The Tate Britain exhibition on William Blake explores this talented 19th century artist whose poems and paintings are strikingly modern and pregnant with meaning. Differentiated activities from A2+ to B2 will allow you to add Blake to a sequence on the Gothic or the Romantic movements, for example Shine Bright 1ère Advanced File 1 “Freaky dreams”. … Continue reading “William Blake: Visionary”
Tate Liverpool is running an exhibition of Keith Haring’s iconic street art, which will then transfer to Bozart in Brussels. We’ve concocted activities to work with Haring’s art at different levels from A2 to B2. It would be interesting to compare Haring with another street artist from a different generation and continent: Banksy, the subject … Continue reading “Keith Haring Street Art”
In Canada, 30 September is marked as Orange Shirt Day, in support of the generations of First Nations children who were separated from their families and sent to Residential Schools where they were banned from speaking their languages or following their cultures. This resource accompanies Shine Bright 2de Snapfile 11 First Nations Territories. It includes … Continue reading “Orange Shirt Day”
Independence Day is a celebration for all Americans, but for some it has special significance. It’s a traditional day for holding naturalisation ceremonies, welcoming new citizens to the U.S.A. More than three-quarters of a million people obtained U.S. citizenship through naturalisation in 2018. Ceremonies take place all year round, but a lot take place in … Continue reading “Becoming American on July Fourth”
Juneteenth is an American celebration marking the end of slavery, when news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached the last U.S. state, Texas on June 19, 1865. These digital resources can be used to add to Shine Bright 2e File 19 “Breaking the Chains”. Read more about the history and traditions of Juneteenth in our … Continue reading “The End of Slavery: Juneteenth”
For National Vegetarian Week, Britain’s Vegetarian Society has created three short videos about going vegetarian, or at least trying to eat less meat and fish. The three 1-minute videos would make a great class group activity, with each group watching a video about eating less meat to help the environment, improve their health, or to … Continue reading “Going Vegetarian Videos”
International Safer Internet Day on 5 February encourages everyone to learn good online habits. A downloadable activity from Microsoft is perfect for language learning. It combines arts and crafts, English and Internet safety in one simple package. The activity involves downloading and printing out what they call a “chatterbox” — also called a fortuneteller, or … Continue reading “Safer Internet Day Communication Activity”
Brexit is a complex topic to tackle in class. We’ve scoured the web for the simplest videos we can find. This 2’30 video is aimed at British children, so it’s a fairly simple explanation of Brexit. Usable from A2+. This video from Channel 4 News is a very good explanation of the importance of the … Continue reading “Teaching about Brexit: Web Resources”
This A2 article about musicals and the tradition of high school performances in the USA should be of particular interest to those among your students who may have seen the exhibition in Paris, but also to any student with a taste for films or music. As usual, the document is but a starting point for … Continue reading “Musicals”
St Andrew’s Day, 30 November, is the Scottish national day. It’s a time to wear some tartan, listen to some bagpipes playing “Oh Flower of Scotland”, dance a Highland fling and eat some haggis and shortbread with a wee glass of malt whisky! A typical Scottish expression at this time of year is, “The nights … Continue reading “Go Scottish for St Andrews”
