October Update

Some updates as we start our second month of AG:

1) We did well at our first Saturday tournament on the 28th.  We had 44 students at the tournament, averaged 14.66 points, good for second place in the tournament (first place was 15.04, third place was 13.65) and had a top five score (sum of our five highest score) of 93, good for first place in the tournament! (second place was 90).  Our next tournament will be October 19 at Pioneer High School.  This is a change in location from the original scheduled Huron High School (see updated schedule to the right)

2) The students are continuing to learn Equations variations and strategies, and we will be playing Equations at the next tournament.  We have uploaded Equations worksheets to the to the right.  There is a packet for Elementary players (6th graders) and one for Middle players (7th and 8th grade).  We will not be printing out copies, so it is up to each student to print them out on their own. Worksheets are due before Thanksgiving break.  

For every page completed, students will get one point added to their Friday tournament score, regardless of the number of problems they get correct. The idea is to reward effort. Students are encouraged to bring their worksheet packet with them to all practices, as we will often have times when they can work on them with other students.

6th and 7th grade students can get a maximum of 20 points from the worksheets, while returning 8th grade students can only get points for the worksheets that have not been in previous years' packets (Pages 7L, 7N, 7O, 7P, 7Q, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, & 8E)

3) The students have also begun learning a second game, Presidents.  We will be competing in Presidents amongst our team on every Friday, after our normal cube game round is over (Pres. Progression).  We have uploaded some Presidents study guides to the right.  Although students will not receive points for completing those worksheets as they do with Equations, they are very helpful in improving their Presidents scores.  Additionally, our 8th graders are putting together some Quizlets to help all the students study.

4) A quick reminder to turn in your registration sheet (Welcom letter linked to the right) if you have not already.

5) Finally  on October 29th, we will be holding a fundraiser at Panera on Washtenaw for all of Ann Arbor Academic Games.  A flier for that event is also linked to the right.

Equations Worksheets

Equations worksheets are linked on the right. There is a packet for Elementary players (6th graders) and one for Middle players (7th and 8th grade). We distributed the first couple of pages for the students and distributed them at the last two practices.  We will not be printing out further copies, so it is up to each student to print them out on their own. Worksheets are due before Thanksgiving break.

For every page completed, students will get one point added to their Friday tournament score, regardless of the number of problems they get correct. The idea is to reward effort. Students are encouraged to bring their worksheet packet with them to all practices, as we will often have times when they can work on them with other students.

6th and 7th grade students can get a maximum of 20 points from the worksheets, while returning 8th grade students can only get points for the worksheets that have not been in previous years' packets (we printed out the 11 pages they can get points for and distributed them).

Equations Worksheets

Equations worksheets are linked on the right. There is a packet for Elementary players (6th graders) and one for Middle players (7th and 8th grade). We will not be printing out the worksheets, so it is up to each student to print them out on their own. Worksheets are due before Thanksgiving break.

For every page completed, students will get one point added to their Friday tournament score, regardless of the number of problems they get correct. The idea is to reward effort. Students are encouraged to bring their worksheet packet with them to all practices, as we will often have times when they can work on them with other students.

6th and 7th grade students can get a maximum of 20 points from the worksheets, while 8th grade students can get points for the worksheets that deal with variations that are new this year, specifically worksheets 7T, 9G, 9H, 9I, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M, 9N, 9O & 10C.

Late November Updates

Hello All!

Just a quick note to provide some updates on practices, tournaments and worksheets.

Equations worksheets were turned in by the students on Monday.  For the most part, I was very pleased with the time and effort the students put into the worksheets.  I told the students at practice that I think that these worksheets might be the single hardest thing we do in AG, so I was very proud of their work.  Most students turned in worksheets.  Over half the students got ten or more sheets completed with at least a third of the students getting the maximum number of points.  I will check off points for the students and return the worksheets Monday next week.  I would encourage kids to keep working on the worksheets if they didn't complete all of them, and to save the worksheets to study from for future tournaments.  I have posted the answer key for the worksheets in the right sidebar so that each student can check their own answers.

