Five country panels on a page, each headed with the country name, holding three short facts about how Christmas is marked there and one question underneath with a line to answer on. Twelve countries are in the bank, and you can pin the sheet to any one of them.
What is in the bank
Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Iceland, the Netherlands, Australia, the Philippines, Poland, France and Ethiopia. Each has three facts written to be checkable and uncontroversial: the date of Saint Lucia's Day in Sweden, the first star that starts the Wigilia meal in Poland, the star shaped parol hung outside houses in the Philippines, the shape of a buche de Noel.
The question under each panel is answerable from the facts above it. That is the point of the format: it is a short reading comprehension exercise with a geography topic attached, not a quiz that needs prior knowledge.
One country or a mixed sheet
The Country control lists the mixed sheet first and then every country on its own. A single country sheet is the one to use when a class is working through a topic a country at a time, or when a child is making a display about one place.
The mixed sheet is the better introduction. Five countries on a page makes the differences between them the thing a child notices, which is what an around the world topic is for.
Facts, spelling and accents
Names like buche de Noel, Pere Noel and julbord are printed without accents. That keeps them legible at worksheet size and avoids a missing font turning an accented character into an empty box, which is a common fault on printed worksheets.
The answer sheet on the second page writes each answer in red under its question, so a set can be marked without rereading the facts.
Questions
- How many countries are on the sheet?
- Five, each in its own panel with three facts and a question. The Country control above the paper also lets you print a sheet about a single country instead of the mixed one.
- Which countries are covered?
- Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Iceland, the Netherlands, Australia, the Philippines, Poland, France and Ethiopia. The mixed sheet draws five of them at a time and the selection changes on every new sheet.
- Is there an answer sheet?
- Yes. The second page repeats the facts with the answer to each question written underneath in red, so the sheet can be marked without reading the whole panel again.
- What age is this worksheet for?
- Roughly seven to eleven. A child needs to read three short facts and write a one line answer, which puts it in the middle of primary school rather than the early years.