TeachersFirst's Middle School Brain Twisters

Week of December 5, 2025

1.Tanzanite, one of December's birthstones, is made from...

assorted silicate materials
primarily calcium carbonate
calcium aluminum silicate
carbon
non-crystalline form of the mineral silica

2.Which of these is not part of a figure of speech in a famed poem by Clement Clarke Moore?

an apple
dry leaves before the wild hurricane
a cherry
bowlful of jelly
a peddler

3.Sleigh bells ring... This line from a Christmas carol is also about

Lupines
Felines
Bovines
Equines
Canines

4.Named by the Romans, the month of December was named after the Latin word decem. Decem is Roman for what?

celebrations
the word that means ten
peace
a Roman god
war

5.The first News Years Eve ball dropped on Times Square happened in what year?

1910
1907
1904
1913
1900

6.Except for leap years, January always begins on the same day as what other month?

August
December
July
February
June

7.Which pair does not have the same relationship as the rest?

car - automobile
gift - giving
joy - mirth
apparel - clothing
wassail - punch

8.Which does not belong?

a turkey and a ham
a train and the North Pole
a snowman and some children
a watch chain and Magi
a tree and its stump

9.In the final line of a carol that includes Parson Brown, you will find this figure of speech:

personification
metaphor
simile
alliteration
hyperbole

10.In 1965, a young boy with a blanket joined his bald-headed friend and the gang for the first animated Christmas TV special. The group's biggest accomplishment was:

Eating snow flakes
Choosing the cast of a play
Playing a toy piano
Decorating a tree
Twirling a dog dish

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