Animals are always a great subject to get pupils talking, and the film trailer for The Secret Life of Pets has great humour too. From A1 The teaser trailer for The Secret Life of Pets is perfect for introducing or revising lots of everyday vocabulary — animals, rooms in the house and household items … Continue reading “Secret Life of Pets: Teaching with Trailers”
The 2015 winner of the Man Booker prize for fiction, Marlon James, is a star guest at the 2016 America festival in Vincennes from 8 to 11 September. These resources about his prizewinning book about Bob Marley, A Brief History of Seven Killings, would be a good topic for lycée classes. Both the theme of … Continue reading “Marlon James Webpicks”
In the U.S. presidential elections, all the candidates are chasing the youth vote. So Barack Obama has made a short video to encourage young people to sign up to vote. It would make a great classroom activity. The video shows the President doing “Five things that are harder than registering to vote.” Barack Obama is … Continue reading “Barack Obama Register to Vote Video”
Irish poet, playwright, novelist, editor, dandy and wit Oscar Wilde was a major figure of the nineteenth century literary scene, and his work is still widely read and performed today. A major exhibition at the Petit Palais presents his life and work – both as an immensely popular writer and as an object of scandal … Continue reading “Oscar Wilde”
Shakespeare’s birth and death are both celebrated on 23 April, St George’s Day (the English national day). And this year is a special celebration, 400 years after his death in 1616. There are lots of Shakespeare events on all year and lots of online resources, such as an online exhibition at the British Library, an … Continue reading “Shakespeare Online Resources”
The Beat Generation exhibition at the Paris Pompidou Centre looks at the legacy of these anti-conformist writers from the 1940s-1960s. It fits well into a lycée theme on Mythes et héros or L’idée de progrès. Or in LELE, the themes Voyage, parcours initiatique, exil or L’écrivain dans son siècle. See our article about the exhibition. … Continue reading “The Beat Generation on the Web”
21 September is Peace One Day, a U.N. day of ceasefire and non-violence around the world. A day to bring peace into your classroom! On the Peace One Day website, you can find teaching packs in English (and also Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish if your colleagues would like to join in!) They include … Continue reading “Peace One Day Webpicks”
National symbols are a wonderful way into discussing a country’s culture — and encouraging pupils to think about their own country’s symbols, which we all tend to take for granted. The current debate in the U.S.A. about honouring a woman on a banknote is and excellent and realistic example. This topic is great for classwork … Continue reading “Women on Banknotes Webpicks”
As part of the celebrations of the centenary of Roald Dahl’s birth, Steven Spielberg has helmed an adaptation of his book The BFG. Pupils generally recognise Dahl’s work from books or films, so it is a rich subject for class work. Don’t miss our articles on the The BFG film and Dream Jar Trail (see … Continue reading “The BFG Webpicks”
You hardly need an excuse to familiarise your pupils with one of the most important figures in English-speaking culture: William Shakespeare. However, 2016 is the 400th anniversary of his death and there are events and celebrations all over the world. The Bard is everywhere, including classrooms! You will find below two articles, the first, A2 … Continue reading “Celebrating Shakespeare”