6.+Olympiads

o **How to- give specific steps for strategy implementation:** //Olympiads are used to inspire a sense of competition in students. It is truly amazing what children will do just to have the title of “winner”. Designing events for Olympiads is the most challenging part of implementing these competitions into the curriculum. The contests should be engaging as well as educational and require students to apply knowledge that they have acquired throughout an extensive amount of time as well as concepts that they may not have been introduced to yet. Educators need to collaborate within their content areas to determine if they would like to use this as a class activity or as an entire department’s activity. Create challenges for students to complete, ranging from the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy to the top level. Most activities should be higher level thinking. Assign point values to each activity and award students who earn the most points by placing in the various competitions. Allow students to choose the events they would like to participate in. They must pick a minimum number of events and after the slots are filled, no more students can participate in that activity. At the end award some sort of overall prize to the team who earned the most points in each class.// o **When to-implement in content area (provide specific justification** You will have to get pretty creative with the areas of language arts and social studies. Collaboration between mathematics teachers on a grade level will assist in developing a larger and more complex Olympiad. Students choose their teammates and compete in different challenges for first, second, and third prizes. Design each competition around a different skill. Introduce skills that have been taught in earlier grades as well as content that has yet to be covered. Science is possible the area most emphasized by Olympiads. Many education systems make this a school wide competition, encompassing entire middle schools instead of just by class. This would be a great activity to use in collaboration with other science classes on the same grade level. Design these activities around skills acquired throughout a unit while introducing new topics and concepts that may be introduced in higher grade levels’ curriculums. “Competition encourages students to explore alterative solutions to problems,” proclaims Thomas Thrasher in the 2008 issue of Alabama Journal of Mathematics. By holding a competition, students are more likely to openly explore concepts they would not normally encounter in a traditional classroom setup. It opens opportunities for teamwork and collaboration for students and allows gifted students to shine. By using Olympiads, teachers can also identify students who have a gift for problem solving, and identify the more inquisitive students. Thrasher quotes, “Brain-based research by Gurian, Henley, and Trueman supports the conclusion that “the ultimate classroom” should include both cooperative and competitive learning experiences (2008).”
 * **Name of Strategy:** // Olympiads //
 * **Language Arts and Social Studies:**
 * **Mathematics:**
 * **Science:**
 * **Research and references that supports the “effective instruction” label for this strategy**
 * **Benefits**
 * The children are instilled with a sense of competition and learn to work together for a common goal.
 * As a summative assessment, a teacher can evaluate the knowledge each child has acquired.
 * **Drawbacks**
 * Usually requires all classes to be involved.
 * Classroom size can become an issue if trying to implement the strategy within one class period.
 * **Learning styles, modalities, intelligences, or abilities addressed**
 * All learning styles, modalities, and intelligences should be addressed. Each activity within the Olympiad will promote higher level thinking and require application of pre-learned skills.
 * Students with a competitive nature will have a higher drive for success.
 * **Ways to assess the teaching/learning connection**
 * This could be used as a pre-assessment of knowledge.
 * Students are rewarded a prize for collecting the most points throughout the competition. Most are designed around an entire day and held outside of regular class time.
 * **Classroom management considerations**
 * Classroom size becomes an issue when trying to contain the Olympiad to one room.
 * Best designed as a school or content encompassing activity.
 * Pair students according to mastery or content levels.

[|Olympiads Article.pdf] Thrasher, T. (2008). The Benefits of Mathematical Competitions. //Alabama Journal of Mathematics //, //Spring/Fall 2008 //, 59-64.