Muhammad Ali, world boxing champion and civil-rights activist, died in June 2016. This is a nice summary of Ali’s life and career from the BBC children’s news site. The video covers much the same information as the article, and could be tackled from A2, or used just for images along with selected facts for lower … Continue reading “Muhammad Ali On the Web”
Britain broke out the bunting and the Union Jacks to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday. There are not many 90-year-olds who are still doing a full-time job, even though the Queen now relies more on her children and grandchildren to represent the Royal Family abroad. After becoming Britain’s longest-reigning monarch on 9 September 2015, … Continue reading “The Queen at 90”
The 2016 U.S. presidential race has been hard fought, often acrimonious, and very unusual so far. But now the two main parties have chosen their candidates, the real race to the White House has begun. Who will come out ahead on 8 November? The Democratic and Republican conventions have voted on a platform of policies … Continue reading “The Race to the White House is On”
From 7-16 September, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is hosting the 2016 Paralympic Games. With each Olympiad, the games for athletes with disabilities are becoming more and more high-profile. The Paralympics began in Stoke Mandeville, England, in 1948. Dr Ludwig Guttmann was working with World War 2 veterans who had spinal injuries. He used sport as … Continue reading “Paralympics Rio 2016”
The complete diaries of World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon — which were small enough to fit into the pocket of his army tunic — have been published online. Due to their fragile state, they were not available to the public, but now all 4,100 pages of journals and poetry notebooks have been digitised by … Continue reading “Sassoon WWI Diaries Published Online”
It’s not often that you get two national treasures, a lot of laughs and a genuine social debate in one film. The Lady in the Van stars Dame Maggie Smith as a homeless woman who installs herself and her van uninvited in the driveway of playwright Alan Bennett. The Lady in the Van does what … Continue reading “Maggie Smith: The Lady in the Van”
British voters have chosen to leave the European Union. The Leave campaign in the 23 June referendum received 51.9% of the votes. What will happen next? The answer to one question leaves many others open: When will Britain leave? The Treaty of Lisbon includes a process for leaving the Union. The British government must inform … Continue reading “Brexit”
The Irish Republic has organised a whole year of commemorations of the centenary of the Easter Rising, which took place on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916. It was one of the founding events of the Irish Republic, but was and remains an equivocal and divisive rebellion. It is an excellent topic for a Lieux et … Continue reading “The Easter Rising, Dublin 1916”
In honour of the Roald Dahl’s centenary, and Steven Spielberg adaptation of Dahl’s book The BFG, London and other British cities is playing host to fifty “Dream Jars” representing the dreams of well-known personalities. In The BFG, the titular Big Friendly Giant collects and mixes dreams, which he blows into children’s bedrooms. Celebrities from Steven … Continue reading “Giant Dreams”
This A1+-level article will introduce your pupils to one of the most famous children’s storytellers. Some of them may already be familiar with his stories, and the recent release of Spielberg’s BFG will have drawn attention to one of his most endearing characters. Vocabulary and structures: Dates Simple present and simple past Building words Going … Continue reading “Roald Dahl Centenary”