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 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.

The World News Crossword - March 18th, 2018 is a 30-45 minute crossword activity based on last week’s news events. There are. 3 additional crosswords in the download (one each on France, New Zealand, and Australia). The World News Crossword encourages accurate and neat handwriting, logic and problem-solving, and research skills. Perhaps it’s less about the crossword and more about the discussion about the news events. Who is Robert Mugabe and why does he refer to a military coup in Zimbabwe? How could a plane drop 200 bars of gold on the runway as it was taking off? Why are only 400 Rohingya people allowed to return to their homes in Myanmar? Why would Saudi Arabia want nuclear weapons? Why would the president of USA tell lies to the prime minister of Canada? And why did the government of Bali block the internet on mobile phones for a whole day?

The World News Crossword - March 25th, 2018 is a simple pdf document that can be downloaded in minutes, saved to a flash drive, ready to be used ‘in a flash!’ There are 4 crosswords in this resource. The main crossword is made from events in last week’s news. Facebook’s value fell by $58 million. No wait, $58 BILLION. Why? India put 11 vigilantes away from life. Why? Australia’s cricket captain cheated. Why? The US probably began a trade war with China. Israel admitted attacking a Syrian nuclear reactor as a warning to Iran. Turkey and the US both sent oil exploration ships to Cyprus. The puzzle is a simple way for students to learn about what happened in the world last week, but it’s even more valuable when it prompts them to discuss why these events occurred. There are 3 more puzzles. One is about France, another is about Austria and the third is all about Egypt. Crosswords are an excellent tool for supporting research skills, logical thinking and problem solving, and of course students have to write neatly. Solutions for all the puzzles are included.

The World News Crossword - May 13th, 2018 is a simple PDF document that contains: A crossword based on the events of last week’s news, A Search & Cloze puzzle that explains the plastic pollution problem, A Search & Cloze puzzle that explains the Rohingya Crisis, and A crossword about Climate Change. (The answers are included.) So what happened in last week’s news? Rohingya refugees were killed by wild elephants in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. The US-imposed tariffs on imported Canadian newsprint has raised the cost of US newspapers’ newsprint. A Pakistan court ruled that a US diplomat who allegedly killed a motorcyclist while driving drunk does not have diplomatic immunity. Iraq and East Timor held elections. Moldova’s government ruled out reunification talks with Romania. Poland’s government cut its politicians’ salaries and Zimbabwe’s government raised the pensions and salaries of war veterans and government workers. Israel won the Eurovision song contest, the sea off San Diego glowed blue, and India’s prime minister opened a hydro-electric construction project in Nepal. But it’s less about what happened and more about why. Why are a million Rohingya people living in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh? Why did US air force planes intercept Russian bombers of the Alaskan coast and why did Chinese air force planes fly around Taiwan? Why is the US president meeting the North Korean leader? Why did Malaysia elect a 92 year old prime minister? Why are Africans still dying of hunger and Ebola? These puzzles are a simple and effective teaching tool for research skills (finally, they can use their smart-phones for something useful), for collaborative learning (because these puzzles work really well when students work in pairs or small groups), for reasoning skills and handwriting skills… We’ve had positive feedback from teachers using the puzzles with ADHD students and with GATE students, in PSHE / homeroom lessons, in English, Economics, Geography, Business… (some teachers even say they make staff meetings bearable - cheeky, eh?) A new World News Crossword resource is published every week.

The World News Crossword - August 12th, 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. The World. News Crossword 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…?’ 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 crossword about Burkina Faso because it was in the news last week because of a malaria/bed-net trial that appears to have reduced the infection rate of malaria by 12%, (3) A crossword all about Climate Change, because it’s always in the news despite what Australia’s agriculture minister said, (3) And a crossword about Julius Caesar that can be shared with an English teacher. It’s included because in last week’s news there was a bit of a performance in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome. All for just £2. So what happened last week? Australia’s agriculture minister said that the drought affecting almost all of Australia has nothing to do with man-made climate change. Excessive monsoon rain caused deaths, wide-spread displacement, and property damage in Kerala. The Swiss government announced measures to help farmers affected by the drought which has been caused by the heatwave in Europe. Two trucks crashed on the highway near Bologna in Italy, a plane crashed near Seattle, and another plane crashed in Indonesia - and a 12 year old boy survived. There was a magnitude 6.2 aftershock near Lombok Island, also in Indonesia. Brazil closed its border to Venezuelans. Singapore trialled eye-scans at its border. And speaking of borders, it seems (based on surveys) that at least 100 constituencies in Britain that previously voted to leave the EU would now vote to remain in the EU. A German man called the police because he was being chased by a baby squirrel. (Tyranny comes in many forms.) In France, crows were trained to collect cigarette butts and exchange them for food. And Christopher Robin was banned from China (the movie, not the boy) - something to do with Winnie the Pooh. All that (and three bonus puzzles) for just £2.

