Historical Anniversaries for August 2011

75 years ago today – 1 Aug 1936 The XI Olympic Games opened in Berlin, Germany. It was the last Olympics for 12 years due to World War II 75 years ago today – 1 Aug 1936 Birth of Yves Saint-Laurent, Algerian-born French fashion designer 75 years ago today – 2 Aug 1936 Death of…

Politicians in the Civil Rights Movement – Feedback on Politicians

Students complete this worksheet following from the image, and then students in the class who researched politicians as their “Fakebook” project now feedback to the class with their findings by identifying the one most important event in their lives which illustrates their importance to the civil rights struggle. Everyone in the class uses this to…

400 years ago (18 Jul 1610) Death of Caravaggio, Italian artist

Arrogant, rebellious and a murderer, Caravaggio’s short and tempestuous life matched the drama of his works. Characterised by their dramatic, almost theatrical lighting, Caravaggio’s paintings were controversial, popular, and hugely influential on succeeding generations of painters all over Europe [more].

QR Code Generator for Classroom “Treasure Hunts”

This new tool allows teachers to create “Treasure Hunt” challenges based on QR codes. You can create your own QR Treasure Hunt by simply providing a list of questions and answers. You can even go back and edit it later if you like. This program will then dynamically create QR codes for each question which…

Sportspeople in the Civil Rights Movement – Feedback on Sportspeople

The students in the class who researched sportspeople as their “Fakebook” project now feedback to the class with their findings by identifying the one most important event in their lives which illustrates their importance to the civil rights struggle. Everyone in the class uses this to start developing a thematic timeline document.

25 years ago (13 Jul 1985) Live Aid. Two simultaneous concerts in London and Philadelphia, plus other venues including Sydney and Moscow, raised millions of pounds for victims of famine in Africa

Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the “global jukebox”, the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom (attended by 72,000 people)…

75 years ago (12 Jul 1935) Death of Alfred Dreyfus, French soldier whose treason trial in 1894 (‘The Dreyfus Affair’) became one of Europe’s most tense political dramas

The Dreyfus affair (French: l’affaire Dreyfus, pronounced: [a.f?? d??.fys]) was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent. Sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly having communicated French military…

Sportspeople in the Civil Rights Movement – PowerPoint Starter

Students are presented with a famous image of two black sportsmen raising one hand in the air, wearing black gloves. What do the students think this means? Why are they wearing their gloves on different hands? A good way of setting up the focus on sportspeople.

25 years ago (10 Jul 1985): The Greenpeace campaign ship ‘Rainbow Warrior’ was sunk by two bomb explosions in Auckland Harbour, New Zealand

The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique, was an operation by the “action” branch of the French foreign intelligence services, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE), carried out on July 10, 1985. It aimed to sink the flagship of the Greenpeace fleet, the Rainbow Warrior in the port of Auckland, New…

70 years ago (10 Jul 1940) World War II: The Battle of Britain began

The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England or Luftschlacht um Großbritannien, literally “Air battle for England” or “Air battle for Great Britain”) is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. The objective of…

The Civil Rights Movement – Overview of civil rights campaigners

Students are given groups of politicians, musicians and sportsmen. Their job is to use Google Images to locate a picture of each person and paste them into the document. As they do so they start thinking about which character they would like to research in more depth if given the opportunity.