Smarty Buddy Blog

February 5, 2019

Elementary GT Identification and Instructional Recommendation Processes

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Today we continue posting information about gifted and talented identification at one of the largest school districts in the country (*Source MCPS publication):

During the second semester, all Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) grade 2 students will be screened as part of the Student Instructional Program Planning and Implementation (SIPPI) process. Additionally, during the second semester, students in Grades 3, 4 and 5 who are new to MCPS are screened as part of the New Student Screening process; students who have been recommended for rescreening by parents or school staff in Grades 3, 4 and 5 are screened as part of the Rescreening process. The elementary GT identification processes are designed to capture data about students’ strengths for gifted and talented designation and for instructional planning for the next school year. Regardless of the recommendations made, students’ strengths that are demonstrated through these processes and through students’ daily instructional performance will be supported and extended. Although students do not need to be formally identified as gifted and talented to receive enrichment and/or acceleration, this process allows schools
to look at a student’s profile more holistically. With support, effort, and good study skills, all children can excel academically.

At the end of the screening processes in June, parents are provided with a Parent Report that summarizes their student’s performance on the InView ™ cognitive assessment, instructional recommendations for the next school year; and gifted and talented identification designation.

What cognitive assessments are administered?

All Grade 2 Students:
Grade 2 students take all five subtests of the InView™ Level 1: Sequencing, Analogical Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning-Words and Verbal Reasoning-Context.

New Student Screening:
Grade 3, 4 and 5 students, who are new to MCPS, take all five subtests of the InView™ Level 1 (Grade 3) or InView Level 2 (Grades 4 and 5): Sequencing, Analogical Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning-Words and Verbal Reasoning-Context.

Rescreening:
Grade 3, 4 and 5 students can be re-assessed on all five subtests of the InView™ Level 1 (Grade 3) or InView Level 2 (Grades 4 and 5) if they did not meet benchmark on any subtest. Students are identified for rescreening by the local school committee or by parent request. Rescreening occurs during the school’s specified assessment dates.

What data are gathered in the elementary GT identification processes?

The elementary GT identification processes use data gathered from a variety of sources. Multiple sources of data allow for emerging strengths to be noted and nurtured. Students who demonstrate strengths across several of these areas can be recommended for gifted and talented identification.

Specific data sources include:
 Staff advocacy
 Teacher survey
 Parent Input form
 InView™ cognitive assessment data
 Classroom performance data in reading and mathematics

What does the cognitive assessment data mean?
Cognitive assessments measure developed, not innate, reasoning abilities. The InView™ cognitive assessment can help guide teachers to adapt instruction and provide appropriate critical thinking learning
opportunities.

What do the InView™ scores mean?
InView™ scores are reported as age-normed national percentile scores. A score of 60 indicates that a student performed better than 60% of students of his/her age that took this assessment. For purposes of using the score as a factor in gifted and talented identification, MCPS considers a score of 80 or higher as one possible
indicator.

Sequencing
Students who show strength in sequencing comprehend a rule or principle implicit in a pattern or sequence of figures, letters, or numbers. These students can analyze the pattern established in a row of figures, letters, or numbers, then select the answer choice that would continue or complete the pattern. Students demonstrating this strength should be given opportunities to infer, recognize special patterns and progressions, and make sense of parts in relation to a whole. As this is a non-verbal assessment, students may demonstrate this strength while still developing verbal and quantitative skills.

Analogical Reasoning
Students who show strength in analogical reasoning are able to recognize the nature of the relationship between two items and select an answer that will produce a parallel relationship. These students should be given opportunities across all content areas to build classification and problem solving skills. These students should be given many opportunities to explain relationships and connections in their learning.

Quantitative Reasoning
Students who show strength in quantitative reasoning often have the ability to:
 Draw logical conclusions
 Identify arithmetic patterns
 Model complex relationships
 Infer relationships among data
 Apply deductive math reasoning
Students demonstrating strength in this area should have a math experience that routinely includes enrichment opportunities.

