Elementary School Tiger Quest
WEMTA’s
| Battle of the Books 2011
New Richmond Elementary students were able to take part in Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association’s Battle of the Books (WEMTA). Through a generous donation from the New Richmond Elementary Parent Association we were able to purchase the books needed for this competition! WEMTA designed Battle of the Books, “To promote a love of reading among our students. It encourages students to read a variety of books and remember information about the plots, characters, and settings of the books. It is a fun, academic-based competition that has been very successful in school districts throughout the state in encouraging students to read.” This year there were 130 students that signed up for Battle of the Books. Students created teams of 3- 4 to form a team. Teams demonstrated their ability to read twenty books and compete with the knowledge they gained in a number of School Battle Rounds. There were 16 5th grade teams and 17 4th grade teams. Teams worked together to create team names, banners, and to strategize and find the best way to read the twenty titles included in the elementary division. The eight Fourth grade teams at Starr Elementary met with Mrs. Bourassa weekly to practice, share information, and discuss books. The Hillside, Paperjack and five Fifth grade teams at Starr met with Ms. Elliot to do the same. Each battle consisted of 20 - 25 questions that included details about individual books. Students were given 10 point for each correct title and 5 points for the correct author. Teams were given 30 minutes to answer questions. The highest scoring teams for each elementary building went on to compete online against other teams in Wisconsin. All teams began the first round of “battle” by answering the same set of questions with their teammates. At the end of the first round, the highest scoring teams moved forward to Round Two. Round Two narrowed the field to three teams. Those three teams met for the final determining battle the last week of February. By narrow margins each school had one team that earned the privilege of representing our school by completing the test at the state level on February 24th. A closing celebration was held on Monday, Feb. 28th with all 50 Battle of the Books participants. “To Books!” | 2011 5th grade Math Masters
At the crack of dawn, thirty-five 5th grade students left Starr Elementary for the 2011 Math Master’s Competition in Barron, WI. Upon arrival, the eight team coaches filled in students’ nametags while students sat at various assigned tables among 75 other 5th grade students. At 9:00 a.m. sharp students were given 5 minutes to complete 75 basic facts. Two rounds of 8 individual story problems followed. They were given 10 minutes to complete each round. After a short break students were back at it. The break was followed by another story problem round and an individual tie breaker round. Finally, a short break and students were able to sit with their teams. As a team, they competed in 3 more rounds, 15 minutes each, of ten story problems. The competition was complete after 2 1/2 hours. Students were mentally exhausted! All students did very well! Students were given ribbons and plaques for the top 15 places in basic facts, individual story problems and team story problems. Congratulations to all those that participated! Special thanks to all the coaches: Ann Christenson, Geoff and Stacy Davis, Ron Derrick, Nataliaya Dorweiler, Tracy Hansen, Tracy Preece and Keith Stuedemann. These coaches met with students weekly to review math skills and work on team building. Thank you for a great season!! |