Quiz Show


Any level except for absolute beginners.


1. Take two 'Word Up' question sheets from a level of difficulty suitable for your class.

2. For a class of up to eleven students, set up a 'stage' at the front of the classroom with chairs for three to five contestants (you'll be able to figure out exactly how many after reading 'How it Works'). For a larger class, see below.

3. Draw a scoring table on the board with a column for each contestant. A scoring table for three would look like this:

Contestants:  Yukio     Carlos     Maria  
Missing Word   
Crossword Clues   
Multiple Choice   
How it Works

1. Ask for one student to act as quiz master and give him or her the question and answer sets. For a class of up to six, ask all the other students to act as contestants. For a class of between seven and eleven, ask for around half the students to act as contestants, with the rest acting as the 'audience' for the first game and then contestants in the second. The contestants then take their places on the 'stage' and the quiz master writes their names along the top of the scoring table.

2. To begin, the quiz master asks the first contestant ('stage right') which category he or she would like to answer a question from. The quiz master then reads the first question from this category, repeating it if necessary (more on how the questions should be asked here). The contestant has up to one minute to answer (you should act as timekeeper). If the contestant answers correctly, the quiz master ticks the box for that category in the contestant's column (the 'audience' should applaud at this point). If the answer is not correct, the quiz master asks if a member of the audience knows the answer. If no-one does, the quiz master reads out the answer(s). Then the next contestant chooses a category, and so on.

3. The game continues until one of the contestants has correctly answered a question from each of the four categories. The students then exchange roles for the second game. The quiz master continues asking questions from wherever he or she left off in the first game. When all the questions for a particular category in the first set have been asked, the quiz master begins asking questions for this category from the second set.

For a larger class: If you have a class of more than eleven students, it would be best to have them form groups of four or five with each group drawing up its own scoring table on a piece of paper. One member of each group acts as quiz master and is given a copy of the question and answer sets while the other members act as contestants. Each group can play either one or two games.

For a general knowledge version: Print a suitable 'Mastermind' question set, or write a similar set of questions yourself, and play as above with general knowledge categories instead of the 'Word Up' categories.

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