Roald Dahl’s The Witches

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 05 November 2020 > Ready to Use

Roald Dahl’s The Witches was published in 1983, a typically twisted tale of witches who look like normal women and want to eliminate children by turning them into mice. A second film version, this time  by American director Robert Zemeckis, was scheduled for a November release. Like everything else, it’s on hold for lockdown, but … Continue reading “Roald Dahl’s The Witches”

The Art of Being a Dandy: Aubrey Beardsley

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 04 November 2020 > Ready to Use

Despite his early death aged 25, Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) had a prolific career as an illustrator. Part of the Aesthetic movement, a friend of Oscar Wilde’s, Beardsley was a dandy and turned his own short life into a work of art. To accompany the exhibition currently on hold at the Musée d’Orsay, this resource explores … Continue reading “The Art of Being a Dandy: Aubrey Beardsley”

U.S. Youth Vote Videos

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 09 October 2020 > Webpicks

One of the  big battles in the U.S. elections is getting people to vote. Which starts with getting them registered. These videos are a great teaching resource. In 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, only about 70 per cent of citizens were registered to vote. Of those, however, about 86 per cent actually voted … Continue reading “U.S. Youth Vote Videos”

Celebrating Votes for Women

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 09 October 2020 > Ready to Use

A hundred years after finally gaining the right to vote in the U.S.A., women today systematically both register and vote more than men. These two resources, one with a more complex article than the other, encourage pupils to discover the long campaign for suffrage, and some of the activists who worked for the 19th Amendment … Continue reading “Celebrating Votes for Women”

Guy Fawkes Webpicks: Protest and Plot

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 08 October 2020 > Webpicks

Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot are commemorated on 5 November every year in the UK on Bonfire Night. Pupils from A2 can discover the background to this annual event.  Lycée pupils can investigate how a failed terrorist from the seventeenth century has become the face of the Anonymous protest movement. The British Parliament site … Continue reading “Guy Fawkes Webpicks: Protest and Plot”

Ray Bradbury

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 18 September 2020 > Ready to Use

Ray Bradbury took the popular genre of science-fiction to the level of literature with short story collections like The Martian Chronicles and novels like his masterpiece Fahrenheit 451. A hundred years after his birth, this B1-level article will allow your pupils to discover Bradbury and his work. It is ideal for the beginning of the … Continue reading “Ray Bradbury”

The Mayflower 400 Years On

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 07 August 2020 > Ready to Use

Four hundred years ago, on 16 September 1620, the Mayflower set sail from England, carrying the Pilgrim Fathers (and Mothers!) to found the first permanent British colony in North America. This A1+ article gives very basic information, to allow young learners to start building up a cultural competence about the founding of the U.S.A., Puritans … Continue reading “The Mayflower 400 Years On”

Teaching about U.S. Women’s Fight for the Vote

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 29 July 2020 > Webpicks

In commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of women obtaining the right to vote in the U.S.A. in 1920, these videos and mini-site provide thought-provoking teaching tools. The Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality Monument is based in the house in Washington, DC, which has housed the National Women’s Party  since 1929. It is now run but the National … Continue reading “Teaching about U.S. Women’s Fight for the Vote”