Saturday, April 25, 2009

Everybody had a great breakfast and then went straight for two rounds of Ling at 8 am. Presidents (25-34) started at 10 am. The kids enjoyed their lunch at noon and then went for two rounds of Equations at 1 pm. They had some free time from 3 to 4:30. Some kids just chilled out in their room and some had a fun and challenging football game with a local team in the field behind the hotel. They cooled off by running through the fountains nearby. Dinner was at 5 pm. They are currently in the first two rounds of Onsets.

First day results (for rounds 1 and 2) for Elementary:

Ling -

Section A - Piece of Pi: 45 (3rd place, 9 points behind 1st place);
Section C - PPOP:45 (3rd place, 9 points behind 1st place);

Equations -

Section C - Piece of Pi: 48 (1st place, tie)
Section A - PPOP:53 (2nd place, 3 points behind the 1st);

Presidents (25 -34) - Piece of Pi: 114
PPOP: 188

First day results (for rounds 1 and 2) for Middle:

Ling -

Section A - Namewithlessthan25letters: 50 (2nd place, 10 points behind 1st)
Section B - Arrrrrrriba: 56 (1st place, tie with another Clague team: 1/2y5 Striped Elephante)
Section C - Ummmmmmmmmm: 55 (1st place, 1 point ahead)

Equations -

Section A - Arrrrrriba: 52 (1st place, 3 points ahead)
Section B - Striped Elephante: 47 (3rd place, 4 points back from 1st)
Section D - Ummmmmmm: 51 (1st place, 4 points ahead)
Section E - 25letters: 46 (4th place, 4 points behind from 1st place)

Presidents - Ummmmmm: 220, Striped Elephante: 182, Arrrrrriba: 156,
25letters: 92

We are looking forward to a busy and fun Sunday with 3rd and 4th rounds of Ling and Onsets, Prop (A & C), Ling and Onsets playoffs, and some fun activities at Market Square.

Nationals Day One: Fun Day

The ride down was uneventful. We left from Ann Arbor at 11pm, stop once in the middle of the night, and arrived in the Knoxville area around 7:00 am. After a pleasant breakfast at a delightful local eating establishment, we made our way over to the Zuma Fun Center. While at the Center, we go-karted (is that a verb?), rode bumper boats, played some mini-golf, took some swings in the batting cages, and played some video games (Dance Dance Revolution was a big hit).



After lunch we headed over to the Knoxville Convention Center, unloaded the buses and got our rooms here at the Holiday Inn Select Downtown. We walked over to the Convention Center, and took a brief tour to find the eating and playing areas. After the opening ceremonies, we went back over to the Holiday Inn, got some practicing in, played some football outside in a beautiful open field, and got some rest for the competitions starting in the morning.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Alumni Help II

Hello Everybody,

My name is Priya and you are about to learn one of the only onsets tricks in the book…
REDUCED CHARTS!!!! These chart things are quite useful to figure out which goals are a Challenge Never or not, and are just generally very useful. So here, we go…

The 1st requirement for a reduced chart is that in resources, one color isn’t rolled. For example, you are the goal setter, you rolled the cubes, and you didn’t roll any greens. You can now make a reduced chart.
If we keep going with our previous example, your chart should look like this:




As you can see, our chart does not have green on it but, instead yellow or not yellow. It’s really that simple, but it’s a huge time saver.
This is how I got four sixes at States, no joke. It’s that simple, seriously. Yeah, that’s Onsets for you!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Alumni Help

Several of our Clague AG alumni would like to share some of their tips and tricks with the team for use down at Nationals. First up is Lena J. with some Ling strategies for Middle:

Infinitive Phrase + Gerund Phrase
• Wanting to ___________ is weird.
• He likes wanting to ___________.

Infinitive Phrase + Participial Phrase
• The person wanting to _________ is weird.

Infinitive Clause + Gerund Phrase
• Wanting the person to __________ is weird.
• He like wanting the person to _____________.

Infinitive Clause + Participial Phrase
• The person wanting him to ___________ is weird.

Adjective Phrase + Adverb Phrase
• … the idea of thinking about _________ …

-Note that some of these examples don't use a clause, so they can be used in Simple or Compound sentences

Infinitive as
• Subject – To swim is weird.
• DO – I like to swim.
• Adj. Modifier – He was happy to swim.
• Adv. Modifier – He learned enough to swim.

Progressive without -ing
• He was being eaten.
• He is being eaten.
• He will be being eaten.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Presidents Assignment

On Friday at practice the students were given an assignment in Presidents that is due Friday April 17. Each student drew a president's name out of a hat (actually a game box) and needs to compile a list of facts about that president. The finished product should not be in report format, but instead should just be a listing of facts. The facts should be typed in a word document and emailed to me by the 17th. I will then compile the reports and turn it into a giant "cheat sheet" that students can use to study shortly before and on the way down to nationals. The assignment sheet is here, and the assignments are as follows:

Middle
Acer: Truman (33)
Alan: Reagan (40)
Andrew: Coolidge (30)
Anthony: Clinton (42)
Caleb: GW Bush (43)
Chelsea: T. Roosevelt (26)
Daniel: Kennedy (35)
Edith: Carter (39)
Graham: Taft (27)
Jiaao: Hoover (31)
Keeley: Nixon (37)
Lorna: Eisenhower (34)
Miheer: GHW Bush (41)
Mike: Ford (38)
Patrick: McKinley (25)
Richard: Harding (29)
Renee: Reagan (40)
Sagar: FD Roosevelt (32)
Sherry Z: Johnson (36)
Valerie: Johnson (36)
Ying: Wilson (28)

Elem
Amol: T. Roosevelt (26)
Andrew H: Clinton (42)
Benjamin: Harding (29)
Conrad: Nixon (37)
Deniz: Carter (39)
Luke: Taft (27)
Malay: Kennedy (35)
Orion: Truman (33)
Shalini: FD Roosevelt (32)
Shwetha: GHW Bush (41)
Topher: Coolidge (30)

April AG Schedule

Monday April 6 -- Parents Meeting, 7 pm -- no practice
Thursday April 9, 7-9 pm at Clague cafeteria
Friday April 10 -- No practice
Monday April 13 7-9 pm, Dominick's restaurant (812 Monroe Street), bring $5 for pizza & drinks
Friday April 17 7-9 pm, Dominick's
Monday April 20 7-9 pm at Clague cafeteria
Tuesday April 21 7-9 pm at Clague cafeteria
Wednesday April 22 7-9 pm at Clague cafeteria
Thursday April 23 Leave for Nationals, 11 pm