I have also posted the On-Sets worksheets on the right.  These worksheets are considerably easier than the Equations worksheets, I believe, and there are fewer of them.  Any student can get up to ten points for completing these worksheets, and they are due before winter break (our last practice is December 20).  Although we won't spend as much time in practice working on these worksheets as we did with the EQ worksheets, I would still encourage every kid to print them out and bring them to each practice.

Our mini-Presidents tournaments are going well.  As many of you may know, on Fridays after our cube game tournament, we have been reading five Presidents questions, keeping score for everyone, and tracking the average Presidents score for each grade.  As you might guess, the eight graders have the highest overall average, but the 7th graders have been closing the gap, and the sixth graders have been as improving as well.  To improve Presidents scores, I would recommend every student find a good book about the Presidents, or a good digital source of information, and spend at least 10-15 minutes per day reading and / or studying that material.  You can find good, cheap Presidents books at most bookstores (they still have those?), or on Amazon.  There are a host of Presidential trivia apps you can get for either an IPhone or an Android based phone.  And you can find Presidents quizzes on the national Academic Games website (agloa.org).  I will also post some Presidents worksheets that can be used as study guides a little later in the year.

Finally, we have begun learning our fourth game, Linguishtik.  A game that tests students' vocabulary, and their knowledge of English grammar, many students struggle with the game when we first learn it because those are subjects that aren't taught very much in school.  I told them to imagine what it would have been like to learn Equations with knowing how to subtract or multiply.  I told them not to get discouraged, and to make sure they take good notes when they are learning.  I will post some Linguishtik worksheets which contain a lot of lessons within them sometime before next Monday.  Those worksheets will not be due until after we return from break in January. 

So much for this being a quick note (!)  Hope you are all having a good Thanksgiving break - eat lots of turkey (or tofurky if you prefer), watch some parades or some football, and maybe study some Pres ;-)

Equations Worksheets

Equations worksheets are linked on the right. There is a packet for Elementary players (6th graders) and one for Middle players (7th and 8th grade). We will not be printing out the worksheets, so it is up to each student to print them out on their own. Worksheets are due before Thanksgiving break.

For every page completed, students will get one point added to their Friday tournament score, regardless of the number of problems they get correct. The idea is to reward effort. Students are encouraged to bring their worksheet packet with them to all practices, as we will often have times when they can work on them with other students.

6th and 7th grade students can get a maximum of 20 points from the worksheets, while 8th grade students can get points for the worksheets that deal with variations that are new this year, specifically worksheets 7O, 7P, 7Q, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 10C & 10D.

Equations Worksheets

Equations worksheets are linked on the right. There is a packet for Elementary players (6th graders) and one for Middle players (7th and 8th grade). We will not be printing out the worksheets, so it is up to each student to print them out on their own. Worksheets are due before Thanksgiving break.

For every page completed, students will get one point added to their Friday tournament score, regardless of the number of problems they get correct. The idea is to reward effort. Students are encouraged to bring their worksheet packet with them to all practices, as we will often have times when they can work on them with other students.

6th and 7th grade students can get a maximum of 20 points from the worksheets, while 8th grade students can get points for the worksheets that deal with variations that are new this year, specifically worksheets 7T, 9G, 9H, 9I, 9J, 9K, & 10C.

Equations Worksheets

Equations worksheets are linked on the right. There is a packet for Elementary players (6th graders) and one for Middle players (7th and 8th grade). We will not be printing out the worksheets, so it is up to each student to print them out on their own. Worksheets are due before Thanksgiving break. For every page completed, students will get one point added to their Friday tournament score, regardless of the number of problems they get correct. The idea is to reward effort. Students are encourage to bring their worksheet packet with them to all practices, as we will often have times when they can work on them with other students.
6th and 7th grade students can get a maximum of 20 points from the worksheets, while 8th grade students can get points for the worksheets that deal with variations that are new this year, specifically worksheets 7N, 7O, 7Q, 9H, 9I, 9J, 10C & 10D.

