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.

Summer AG work

Dear Friends,

Although there are no regular practices over the summer, there is still a lot that students can do to improve their Academic Games skills.  This summer we are asking Clague students to concentrate on getting better in Presidents.  We are providing the attached worksheets for students to work on.  While we will not be collecting these worksheets in the fall, and completion of the worksheets will not count in either our Friday or Saturday tournaments, we are confident that completion of these worksheets will help the students in Presidents competitions in practices in the fall, and eventually at the State and National tournaments next spring.

We'd also like to share a list of possible Presidents resources that students could explore for more in depth dives into American History, particularly as it relates to the presidents.

American Experience - An excellent American historical series on PBS that occasionally has episodes specifically about certain presidents (i.e. they did a recent short on Barbara and George Bush when she passed), and always provides great insight into all aspects of American History

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History - A great Documentary series by Ann Arbor's own Ken Burns about Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt.

American Presidential Series - A series of short biographies on the US Presidents written by different authors, edited by historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.  Used copies of these books can be found from time to time on Amazon for next to nothing.

The Complete Book of US Presidents - by William DeGregorio - one of the most complete reference books on US Presidents.

Good luck to all in your presidential studies this summer.


 

What is the Game of Presidents?

So far, our attention in practice has been on the game of Equations. Soon, we will be adding the game of Presidents.

Presidents is a game about U.S. History in which a series of clues are given about a President and the goal is to identify him. Presidents are identified by their number (Washington is #1, Obama is #44).

The players are each given a sheet (which we call a “gazetteer”) giving the number of the President, his name, his years in office, his political party, and the year and state of his birth and death.

The players are given a “range” within which the answer will fall. For example, the range might be 35-44.

First, a "six-point clue" is read about the President (in the first person). This is usually the most difficult clue. For example, 

“Soon after my birth, my parents separated.  I went with my mother to live in a different state.  After she remarried, I was renamed after her second husband. “

Based on this, players choose whether to write down an answer or wait for more clues.  If the answer turns out to be right, they will get six points, but a wrong answer gets no points in Presidents.
Next, a "four-point clue" is read about the same President.  For example,

“I played football for my college team and served as a representative from the same state for many years, eventually serving as leader of my party in the House of Representatives.  I served on the Warren Commission investigating a Presidential assassination.  I left my position in the House of Representatives to become Vice President.”

Players who haven't answered the six-point clue choose whether to answer or not -- this time getting four points if they are correct – and zero if they are wrong.  Then, a "two-point clue" is read.  This clue is usually easier than the others. 

“I became Vice President when my predecessor resigned, and similarly became President when my predecessor resigned.  As such, I am the only President never elected to national office”.

Players who haven't answered yet answer now since it is the last chance for points.  Finally, the President (#38 - Ford) is identified, scores are recorded, and the game moves on to the next question.  

For tips on studying for Presidents, have a look at an earlier blog post.

At the elementary and middle levels, Academic Games covers half of the Presidents each year.  This year (2016-17) we cover #25-44 (McKinley through Obama).  

The Game of Presidents

Since today is Election Day (in Canada), it seemed a good opportunity to explain the game of Presidents, particularly for the new families who are hearing about this game from the students.

Presidents is a game about U.S. History in which a series of clues are given about a President and the goal is to identify him.  Presidents are identified by their number (Washington is #1, Obama is #44).

The players are each given a sheet giving the number of the President, his name, his years in office, his political party, and the year and state of his birth and death.

First, a "six-point clue" is read about the President.  Based on this, players choose whether to write down an answer or wait for more clues.  If the answer turns out to be right, they will get six points, but a wrong answer gets no points in Presidents.

Next, a "four-point clue" is read about the same President.  Players who haven't answered the six-point clue choose whether to answer or not -- this time getting four points if they are correct.

Then, a "two-point clue" is read.  Players who haven't answered yet answer now since it is the last chance for points.

Finally, the President is identified, scores are recorded, and the game moves on to the next President.

For some tips on studying for Presidents, have a look at an earlier post on the topic.

In high school, players have to know every President every year, but until then, the list is split in two.  The 2015/16 year covers Presidents #1-24 (Washington through Cleveland).

Presidents Pointers

At practice on Monday, we began to discuss with the students strategies for Presidents.  I'd like to pass along something that we published in an MLAG publication a few years back that is still relevant today:

Presidents Pointers

The good thing about Presidents is that unlike the cube games it is totally up to you how well you do at a tournament.  In the cube games, no matter how much you study, whether you win or lose depends a lot on the opponents you face, and how much they have studied.  In Presidents, the more you study, usually, the better you do at the State, or National tournament.  For that reason, it is particularly beneficial to spend time studying for Presidents outside of your normal practice time.

