This A1+-A2 slideshow will provide your students with information about the tradition of Valentine’s cards but also about the origins of Valentine’s Day, according to legend, and a connected celebration in Ghana, Chocolate Day. The accompanying activities help develop speaking and writing capacities. Vocabulary and structures Saying and writing dates and numbers (150 million…) Pronunciation: … Continue reading “Valentine’s Day Slideshow”
A Thanksgiving intergenerational project in the U.S.A. would make an excellent language activity anywhere. StoryCorps is an innovative oral history project that has been recording ordinary Americans having conversations with people they love since 2003. The concept is simple: the mobile StoryCorps recording booth sets up in a town. Anyone who wants to can come … Continue reading “Thanksgiving Stories”
We have a teacher recommendation for a site for creating posters for your classroom, and an example of a poster on the theme of Halloween to use in collège to work on the BE+ing present and reading comprehension around this celebration. Plus a worksheet on Halloween celebrations from A2, with a focus on the plastic … Continue reading “Create a Poster: Halloween”
This spooky A1+ audio activity is an original way to celebrate Halloween. The scene is Blood Manor, a haunted house attraction in New York. There are lots of ghoulish sound effects. And pupils will be asked to practise listening for and producing “H” sounds (and also focus on when not to add a “phantom H” … Continue reading “Blood Manor: Halloween House”
26 September is the Day of European Languages, celebrating all the diversity of languages across the continent. For the 20th anniversary edition, there are some great teaching resources. The general theme of the resources is interesting quirks and facts about the different languages, starting with a downloadable poster called “20 Things You Might Not Know … Continue reading “European Language Day 2021”
Both the U.S.A. and Canada celebrate their countries’ workers on the first Monday in September, they just don’t agree on the spelling! Featuring picnics, barbecues but also political speeches, both public holidays grew out of union movements in the late nineteenth century demanding shorter working days and more rights for workers. It’s no coincidence that … Continue reading “Labor or Labour Day?”
14 June every year is Flag Day in the United States. It commemorates the date in 1777 when the United States approved the design for its first national flag, a version of the familiar red, white and blue “Stars and Stripes” that survives today. On June 14, 1777, future President John Adams discussed the flag … Continue reading “Raise the Flag”
Among many other special qualities, Queen Elizabeth II has two birthdays every year: the real one on 21 April (she was 95) and her official one on the second Saturday in June. That is marked by one of the great moments of British pageantry: the Trooping the Colour ceremony. Since 1748, the monarch’s official birthday … Continue reading “Trooping the Colour”
It’s la semaine des langues vivantes from 17 to 21 May. Whether you’re in or out of school at that point, there are lots of ideas to mix and match languages and take them out of the classroom. Last year’s preparations took place during lockdown, and teachers had lots of creative ideas to celebrate. Check … Continue reading “La semaine des langues vivantes”
The St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin was one of the first victims of the COVID pandemic last year and it’s been cancelled again this year for the same reason. But never fear! Let’s face it, most of us were not going to get to Dublin to celebrate Paddy’s Day on 17 March, but we … Continue reading “St Patrick’s Festival 2021”