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 - May 6th, 2018 is 4 word puzzles in one easy-to-download and save PDF. The first puzzle is a crossword based on last week’s news events. Lava flowing in Hawaii. Women allowed in Japan’s bull-fighting rings. People traffickers intercepted leaving Sri Lanka. Protests in France and Russia. An election in Lebanon after 10 years. A game keeper attacked by a lion in South Africa. A crack in the core of a nuclear reactor in Scotland. The next two puzzles and Search & Cloze puzzles - an extended passage with words removed and put into a word search grid. The first of these two puzzles is a Brexit explainer, and the second is a discussion about data protection. The fourth puzzle is a crossword about climate change. All of these puzzles encourage research skills, logic and problem solving skills, and even handwriting skills. More significantly each of the puzzles will prompt discussion about the events in the puzzles. Who owns our personal data? Why aren’t firms like Facebook and banks fined when they lose our personal information? Why don’t they even apologise? The Syrian war has been going longer than World War 2. And MH370 is still missing - after 4 years of high-tech. searching, can an airliner still be missing? Why is Russia so concerned about simple street protests? These are xxcellent activities for Business, Economics, Geography, Social Studies, PSHE, ESL, and SEN.

The World News Crossword - May 20th, 2018 is a teaching and learning activity based on the events of last week’s news. There is a crossword on last week’s news events, there are two background/explainer search and cloze puzzles (The Venezuela crisis and Jerusalem), and there is another crossword based on a country mentioned in the news crossword (this week it’s Comoros). What happened in last week’s news? India inaugurated a hydro-electric dam that prompted protests from Pakistan because it affects water flowing into the Indus River. Ebola cases were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 4000 vaccine doses arrived in Kinshasa. Comoros’ ex-president was arrested on charges relating to selling citizenship. Malaysia’s ex-PM’s residence was raided of bags of cash and jewelry. A mountain lion killed a mountain biker in the US. Hawaii’s volcano erupted, prompting more evacuations. Australia and the US were the only countries to vote against a UN investigation into the Israeli killings of Palestinians in Gaza. The two background/explainer puzzles aim to teach more about ongoing news stories. This week there is an explanation of why Jerusalem is central to the Middle East troubles. There is also an explanation of Venezuela’s economic and human crisis. These puzzles are excellent for driving students’ research skills. When students work in small groups they learn cooperation and team work. They help with concentration and, of course, handwriting. But best of all, these puzzles generate real-world discussions. The students leave the less asking questions like, ‘Why would North Korea even want nuclear weapons and why does the US care?’ ‘Why does China want a military base in the South China Sea?’ ‘Why have some UK supermarkets added a ‘plastic-free’ label on some products?’

The World News Crossword - November 11th, 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 on France where a building collapsed killing 6 people, (3) a crossword on Guyana where an Fly Jamaica Boeing 757 made an emergency landing, and (4) a crossword on Agatha Christie (from our newly-released ‘Women who changed the world’ book). So, what happened in last week’s news? Italians rallied in support of an Italy-France train link. 6 people died when a building in France collapsed. New Zealand beat England in a rugby game. A New Zealand space-rocket company launched a rocket with some satellites aboard. Uganda vaccinated health workers against Ebola. Norway stopped selling arms to Saudi Arabia and the US said it will stop refueling Saudi-coalition planes attacking Yemeni rebels. The air pollution in Delhi was off the scale bad and the chief minister took his family away for a holiday. World leaders gathered in France to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War 1. There were wildfires in California, an earthquake near Tonga, and flash floods in Jordan.

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.

The World News Crossword (September 17th, 2017) is a simple crossword based on last week's news events. There are THREE more FREE crosswords based on cities and countries around the world. The World News Crossword (September 17th, 2017) is a great activity for supporting literacy, logic, and research skills. It quietly helps students with handwriting issues and it sneakily encourages students to learn more about their word and to discuss why... Why? Why did the UN impose more sanctions on North Korea? Why did Russia suggest UN peacekeepers for Crimea? Why are Australian landowners encouraging Australians to eat kangaroos? And why is Amsterdam's government wanting to discourage tourism? These are just some of the discussions that will pop out of this week's crossword. Or maybe they'll ask where? Where is Lahore? Sri Lanka? New Zealand? South Africa? Myanmar? North Korea? Paris? Barcelona? Crimea? It's a pdf so it can be downloaded quickly, saved to a flash drive, opened and printed quickly for use at a moment's notice.

The World News Crossword - October 1st, 2017 is a one-page crossword based on the events in last week's news. Puerto Ricans seemed to get a telling off from their president, by Twitter of course. China to North Korean businesses operating in China to shut down and get out. Ian Poulter probably thought the same about spectators and their phone cameras. Video of Boris rattling off an offensive colonial-era poem was released and Theresa was asked if he's unsackable. The Catalans tried to vote for independence. The West Papuans also sought independence but the UN didn't want to hear about it. More than 20 Mumbai people were killed in a stampede at a train station and more than 60 Rohingya people were drowned when their boat capsized as they fled the Myanmar Army. Oxford took stern action and put her photo into storage. French soldiers shot and killed a man who stabbed two people in the train station in Marseilles. And a bowl sold for $18 million in Hong Kong. There are THREE bonus puzzles attached to the news crossword - crosswords that focus on Afghanistan, Australia, and Bolivia. Did you know Bolivia and Afghanistan are both landlocked? Elon Musk is building. huge battery in Australia. Bolivia's capital city is Sucre, which is sweet.

