Geogra3: Geography lessons for Christmas

In this week's Geogra3, I'm sharing three quizzes plus activities that you could use in the final week before the Christmas break.  Make your last week more fun and less overwhelming!

1. The Tutor2U Big GCSE Geography Festive Challenge

Each year Tutor2U puts together a bumper quiz.  This year they seem to have gone all out with the graphics and it’s a bumper 100+ slides long!  It’s aimed specifically at GCSE (age 14-16 years) as there are questions linked to the GCSE specs, but you could potentially hide those slides if using lower down the school as there are riddles and other fun sections.  My only bug bear with it, is that I tend to like doing “rounds” so that teams can mark each others.  In this, the answers are given straight after the question/riddles so you might need to play around with it if you want a different style.    It is fully editable in powerpoint so still worth checking out via this link.

2. The Discover the World Education Big Geography Christmas Quiz

This is another company that also puts together a comprehensive quiz each year.  It’s not as fancy as the Tutor2U one, but I like the fact it’s organised into rounds, with physical geography, geography in the news and Christmas traditions as examples of topics.  You can download in sections or as the full quiz.  The main drawback with this one is that it is in PDF format so not editable unless you want to faff about with different software.  Here’s the link to check it out.

3. 13th annual Geography Geek Christmas quiz

If you’re looking for a more interactive, fun, potentially messy quiz, then this one is for you!  Each team is aiming to get as many reindeer to the party as possible.  Each character is worth a different amount of points depending on how quickly they manage to get a correct answer from the clues given.  After all the rounds, the best scene also gets awarded an extra 5 points - this should help encourage students to cut neatly and keep their workspaces tidy.  This quiz does involve scissors and glue so if you’re running low on supplies this might not be one for you!  Here’s the link and answers to the questions can be found in the notes section of powerpoint for each slide.

BONUS IDEAS

If you’re after an alternative to quizzes or requests for Kahoot, don’t forget about the Antarctica penguins activity shared by Laura at Century Education.  You can find it here. You’ll need to scroll down to the Featured resources to find it, “Unlock Christmas in Antarctica.”  

If you’re feeling a bit crafty, why not make use of the old maps that are lurking in the cupboard and create some map baubles or garlands?  This website suggests one way to do it.

And I couldn’t not mention the GTB vault, absolutely ideal at this time of year!  Inside are over 50 different worksheets and classroom-ready presentations linked to geographical documentaries, including the Antarctica episode from Frozen Planet 2, Simon Reeve’s South America episode 1 and 2, plus a whole host of topical programmes from DW, Waterbear, Endevr and more. 

I hope you have a fantastic Christmas that includes lots of time for rest and indulgence.

And don’t forget to book an appointment for the dentist/hairdresser/garage/any other life admin that we never get round to in term time!

 I love nothing more than supporting Geography teachers as we are a pretty awesome bunch.  

So here are five ways that I might be able to help you….

• The FREE resource booklet - 17 Q and A worksheets linked to documentaries
• The GTB Vault - Classroom-ready powerpoints and worksheets so you never need to feel guilty about showing a video in class again! New pick up and go lesson resources added every month.
• The Geography Teacher Box bookstore - boost your subject knowledge while supporting local independent bookshops
• Tote-ally Geography - A newly created store with tote bags designed specifically for geography teachers.
• Connect with other like-minded Geography teachers and share resources (suitable for teachers of students aged 11-18) - The GTB Facebook Group