**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.

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?)

Women who changed the world A book of 40 crosswords puzzles that help students learn more about some of the women who changed the world in science, technology, the arts… from the USA to UK to New Zealand to Kenya to the People’s Republic of China… Contents: Authors 1 Authors 2 Film and theatre 1 Film and theatre 2 Leaders in sport Musicians and singers Political leaders 1 Political leaders 2 Science and technology Women in government Agatha Christie, Amelia Earhart, Angela Merkel Benazir Bhutto Carla del Ponte Catherine the Great Christine Lagarde Cleopatra Coco Chanel Eleanor Roosevelt Elizabeth I Elizabeth II Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Emmeline Pankhurst Florence Nightingale Golda Meir Helen Clark Helen Keller Hillary Clinton Indira Gandhi Joan of Arc Junko Tabei Margaret Thatcher Marie Curie Mother Teresa Oprah Winfrey Queen Victoria Rosalind Franklin Wangari Muta Maathai Wu Yi Cognitive effort = learning. In our years of experience in classrooms, we understand that learning is rehearsing. The more cognitive effort we give to a task, the faster we learn it. Whether it’s repeating a song’s lyrics, the spelling of a word, or the steps to solving mathematical tasks, the more cognitive effort the stronger (and the more permanent) the learning. Practising, rehearsing, repeating, reviewing, redoing. It’s that simple: the more cognitive effort, the better the learning. Crosswords demand coghnitive effort. Reading, thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and even handwriting skills will all improve using these crosswords.

In this week’s puzzles… (1) A crossword based on events in last week’s news. A search & cloze puzzle detailing Part 2 of the amazing rescue of the 12 boys and their football coach from the flooded cave in northern Thailand, A crossword about NATO, and there are no clues, and A crossword all about Belgium (which achieved 3rd place in the FIFA World Cup). In last week’s news… All twelve boys from the Wild Boars football team and their coach who were trapped in a cave in northern Thailand were rescued. The US president said NATO member countries aren’t contributing enough to NATO (even though countries don’t contribute anything). Britain’s Foreign Minister resigned because he didn’t like the state of Brexit negotiations. Nestlé products are banned from zoos in Melbourne and a man has taken Monsanto to court alleging its weed killer caused his cancer. George Clooney fell off his motor bike while in Sardinia. Justin Bieber got engaged, maybe. An American tourist shut down Vienna airport because of a live artillery shell in her luggage. Scorpions invaded Brazilian cities, sort of. And after 66 years, an Indian man finally cut his finger nails. Angelique Kerber and Novak Đoković won the Women’s and Men’s Singles at Wimbledon. France won the FIFA World Cup, but the most loved and most successful football team during the World Cup was The Wild Boars of Thailand.

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 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 - June 3rd, 2018 This resource pack will help your students review some of last week’s news stories. If you have students work in small groups they’ll get excited about being the first to finish, but more importantly, they’ll discuss the news stories and ask why these events happened. They will also learn that their smartphone can be used for something other than Facebook. In last week’s news… Prince William announced he will visit Israel, Palestine and Jordan in the summer. Israeli tanks shelled the Gaza Strip. And a volunteer paramedic was shot and killed as she ran (with her hands in the air) to help a wounded protester. The EU announced a plan to reduce the amount of plastic food and drink containers in use. In Thailand, a whale died after consuming more than 80 plastic bags. Rare, tropical Australian fish were found around New Zealand after an unusually hot summer warmed the Tasman Sea. Residents in Shimla, in India, asked tourists to stay away because of water shortages being caused by a heatwave in Punjab, which also caused more than 60 deaths in Pakistani Punjab. Just a little further north, a 21 year old Kashmiri was killed when he was run down by an Indian army vehicle. Further south in India, 14 people died because of the Nipah virus. 8 more cases of Ebola virus were reported in Democratic Republic of Congo, in Africa. Immigrants from Africa have found an easier and cheaper route to Europe - from Morocco to Spain. A Malian immigrant rescued a small child who was hanging dangerously from an apartment balcony in Paris. More than a million French smokers quit cigarettes last year. And so we’ve included a bonus crossword about France in this week’s resource pack. As well as The World News Crossword, there are 2 Search & Cloze puzzles that will give a little more information about stories that have persisted for several weeks or months. This week these backgrounder puzzles are on Trade Wars and Immigration.