Verbal Reasoning – Words and Context
Students who show strength in verbal reasoning show potential in logic, inferencing and complex reasoning. Students who perform well in this area do best when they are encouraged to talk and/or write about whatever it is they are learning. They should be provided opportunities for in-depth textual analysis (i.e., interpreting symbolism and figurative language of stories) and writing.

How are decisions about instruction and gifted and talented identification made?
Each school convenes a diverse committee of professional school staff members to review all data gathered for each student. Committee members note strengths that have been demonstrated and make instructional recommendations for the next school year accordingly. Next, the committee reviews the data to make a gifted and talented designation for each student. Students not identified gifted and talented can be rescreened at
least one year after their initial screening when requested by parents or school staff.

Is previous identification as gifted and talented from another school district considered?
If a student has been given a “gifted and talented” designation in another school system, MCPS will accept that designation. The parent/guardian should submit the assessment data and gifted and talented designation
information to the local school. It will be requested that these students still participate in the MCPS’ screening process(es) described above so schools may gather additional data to inform instructional decisions.

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January 29, 2019February 6, 2019

What’s the InView™ Test?

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In many school districts January is the month of gifted testing! Let’s talk about the InView™ Test.

The InView™ Test is a cognitive abilities aptitude test that aims to measure cognitive skills and abilities that are essential for academic success. It is frequently used as an entrance exam for gifted and talented programs throughout the United States.

Currently, all second graders (and new students) in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Montgomery County, Maryland take the Inview Test to be screened for the gifted and talented programs in elementary schools. School districts in North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Wyoming also use the Inview test to assess 2nd graders (and in some school districts 5th graders) for gifted and talented programs.

Smarty Buddy CoGAT Practice
Smarty Buddy Gifted and Talented Practice
Smarty Buddy SCAT Practice
Smarty Buddy Inview Practice
Smarty Buddy Inview Practice
Smarty Buddy My First Analogies
Smarty Buddy Math Analogies

The Inview Test Format

The Terra Nova Inview Test has been designed to assess students in grades 2-12. While many of the placement tests such as the SCAT, CogAT, OLSAT tests are computerized, the Inview test is a paper and pencil test. The test is divided in to five sections: sequences, analogies, quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning-words, and verbal reasoning-context.

The Inview Test Difficulty Levels are as follows:

Level 1: Grades 2-3
Level 2: Grades 4-5
Level 3: Grades 6-7
Level 4: Grades 8-9
Level 5: Grades 10-11
Level 6: Grades 11-12

Typically, for a gifted and talented placement test students are offered a test with a difficulty level one grade ahead of their current grade. So for example 2nd graders will be offered a Level 1, and 3rd graders a Level 2 test.

The Inview Test Content

The test assesses students in verbal and nonverbal questions. The nonverbal sections are the sequences, analogies, and quantitative reasoning sections. Each section is approximately 20 questions long. All of the questions are multiple choice questions.

Sequences: The sequence section contains sequences of letters, numbers, shapes and/or figures. The student must select the answer that logically completes the sequence. They are provided with four possible answer choices.

Analogies: This section aims to test the concept of analogies in a non-verbal format. The question will contain a table with two rows of images. The first pair of images will have a specific logical relationship. The student will need to determine the relationship between the first pair of images and then choose the image that has the same logical relationship with the third image.

Quantitative Reasoning: For these questions, your child will need to understand basic numerical concepts like “more,” “less,” “most,” and “least.” She will then need to be able to apply this understanding to images and figures. For example, she may be asked to determine which of four grids has the most black area shaded.

The verbal score is comprised of the verbal reasoning-words and verbal reasoning-context sections.

Verbal Reasoning-Words: This question type measures the ability to understand relationships between words.

For example, your child may be given a list of words like the following: “Cool, cold, freezing,” followed by, “Warm, ___, boiling.” Four choices would then be provided to fill in the blank, with the correct choice being “hot.”

Verbal Reasoning-Context: These questions involve the ability to make logical inferences based on provided information.

