We are gradually publishing an 8-part analysis of the 1993 animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Here are parts 4 and 5. We’ll be publishing further parts during the autumn so you can study the film with A2-level pupils in class. The film, directed by Henry Selick and written by Tim Burton, focuses on the … Continue reading “Analysing Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Parts 4 and 5”
This year’s UK National Poetry Day is on 5 October. A great opportunity to get some poetry into your class, and to explore this year’s theme: Refuge. The National Poetry Day site has lots of poems and teaching resources. We picked out some which are especially well adapted to ESL learners. There are short films … Continue reading “Poetry in the Classroom”
What better moment than the Rugby World Cup to take a look at the 120-year-long history of friendship and rivalry opposing France and Ireland on the rugby pitch? Let’s explore this relationship thanks to the online exhibition set up by the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris. This online exhibition will enable the students to discover more … Continue reading “France vs Ireland: 120 years of Rugby”
Although he is most famous for his children’s stories, Roald Dahl wrote intriguing short stories for adults too. Director Wes Anderson, who already adapted Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox as an animated film, has now made four short films for Netflix based on four of the adult short stories. The first to be released, on 27 … Continue reading “Roald Dahl’s Henry Sugar on Film”
We published the first part of an analysis of the 1993 animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas in July. Here are parts 2 and 3 out of 8. We’ll be publishing further parts during the autumn so you can study the film with A2-level pupils in class. The film, directed by Henry Selick and written … Continue reading “Analysing Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Parts 2 and 3”
If you’re working on detective stories, or scary stories, these two trailers for the new Agatha Christie film A Haunting in Venice would work well in class depending on context. The first one immediately identifies Poirot and that there is a mystery. If you have already worked on detective stories, pupils could be asked to … Continue reading “Teaching with Trailers: Hercule Poirot A Haunting in Venice”
It’s the beginning of the school year and working on school vocabulary can reassure pupils and help them realise they CAN actually remember some of what they learned in previous years. A video and a quiz from the BBC Newsround site are a great way to start the year. Not all of the videos on … Continue reading “Back to School”
This A2/A2+ level article and audio can be used shortly after the beginning of the year. It can be tied in to a unit reviewing hobbies while using the context of the Rugby World Cup starting on 8 September in France and finishing on 28 October. All through the tournament, match results can be discussed … Continue reading “Time for Rugby”
The FIFA Women’s World Cup has inspired several interesting ads on the topic of women in sport and their relative fame and treatment to men. These three lend themselves especially well to being used in class. You’ll probably want to avoid the slogan of the first one, “what the football?”. Luckily it’s transparent enough for … Continue reading “Teaching with Adverts: Women’s Football”
This is the first part of an analysis of the 1993 animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas. We’ll be publishing further parts in the coming months so you can study the film with A2-level pupils in class. The film, directed by Henry Selick and written by Tim Burton, focuses on the King of Halloween Town, … Continue reading “Analysing Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
