like Dr Seuss, you'll love these (and so will your students). The World News Crossword is published every Sunday evening. It's prefect for prompting discussion about current events.
I'm a teacher too.
All of these resources are simple and quick to download. They can be stored on a flashdrive, attached to a keyring and then they live in your pocket as easy and as ready to use as a hanky when a sneeze is coming on.
Try the Nonsense Rhymes Crosswords. If you like Dr Seuss, you'll love these (and so will your students). The World News Crossword is published every Sunday evening. It's prefect for prompting discussion about current events.
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?
The World News Crossword - March 4th, 2018 is a simple one page crossword based on the events in last week’s news. There are 3 more crosswords (on France, New Zealand, and Australia) included and there are solutions to all 4 puzzles.
Crosswords are an excellent resource for logical thinking, handwriting, and cooperative learning. The World News Crossword - March 4th, 2018 is excellent as a research and critical thinking activity as well. It’s less about what happened in the news last week, and more about why, how, where, and who was involved.
Why was there a cease-fire in Syria (and was it effective)? Why was there an earthquake in Papua New-Guinea and who was affected? Was were three deaths in Australia newsworthy? Why did Russia announce the development of new nuclear missiles?
The World News Crossword is created and published every week. Use the crossword in PSHE/home room, for homework, or as an in-class activity.
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’.
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.
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_.
Three one-page, 15-question multiple choice tests - one each for Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium.
These tests aren't available anywhere else on the internet so the students won't have seen them before.
In pdf format. Simple to download and print.
Answers included.
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.
A 26-slide presentation that explains and demonstrates the effect of a subsidy on a market. Includes a slide that shows click-by-click the steps of analysis of the effect of a subsidy on the market for milk.
The presentation also includes slides showing the effect of a subsidy on consumer and producer surplus and therefore the social cost / deadweight loss of a subsidy.
Print the presentation as a handout, with 2 slides per page and have your students paste the pages into their workbooks, with their own handwritten notes attached.
Two crosswords based on the news events of 2016.
As a class activity, expect each of the se puzzles to take about 30-45 minutes. They work best with groups of 2-3 students working in teams. Let them use their smartphones and call it a collaborative research project.
Hurricane Matthew caused death and destruction on the Florida coast. Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Syrian war moved into its sixth year and last year alone about 4 million Syrians left their home country. Zimbabwe's economy deteriorated. Students in South Africa protested against tuition fees. And the Ethiopia-Djibouti electric railway line opened. India demonetised its 500 and 1000 rupee notes and the UK voted to leave the EU. Brazil hosted the Summer Olympics and the Paralympics and the Brazilian government impeached its president. Terrorists attacked in Berlin, Nice, Istanbul, and Brussels.
Of course, the real value of these crosswords is the discussion that results from the clues and answers. Why was Bob Dylan awarded a prize for literature when he's a song writer? Are songs literature? Why did India demonetise the 500 and 1000 rupee notes? Were there more big earthquakes in 2016 than normal? What causes earthquakes? What are gravitational waves and why was a rocket launched to explore Mars? Why was the Malaysian Airlines plane shot down as it flew over Ukraine? Why is the UK leaving the EU? What is a referendum and why don't governments use them more often? If South Africa's students want to attend university for free, why did they trash their universities? Why did China and USA finally sign the Paris climate change deal (or maybe we should ask, What took them so long?)
A 30-slide powerpoint presentation covering the Demand section of the IB Diploma Microeconomics section - notes/explanations and the graphs.
Large text and large, clear graphs.
The presentation can be edited - add or delete slides, or edit the text on the slides.
Where on Earth? (Book 1)
TEN crossword puzzles (and few extras as freebies). Download them and put them onto a flash drive on your keyring. That's TEN very cool and interesting and educational lessons in your pocket.
An excellent small group activity, homework, or even for the speedy kids who finish an activity early. Very very good for the kids with messy handwriting. Or those with concentration issues.
A simple pdf booklet with some simple and fun crosswords about the world's countries, capitals, well known landmarks (and food).
It's quick to download. Store it on a flash drive and have some simple, easy to administer resources at hand in case you have a substitute lesson or a bunch of rowdy kids in your classroom at lunchtime or you're near the end of a unit and waiting for that other class to catch up or a bazillion other situations where you want to occupy the students with a good, simple learning activity.
Where do they eat haggis? Where's Vienna? What's the capital of South Africa? Who said Rabat? That's Morocco. Is it one r or two? Morocco... I was on holiday there once and... oh, the food. Food? Who said Lebanon? Baklava? Sushi? That's from Vietnam, right? Where's Vietnam? Is there a map in the room? A globe? What's Uluru? Is it a mountain in New Zealand? Oops, that might start an argument in the staffroom. Can we get back to the food? Tiramisu and pain au raisin - at the same time? Where to in the next holiday? Hvar? Dubrovnik? Mauritius? Banff National Park? Christchurch? Koh Samui? Colombo?
There are a few extra puzzles just for fun too. Nonsense Rhymes Crosswords... if you like Dr Seuss, you'll love these. They're just fun to do on the bus on the way home from school.
A powerpoint presentation covering the Supply section the IBDP Economics courses (HL and SL).
Suitable for A Level and GCSE.
Teachers can edit the file as appropriate.
Afghanistan to Bhutan - 20 crosswords
These are the first twenty countries on an alphabetical journey around the world.
Crosswords on each of Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina (and the tango), Armenia, Australia (are there kangaroos on Tasmania?), Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados (do they play cricket in Barbados?), Belarus (does it really mean ‘white Russia’?), Belgium (mmmm, chocolates), Belize, Benin, Bhutan, and of course the solutions.
Interesting and engaging group activity material for almost any subject. Supporting literacy, handwriting, research skills, and logic. Or simple homework activities. Or easy but engaging and worthwhile learning material for substitute lessons.
BONUS EXTRAs...
And there’s more... crosswords on New Zealand, China, United Kingdom, Europe, USA... And a crossword on climate change. And three witty Nonsense Rhymes Crosswords for those who enjoy playing with words and rhymes (these puzzles are excellent for those learning phonemic awareness, for this struggling with handwriting, and for those who like a silly little giggle during staff meetings. (Really!)
I hope you enjoy using these crosswords and that your students learn more about their world.