Washington-Hoyt Elementary School PTA(253) 571-5700
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Math Olympiad Club
A Celebration of Mathematics for Grade 5 - 8 Students (2010-2011 School Year)
State Math Olympiad Contest - Saturday May 7, 2011 Club meets weekly on Tuesday afternoons in Mrs. Barabe’s classroom _______________________________________________________________________ Overview The Washington State Math Olympiad is a state math competition that covers mathematical material consistent with the Washington State Essential Learning in Math and also with standards published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). The competition is open to fifth through eighth graders in a team-format. Each team consists of 4 students.
Teams are recognized for having achieved at the levels superior, excellent, very good or good in each of six components: a long session problem, and five short session problems in the content areas of Number Sense, Probability and Statistics, Measurement, Geometric Sense, and Algebraic Sense. The long session is one hour long. It challenges teams to work on an applied mathematics problem and document their solution, modeling how mathematics is done in the world outside of a school environment. The short sessions are 20 minutes each. These sessions challenge teams to demonstrate their mathematical knowledge of the content areas similar to short answer problems in the WASL. For detailed information, please visit http://www.wsmc.net/olympiad/ _______________________________________________________________________
Letter from Mei Zhu to the 5th Grade Parents regarding Math Olympiad Club Dear Parents of 5th Grade Students:
Please read the information and go over it with your child.
Our first meeting is next Tuesday, Feb. 1st from 3:30-4:30. I will have the students do a pretest to see their math levels and find out how I can work with them. The problems are selected from previous Math Olympiad contests (easy to medium level among the contest problems). These problems can be quite difficult for 5th graders. It is common that students can only do a few. If time allows they will play a game.
The first two practices are tryouts for students to see if this is something that they would like to commit to for 3 plus months of hard work. The level is challenging 5th grade math. If this is not the right level or method, it is best for the student not to participate. This should be a fun learning experience, but may not be for everyone. The last thing we would like to see is to turn students away from math. Also it is important that the students are motivated, the team is counting on each of them. The competition is on Saturday May 7th from 8:30 to 2:30. Please check your calendar and make sure you have that day open. The team needs each teammate for the contest. The contest can be a bit stressful. If you feel it is best for your child to participate in the practice but not the contest, let us know. We do have quite a few students on the waitlist. Please feel free to keep an open conversation with us.
What we would like to offer you is an opportunity to work with others on challenging math problems. On May 7th, many of you will participate in the State Math Olympiad contest. We will meet on most Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm, right after school. · 3:30-3:45: snack and bathroom break. · 3:45-4:30: problem and math game session. · 4:30: pick up time. (If you walk home alone, I need a note from your parent.)
Our responsibility is to guide and encourage you to review and learn math concepts through doing math problems and playing math games. We will also help your team learn how to work with each other.
Student responsibility · Bring a snack · Stay focus on the activities · Do the best you can. The problems are hard, but don’t give up easily · Respect your teammates and learn how to work together · Keep Mrs. Barabe’s classroom clean and do not touch other students’ belongings Please talk to us, your teacher or your parent if this is something you don’t want to do or if you have something you would like to discuss.
Schedule: · Practice: Tuesdays 3:30 am - 4:30 pm, Feb 1st to May 3rd, except March 8th (early release) and March 29th (spring break) in Mrs. Barabe’s classroom. · Contest: Saturday, May 7th, 8:30 am -2:30 pm.
Sincerely yours,
Mei Zhu (Yina, Michael and Anna Finch’s Mom) and Debra Meyerson