The Big USA Quiz

Objective & content

A projected team quiz on American culture, with photos, for one game of 30 to 40 minutes. The class plays in 2 to 4 teams through six rounds, each with its own kind of play: American words, Zoom in!, Who am I?, True or false?, Closest number and Look and remember. There are 24 questions and 30 points. Pupils learn simple facts about the USA (the Statue of Liberty, New York, Washington, Thanksgiving, American sport and food) and the American words for everyday things that British people say differently. They read short questions and answer in a word or a short phrase.

Pedagogical guide

Every question slide is followed by its answer slide, so the class sees the answer at once and the teacher only keeps the score. Because each round has one kind of play, the class learns the rule once and then just plays. In American words, a photo and a word bank stay on the screen and teams write the American word; the answer slide gives the British word ("In Britain: sweets"), so pupils see the two words side by side. Zoom in! shows a close-up first and the whole photo after. In Who am I? three short clues ("I am very tall and green.") lead to one answer, worth 2 points. In Closest number ("How many states are there in the USA?") teams write a number and the closest team wins the points. In Look and remember a tray of American things shows for 20 seconds, then one thing goes and teams write what is missing. Read aloud the short reason on the answer slides: this is where the class meets full sentences about the culture. The quiz stays at A1+ level, with short questions and everyday words, in British English. Useful language for the teams: "I think it's ...", "It's true.", "It's false.", "It's a hot dog.", "Can we change our answer?"

Suggested procedure

1. (3 min) Make 2 to 4 teams and draw a score table on the board. Each team has one sheet of paper and one writer.
2. (7 min) Round 1, American words: leave the word bank on the screen; teams write the American word. Read the British word on the answer slide. 1 point for each right answer.
3. (4 min) Round 2, Zoom in!: teams write what the close-up shows, then see the whole photo.
4. (6 min) Round 3, Who am I?: read the three clues one by one; teams can answer after any clue. 2 points for a right answer.
5. (7 min) Round 4, True or false?: teams write true or false. Read the reason on the answer slide.
6. (4 min) Round 5, Closest number: teams write a number. 2 points for the closest team.
7. (4 min) Round 6, Look and remember: show the tray for 20 seconds, hide it and let teams write what is missing. 1 point for each right answer.
8. (3 min) Add up the points on the board and show the last slide.

Adaptations

[S] In round 1, read each word of the word bank aloud and point to the picture. Read each clue twice in round 3, and in round 4 let teams show a card or raise a hand for true or false instead of writing.

[A] Ask teams to answer in a full sentence ("The White House is in Washington, D.C.", "It's a pumpkin."). In round 1, give an extra point to a team that can say the British word without looking at the answer slide.

Materials & prerequisites

A projector or screen for game.pdf (58 slides in 16:9, one PDF page per slide, turned with the arrow keys), the board for the score table, and a sheet of paper and a pen for each team. Pupils should already know everyday food and drink words, a few sports and simple sentences such as "I am ..." and "It is ...". The quiz works well as a revision game at the end of a unit on the USA, or as a reward at the end of a lesson.