The word
“trivia” comes from the Latin for “three ways.” It referred
to a 3-way road junction. At such places people stopped to
exchange small talk. So the talk itself came to be called
trivia.
Writing up Trivia questions can be interesting and even fun!
Here
are a few.
1.
How many students attend this school?
2. Who
was the American President after Eisenhower?
3. What
is the definition of the word “obtuse”?
4. What
are the colours of the German flag?
5. Who
wrote the book, “Sense and Sensibility”?
6. How
many Italian know how to ski?
7. What
is the capital of Finland?
8. What
fruit has the least calories?
9. Who
won the Oscar for the Best Actor in 2001?
10. Who won
the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010?
There
are two ways to use Trivia in classroom activities.
1)
The class can be divided into groups and each group will get a
list of Trivia questions to answer. If there are computers with
Internet available, the students can use them during the English class
period. If not it can be used as a homework assignment.
2)
The Trivia project can be solely organized by the students.
Each group will prepare the trivia questions to be answered, and then
exchange theM with the other groups.
This second activity is useful for developing the student’s
organizational capacities.
They have to decide what subjects to touch on and how to make up the
questions.
In each case, the students
must remember that the Trivia questions have to be answered with
complete sentences.
Ex. What is the
capital of Norway?
The capital of Norway is Oslo.
Since this is an
interesting class project make use of it by creating a TRIVIA game.
(Yes, I know, one already exists, but the one your class makes will
certainly be better!)
The Trivia questions can be
printed on cards (coloured, of course!) and used after the above
activities have been done. Small groups can play together and see if
they remember the answers! It’s a great way to stimulate conversation.
A really good way to “unblock” the students with problems.
A
Nice Thought
“He who asks questions
cannot avoid the answers.”
Cameron proverb