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 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.
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 - October 7th, 2018 is 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 Myanmar,
(3) a crossword about Yemen, and
(4) a crossword about Marie Curie (from our new-release, ‘Women who changed the world’).
What happened last week? The New South Wales government insisted the Sydney Opera House be used as a giant billboard to advertise horse-racing. Tokyo’s Fish market was closed to be moved to make room for the Olympic Games. San Marino followed Argentina’s example and approached the IMF for a huge loan. A French criminal who escaped from jail using a helicopter was recaptured after 3 months on the run. A 5.9 earthquake shook Haiti. And. Pakistani ice-cream seller who lives in a slum discovered he had about 14 million UK pounds in his bank account.
The World News Crossword - May 27th, 2018 is a simple pdf made up of
a crossword based on the events in last week’s news
a search & cloze activity that explains Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
a search & cloze activity that gives background information about North Korea
a crossword all and only about the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
And the solutions are included, of course.
Excellent for Geography, Economics, English, SEN, PSHE…
In the news crossword… The leaders of North and South Korea met, but not with he who shall not be named. North Korea blew up some of its research facility. Ebola cases were confirmed in DRC and 4000 trial vaccines were distributed. Switzerland’s trains were declared the world’s best. A Polish author won the Man Booker International Prize and a Swedish Court said no to a new Nobel Centre. Real Madrid won the Champions League (what a goal). A German bank announced 7000 job cuts and German police can now stop parents at airports with children during school time. Lava continued to flow on Hawaii and a hurricane swept into Oman. A UK man had to be cut out of a children’s swing, but we didn’t put that into the crossword because like him, it wouldn’t fit.
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 - October 21st, 2018
A 6-page PDF document that includes:
A crossword based the events of last week’s news,
A crossword about China,
A crossword about Brazil, and
A crossword about Marie Curie (from our recently published Women who changed the World book).
So, what happened in the news last week? A journalist was killed in the Saudi Arabia embassy in Istanbul and no one believes the explanation. Trains crashed in India and Taiwan. Lionel Messi broke his arm and Christiano Ronaldo became the first player to score 400 goals. Croatians protested against their government’s proposal to raise the retirement age to 67. The FYROM’s government changed the country’s name to North Macedonia. Brazilians voted in a presidential election, Afghans voted in a parliamentary election, Australians voted in a by-election, and 700,000 British people marched in London demanding a vote on the details of the Brexit deal. Moscow’s government did not approve the annual memorial day for victims of Stalin’s brutal regime and sent officials for a meeting with Syria’s president.
The World News Crossword - September 30th, 2018 is 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 Ghana which is in a news article about preventing cocoa smuggling,
(3) a crossword about Denmark, which is in a news article about closing bridges to Germany and Sweden during a hunt for 3 kidnappers, and
(4) a crossword about Leaders in Sport (from our new-release, ‘Women who changed the world’).
Natural disasters in Indonesia are in the news again. A major earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami which may have killed thousands of people. A teenager was swept out to sea on his fishing raft/hut and was rescued 49 days later by a passing ship.
Air force planes crashed in Nigeria and the USA. A passenger jet overshot a runway in New Guinea and ended up in a lagoon. And a light plane became tangled in a zip-line at a tourist resort in South Africa.
Bananas are in the news too - boxes of them donated to a Texas prison (with cocaine stashed in the boxes too) and Saudi Arabia telling Canada not to treat it like a banana republic.
Argentina is in the news too. Their rugby team lost to New Zealand’s rugby team. The government received a massive IMF loan (more than $50 billion!) and a nationwide search has begun to find an 11-year-old boy’s mobile phone which he lost while with his grandmother at the bank because the phone has photos and videos of his mother who recently died of cancer.
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 - 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 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 - 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.
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 - 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 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.