UPPER CANADA DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
Student-Led Math Gameshow Reaches 1,300 UCDSB Students

A new approach to student engagement brought older and younger learners together on April 9, as Beckwith Public School (BPS) students helped design and deliver a board-wide math gameshow for Grade 3 classes across the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB).

Principal of EQAO and Student Success Rob Scott said the goal was to involve junior students in creating interactive learning experiences for younger peers, building leadership skills while reinforcing key concepts in a student-driven way.

Grade 6 students at Beckwith Public School took on the challenge of designing the show, diving into both content creation and question development.

"They're a strong group of leaders who enjoy a challenge," said teacher Angela Bennett. "They were also excited to be part of something that would support younger students."

Bennett and Scott helped students identify appropriate Grade 3 math and writing topics using board curriculum resources and developed clear questions and effective multiple-choice distractors incorrect answer options designed to challenge students' thinking.

"They really took ownership of the process," said Scott. "From selecting topics to crafting questions, students were thoughtful about how to make the content both accurate and fun for younger learners."

The class created several pages of questions, which were reviewed and refined into a final set for the live event and built into an interactive format using the Knowledgehook platform.

"Mrs. Bennett and Mr. Scott helped a lot and showed us where to begin, which made it easier to get started," added Grade 6 student Tahlia Hussein.

On April 9, the gameshow was broadcast live over Teams to 63 Grade 3 classes, reaching more than 1,300 students across the board. Three Grade 6 students also hosted the show alongside staff.

"It was hard, but rewarding," said BPS student and co-host Cole Thompson. "Writing the questions and coming up with the distractors was the hardest part."

"All three students were outstanding," Scott said. "They brought strong communication skills, confidence and a great sense of humour, helping make math fun and accessible for the Grade 3 audience."

While board-wide gameshows have been running for the past two years, this model introduced a new level of collaboration and student voice the first time a UCDSB-wide gameshow was created using student-written content.

"There is real potential to expand this model and involve more students across different schools in the future," Scott said.

The initiative supported math learning while highlighting cross-grade collaboration empowering older students as leaders while creating meaningful experiences for younger learners.

"I've noticed that after writing the questions, my students can more easily pick out the distractors and understand why they're included," said Bennett. "They also saw how much thought goes into these questions. Working in pairs or small groups gave them a chance to step into the role of teacher and leader."