The World News Crossword - April 22nd, 2018 is a simple document containing a one page crossword based on last week’s news events. There are three bonus crosswords (Canada, China, and Australia). The World News Crossword - April 22nd, 2018 can be used in Geography, English, SEN (excellent for concentration, logical thinking skills, research skills and handwriting), PSHE/homeroom, Economics, Business… and of course it’s a lot less about what happened and a lot more about the discussions that begin with ‘why…’ Why did China impose a tariff on US sorghum? Why are people protesting in Nicaragua? Why will KitKat lose its trademark protection in the EU? Why are 11,000 Vanuatau residents being evacuated from Ambae Island? The solutions are included.

The World News Crossword - February 18th, 2018 is a crossword based on the events of last week’s news. It’s a simple PDF sop it downloads quickly, is easy to print, and can be stored on a USB drive for use later. (There are 3 bonus crosswords - Egypt, China, and Japan, in the PDF and all of the answers are included too.) Of course, this activity is less about the events around the world and more about why and the discussions and debates that come from asking why. Why have so many orangutans died in the past 10 years? Why would people in Japan pay to go on a virtual-reality trip to Paris? Why are suicide bombers in Nigeria killing people in a fish market? And what’s so important about discovering new antibiotics? What did happen in the world in the last week? Australia’s PM and Deputy PM had a spat. Poland’s PM got a telling off. South Africa’s president resigned. And The Netherlands’ foreign minister resigned too. And so did Ethiopia’s PM. A plane crashed in Iran and a helicopter crashed in Mexico. There was an earthquake in Mexico and one in England and wales too. An Iranian wrestler threw a match so that he’d not have to wrestle against an Israeli. In India a woman pretended to be a man and duped two women into paying to marry him. And an Indian tycoon is on the run having duped a bank out of about $1.8 BILLION!! US scientists discovered a whole new family of antibiotics while Canadian scientists discovered a Picasso painting was a painting on top of another painting.

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 document is a one-page crossword based on the events of last week’s news. There are also two one-page ‘Search and Cloze’ puzzles: Facebook users’ personal data and What started the Syrian civil war? These extra puzzles give students the opportunity to learn a little more about two recent news events. The crossword includes questions the EU ban on an insecticide that’s been killing bees for years, Japan’s objection to the mango mousse at the North and South Korea summit, and the really big news about the Tasmanian devils. There was also big news that Australia’s government is spending 500 million dollars to rescue the Great Barrier Reef and a university in Melbourne was evacuated because of a toxic gas leak (which turned out to be stinky rotting fruit in a library cupboard). But it’s less about what happened last week around the world and more about why. That’s the discussion that students will create among themselves as they complete this crossword. Why are India and China having a border dispute? Why did Myanmar’s sort-of leader contact the UN and not just lead her country? Why is a virus killing indigenous Australians? Why is Facebook making so much money? Or how? Why is Saudi Arabia at war with Yemen? What does the rodent population in New Zealand have to do with climate change? The World News Crossword is an excellent homework activity because it encourages students to watch or read the news. It’s an excellent group-activity for home room because it encourages students to use their IT for research. It’s an excellent activity for encouraging problem-solving skills.

The World News Crossword - April 15th, 2018 is a simple crossword based on the events in last week’s news from around the world. We create a new puzzle every week so it can be built into a weekly PSHE, Geography, Economics, English, or Social Studies lesson. These crosswords have been used with significant success in with both GATE and SEN students. The puzzles can be used at all levels of high school and middle school, as homework activities or as in-class, small-group activities. Each week there are three bonus puzzles. This week’s download includes two puzzles on climate change and a puzzle on the Amazon Basin. And of course, all the solutions are included. What happened last week? The CEO of the world’s largest advertising agency resigned suddenly. An Australian company advertised for ‘Anglo-Saxon’ staff. A forest fire resulted in evacuations around Sydney. Two Indian athletes were sent home from the Commonwealth Games because needles were found in their accommodation. Indian police rescued 70 children who were working in a jewelry factory. A Russian-built military plane crashed in Algeria killing all passengers and crew. And the US, UK, and France attacked military installations in Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government. It’s less about what happened around the world and more about why. Why did the prime minister of Hungary get re-elected for a third term? Why did the US, UK and France attack Syria because of chemical weapons, but not because of ‘ordinary’ bombs? Why were 11 lions killed in a national park? Why did the New Zealand government announce that it will not issue any new permits to oil exploration companies? Why did the UK government deny entry to an Austrian and a Hungarian?