For example, your child may be given two statements such as, “Alice likes all of her teachers. Mrs. Lee is Alice’s teacher.” Based on these statements, your child would need to choose the most logical conclusion from a list of four choices. In this case, the correct answer would be, “Alice likes Mrs. Lee.”

InView Test Scores

After your child takes the TerraNova InView test, you will receive a score report with her NPA (percentile by age) and NPG (percentile by grade), both overall and for each individual section. Percentiles range from 1-99 and represent your child’s performance compared to a national sample of children in the same grade and of the same age. For example, if your child scores in the 90th percentile, she scored as well or higher than 90% of children in her age and/or grade group.

You will also receive a CSI (Cognitive Skills Index) that provides a measurement of your child’s overall academic aptitude, based on the cognitive skills assessed with this test. The CSI has a ceiling of 141, a mean of 100, and a standard deviation of 16. Typically, a child is considered “gifted” if she scores a 132 or higher.

The TerraNova InView test scores that qualify for admission to gifted programs vary by school district. In many cases, your child will be required to score in the 97th percentile overall. However, it is always best to call your district and ask about qualifying test scores in order to know for sure.

In many cases, the TerraNova InView test is administered as a component of the TerraNova 3rd Edition, an achievement test that measures abilities in core academic subjects. If this is the case, your child will receive an Anticipated Score and an Achievement Score. The Anticipated Score is an average of what a student with your child’s age, grade, and ability level should be expected to achieve. The Achievement Score is your child’s actual performance on the test.

Comparing the Anticipated Score and Achievement Score can give you an idea of whether or not your child is reaching her full potential academically. If the two scores are close, your child is making expected progress. Scores that are significantly different from expected are indicated with “above” or “below” on the score report.

Benefits of the TerraNova InView Test

The TerraNova InView Test provides an accurate and reliable measurement of deductive, inductive, and quantitative reasoning abilities, all of which are crucial to academic achievement. For this reason, it gives teachers, parents, and schools insightful information about student skills that can be a valid predictor of the student’s academic capability and success. It is a useful tool to identify students for placement in the most appropriate learning group.

How to Succeed on TerraNova InView Test

Assessments such as this one are meant to be resistant to preparation, but you can still help familiarize your child with the question types and build her confidence. Work on practice questions related to analogies, sequences, basic math concepts, word relationships, and inferences. Work test concepts like “more” and “less” into everyday conversation, or give your child a pair of words and ask her to determine how they are related.

Most importantly, remind your child that one test cannot fully measure her abilities and certainly not her worth as a person. Text anxiety can overwhelm children on test day and dramatically impact both their stress levels and their scores. Help your child feel prepared and confident about the test without putting too much pressure on her.

Hopefully we’ve answered all of your questions about the TerraNova Inview test. Begin practicing about two months prior to the test to give your child the best chance of success and, if applicable, admittance to your district’s gifted program.

We designed the Smarty Buddy App and Smarty Buddy Inview Books to help kids get familiar with test format. Let’s face it, sometimes an unfamiliar test question in a stressful test situation that 2nd graders are not used to can really ruin a child’s performance! Every child deserves to be offered a spot in the most advanced programs. The pacements tests are a subjective determination created by a school system administrator. We as parents and educators believe in offering parents and their children the opportunity to learn about the test format and have a positive test taking experience!

The Smarty Buddy App was designed based on the types of questions a child might encounter on the Inview and similar gifted placement tests.

Smarty Buddy App

The full version game features 3 grade levels, 5 test topics, and 3 levels of difficulty. With over 670 questions to play, this fun game can complement or replace any worksheet test preparation. Now on all App Stores!

Test Topics: Number Sequences, Picture Sequences, Picture Analogies, Quantitative and Number Puzzles

Features: Positive reinforcement through game badges; progress reports for parents.

The Smarty Buddy CogAT Practice Book is a workbook designed to give any child the opportunity to get familiar with CogAT question format. For a hands on approach of testing at home with mom and dad – try practicing with our workbooks and apps. Your child will feel more confident on test day, and you will feel assured that you provided the best educational resource for your child to get ahead!

Check out our products on Amazon and All App Stores!