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 - 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 - 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.

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 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 - September 10th, 2017 is a pdf containing a crossword based on the events in last week's news. There are three more BONUS crosswords based on world geography that can be used at any time - substitute lessons, homework activities, time-out sessions, staff meetings (yes, really). Crosswords are good for encouraging neat handwriting and literacy. These crosswords are good for encouraging research on current world events. More than that, these crosswords will encourage discussions about the stories behind the news events, for example... almost 30,000 weapons were handed in in Australia during an amnesty. A German gun manufacturer promised not to sell weapons into war zones and to corrupt governments. And the UK arms manufacturers reported record profits from soaring sales. The UK government condemned North Korea's missile programme. Irma, Kim Jong-un, and Aung San Suu Kyi... Why was so much news time devoted to a hurricane when an entire ethnic group were being persecuted by the Myanmar military? Previously extinct tigers in Kazakhstan, plastic in the ocean and now in the food chain, and three mega-hurricanes. Are these related? Six farmers in the Amazon were murdered by gangs who want to steal the land to farm palm oil. What's palm oil used for? An artist who donated some of (but not all?) of his prize money because the competition was sponsored by BP (er, why did he enter?) Bad behaviour by German football fans in Prague and 50,000 people protested in London against Brexit.

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.

The World News Crossword (August 20th, 2017) is a simple resource made up of a crossword (with answers) based on last week's news events - and THREE bonus crosswords. This week's bonus puzzles focus on Argentina, China, and New Zealand. The World News Crossword is reasonably simple to complete because its purpose is to engage students with their world and some of the many events that affect them. A two-week-old wildfire in Greenland. A terror attack in Barcelona. A baby dolphin killed because of tourists' curiosity. Venezuela went from bad to worse. 3000 Syrians returned home from Lebanon. Saudi Arabia negotiated to rebuild Iraq's cities. The US president used Twitter, again. Floods affected millions of people in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. A tortoise escaped in Japan. But it's less about what happened last week than why and hopefully, if students work in groups to solve these puzzles, they'll chat among themselves about the stories in the puzzle. Why did Rwandans vote their president back for a third term? Why should Zimbabwe's Grace Mugabe escape prosecution for assaulting a model in a hotel in South Africa? Why is the US investigating China's intellectual property policies? And what's so wrong with an Australian politician holding dual-citizenship?

Where on Earth? Crosswords #2 is a simple resource for use with students - from young to old. Crosswords are a simple task that help to promote neat handwriting, thinking skills, and in the case of these puzzles, world geographical knowledge. There’s something about crosswords thought that makes students need to finish them. What's the capital of Canada? And South Africa? South Korea? Australia? IN which country is New Orleans? Dubrovnik? Sofia? Cairo? Tunis? Did you say Dubrovnik? That's where Game of Thrones and Robin Hood were filmed. It's beautiful there and just a short drive south is Montenegro (change your clock when you cross the border) with a beautiful little sea town called Kotor. Then it's Albania and then it's Greece and a short boat trip from there is Istanbul. Wow!! These puzzles are handy to have pre-printed in the bag ready for an unexpected substitution lesson. Put the kids into groups because people are all a little tribal, and have them compete. ‘Which team will win?’ is all you have to say. They’ll work furiously, with or without their smartphones, to compete and win - and in the process they’ll learn more about the world around them.

