Sir David Attenborough has fascinated viewers around the world for decades with his documentary series like The Blue Planet and Life on Earth. Now the 95-year-old naturalist is using his communication skills to try to explain the complex issues to be tackled the United Nations’ COP26 environmental summit in Glasgow from 31 October. Attenborough was … Continue reading “David Attenborough: People’s Advocate for the Planet”
Rosa Parks is known the world over as the African American who refused to give up her seat to a white person on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. But nine months before Parks, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin did the same thing. She’s the subject of a play (in French), Noire. Maybe the time wasn’t … Continue reading “Before Rosa Parks”
This inspiring documentary features teen activists around the world who see a problem and try to fix it. From Malawi to Colorado they are fighting pollution, opposing child marriage, supporting education, freedom of speech and sustainable agriculture and demanding rights for the planet and indigenous people. Melati Wijsen and her sister founded Bye Bye Plastic … Continue reading “Bigger Than Us”
Little Amal is anything but small: she’s a giant puppet of a Syrian refugee girl making her way across Europe. The 3.5-metre-tall puppet began an 8,000 kilometre journey in Turkey on 27 July. After the south of France in September, she’ll be making stops across the north in October before embarking for the U.K. The … Continue reading “Walking Across Europe for Refugees”
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to two journalists with a long track record of fighting to protect freedom of expression: Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, working in the Philippines and Russia. Both journalists are working in countries with populist governments which seem to have little respect for freedom of expression and both have … Continue reading “2021 Nobel Peace Prize Supports Freedom of the Press”
If you’re tempted to use more games in your classroom but aren’t completely sure how, listen to a colleague describe how she uses the Still English game pack with her collège classes. Isabelle Brothier teaches English in a collège de Charente, and has used many of the Still English games with different class levels. She … Continue reading “Teachers Talk: Using “Still English” Games in the Classroom”
A retrospective exhibition of Georgia O’Keeffe’s long career at the Pompidou Centre is a great opportunity to work with pupils on her depiction of the U.S.’s wide open spaces. O’Keeffe was born in Wisconsin in 1887 and lived to the age of 98. Her career spanned many of the movements of modern art, at first … Continue reading “America Seen by Georgia O’Keeffe”
Drawing or writing self-portraits is a classic activity for the beginning of the school year when teachers are getting to know their pupils and vice versa. But how can it be adapted to mask-filled classrooms in the Covid era? Nathalie Legendre tested a masked self-portrait activity in collège. Mme Legendre teaches in Collège Barbey d’Aurevilly … Continue reading “Back-to-School Masked Self-Portraits Activity”
9/11 … a date etched in everyone’s memory forever. 20 years ago, the world changed tremendously in a few hours. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center were as unexpected as life-changing for the whole world. Commemorations and various events are to take place in the U.S. to pay tribute to those who lost … Continue reading “20th Anniversary of 9/11”
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”