Good Luck and your opinion is very important to us! Leave us a review!

Elementary school aged kids:

Pre-school aged kids:

Smarty Buddy My First Analogies

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November 29, 2018January 29, 2019

Math Olympiad (Kangaroo or other)

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Math Olympiad questions can seem rather daunting. And rightly so – a well set Olympiad question will test your fundamentals and analytical skills, and challenge your way of thinking.

In solving Math Olympiad types of questions, you generally need to be able to think quickly on your feet – one factor that makes these questions harder is that the time available to you is limited. A second factor is that you may have negative marking for wrong answer, so sometimes it would seem better to leave the question rather than putting in an answer you are not sure about. To add to the confusion, sometimes it is possible that more than one answer is correct.

So how do you tackle this. The first step is of course is “Don’t Panic”. Take a deep breath, relax, read the questions and do your best.

In this article we talk about some general practices you should follow. In the next part of this article, we’ll talk about some specific mathematical techniques that could help you tackle such exams better.

The first step is make sure all your resources are there with you – pencils, erasers, spare paper for computations (if allowed). It seems trivial, but these are things that you don’t want to worry about once the test starts. Now, start reading the test.

There’s no standards here – different people do it in different ways. Some people start from a fixed location, typically the beginning of the paper, but some folks even like to start at the end (the theory being that the examiners would have gotten tired of finding tough questions, and would start putting easier questions towards the end – of course, no sensible examiner would set papers that way). Some other folks like to look for questions in topics they are familiar in, and try those first. Whatever approach you are comfortable with is fine.

The most important thing, and this is where a lot of people make their mistake – read the question completely and carefully. Spend as much time you need on this part. Any mistake you make here will ensure you get the wrong answer.

Let me repeat this – read the question carefully and completely. Find out what the question is really all about. Take careful note of all the values and data provided in the quesion.

Then, and only then, should you start trying to find the answer.

And once you have solved it, or think you have – check that your answer indeed is what the question is asking for (If, for example, the question asked for speed of a car, and you have 121 seconds as your answer – something has gone wrong)

Second, keep track of the time. Keep a general idea of how much time you have per question. It need not be exact – for example, if you have 2 hours and there are 50 questions, just think that you’ll have about 2 minutes per question. Of course, you may do some questions faster, but keep this general timeframe in mind per question. If you are completely confident of a question, you could take a little more time (say 3 minutes) on it, but generally try not to spend more than the computed time per question. In fact, ideally you should target leaving the last 10 minutes for a quick revision.

Now, if you haven’t attempted all the questions when you find there are 10 or so minutes left then it’s time to start picking and choosing from the remaining questions. Run through them quickly to see which ones look easiest for you to solve. Then try those. The next tip is on using your spare paper effectively. It can get very messy quickly, so you should mark off specific areas for questions for which you need to use the spare paper for computation. You could use a grid kind of structure if that helps – but the aim is to use it effectively and neatly. And make sure that for questions where you use it, copy all the values correctly to the spare sheet. Double check it, and triple check. Do the same thing while copying the answer back.

(Source: Edugain Blog)

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November 20, 2018

Take advantage of the Holidays

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It’s that time of the season! Kids are getting numerous days off school with the holidays, snow days, sick days off. Everyone needs a break of course, but some kids get sucked into the electronic world of texting, movies, cartoons, and gaming.

I have found with my own school aged kids that girls are very much self-motivated to keep on learning. For some boys, Lego and computer time takes over their time. I actually, banned all electronic games in my household. I encourage my son to work on the things that are giving him the most difficulty right now : writing and math Olympiad.

As Mark Twain said, “Eat that frog first”. There’s no frog eating at my home, but we are working on getting the hardest school work out of the way early in the day. Get the hard things done, hard writing assignments, etc. then enjoy your play time or outdoor hangouts with friends.

This holiday we are starting to prep for the Kangaroo Math Olympiad. If you have not heard of this competition, check out the Kangaroo Math site. This is an international math Olympiad that takes place around the world in late March. Practicing the test questions is a great way to enrich your in-home math curriculum. Math Olympiad questions are on par with international math standards (which unfortunately are much more advanced than the U.S. math curriculum).