Geography: Weather & Climate Crosswords A set of TEN crosswords: The Water Cycle, Weather, Rain, Anti-cyclones and Depressions, Climate, and Micro-climates. And Climate Change. Suitable for Key Stage 3 Geography, GCSE/IGCSE, or A Levels/IB Diploma. Each crossword makes an excellent group or individual activity and can be used as a revision/reinforcement activity. In-class or for homework. These puzzles are great for stashing away to be used when colleagues are absent. Answers included.

This is a simple crossword activity aiming to encourage students to ask about what's happening in our world. Download and then print this easy to use PDF and save time preparing for the next Economics, Geography, Business, or PSHE lesson. The puzzles are excellent for a lively and informative home room period or even a substitution lesson when the absent colleague hasn't left enough work. You save your precious time and the students get to learn about last week's news events. (You might even give them colleagues to keep them happy during staff meetings - but don't let the bosses catch you!) In this week's puzzle... Obamacare survived. Somali pirates released a Sri Lankan ship and crew. An avalanche in Japan and a cyclone in Queensland. New Zealanders submitted a petition to protest against water being sold to China, India, and the Middle East. Britain was attacked by a lone terrorist. And Vladimir told Marine that Russia won't meddle in France's presidential election. Of course the real value of this crossword is the discussion it'll generate... Why did these things happen? Why, of all the things that happened in the world, were these the events reported in the news? The wording of these news events is interesting too; is there any bias in the wording? The puzzles seem to work best when students work in pairs or groups of three, so they discuss the clues and therefore the events of their world. They work even better if the teacher does the puzzle with the students. There are two BONUS puzzles that focus on the United Kingdom's history and geography. Good for KS3 as well as older classes.

This is a simple crossword aiming to encourage students to ask about what's happening in their world. Download and then print this simple and easy to use PDF and save time preparing for the next Economics, Geography, Business, or PSHE lesson. The puzzles are excellent for a lively and informative home room period or even a substitution lesson when the absent colleague hasn't left enough work. You save your precious time and the students get to learn about last week's news events. (You might even give them colleagues to keep them happy during staff meetings - but don't let the bosses catch you!) In this week's puzzle... The US made a verbal move against North Korea, the South Korea made a move without her dogs, and Nato made a move to Estonia. In Australia, because someone dared him, an 18 year old jumped into a stream and was attacked by a crocodile. In New Zealand the police shot a bomb sniffer dog at Auckland airport. And in India, a firebrand Hindu priest was appointed to govern the most populous state. And of course the real reason for these crosswords is to prompt the students to ask why... Why did Norway's Sami people get a large pension fund to sell off investments in a US company? Why did a Chinese court punish a policeman and why did the European Parliament punish that Policy MEP and why did France's far-right party expel one of its officials - and why did the Turkish president blame the Dutch for the 1985 Srebrenica massacre? (And was he right?) The puzzles seem to work best when students work in pairs or groups of three, so they discuss the clues and therefore the events of their world. They work even better if the teacher does the puzzle with the students. There are three BONUS puzzles that focus on North America, Central America, and South America.

What happened in our world? July 10th, 2016 is a crossword based on last week's news events. In this week's puzzle… A beer pipeline was opened and the Dutch released a beer made only from rainwater. Greyhound racing was banned, a lynx escaped, and a giant spider invaded a camper van. Lewis won the Grand Prix, Andy won the tennis, and Serena won the tennis - twice. Over a thousand words were added to the Oxford English Dictionary and one word, gullible, was removed. And three thousand people in Hull took their clothes off and painted themselves blue. This crossword is fairly simple. Students could use their smartphones to look at the news and so they'll learn that iPhones are more than just social media things. They'll hopefully ask about he news too, like how could a lynx escape from a zoo, did the police help the French tourists with the big spider problem, and why did 3000 people take their clothes off and paint themselves blue - why? As a BIG bonus - there's another crossword that asks students about well known couples, and pairs, and twins, and dynamic duos such as Romulus & Remus, Batman & Robin, Bread & Butter, Bacon & Eggs, and Romeo and...