The scores have been tabulated and the results of the 2011-12 WordMasters Challenge are in!  Click here to access information about the outstanding schools and students in each division.  The Past Results page also includes a chart depicting the qualifying scores for each grade to receive Highest Honors, Honors, and 
Honorable Mention in both the Blue Division and the Gold Division.  (Note:  These results were mailed to each Team Leader last week, so you should have received a paper copy by now.)

The outstanding teams and students at each level receive an official WordMasters press release that can be used to publicize their students' accomplishments.  However, we encourage all schools to celebrate their high achievers and most improved team members.  Please send up copies of any media (videos, photographs, newsletter articles, press clippings) that feature your WordMasters Challenge participants.  We are creating a new "WordMasters Challenge in the News" section for our website, newsletter and Facebook page.

If you haven't enrolled your teams for next year yet, click the Enroll tab at the top of the page to complete our easy online enrollment.  If you need to submit a Purchase Order, you can request an Order Form (go to "Contact Us").  However, we encourage you to also complete the online enrollment form (choosing the "Bill Me Later" option on the checkout page) to ensure that we have complete and accurate contact information.  Word lists and test materials will be distributed via email from now on, so it is essential that we have the Team Leader's email in our database.

Follow us on Twitter and play along as we tweet daily analogies.  Analogies will be posted Monday through Friday, increasing in difficulty as the week progresses (like the NY Times Crossword Puzzle!).  The number that appears before the analogy indicates the Challenge level where the analogy was previously used; for example, (4B) means the analogy appeared in a 4th Grade - Blue Division Challenge.

If you are unfamiliar with analogy notation, remember that a single colon (:) means "is to" and a double colon (::) means "as".  So "black : white :: good : evil" reads "black is to white as good is to evil".  Usually, we leave just the last term out, so to solve the analogy you choose the word that makes the most sense.  Sometimes we leave the second part of the analogy out altogether, so you must choose a pair of words that have the same relationship as the first pair.

The correct answer to each day's analogy will be tweeted the following day.  

Teachers, this is a great way to keep your students thinking analytically over the summer and between Challenge meets!  

Good luck and have fun!

By now you have had a chance to check out our new website.  We hope you like the changes we have made.  Now we would like to ask for your help in “filling out” our Idea Gallery. 

Are there any websites or tools that you find helpful in preparing your students for the WordMasters Challenge?  We want to list them on our Teacher Tools page.  Just go to the Contact Us page at our website and send us a message including the link(s) to resources you find helpful and a brief explanation of how you use this tool with your students.

Thank for your sharing your ideas and talents with other WordMasters Challenge schools!

Welcome to WordMasters' new and improved website!  We are very excited about the changes we are introducing for the 2012-13 school year.  My name is Lisa Kennedy, and I am the new Executive Director for WordMasters’ elementary and middle school programs.  In this blog, I would like to point out some of the changes we have made to serve you better.

First and foremost, we are making it easier to enroll teams, receive Challenge materials, and submit your team’s Challenge results.  All of these tasks can be accomplished online beginning with enrollment for 2012-13 and continuing with word list distribution for Meet #1 in October.   (Please note:  Scores for Meet #3 of the current WordMasters Challenge 2011-12 cannot be submitted using our online form.  Please continue to send your scores by mail or fax.  See the Submit Challenge Scores page on our website for more details.)

Second, our online format eliminates the need to make copies of cumbersome legal-size documents.  All of the Word List and Challenge documents will be downloadable letter-size PDF documents.  You will receive an email several weeks before each Meet with directions for how to download the WordMasters materials you have purchased.  Simply download the appropriate files and make the number of copies you need for your team.  When you have completed scoring, return to our website and enter your top ten scores into the Results form.  It’s that easy!

Third, we have taken many of the ideas you have shared with us in the past and posted them in our Idea Gallery under the Resources tab of the website.  We hope to continue expanding this exchange of ideas (including photos and videos) over the coming months.  Please send us your stories and suggestions regarding the WordMasters Challenge, analogies, vocabulary, verbal reasoning, lesson plans, and any any other idea you might have!

We hope you like the new look and feel of the WordMasters Challenge, and we look forward to hearing your comments. 

Have you checked out the new official WordMasters Challenge merchandise available through our website?  Now, for the first time, you can purchase items imprinted with our new WM logo to use as rewards and/or incentives for your students. 

We are offering bright blue WordMasters pencils in bundles of 10 for only $5 (note:  All prices include shipping and handling, so there are no additional charges!)
 

We also have matching drawstring backpacks featuring
our new logo for only$6 each. 

If your students really want to show their team spirit, why not purchase official WordMasters Challenge T-shirts? They are offered in a full range of youth and adult sizes.

And what better way to thank your Team Leaders than presenting them with a high-quality WordMasters tote bag with its brightly embroidered logo?  At only $18, it is an affordable gesture of appreciation for a job well done!

Tote bags are available for immediate shipment.  T-shirts, backpacks, and pencil bundles can be ordered now, and will be shipped for delivery at the beginning of the 2012-13 school year.  Please note that all merchandise orders must be prepaid and all sales are final.

What other items would you like to see in the WordMasters webstore?  Let us know!