Enjoy these free Math Olympiad Practice Questions:

Thirteen children are playing hide and seek. One of them is the “seeker”. After a while nine children have been found. How many children are still hiding?

(A) 3 (B) 4 (C) 5 (D) 7 (E) 22

Today, Betty added her age and her sister’s age and obtained ten as the sum. What would the sum of their ages be after one year?

(A) 5 (B) 10 (C) 11 (D) 12 (E) 20

On Friday Dan starts to paint the word BANANA. Each day he paints one letter. On what day will he paint the last letter?

(A) Monday (B) Tuesday (C) Wednesday (D) Thursday (E) Friday

A dragon has three heads. Every time a hero cuts off one head, three new heads emerge. The hero cuts one head off, and then he cuts off one more head. How many heads does the dragon have now?

(A) 8 (B) 7 (C) 6 (D) 5 (E) 4

Comment to get answers!

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September 14, 2018September 14, 2018

Analogies on Gifted Placement Tests

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Analogies are test questions where a pair of words are given, and you are asked to choose another pair with the same relationship. Most gifted tests give analogies in a multiple choice format:

Practice Analogy Questions

1. Nest : Bird

a. Cave : bear
b. flower : petal
c. window : house
d. dog : basket

2. Teacher : School

a. Businessman : Money
b. Waitress : Resturant
c. Dentist : Tooth
d. Fish : Water

3. pebble : boulder

a. pond : ocean
b. river: rapids
c. fish : elephant
d. feather : bird

4. Poodle : Dog

a. great white : shark
b. dalmatian : great dane
c. money : stock market
d. horse : pony

5. fox : chicken

a. rat : mouse
b. cat : mouse
c. dog : cat
d. rabbit : hen

6. lawyer : trial

a. plumber : pipe
b. businessman : secretary
c. doctor : operation
d. hairdresser : blow dryer

Answer Key
1. A

This is a Functional relationship. A Bird lives in a nest, the way way a bear lives in a cave.

2 B

This is a functional relationship. A teacher works in a school in the same way a waitress works in a resturant.

3. A

This is a Degree relationship. A boulder is a very large pebble – both are rocks, in the same way an ocean is a very large pond – both are very bodies of water.

4. A

This is a type relationship. A poodle is a type of dog in the same way a great white is a type of shark.

5. B

This is a predator/prey relationship. Foxes eat chickens in the sam way as cats eat mice.

6. C

This is a functional relationship. A lawyer defends a client in a trial in the same way a doctor performs an operation on a patient.

Here’s a sample of analogy questions where a student needs to fill in the blanks. This method provides a more rigorous test preparation option, where a child needs to find a vocabulary word that would complete the logic connection.

School and College Ability Test (SCAT)

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The School and College Ability Test (SCAT), is a standardized test conducted in the United States that measures math and verbal reasoning abilities in gifted children.

The SCAT is used by the Center for Talented Youth (CTY) as an above-grade-level entrance exam for students in grades 2–8. Students in grades 2-3 take the Elementary SCAT designed for students in grades 4-5. Students in grades 4-5 take the Intermediate SCAT designed for students in grades 6-8. Students in grades 6 and above take the Advanced SCAT designed for students in grades 9-12. ^[1] There are 55 questions per section, 5 of which are experimental.^[1] The percentile ranks for the SCAT have not been updated since 1979. So, when your child takes this test, your child is being compared to a national sample of children who took the test in 1979.^[2]

Qualification

Qualification for the test requires a 95th percentile or higher score on a national standardized exam or a teacher recommendation with exceptional grades.^[3]

Scoring

Scoring is based on a three-step process in which a child’s raw score is scaled based on the test version and then compared to the results of the test scores of normal students in the higher-level grade. Please keep in mind that the group of normal students took this test in 1979. So, your child’s percentile ranks could be different if compared to a more recent group of test takers. ^[4] The minimum scores required for qualification for the 2nd to 10th grade CTY summer courses are below:^[5]^[6]

