Winter Break Status update

Hello All,

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable winter break.  I wanted to provide a little status update.  When practice resumes next week, we will begin preparations in earnest for the State tournament in March.  I will email a letter later this week providing details for the tournament.  The cost per student this year for the tournament will be $335.  This includes registration, room, board, meals, and transportation to and from the tournament.  We will have limited scholarship money available.

Some important dates coming up in early January:
Saturday January 11 - Saturday tournament
Monday January 13 - Linguishtik worksheets due.  Presidents and Propaganda questions from 8th graders due.
Friday January 17 - State tournament money and health form due
Monday January 20 - No practice
Tuesday January 21 - Special practice, State tournament teams announced.

Please note we also have an Academic Games sponsored fun night coming up (more details coming really soon).  This is our big fundraiser for the year, and we ask all Academic Games parents to volunteer at the Fun Night.

I will post some info detailing the Propaganda techniques we learned before break and some that we are going to learn right after break.  I have also posted a set of Presidents worksheets on the right.  No points will be awarded for these, but they are a very useful study tool.  I would also recommend everyone take a look at AGLOA.org, the official national AG website.  They have a section called online learning that has both Presidents and Propaganda quizzes.

Only 64 more days until States!

A group of collective nouns

I came across this great list of animal congregations and thought it might be of some use to our budding Linguishtik players.

Also, the Elementary Ling packet has been posted on the right.  Although it is not due until after winter break, it would be very helpful to print out the worksheets as we learn all of these things in practice.  Middle Ling packet will be posted this coming weekend.

Linguishtik Worksheets

The Lingushtik worksheets are posted on the right.  Please note that they have been revised from last year's worksheets to fit the change in Linguishtik rules at the State level.  They are due on or before Monday, January 21. All students can get up to twenty points for completion of worksheets, although total worksheet points from all games is limited to thirty. 

Welcome Back

Hello All,

We hope everyone had a peaceful holiday season and a happy new year.

A few important dates and bits of information for you:

January 20 - Academic Games Fun Night - Our biggest fundraiser of the year. All parents of students expecting to attend the State Tournament are expected to volunteer.

January 21 - Tournament at PEC in Detroit. Remember, students need to attend three saturday tournaments to be eligible for the State tournament.

February 4 - Tournament at Northeast Elementary in Jackson

February 6 - State tournament money and preliminary paperwork due. Expect the cost to be between $275 and $300 per student. We will have scholarship money available. Much more information coming about this tournament coming soon.

Additionally, the Linguishtik worksheets are linked at the right. They will be due by February 3rd.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions

Eric & Vivek

Linguishtik Final Scores

Division I
Pikachu 103 points, 2nd place
Yoda 93 points, 4th place

Divsion II
Justice League 110 1st place
Peanuts 91 3rd place
Fantastic Four 81 5th place

The Justice League will now move on to the State Finals!

Linguisthik First Day Scores

Division I
Pikachu 49 points, 2nd, 7 points back
Yoda, 46 points, 4th, 2 points back of first

Division II
Justice League 55, 1st, two points up
Peanuts 46 points, 3rd
Fantastic Four 39, 5th

Equations and Linguishtik First Day scores

Equations First Two Rounds --

Division I
Totoro - 38 - 6th place, 9 points back of 3rd

Division II
Spongebob Squarepants - 48 - T-2nd, 12 points back of first

Division III
Looney Tunes - 56 - first place, 6 points up

Division IV
Phineas & Ferb 53, 5 points up

Linguisthik
Division I
Phineas & Ferb - 57 points - 1st place, 9 points up
Spongebob Squarepants - 45 points, 4th place, 1 point back of third

Division II
Looney Tunes - 57, 2nd place - 2 points back

Division III
Totoro - 54 points - tied for first

Kids are playing On-Sets now (about quarter to 7), will post On-Sets results later tonight.

Linguishtik Worksheets

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope everyone had a restful winter break.

Linguishtik worksheets are linked at the right. There are seperate packets for Elementary and Middle students. Students receive a point on their Friday tournament scores for each page they complete up to a maximum of 20 points. Worksheets will be due before the February tournament (Feb. 6). Returning 8th graders can receive credit for only the Clause and Phrase worksheets.
If you are having difficulty printing out the worksheets, let me know, and I will print a copy out.

Also, please note that our next Saturday tournament is this coming weekend at Jackson Northeast Elementary School. Students should be there no later than 8:30 am.

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.

Snow Day!!!

Due to the snow day toady, there will be no Academic Games practice this afternoon. On-Sets worksheets that were due today can be turned in after the winter break. Additionally, I will post the Elementary and Middle Ling packets here over the weekend. Those will be due in mid to late January.

To tide you over, a round worth of propaganda examples from section A. Leave your answers in the comments. i will post the suggested answers there before the end of the weekend.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable and peaceful winter break, and we will see you in the new year.

1) I don't know whether that statement is "prejudice" or "tabloid Thinking," so I'll pass on this one.

2)Assistant Football Coach: "I would like to show you some new plays I came up with"
Head Football Coach: "I'm not interested in new plays. we haven't changed a play in ten years, and we've done ok."

3)Tin Man: "But suppose the Wizard doesn't give me a heart?"
Dorthy: "Oh, but he must; we've come so far."

4)Mrs. Pratt knows she was rationalizing. Before we criticize Mrs. Pratt, we should ask ourselves if maybe we rationalize sometimes too.

5)The rioting by Catholics in Northern Ireland is a direct result of the government allowing Protestants to march through the Catholic neighborhood.

6)Superintendent Mollie Pitchford: "I am not going to appoint Ronald Brown as principal of Adams High School. All these men think of is sports, and they pamper the coaches.

7)We have already sent 150,000 troops to Iraq. We have committed ourselves. If things worsen, we will have to send more.

8)So what if I didn't pay taxes on my second job? My employer didn't declare me as an employee of his firm.

9)Buying a house in Beverly Hills is easy. All you need is a lawyer, a real estate agent, and a winning lottery ticket.