GT Times

Welcome to the newsletter of the Gifted and Talented classes of the Miller School! This newsletter will be published periodically throughout the year, and you will find information about all of the fantastic activities we do with our students. We will also post upcoming events and important dates at the bottom along with links to each of our web pages.

This edition will focus on the WordMaster Challenge; specifically test #1 results! Check out how well our students did against over 100+ other schools throughout the United States!

The WordMasters Challenge™ is an exercise in critical thinking that first encourages students to become familiar with a set of interesting new words (considerably harder than grade level), and then challenges them to use those words to complete analogies expressing various kinds of logical relationships. Working to solve the analogies helps students learn to think both analytically and metaphorically. Although most vocabulary enrichment and analogy-solving programs are designed for use by high school students, WordMasters Challenge™ materials have been specifically created for younger students in grades three through eight. They are particularly well suited for children who are motivated by the challenge of learning new words and enjoy the logical puzzles posed by analogies.

The WordMasters Challenge™ program is administered by a company based in New Jersey, which is dedicated to inspiring high achievement in American schools. Further information is available at the company’s website: http://www.wordmasterschallenge.com

Miss Hunt and Mrs. Pettit are beyond proud to share that the 5th grade team achieved Highest Honors in the 38th annual WordMasters Challenge™! They scored 183 points out of a possible 200 in the first of three meets this year, PLACING SECOND IN THE NATION!

Competing in the very difficult Gold Division, students who achieved outstanding results in the meet include fifth graders Joey McCaffrey, Pierce Mohr-Murphy, JJ Munyon and Erik Pickart. These four students scored an impressive 19/20 correct to lead the 5th grade team! They were among only 22 students in the entire country to achieve this score. Nationwide, only 65 students scored 18/20 on this test. Our team included five of them! They are: Keira Nixon, Cash Peter, Alex Houck, Gabriela Merced, and Maverick Ryan. (see photo below, left - Maverick is missing) We also had nine additional students who scored an equally impressive 17/20 including: Malika Hasan, Tyler Rossi, Gino Jacoby, Chenxi Li, Peyton Hurley, Josh Bonstead, Alex Caberto, Dom Ellingsworth, and Raja Yerra. (see photo below, right)

To understand the difficulty of this accomplishment, check out the stats below!

1. Top score in the nation = 184

2. Missed being the top team in the country by one (1) point!

3. Total teams in our division = 102

4. Total competitors in our division = 1,679

5. Median team score in our division = 144

6. Only 11 students scored 20/20 in the nation

The 4th grade GT students participated in their first ever WordMasters Challenge test recently. Though they placed just outside of the top 10 in the country in their division, they definitely have reason to be proud! In particular, two students were amongst 68 students nationwide who scored 18/20 on this test. They are Alex Vary and Alexa Dieter! (see photo to right) Overall, there were only 34 students scoring 20/20 and 89 who achieved a score of 19/20.

Other stats are found below:

1. Total teams in our division = 160

2. Total competitors in our division = 2.940

3. Median team score in our division = 133

4. Our team score = 155

According to vocabulary.com, "analogy questions," which are what our students work with on the WordMaster Challenge, are given in this format: A : B :: C : ___ (read "A is to B as C is to what?")

See how well you can do with some of these analogy questions from past WMC tests below! Good luck! 🍀

• plunder
• writhe
• restrain
• seethe
• yoke

• filched
• candid
• invincible
• copious
• slipshod

• affable
• plucky
• bizarre
• genial
• ornery

• surge
• sound
• plummet
• hurdle
• arch

• sly
• sincere
• blunt
• fictitious
• insincere

• full
• neat
• empty
• open
• messy

2. copious

3. bizarre

4. plummet

5. blunt

6. messy