Grade 2 ≥ 430 SCAT Verbal or 435 SCAT Quantitative
Grade 3 ≥ 435 SCAT Verbal or 440 SCAT Quantitative
Grade 4 ≥ 440 SCAT Verbal or 450 SCAT Quantitative
Grade 5 ≥ 445 SCAT Verbal or 465 SCAT Quantitative
Grade 6 ≥ 450 SCAT Verbal or 470 SCAT Quantitative
Grade 7 ≥ 455 SCAT Verbal or 475 SCAT Quantitative
Grade 8 ≥ 460 SCAT Verbal or 480 SCAT Quantitative
Grade 9 ≥ 465 SCAT Verbal or 485 SCAT Quantitative
Grade 10 ≥ 470 SCAT Verbal or 490 SCAT Quantitative

References

Beighley, Jennifer. cty.jhu.edu Search Testing – School and College Ability Test (SCAT) | JHU CTY https://cty.jhu.edu/talent/testing/about/scat.html//title=Talent Search Testing – School and College Ability Test (SCAT) | JHU CTY Check |url= value (help). Retrieved 2016-06-08. Missing or empty |title= (help)
ETS School and College Ability Test technical reference guide 2nd edition
Beighley, Jennifer. “Identify Students | JHU CTY”. cty.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
“SCAT Test Scores – Understand Your Child’s Scores – TestPrep-Online”. www.testprep-online.com. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
User, Administrative. “Eligibility | JHU CTY”. cty.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
User, Administrative. “Eligibility | JHU CTY”. cty.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-08.

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August 23, 2018September 14, 2018

Freebies

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For a limited time grab one of our workbooks for FREE. Just use the coupon code: J9IU9I1L5B

Like us on Instagram and Twitter to thank us: @SmartyBuddyKids

Enjoy!

Smarty Buddy CoGAT Practice

Smarty Buddy Gifted and Talented Practice

Smarty Buddy SCAT Practice

Smarty Buddy Inview Practice

Smarty Buddy My First Analogies

Smarty Buddy Math Analogies

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August 4, 2018

August and Back to School Time

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August us upon us! As a working parent, I am in shock that we are already getting hit by Back to School Ads and letters from the school on getting ready for the new school year. Yes, planning is key. But there is a whole lot of summer to be enjoyed! Depending, of course, on where you live. Our school year starts after Labor Day. Some school districts start in the middle of August. Either way, seize the day! Get out of the summer routine and add come new activities to you summer bucket list. Make lifelong memories with your kids.

Summer Bucket List

Go bowling! Ok, bowling is not the go-to kids activity anymore. But kids love it! Some bowling alleys offer free summer bowling! Check out https://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ for more info.
Go to a local natural watering hole. Be that a lake, a bay, a river, or maybe the ocean – kick back and relax, while the kids splash around. Another alternative is a splash park or the city pool.
Go on a bike ride. Dust off the bikes, pick a local bike trail, and get lost in the excitement of biking with your children. Of course, make sure to plan you time for the way back. Some kids can outride adults, but usually it’s the other way around.
Go kayaking! – Have you tried kayaking or paddle boating? If not, splurge, and rent a kayak or paddle boat for an hour. Enjoy the new experience of riding on the water. Kids love to paddle. Another alternative is renting a paddle boat.
Go to a museum or a zoo. Don’t underestimate the power of going to the zoo. Even if you have been there a million times. Kids love going to the same places, especially if there is some roaring and screeching involved!
Send the kids to grandma! – If you are lucky enough to have this option. Send the kids off to grandma, and enjoy the quiet time at home. Kids learn a lot from spending time with relatives. They also can back in the love and the “spoildom”.

Enjoy summer! What are some of the items left on you summer bucket list?

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June 22, 2018

Mathematical Lateral Logic Test

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The following questions will test your ability to think laterally and mathematically. If you get more than 50% of these right you’re certainly strong on your numerical and lateral thinking skills.

Questions start easy and get progressively harder.

