Word Wizards Challenge

Students in my 4th-5th grade reading classes, as well as other groups in those grade levels, will work on the Word Wizards this school year. Word Wizards, is an exercise in critical thinking, which 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, as they learn new vocabulary.

How Word Wizards Works:

Students will begin by learning the meanings of 25 vocabulary words. We will try to make predictions about how these words may be used on the analogies meet. Students will need to study the vocabulary on their own in addition to the time they have in class. Word Wizards practice and activities will look different in each classroom; however, the words will be the same for each student. The meet is not something that people watch. It is a page of 20 analogies that each participant must solve independently. The analogies contain the vocabulary words that the students have been learning.

The Word Wizards competition consists of 3 meets. The first meet contains words from List #1. The second meet will be cumulative in that students will solve analogies with the 25 words they learn for Meet #1 as well as the 25 words they learn for Meet #2. The third meet will be cumulative with all 75 words that they learn from all 3 meets, but there will only be 20

analogies each time.

**Not all words will be used for each meet, and we will not know which ones will be used in the analogies. To prepare adequately, all words will need to be learned and retained for the meets. Students earning the top 10 scores will be recognized!

Supplemental Practice Ideas:

It is important that the students understand the words and their definitions before applying them to analogies. Once they have learned the words and their definitions they can begin their work on analogies. A great strategy is for students to try and create an analogy using one of the vocabulary words to simulate an analogy that may be in one of the meets!

Free Online Resources:

https://www.studyblue.com/ (flashcard maker)

https://quizlet.com/subject/analogies/ (analogy practice with explanations)

http://mrswarnerarlington.weebly.com/analogies.html (instructional video clips and links to analogy practice)

Helpful websites!

http://www.vocabulary.co.il/analogies/#intermediate

http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz19089315dbe20.html

http://www.quia.com/cb/7146.html http://braincurls.com/a/analogix.html

https://rudolphacademy.com/quizzes-online/language-arts-quizzes/analogies-quizzes/