WIMBLEDON, 24 JUNE - 7 JULY
1. An introduction to tennis
Help even the least sporty students get to grips with hand-eye coordination and understand how to hold - and successfully use - a tennis racket.
2. Rain stops play
Turn Wimbledon fever into a lesson on literacy and numeracy. Ask students to choose two tennis players and create a short radio script commentating on an imaginary match between them using Wimbledon statistics and vocabulary.
3. Tennis warm-ups
Pair students for a rally session and get them to hone their skills in a lesson aimed at achieving maximum performance.
4. Facts about Wimbledon
When did Wimbledon begin? Which player won his first singles title in 1976? In which year was it sunny for the entire championship?
5. Geography of sport
What has Wimbledon to do with geography? Find out where players are from, where the tournament is watched and the impact of the weather on play.
6. Hopes and dreams
Use Andy Murray as an example to inspire students to consider how they can achieve their hopes and dreams.
7. Colouring and writing
Involve young children in indoor tennis fun with a colouring and writing activity all about the game.
8. Tennis vocabulary
What’s the difference between a clay court and a grass court? And what is a baseline? Improve your - and your students’ - tennis vocabulary with these flash cards.
9. Mathematics of tennis
Hone students’ mathematical skills with a lesson that looks at how many games might be needed to reach a Wimbledon final, the price of tickets and the surface area of the court.
10. Statistical fun for all
Samuel Groth holds the world record for the fastest serve at 163.4 mph. Get your students to calculate the mean and median serve speeds that were recorded during a qualifying match.
Find these lesson plans at bit.lyWimbledon 2013
MANDELA DAY, 18 JULY
1. Nelson Mandela
Celebrate the life and achievements of an icon. Chart Nelson Mandela’s journey from his rural childhood to leadership of the African National Congress, his imprisonment on Robben Island and his emergence as leader of a free South Africa.
2. Crime and punishment
Develop students’ autobiographical writing skills by studying an excerpt from Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, focusing on his imprisonment.
3. Rainbow nation
Explore the history of South Africa, from colonial rule and apartheid to its latter years under Mandela, the country’s first black president.
4. Goodbye Bafana
Show students the film Goodbye Bafana about the relationship between Mandela and his prison guard James Gregory, and then ask them to write a review of it in Spanish.
5. Apartheid
What was apartheid? What impact did it have on people’s lives? Explore its effects with a thought-provoking role play.
6. Mandela’s life
Get students to research and produce a timeline of Mandela’s life and to examine why he is considered to be a hero by so many people.
7. Moral dilemmas
Is violence ever justified? What are the consequences of antisocial behaviour? Consider social and moral dilemmas based on Mandela’s fight to end apartheid and show a film of his release from prison.
8. Symbol of hope
This script-based assembly encourages children to think about deeper issues by asking how Mandela kept hope alive during his incarceration.
9. Life timeline
Get students to practise their chronological skills and learn about Mandela’s life with a differentiated lesson on timelines.
10. Fighting for freedom
How can people challenge unjust systems and create fairer societies? Draw inspiration from the example of Mandela with a lesson on the struggle for justice and freedom.
Find these lesson plans at bit.lyNelson MandelaDay2013
TOP FIVE ASSEMBLIES
Tour de France - Inspire your students to take up cycling with a PowerPoint assembly from Suzann. bit.lyTour deFrancePPT
Armed Forces Day - Help students pay tribute to service personnel this Armed Forces Day (29 June) with an activity guide and assembly ideas from Army in Education. bit.lyArmedForces DayAssembly
Emotional literacy - Encourage students to develop empathy with an interactive assembly from randomgirly. bit.lyFeelings AndEmotions
Family - What makes a good family? Check out this video from TrueTube, in which young people share their views. bit.lyFamily Assembly
My heroes - Encourage students to think about what it means to be heroic by taking a look at fictional and real-life heroes in an assembly from poppy52. bit.lyMyHeroesPPT
SPECIAL NEEDS RESOURCES
1. Moving on
What kinds of choices exist for young people with special educational needs who are leaving school and reaching adulthood? Check out ADDers-org’s useful guide on transition and how to support students and their parents. bit.lyTransitionIntro
2. Interactive counting
“Make a loop and then a line, this is the way to make a nine.” Engage students through number rhymes with bevevans22‘s interactive PowerPoint on counting formations, complete with animations. bit.lyCounting Rhymes
3. Wonderful words
Encourage your students to be creative by asking them to think of imaginative and descriptive words that reflect a series of photographs, in a spelling, punctuation and grammar activity from TESprimary. bit.lyWonderful WordsActivity.