1. When asked how old she was, Beth replied “In two years I will be twice as old as I was five years ago”. How old is she?
2. Which weighs more? A pound of iron or a pound of copper?
3. If you have two coins totaling 11p, and one of the coins is not a penny, what are the two coins?
4. Divide 40 by half and add ten. What is the answer?
5. To the nearest cubic centimetre, how much soil is there in a 3m x 2m x 2m hole?
6. A farmer has 15 cows, all but 8 die. How many does he have left?
7. The ages of a mother and her graduate son add up to 66. The mother’s age is the son’s age reversed. How old are they?
8. If a man and a half can eat a hot dog and a half in a minute and a half, how long would it take six men to eat six hot dogs?
9. Nim went into a supermarket to buy some fruit.
  There were three packs on special offer:
  1) Ten grapes and five strawberries: 70p (save 10p)
  2) Ten strawberries and ten apricots: £2 (save 40p)
  3) Thirty grapes: 100p (save 20p)
  What would be the full price of one grape, one strawberry and one apricot at normal price (no special offers)?
10. The amount of water flowing into a tank doubles every minute. The tank is full in an hour. When is the tank half full?
11. There is a pole in a lake. Half of the pole is embedded in the mud at the bottom of the pond, another one third is covered by water, and 7 feet is out of the water. What is the total length of the pole?
12. If the hour hand of a clock moves 1/60th of a degree every minute, how many degrees will it move in an hour?
13. I spend a third of my money on a guitar, half the rest on a microphone and a quarter of what I then have left on a kazoo. What proportion of my original money do I have left?
14. How can you take 1 from 19 and leave 20?
15. Here is a list of months and a code for each
  - January: 7110
  - February: 826
  - March: 5313
  - April: 541
  - May: 3513
  - June: 4610
  - July: 4710

What is the code for the month of August?

There are 60 sweets in a jar. The first person took one sweet, and each consecutive person took more sweets than the person before, until the jar was empty.
What is the largest number of people that could have eaten sweets from the jar?
At the University of Kent 36 students attended the LAW lecture, 39 attended an ART lecture and 37 attended the DRAMA lecture. How many attended the FILM lecture?
If you have a pizza with crust thickness ‘a’ and radius ‘z’, what’s the volume of the pizza?
A man went into a store to buy an item. He asked the assistant:
“How much does it cost for one?”
The assistant replied 2 pounds, Sir”
“And how much for 10?”
The assistant replied “£4”
“How much for 100?”
He got the reply “£6”
What was the man buying?
There are 23 football teams playing in a knockout competition. What is the least number of matches they need to play to decide the winner?
How many degrees are there between clock hands at 3.15?
You have 8 bags of sugar, 7 weight the same, one weighs less. You also have a balance scale. Find the one that weighs less in less than 3 steps.
There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of the box it labels. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly?
1/2 of 2/3 of 3/4 of 4/5 of 5/6 of 6/7 of 7/8 of 8/9 of 9/10 of 1,000 = ?
How many times do the hands of a clock overlap in 24 hours?

