Wordmasters Challenge

Wordmasters Challenge

Summary: The Wordmasters Challenge is a nationwide elementary and middle school vocabulary competition, testing the competitors' vocabulary and verbal reasoning through analogies.

Format: There are two divisions of the Challenge, the easier blue division and the more challenging gold division. Three times a year, students will be given a list of 25 challenging vocabulary words, and will study them for a fixed amount of time (usually several weeks) before taking part in the Challenge. The Challenge is a 20-question test with no fixed time limit, but 20 minutes is often the allotted time.

Scoring: Each question is worth one point, so the individual score for each of the three meets (fall, winter, and spring) will be out of 20. Additionally, each school participating will add the scores of its top 10-scoring students to submit its school score out of 200. At the end of the year, the final individual total (calculated by adding the three individual scores) is out of 60. Very few people manage to get perfect scores on these competitions, so scores of more than 18 are highly coveted.

Awards: For every perfect 20 scored on a competition, students will receive a Wordmasters medal and a certificate. The top 10 to 15 students in every division with the highest individual total at the end of the year will receive the highest honors award. This award is extraordinarily challenging to achieve, as the cutoff for highest honors is often in the high 50's.

For more information, visit www.wordmasters.com