The World News Crossword - April 8th, 2018, is a crossword based on events in last week’s news. (And there are 3 more crosswords that can be used any time to support students’ knowledge of the world around them.) A huge cargo ship smashed into a house on its way from Russia to Saudi Arabia. Government forces in Syria appear to have used chemical weapons again. More Palestinians were killed by Israeli gun fire. Monkeys fought off would-be thieves in Wellington’s zoo in New Zealand. A Japanese man was arrested for licking his violent son in a cage for more than 20 years. A football club suspended most of its players for an argument they were having on… Facebook. I have the students work on the News Crossword in small groups and they compete to be first finished. But they usually get side tracked discussing the events in the news, mostly asking, ‘why?’ Why was China’s space-lab left to crash into the Earth? Why is there so much plastic pollution in the sea near UK? Why are the US and China imposing tariffs on each other’s exports? Why was Prince Charles made an honory chief in Vanuatu? (And why is it ‘honorary’ and not ‘honourary’?) And at what stage do we tell Facebook that our personal information belongs to us and not them?

The World News Crossword (June 4th, 2017) is a pdf document so 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 primary puzzle is a crossword based on last week's news events. There are TWO more puzzles: one is all about Japan and the other is all about China. Answers are included. There's anther puzzle, taken from the Climate Change Crosswords booklet, also included.

What happened in our world? May 1st, 2016 is a crossword based on last week's news events. In this week's puzzle… a 12 year old girl is released from jail in Israel and a Louisiana man is released from jail after 41 years. A magazine editor was murdered in Bangladesh. 21 Pakistanis died when they ate sweets that were tainted with poison. India's drought has result in a ban on daytime cooking. The Duchess of Cambridge will appear on the cover of the UK edition of Vogue. And Pope Francis told teenagers that they won't find happiness by downloading an app or behaving like a movie star. As a bonus, there's a crossword asking students to match cities with their countries. These are simple crosswords aiming to encourage our students ask about what's happening in their world - what happened in the world? Why did it happen and where? And most importantly, who are the people affected? Use the crosswords in your home-room class, in subject lessons, in substitution lessons, in lunchtime or after school clubs, in the time-out room, or even in the staffroom (or even in a staff meeting if you dare). Keep the comments coming in - we love to hear how the crosswords are being used by you and your students.

What happened in our world? March 6th, 2016 is a crossword based on last week's news events. In this week's puzzle… The ceasefire in Syria is holding. Russia might be up to something with regards to the refugee situation in Germany. British people are applying for Irish passports. FIFA's gone hi-tech. The tsunami warning buoys didn't shout out anything when the earthquake struck. An Australian won one of the world boxing titles. South African gold miners won compensation for lung diseases. And police cracked down on protestors in Istanbul. As a bonus, there's a crossword asking students to name the country in which a city is located. These are simple crosswords aiming to make our students talk about what's happening in their world, why it's happening, to whom - and where. Use the crosswords in your home-room class, in subject lessons, in substitution lessons, in lunchtime or after school clubs, in the time-out room, or even in the staffroom (or even in a staff meeting if you dare). Keep the comments coming in - we love to hear how the crosswords are being used in your school.