The This is England short-film festival in Rouen has a specific programme of short films for CM1, CM2 and 6e classes that explore original and age-appropriate ways to tackle difficulties faced by children. If you sign up for a jeune public showing, your students will see five films ranging in length from 4m20 to 14 … Continue reading “This is England 2023 films for Young Learners”
Eighteen years after The Matrix Revolutions, which we thought was the third and final Matrix film, Lana Wachowski has directed a fourth: The Matrix Resurrections. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are back in black in the iconic roles they made famous: Neo and Trinity. The Matrix franchise primarily consists of a trilogy of science-fiction films written and directed … Continue reading ““The Matrix Resurrections”: the Future is Now!”
As every Harry Potter fan knows, Harry’s birthday is 31 July, like his creator JK Rowling. But 26 June, 1997, was also an important date in the Potter canon: it saw the publication of the first volume of the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The 20th anniversary of a cultural phenomenon is being … Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Harry Potter!”
These videos of crazy contraptions inspired by Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson’s drawings are a great addition to a project to make a machine. They allow you to show pupils some examples, practise describing the machines, and see models of how to present a machine. No commentary on this video, just the images of the … Continue reading “Rube Goldberg Machine Videos”
Let’s imagine a crazy machine! We look at a fun and active project that gets pupils moving and talking in English about a culturally specific phenomenon: a Rube Goldberg machine. Cartoonist Rube Goldberg was famous for drawing comically complex machines to complete everyday task. His drawings are so well known in the U.S.A. that there … Continue reading “Inventing a Machine in Language Class”
You may have heard about a complex concept described as a “Rube Goldberg”… then wondered what that meant. The Rube Goldberg machine is a complicated machine that does simple tasks. Rube Goldberg was an American inventor, sculptor, author, engineer, cartoonist and he is very famous for his zany inventions cartoons. Before he was known as … Continue reading “The Art of Rube Goldberg: Why do simple when it can be complicated?”
