Watch this video which explains how to log in and do your Carousel homework effectively!
"How often is Carousel homework set?"
Carousel homework is set once per week for students in Years 7-9 for "science". Students in Years 10-11 will be set one homework per week for Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
"How do I find my homework?"
The link to access your Carousel homework will be on the Google Classroom assignment set by your science teacher for that week's homework.
"How do I log into Carousel?"
Logging into Carousel is super easy. All you need to do is click on the homework assignment link from your Google Classroom, then enter your "First Name" and "Last Name". This will take you straight to your homework assignment.
"How long will my Carousel homework take?"
How long Carousel takes will depend on a lot of things. Carousel quizzes could be anywhere between 10 and 30 questions long. Carousel homework also depends on the types of answers you're being asked. Some can be one word or number, while others might require a bit more writing and therefore time. Generally however, homework for Year 7 and 8 students should take no more than 30 minutes a week. For year 9-11 students (GCSE years) homework should take between 45-60 minutes a week. This INCLUDES the time that you should spend revising from the flashcards before the quiz and self-marking the quiz at the end.
"Do I have to do Carousel on a laptop?"
No. Carousel works just as well on a phone or tablet as it does on a desktop computer or laptop.
"What will be on my Carousel quiz?"
What questions will be on your quiz will vary. Sometimes your teacher might set questions from your current topic or a previous one or a mixture. The quiz might contain questions which your teacher knows your class struggle with, so wants to give you more practice of. You might have a quiz with a lot of questions all testing the same skill (e.g. converting units or using an equation).
"Can I practice questions before taking my quiz?"
Absolutely! Click the "Revise" button after you log into your Carousel assignment to practice the flashcards. Depending on what your teacher has set, you might only have the flashcards for questions which will be in the quiz, or all the questions in the topic.
"What can I do to help my child with their Carousel homework?"
Carousel quizzing is all about recall and practice. The easiest way to help your child do this is
Take the laptop/device from your child which has Carousel open on it. Ask them their flashcard question from the "revise" section. Get them to say the answer to you out loud (recall practice is far more effective if answers are said out loud), or write it out on a piece of paper. You can then check the answer on the flashcard, give them hints etc. before going onto the next flashcard.
If using a flashcard question bank to practice, you might want to sit down with your child before starting to practice and help them identify areas they know they are weaker in (e.g. "I'm good at at converting minutes to seconds questions, but I'm not great at calculating speed questions"). Focus flashcard practice on those weaker areas.
It's important to reassure your child that it's not always about getting 100% of the answers correct. They don't need to get 100% on every quiz they do to be successful. It's about continually practicing and improving over time. The question they got wrong last week, they can get right this week!
"What do I need to write for the answers to my quiz?"
You will need to type a response into the box at the bottom of each question. Depending on the question this could be a single word or number, a sentence, a calculation, or an extended writing answer. You can leave a question blank if you don't know it or write "I don't know".
IMPORTANT NOTE: In the current Carousel version, you cannot "skip" a question and come back to it later.
"I think I can do better. Can I take the quiz again?"
YES! You can take a Carousel quiz a second time to try and improve your performance. You CANNOT take the quiz a third time. Remember to go back and practice using the flashcards though before reattempting your quiz!
"How do I hand in my Carousel homework?"
As long as you click "Submit" after marking your Carousel homework, your data will be sent to your teacher automatically! You can click "submit" on your Google Classroom assignment to remove it from your To-Do list, but you don't need to attach any evidence or work.
"Can I do some extra practice or revision outside of my homework quiz?"
YES! You can access the complete banks of Carousel questions for your topics at any time, using the "Carousel Question Banks" at the bottom of this page. Click on the topic to follow the link. From there you can browse flashcards for the topic and even make your own quizzes to test yourself!