Yacapaca! Xmas

Popularity		14830
Quality		62%
Reviews		27

» The Chalkface Christmas Quizzes (3)

Three quizzes to lighten up the end of term, graded easy, difficult and fiendish.

For extra student competitiveness, make sure to set up teams (here's how) and to display the team whiteboard (from Assignments->Results dropdown) whilst each quiz is running.

And after you have run them, why not share results with the class using the Results Whiteboard? (3-minute explanatory video here.)

Popularity		7158
Quality		59%
Reviews		4

» Subject-specific Xmas quizzes (6)

So many teachers have added questions to the Xmas question bank that I have been able to construct quizzes for several subjects. Why not join the Xmas authoring group and add some more? I will then incorporate them into the quizzes.

Popularity		4039
Quality		60%
Reviews		22

» Bumper Xmas Trivia Quiz (1)

40 questions, about all sorts of stuff, from Dafydd Humphreys at Harris Academy.

Popularity		1488
Quality		61%
Reviews		3

» Christmaths (3)

Two fun arithmetic assignments from Helen Barnes, around the well-known Christmas carol 'Twelve Days of Christmas'. Students need to either know the song (at least the last verse) well, or to have it available for visual reference whilst taking the quiz. For the short-text task, a reference slideshow is built-in. You can see it below; if you want to project it remember to click the 'full screen' button.

The quiz comes in two timing options: 'ET' for Extra Timing and 'ST' for Standard Timing. The extended timing version allows 5 minutes per question, as against one minute for the standard version.

Popularity		809
Quality		23%
Reviews		3

» Wellingborough Christmas Quiz (1)

Questions created in Yacapaca by Mrs Mason's students at Wellingborough School. Good fun.

Popularity		728
Quality		91%
Reviews		4

» Easy-peasy Xmas Tests (1)

Tests intended for lower-attaining students in the run-up to Christmas.

Popularity		469
Quality		11%
Reviews		5

» Arbroath Academy's Christmas Quiz (1)

Written by two of Mr Krachan's Year 7 students. Huge congratulations to them!

Popularity		369
Quality		62%
Reviews		1

» Christmas Quiz for SEN School (1)

A quiz set up for children who are very low ability. Some reading but fairly straight forward answers.

Popularity		255
Quality		56%
Reviews		4

» 12 Days of Christmas: The hidden meaning (5)

Questions by Mark Ricketts from St. Luke's school in Portsmouth. Kudos to Mark's Year 7 class who came up with the distractors.

This quiz is based on the (disputed) idea that the song is a catechism designed to teach the core tenets of the Catholic faith. A bit of web research will overwhelm you with conflicting versions of the tenets; I think this article is well-written and reasonably accessible.

Lesson plan

Start the lesson with the song itself. Best if you can get the kids singing it, but failing that here's an MP3. Remember that some schools block MP3s in case they contain unauthorised education, so download it in advance!
Introduce the idea that the carol can be seen as a catechism written in coded, metaphoric language. Most kids love codes, so there should be plenty of examples from their current subculture that you can draw on to introduce the concepts.
Set Quiz 1, allowing just one attempt each instead of the default 2. Tell the students this is the rehearsal, and that it is the Quiz 2 marks you will record/award prizes for. Quiz 1 puts all the feedback to the end. Advise students not to close the quiz when finished, becaue they will need the feedback. Whilst students are working, project the Analysis Whiteboard.
Use the whiteboard to briefly discuss the least-understood questions. Use this as an opportunity to point them toward good research sources and to bring out some peer support. Resist the temptation to start teaching! 5 minutes.
Allow students to work together in pairs to review their feedback, discuss and research. Timing for this really depends on the concentration span of the students, because the research opportunities are enormous.
Set Quiz 2. Note that you should not set this in advance. It is important to prevent students from starting it before they have completed their research. This puts the feedback after each question, which makes for better reinforcement. If you want to promote stronger competition at this point, project the Quiz Whiteboard. Use this with caution, as it can demoralise the low attainers.
Hand out praise and prizes!

The extension task takes things one step further, and invites students to investigate the claims and counterclaims about catechism.