Free Christmas Quiz
This Christmas quiz is made up of 5 parts:
I. ‘History’
II. Customs
III. Carols
IV. Nativity Story
V. Christmas Stories from around the world
Sample Text from Christmas Quiz:
Quiz V: Christmas Stories from around the World
1. Who is said to give gifts to children in Russia, every Christmas?
2. Who were her famous visitors?
3. What did they ask her?
4. Why didn’t she go with them?
5. After trying and failing to find them, what miracle(s) occurred with the basket of toys she was carrying?
6. From which country does the legend, explaining the red leaves of the Poinsettia, come?
7. What happened to the weeds that were placed by the altar on Christmas Eve?
8. As it was a poor child who gave the gift of weeds, what is the meaning behind the story?
9. In what city and country was ‘The Nutcracker’ set?
10. What famous composer wrote the music for the ballet?
80 questions – subject matter taken from playwright Sue Russell’s collection of Christmas plays/class assemblies all available from www.plays-r-ussell.com where sample texts can be viewed or you can email me and I will send them to you. These include:
1. “Christmas Spirit – The Conversion of Mrs Scrooge” is about a class’s attempts at making their grumpy old teacher (Mrs Scrooge) less miserable at Christmas. Some ‘interesting’ twists and terrible jokes included!
2. “The Meaning of Christmas – The Conversion of Scrooge” which has Scrooge complaining to a group (29) of carol singers – but with a happy ending, Scrooge taking on a King Wenceslas ‘role’ with one of the children who doesn’t want him to be lonely (it’s a bit of a tear jerker, though I say it myself!).
3. “Snow White and the 22 Dwarfs” is a portrayal of Snow White in a rather different light – squatter, home wrecker, glutton! No wonder the original ‘seven’ needed backup!
4. “Christmas Carols Assembly” – a joyful romp through carols, with a little background information on each.
5. ‘Christmas Advent Calendar Assembly’ – Christmas Play for Class or Year Group
This Christmas play has everything! It has 25 different images of Christmas - a mixture of religious and secular - denoting the 25 days of the Advent Calendar; it has a beautiful poem 'The Night Before Christmas', ten lovely carols, and a Christmas Prayer written by Robert Louis Stevenson - a wonderful way to round up this assembly/play which can either be performed by a class or a year group. The length of the performance can be easily modified (as can the cast numbers) by adding or taking away verses of carols, lines of poetry and number of jokes. I have included a small number of the latter, but if more are needed, I have many more (equally bad!) I can draw on! Just email me for the list!
I am currently working on Collection of Christmas Stories from Around the World. (First two now available off website www.plays-r-ussell.com as separate scripts)
(1) The Story of Babushka from Russia - an unhealthy obsession with housework forcefully delivering the lesson of ..... getting our priorities right!
(2) The Legend behind the Poinsettia from Mexico - delivering the lesson that Love is the greatest gift in the world.
(3) A Christmas Carol from England - Giving far outweighs the benefits of receiving.
(4) The Story of Santa Claus (from Turkey, Lapland or North Pole!) Teamwork (helping each other) pays dividends..
These Christmas plays are part of a collection of non-curricular assemblies I am building up. I have written a complete set of assemblies for UK History Key Stage II and covered most of the U.S. Elementary Social Studies – if anyone in Middle School and above would like any assemblies/plays/guided reading scripts written, please let me know!