Things to do over break to get ready for States

Hello All,
Hope you are enjoying all of this snow we are getting. Go outside and have some fun!
When you get back in, we have some suggestions for things you can do to get ready for the State tournament next week (or in two weeks for the 6th graders):

-Print out the Presidents packet and begin to fill them out. If enough people print them out, we may go over the answers at practice next monday.
-Print out the Propaganda cheat sheet, and use it to review all of the techniques. We will post some propaganda questions later this week to test how well you studied.
-Do problems in the WFF packet (Basic Part 1 / Basic Part 2 / Regular). Check your answers in the answer key. We are going to play a basic and a regular WFF game here via the comments section in the next couple of posts, which anyone is welcome to join.
-Go back and study your On-Sets and Equations packets. Check your answers against the answer keys (On - Sets and Equations).
-Invite a friend over, or go over to a friend's house. Studying is more fun with friends. You can also play a shake or two if you have games at home.

Let us know if you have any questions. Have fun, we'll see you next week.
Eric & Vivek

Equations Worksheets

Equations worksheets are linked on the right. There is a packet for Elementary players (6th graders) and one for Middle players (7th and 8th grade). We will not be printing out the worksheets this year, so it is up to each student to print them out on their own. Worksheets are due before Thanksgiving break. For every page completed, students will get one point added to their Friday tournament score, regardless of the number of problems they get correct. The idea is to reward effort. Students are encourage to bring their worksheet packet with them to all practices, as we will often have times when they can work on them with other students. 6th and 7th grade students can get a maximum of 20 points from the worksheets, while 8th grade students can get points for the worksheets that deal with variations that are new this year (exponent, AB+, number of factors, percent, decimal point)

Friday November 21

We had our first Linguishtik tournament on Friday, with each sixth grader and new 7th and 8th grader pairing up with an experienced player to play as a team.

Friday's Tournament:
The Smurfs: 84 points, 4.50 average
Get Smart: 64 points, 4.27 average
No Names: 69 points, 4.06 average
Next Prime Suspects: 67 points, 3.72 average

Overall Standings:
No Names: 685 points, 43.35 average
Get Smart: 671 points, 43.21 average
Next Prime Suspects: 700 points, 41.40 average
The Smurfs: 712 points, 41.23 average

Top Individuals:
Wendy 54 Points
Lorna 52
Valerie 51
Jiaao 51
Topher 50
Renee 47
Shwetha 47
Chelsea 46
Miheer 46
Anthony 45
Sagar 45

Reminder that Equations worksheets are due at Monday's practice, so expect scores to take a big jump when we return from break with students being awarded points for completed work. If you can't make it to practice Monday, please give the worksheets to someone else to turn in for you. Answers to the worksheets will be posted here after the worksheets are turned in.

On-Sets Friday & EQ Worksheets

Our first On-Sets Friday Tournament saw the Next Prime Suspects with a dominating performance, averaging almost 5 points per player.

Next Prime Suspects: 83 points, 4.83 average
No Names: 78 points, 4.33 average
The Smurfs: 77 points, 3.85 average
Get Smart: 54 points, 3.38 average

Overall Standings:
Get Smart: 430 points, 26.09 average
Next Prime Suspects: 397 points, 25.19 average
No Names: 387 points, 24.66 average
The Smurfs: 350 points, 24.13 average

Top Individuals:
Wendy 31 points
Topher 30
Renee 30
Valerie 30
Brenna 30
Michael 29
Amol 28
Chelsea 28

We also passed out the Elementary EQ packets to the 6th graders. 7th and 8th graders will get theirs on Monday. Worksheets are due before Thanksgiving break. For every page completed, students will get one point added to their Friday tournament score, regardless of the number of problems they get correct. The idea is to reward effort. Students are encourage to bring their worksheet packet with them to all practices, as we will often have times when they can work on them with other students.