All 4 Graded Readings
2020 - A year we will never forget
PRINT ALL READINGS (PDF)2020 - Level 0
People thought 2020 would be a great year. Few people knew that the world would change so much. The biggest news was COVID-19. Many people died. There were lockdowns and people wore masks. The death of George Floyd in the USA started the Black Lives Matter movement. Joe Biden was voted as the President-elect of the USA.
People will have different memories of 2020. One man will never forget the explosion in Beirut. He thanked God his family was not hurt. A UK nurse said the news of the vaccines for COVID-19 made her happy. A woman in Japan was sad that the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. She said 2021 would be a good year.
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11 online activities | 8-page printable (PDF)
2020 - Level 1
At the start of 2020, people thought it would be a great year. Few knew it would be a rollercoaster ride and that the world would change. The biggest news in 2020 was COVID-19. Many people died, economies suffered, there were lockdowns and people wore masks. The death of George Floyd in the USA started the Black Lives Matter movement and global protests. In November, Joe Biden was voted as the President-elect of the USA.
People will have different memories of 2020. A man said he would never forget the explosion in Beirut in August. He thanked God none of his family was hurt. He was sad his city was damaged. A UK nurse said the news of the vaccines for COVID-19 made her happy. A woman in Japan was sad that the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. She is happy they will go ahead in 2021. She said 2021 would be a good year.
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11 online activities | 8-page printable (PDF)
2020 - Level 2
Slowest
At the start of 2020, billions of people thought it would be a great year. The year sounded like it was from science fiction - 2020. Many people had big hopes. Few knew what a rollercoaster ride it would be and how the world would change. The biggest news in 2020 was the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people died, there was economic chaos, lockdowns and people wore masks. Another huge event was the death of George Floyd in the USA. This started the Black Lives Matter movement and global protests. The year ended with Joe Biden being voted as the President-elect of the USA.
People will have different memories of 2020. Some told us what they would remember. Ahmed from Lebanon said he would never forget the huge explosion in Beirut in August. He said he thanked God none of his family or friends were hurt. He was sad at the damage to his city. Lucy Baxter, a nurse, said her happiest moment was the news of the vaccines for COVID-19. She said she could see light at the end of a dark tunnel. Ayumi Miyamoto of Japan was sad that the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. She is happy they will go ahead in 2021. She said 2021 would be a good year.
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11 online activities | 8-page printable (PDF)
2020 - Level 3
For billions of people around the world, January the 1st, 2020 seemed like a great day. It was the start of a year that sounded like science fiction - 2020. Many people had great hopes for the year ahead. Few knew what a rollercoaster ride 2020 would be and how the world would change. The year has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has brought hundreds of thousands of deaths, economic chaos, lockdowns and masked populations. Another huge event was the death of George Floyd at the hands of U.S. police in July. This sparked the Black Lives Matter movement and global protests. The year ended with Joe Biden being voted in as the President-elect of the USA.
Different people will have different memories of 2020. Our reporters asked people around the world to tell us what they will remember 2020 for. Ahmed Hussein from Lebanon said he would never forget the massive explosion at a Beirut port in August that killed at least 190 people. He said he thanked God none of his family or friends were hurt, but was sad at the destruction of his city. Lucy Baxter, a nurse in the UK, said her happiest moment came with the news of the vaccines for COVID-19. She said she could see light at the end of a long and dark tunnel. Ayumi Miyamoto of Japan was saddened by the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics but is happy they will go ahead in 2021. She said 2021 would be a good year.
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25 online activities | 27-page printable | 2-page mini-lesson
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