Where does April Fool come from?
- History of the day (complete, with links)
http://www.usemb.se/Holidays/celebrate/april.html
http://stockholm.usembassy.gov/Holidays/celebrate/april.html (the same)
http://newsinjection.ihug.co.nz/April02/aprilfools.htm
http://wilstar.com/holidays/aprilfool.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fool's_Day (including several hoaxes)
- Short presentations of the day
http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/society/A0804428.html
http://www.bartleby.com/65/ap/AprilFoo.html (very short!)
http://www3.kumc.edu/diversity/other/aprlfool.html
http://www.geocities.com/atine6/ ( plus vintage postcards, including this one from which you can teach may, might, etc.:
http://www.geocities.com/atine6/cards/07.jpg )
- Longer ones
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/april/aprlfool.htm
http://pressroom.hallmark.com/april_fools.html (around cards and pranks)
http://www.kidzworld.com/site/p593.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/aforigin.html (ancient, medieval roots, etc.)
http://www.2camels.com/destination44.php3
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/5365/fool.html (plus ideas of how to turn the prank on the kids; and learn "short sheeting"= lit en portefeuille.)
- How different countries celebrate it
http://www.calendar-updates.com/Holidays/Canada/aprilfools.htm
http://holidays.mrdonn.org/aprilfools.html
http://homepages.tesco.net/%7Ederek.berger/holidays/aprilfool.html (poems, suggestions, voc.)
Quizzes and tests
http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/hisholidays/l/blquizholapfool.htm (about the history of the day)
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/tests/afquiz.html ( a written test : is it true or is it a hoax. real jokes from the newspapers)
http://www.quizarama.com/afanswer.php (same type, interactive)
http://www.ilovethatteachingidea.com/ideas/010402_april_fools_day_quiz.htm (a classic, how to without the text)
*** http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/assemblies/index.cfm?mode=searchdisplay&id=34&history=keyword (the same, with the text of the mock test)
http://www.virtualgravy.com/cards/aptest.shtml (online test : in two click, got ya!)
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa040198.htm (spot the language mistakes. very difficult. for advanced students)
World's media plays the April Fool
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/1254570.stm (several stories published in the papers)
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa040201a.htm?terms=April+Fool+Gags (id, plus links)
practical jokes and pranks
http://www.kidzworld.com/site/p1939.htm
http://www.scatty.com/ (jokes for children, by categories, including the famous knock-knock ones...)
Hoaxes
http://www.april-fools.us/
See especially the GM carrots, or the tax on pets, there is also a list of pranks...
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/
Read about the spaghetti tree, and some other hoaxes. the top 100 hoaxes of all time.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Technology/virushoax.html (Urban Legends and Virus Alerts)
Links
http://www.2meta.com/april-fools/links/ (to humor sites and newspapers, etc.)
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/categories/category/April%20Fool's%20Day/ (stories of hoaxes and pranks)