GT Times
May 23, 2022
Special Edition
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 #3 as well as the end of year results! Check out how well our students did against over 100+ other schools throughout the United States!
What is the WordMaster Challenge?
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
Miller School 4th and 5th Grade Teams Place Eighth Nationally in WMC Meet #3!
Two teams representing Miller School recently earned Highest Honors in the 2021-2022 WordMasters Challenge™—a national vocabulary competition involving nearly 125,000 students annually. The fifth-grade team scored an impressive 189 points out of a possible 200 in the last of three meets this year, placing eighth in the nation. In addition, the fourth-grade team scored 187 in the recent meet and also placed eight nationwide.
Competing in the very difficult Gold Division of the WordMasters Challenge™, fourth graders Ivannah Madan and Nina Pluchino and fifth grader Elias Person each earned a perfect score of 20 in the recent meet. Nationally, our students competed against over 3,100 students in their grade levels, and only 46 fourth graders and 47 fifth graders achieved this result!
Other students at Miller School who achieved outstanding results in the last meet of the year include fourth graders Reagan Aron, Shyan Jahangir and Alejandro Quintero-Sinclair scoring an impressive 19 out of 20. Fifth graders Gregory DeSantis, Sorrento Esposito, Maha Protiva, Sandhana Rajesh, Krisana Shah, Lyla Steet, and Shiori Tewasiling equaled that mark. Across the United States, only 105 students achieved this score at each grade level!
We also had several Miller School students scored 18 out of 20, joining 103 other 4th graders and 164 5th graders across the nation! Our fourth graders include Zaynah Arif, Aaron Belgrave, Ehan Kayes, Neena Peters, Taylor Wong, Felix Wu, and Anaiya Zahid. Fifth graders reaching this mark include Tyler Chubb, Ava Gentile, Joie Le, Addison McColligan, Julian Murcia, Nick Silverberg, and Liam Villamor.
The students were coached in preparation for the WordMasters Challenge™ by Miller School 4th and 5th grade Gifted and Talented Teachers Miss Kelly Hunt and Mrs. Kim Pettit.
"20" - Elias Person, Ivannah Madan and Nina Pluchino
"19" - (front to back, r to l) Reagan Aron (with sign)
Sandhana Rajesh, Lyla Steet, Alejandro Quintero-Sinclair, Shyan Jahangir and Krisana Shah
Shiori Tewasiling, Maha Protiva, Gregory DeSantis, Sorrento Esposito
MILLER STUDENTS NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED IN WORDMASTER CHALLENGE!
At the conclusion of each year’s WordMasters Challenge™, they determine three categories of national individual recognition. “Highest Honors” are reserved for those students who have finished among the top 10-15 students in the country at their grade level. “High Honors” are for those students who have finished among the top 2% of all competitors at their grade level, and “Honorable Mention” is for those who have finished in the top 10%. The score required to qualify for these honors varies from year to year. While both teams finished just outside the top 10 schools in the nation, several students garnered individual honors for their efforts throughout the year!
Congratulations go out to the following students:
Grade 4
Honorable Mention (those in the Top 10% of all competitors nationally)
Nina Pluchino, Ehan Kayes
Grade 5
High Honors (those students among the top 2% in the country)
Sandhana Rajesh, Elias Person, Sorrento Esposito
Honorable Mention (those in the Top 10% of all competitors nationally)
Ava Gentile, Julian Murcia
Above: Ehan Kayes and Nina Pluchino
Below: Sorrento Esposito, Ava Gentile, Julian Murcia, Elias Person, and Sandhana Rajesh
Are You Smarter Than a 4th or 5th Grader?
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