Answers

12
They both weigh exactly a pound!
10p and 1p – the other coin can be a penny!
90. Dividing by half is the same as multiplying by 2.
None – it’s a hole!
Eight
42 and 24 years old. (One reader has pointed out that it could also be 51 and 15, although another did point out that 15 years old would be a little young to be a graduate!)
A minute and a half
Thirty grapes at normal price cost £1.20, thus grapes cost 4p each. Ten grapes and 5 strawberries cost 80p at normal price, the grapes must cost 40p therefore the strawberries cost 8p each. Ten strawberries and ten apricots cost £2.40 at normal price, the strawberries cost 80p, therefore the apricots cost 16p each. So one apricot + one strawberruy and one grape cost 28p in total.
At 59 minutes
Half of the pole is in the mud
One third is covered by water
Therefore fraction of pole in the mud and water = 1/2 + 1/3 = 3/6 + 2/6 = 5/6
Therefore fraction of pole out of the water = 1 – 5/6 = 1/6
So one sixth of the pole is 7 feet.
So total length of pole = 42 feet.
One degree
After spending one third of my money on the guitar I have two thirds left. I spend half of this on a microphone, so this is again one third. I then have one third of my original money remaining. I spend one quarter of this on the kazoo. One quarter of one third is one twelfth. I thus have three quarters of one third of my money remaining. Three quarters of one third is one quarter of my money remaining. (1/3 = 4/12. 4/12 – 1/12 = 3/12. 3/12 = 1/4)
If the numbers are in Roman numerals, Take I from XIX (19 in Roman numerals), you are left with XX – 20 in Roman numerals.
681. The first digit is the number of letters, the second, the position of the month in the calendar, and the final digit is the position of the first letter of the word in the alphabet.
The first person takes 1 sweet, the second two, the third three etc. 1+ 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 = 45, so the first nine people take 45 sweets between them. The 10th person takes 15 sweets. He or she can’t possibly take fewer than 9, nor leave fewer than 11, else the jar will not be empty but there won’t be enough for the next person to follow the rule stated in the question (that each person take more than the one before. So the answer is 10 people. Thanks to Sam Parker for a detailed explanation of this answer
40 students. Letter A = 1, B= 2, C = 3 and so forth, so FILM = 6 + 9 + 12 + 13 = 40
pi*z*z*a (!)
House numbers
In a knockout competition, every team except the winner is defeated once and once only, so the number of matches is one less than the number of teams in this case 23-1 = 22.
The answer is not zero degrees as you might at first think. The minute hand will be at 15 minutes (90 degrees clockwise from vertical) but the hour hand will have progressed to one quarter of the distance between 3 pm and 4 pm.
Each hour represents 30 degrees (360 / 12), so one quarter of an hour equals 7.5 degrees, so the minute hand will be at 97.5 degrees: a 7.5 degree difference between the hands.
Put 2 bags to the side. Weight 3 of the remaining bags against the other 3 remaining. If they weigh the same then weigh the 2 bags that you put aside to find out which of them is heavier. If, however, one of the sets of 3 bags was heavier, put one of the bags from the heavier set aside. Weigh the remaining two bags from the set to find out which one is heavier. If they are equal then you know that it is the 1 bag that you put aside.
Open the box that is labeled “Apples and Oranges”.
You know that since none of the labels are correct, the box must either contain only apples, or only oranges.
Suppose that you remove an apple from that box. Therefore, that box must be the “Apples Only” box.
One of the two remaining boxes must be the “Oranges Only” box. However, one is labeled “Apples Only”, and the other is labeled “Oranges Only”. Therefore, the one labeled “Apples Only” is the box that contains only oranges, and the box labeled “Oranges Only” is the box that contains both kinds of fruit.
100
22: the minute hand will go round the dial 24 times, but the hour hand will also complete two circuits. 24 minus 2 equals 22.

*SOURCE: University of Kent

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June 18, 2018

Stop the Summer Slide

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Summer is here!

Parents and kids are excited. Parents are excited to no longer have to pack lunches and kids are excited… well, to relax and stop learning. But this is where we as parents need to step in and keep the learning process going.

Stop the summer slide! The summer slide is real! The brain is like a muscle. You have to keep practicing to get smarter. If your child does not read and do math problems in the summer time, he or she loses a 2-3 months of progress in school once September rolls around.

Keep your kids busy! Sign up for educational camps, create learning goals for the summer. I love browsing summer workbooks at Barnes and Nobles – let the kids choose their workbooks and get ready to do a few pages a day. Encourage them to do their work before running off to the play ground or to the pool. It might not seem a lot – but practice makes perfect and keeps your child learning in the summer time!

And of course keep it fun – create rewards based on favorite laces to visit: the zoo, museum, mini-golf or extra time at the pool. Kids love positive reinforcement. Keep them learning!

Smarty Buddy CoGAT Practice

Smarty Buddy Gifted and Talented Practice

Smarty Buddy SCAT Practice

Smarty Buddy Inview Practice

Smarty Buddy My First Analogies

Smarty Buddy Math Analogies

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