Here are a few strategies to help you study:

Make Flashcards – They say it takes the average person hearing something six or seven times before they remember it.  If you make flashcards, you have to read it once, write it down, and then read it again, and you’re halfway there.  Plus we all know that Academic Games players are above average ;-)

Study One President Each Day – Spend 15 minutes each day reading about a different President.  With more than three months before the State tournament, that means that Minor, Elementary and Middle students will go through the list of Presidents more than three times, and Junior and Senior will go through the list more than twice.

Get Some Help From Adults – I had a former student one time who made a deal with her parents – she agreed to do the dishes after dinner every night if her parents would read Presidents clues to her.  Her parents were happy that she was helping with the chores, and she became a top flight Presidents player.

Start a Presidents Book – One thing that you can do with your teammates is to start a collection of Presidents facts in a notebook.  Set aside a page or two for each President, and every time somebody on the team finds a Presidents fact, they write it down and bring it to practice.  They write that fact in the Presidents notebook which stays at practice.  If everyone on the team contributes, by the end of the year, you will have a notebook that will help everyone on the team be a better Presidents player.

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!

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 ;-)

Presidents State Champions!!!

Late Thursday evening the final score for Middle Presidents were posted and Clague teams once again dominated the competition.

Pikachu 237 points, State Champions!!
Yoda 212 points, 2nd place
Justice League 194 points, honorable mention
Peanuts 190 points, honorable mention
Fantastic Four 176, honorable mention

Again, congratulations to all their Clague kids for demonstration of superior mastery of U.S. History!

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

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)

Presidents Clues

No more points to be had, but some things to help you study for States.

Last Week's Clues:
1) Rough Riders
2) "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick"
3) The Panama Canal
4) Trust Buster

The answer was #26, Theodore Roosevelt.

More clues for you to look up:
1) Kitchen Debate
2) "Checkers" speech
3) Committee to Re-Elect the President (Creep)
4) First man on the moon

Presidents Clues

Last week's presidents clues:
1) New Deal
2) Stricken by polio at the age of 39
3) Dust Bowl
4) Pearl Harbor

The correct answer was Franklin D. Roosevelt, #32.

The clues for next Friday are listed below. Remember that to earn a point, students only need to bring the presidents's name written or typed on a sheet of paper in. If they explain the clues in any manner, they get two points.

1) Rough Riders
2) "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick"
3) The Panama Canal
4) Trust Buster

Presidents Clues

Last week's presidents clues:
1) U.S. invaded Grenada
2) Only president to be a president of a union
3) Fired the nation's air traffic controllers
4) Strategic Defense Initive (SDI)

The correct answer was Ronald Reagan, #40.

The clues for next Friday are listed below. Remember that to earn a point, students only need to bring the presidents's name written or typed on a sheet of paper in. If they explain the clues in any manner, they get two points.

1) New Deal
2) Stricken by polio at the age of 39
3) Dust Bowl
4) Pearl Harbor

Presidents Clues

Our first attempt at online presidents study was moderately successful, with about a dozen students getting points for discovering the identity of the president that matched the following clues:
1)Brown vs Board of Education
2)Polio vaccine discovered
3)Sputnik launched
4)1st president to run a TV commercial

The correct answer was Dwight Eisenhower, #34. For more information about Ike, I refer you to the Wikipedia article on him. I've also linked other articles dealing with the clues above.

The clues for Monday evening's practice are listed below. I will post more clues later in the week for Friday, so there are multiple opportunities to earn points. Reember that to earn a point, students only need to bring the presidents's name written or typed on a sheet of paper in. If they explain the clues in any manner, they get two points.

Clues for Monday:
1) U.S. invaded Grenada
2) Only president to be a president of a union
3) Fired the nation's air traffic controllers
4) Strategic Defense Initive (SDI)

Good luck!

Presidents Clues

A quick reminder that Ling packets, Presidents questions and Prop Examples are due next Friday.

As I mentioned at practice, after each practice I will post some presidents clues. If you find out the president, type it up, and bring it to the next practice, I'll add a point to your next friday tournament. Explain the clues a little, and you'll get two points. So for example, if the clue was "The Louisiana Purchase", you'd get one point for knowing Jefferson was the president when we purchased it, and you get an additional point for knowing who we purchased it from (France), how much we paid ($15 million dollars, or less than 3 cents per acre), or what land it encompassed (part or all of 15 different states).

So the clues for next Friday, January 30:

1)Brown vs Board of Education
2)Polio vaccine discovered
3)Sputnik launched
4)1st president to run a TV commercial

Good luck, see you on Friday