10 LESSON PLANS
European Day of Languages, 26 September
1. Meet and greet
From “Guten Tag” in German to “Jambo” in Kenyan, greetings from around the world are matched with the flag of the appropriate country in this lively starter activity.
2. Celebrating modern foreign languages
Make it a party on the European Day of Languages with some of these teaching ideas. Why not host a Continental breakfast, teach flamenco or organise a foreign language assembly with contributions from each class?
3. Spanish Millionaire quiz
What is the world’s most commonly spoken language? How many people speak English globally? Test your students with these questions and more in a special Who Wants to be a Millionaire?-style quiz, which can be easily adapted to a range of languages.
4. Urdu for children
Welcome children with Pakistani heritage to your class or support topic work on Pakistan with these colourful posters and Tarsia jigsaws introducing a selection of basic Urdu words and phrases.
5. European quiz
How much do your students really know about Europe? Find out with these searching questions on famous Europeans, flags and capital cities.
6. Jukebox singalongs
Set your teaching to music with these French, Spanish and Italian playlists. Listen to the songs and then ask your students to join in with the help of singalong sheets in the original language.
7. Celebrity linguists
Inspire your students in their studies with this PowerPoint that features celebrities from David Beckham to Charlize Theron extolling the virtues of learning a new language.
8. In living colour
Even young children can be part of the European Day of Languages with these colouring activities that also teach basic vocabulary.
9. ‘Alouette’
Sing along to the French song Alouette (as a whole class or, if you’re feeling brave, by yourself) with this accompanying PowerPoint and audio track.
10. Round Europe game
Travel across the Continent with a roll of the dice in this entertaining board game. Every time your students land on a new country, they must write the word for “hello” in the correct language.
Find these lesson plans and more at bit.lyEuroLanguagesDay
10 LESSON PLANS
The Jewish holiday of Sukkot, 18-25 September
1. Introduction to Judaism
Where did Judaism begin? How old is it? Who founded the religion? Answer these questions and more with this informative PowerPoint.
2. The story of Sukkot
Take your students on a journey through the story of the Exodus, when Moses led the Jews from Egypt and into the wilderness, and learn why it is traditional to build a hut, or sukkah, during the festival.
3. ‘The Water Song’
Sukkot marks the time when God protected and fed his people in the desert. Encourage your students to join in the Jewish harvest festival celebrations by learning the traditional Water Song.
4. Celebrating Sukkot
Introduce your students to why and how the week-long festival is celebrated and its importance to Judaism in this lesson covering all the basics.
5. Harvest festivals
Sukkot is not the only harvest festival - Christians celebrate something similar, too. This series of lessons looks at how these different occasions are marked in schools, and explores the meaning of thankfulness.
6. Building a sukkah
Encourage younger students to learn to share by building a sukkah in the classroom, decorating it with leaves and fruit, then asking them to sit in the sukkah and eat together.
7. Give me shelter
Sukkot is a time of thanksgiving but it is also meant to remind Jews what it is like not to have adequate shelter. This detailed resource uses the festival as a springboard to teach about poor housing and social inequality.
8. What’s the difference?
Compare and contrast the Christian harvest festival and the Jewish Sukkot. How do they differ and why? And what would your students dedicate as thanks to God if they could?
9. Multisensory Sukkot
Stimulate your students’ senses with this film about Adam’s experience of Sukkot. He comments on what he sees, hears, smells, tastes, touches and thinks about at the festival.
10. What does that mean?
What’s a lulav? Or an etrog? Or the arba minim? Decipher some of the festival’s more unusual vocabulary with this illustrated booklet.
Find these lesson plans and more at bit.lySukkotFestival
3 SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS RESOURCES
1. Sensory play
Mud, dough, marshmallows and foam in the classroom: this may sound like a lesson gone wrong but Ibuzzybea’s resources are, in fact, all about learning through sensory play. And “goop”, of course.
bit.lySensoryPlay
2. What’s the time, Mr Wolf?
Use TES iBoard’s interactive class clock and related activities to help children learn what the big and little hands mean, how to divide up the hours and how to translate an analogue clock face to a digital display.
bit.lyTellingTime
3. Outside the box
Why do mirrors reflect? What colour is the sea? What are dreams? Open your students’ minds - and stretch gifted and talented children - with AcoYear8‘s set of 21 philosophical questions.
bit.lyThinkingCreatively
NOTICEBOARD
X marks the spot “Agent Mulder, I’m Dana Scully and I’ve been assigned to work with you ...” And so began a pop cultural phenomenon. Celebrate the 20th anniversary of The X-Files pilot on 10 September and remember: the truth is out there. bit.lyTheXFiles
Legal entry Applications open next month for The Sutton Trust’s Pathways to Law programme, which provides opportunities and support for state school students in England who are interested in a career in law and whose parents did not attend university. bit.lyPathwaysToLaw
Peace in our time Want to make this year’s Peace Day something special? Non-profit organisation Peace One Day has star-studded films, Skype talks and plenty of other resources to help you mark 21 September. bit.lyPeaceOneDay13.
