What's new at WordMastersaz480170.vo.msecnd.net/053226ee-0f19-4200-aa82-c1d996984...Happy Groundhog Day! I'm not sure if Punxsatawney Phil spied his shadow or not, but I do know that

February Newsletter: The Abecedarian Book, How Good English Teachers Improve Math Scores, and the Connection BetweenSnow Days and Learning.

February 2014

WordMasters News!

Happy Groundhog Day! I'mnot sure if PunxsatawneyPhil spied his shadow or not,but I do know that many ofyou have had more thanenough snow, ice, wind,delays and school closings

(see related article below). We understand thatmany Team Leaders only meet with theirWordMasters teams weekly or bi-weekly, and ifschool is called off on a "WordMasters Day", it maybe a few weeks between lessons. As you mightexpect, we have received a number of requests toextend the Meet #2 testing window and scoresubmission deadline. However, any extension ofMeet #2 impacts the start of Meet #3, and our

In This Issue

WordMasters News!An Old-School ClassroomResource: The Abecedarian BookKeep up the Good Work! HowABC's Can Improve 123'sSnow Days and LearningCalendar Reminders:

What Works in YourClassroom?

Share your successful teaching tips,photos, or videos. E-mail us [email protected] we'll add it to the Idea Gallery.

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schedule is carefully designed to accommodateschools that conclude their academic year beforeMemorial Day. Therefore, we must enforce theMeet #2 Score Reporting Deadline of February28th. You will not be able to enter student scoresfor Meet #2 after this date. Hopefully, the fact thatthe word lists have been available for downloadsince December 9th gave many of your students ahead start!

As a reminder, you can download all WordMastersChallenge™ materials through our website inaccordance with the Challenge Schedule (postedunder the RESOURCES tab at our website). Clickhere if you need a refresher regarding how to loginto your Dashboard and download materials. Youcan also get detailed instructions on how to editTeam Details, create student records and enterstudent scores. Meet #2 Challenge Tests are nowavailable for download by logging into yourDashboard and clicking on Download Materials.

Press releases for Meet #1results have been emailed tothe primary school contactfor each team placing in theTop Ten within its division,as well as to schools withone or more students earning a perfect score of 20. To review the Meet #1 standings, click on "Meet#1 Results" under the RESULTS tab on ourwebpage. You can also access the results throughyour Dashboard; click on "View Reports", thenselect "Meet #1" in the Meet window. To see asummary of the scores submitted for your team(s),select "All My Teams & Students".

For those schools and teams that are new to theWordMasters Challenge: Congratulations -- Youmade it through your first Challenge meet! Whilewe recognize top-ranking teams and students with


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perfect scores, the certificates and medals that areincluded in your enrollment fee are intended fordistribution after all three meets have taken place. In mid-April, we will mail each school a packagewith 10 certificates and one ribboned metal perteam. Additional medals and certificates can bepurchased at any time through our webstore if youwould like to recognize outstanding individual orteam achievements for each meet.

An Old-School ClassroomResource: The AbecedarianBook

"An alphabet book of bigwords for adults with thecuriosity of children and forchildren with the capacity ofadults."

At the NAGC Conference lastfall, we talked to a WordMasters

Team Leader who liked to use The AbecedarianBook by Charles W. Ferguson (1964) to tell herstudents the story behind "big words". The book'sintroduction says it best: "if you learn a big word,you learn a dozen other words along with itbecause most big words are related to otherwords."

We were curious enough about the book that wetracked down an old library copy online. While youlearn a big word and its origin for every letter ofthe alphabet, part of the fun is enjoying theillustrations and charm of the book. Just look at thecover!

Do you have a favorite resource? E-mail us.


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Keep up the Good Work! HowABC's Can Improve 123'sA recent blog posted by EducationBy The Numbers, "Great Englishteachers improve students' mathscores," highlighted the findingsfrom the working paper "Learningthat Lasts: Unpacking Variation inTeachers' Effects on Students' Long-TermKnowledge". Research supports that a strongEnglish teacher can have a significant impact on astudent's future math achievement. The study wasconducted by a team of Stanford University andUniversity of Virginia researchers who presentedtheir findings at the 7th Annual Calder ResearchConferences on January 23, 2014.

In short, the research team found that studentswho had good English language arts teachers inprevious years not only had higher English scoresin subsequent years, but also higher than expectedmath scores.

To see the blog article, as well as others, fromEducation By The Numbers, click here. Todownload the working paper from the researchteam, click here.

Snow Days and LearningAs we say good-bye to January and its record-breaking weather for many areas of the country,consider an article in a recent newletter fromHarvard's Kennedy School of Government citing a

study called "Flaking Out:Snowfall, Disruptions ofInstructional Time, andStudent Achievement" byHarvard Kennedy School


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Assistant Professor JoshuaGoodman.

In the study, Goodman finds that school closingshave no impact on student learning. However,Goodman does find that keeping schools openduring bad weather does impact student learning.In that situation, some students will not be able tomake it to school while others do. As with anyabsence throughout the school year, teachers thenspend extra time getting students caught up. Infact, he says that school districts may want toconsider being more aggressive when deciding tocancel school due to weather.

To find the Harvard Kennedy School online article,click here. To download the PDF file of the study,click here.

Calendar Reminders:

Meet #2 Important Dates

WordMasters Challenge Meet #2Word Lists Available Dec. 9th

Test Administered Feb. 3rd-Feb. 21st

Score Reporting Deadline Feb. 28th

Results Available March 14th

To find the entire 2013-14 WordMastersChallenge Calendar, click here to go to theChallenge Schedule under the RESOURCES tab onthe WordMasters Challenge website.


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What's new at WordMastersaz480170.vo.msecnd.net/053226ee-0f19-4200-aa82-c1d996984...Happy Groundhog Day! I'm not sure if Punxsatawney Phil spied his shadow or not, but I do know that

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