Math Challenges & Math Contests

Click here for Power Point shared during Math Contest Information Night. 

JOIN OUR MATH CIRCLE TEAM IN MICROSOFT TEAMS

What is Math Circle on MS Teams?

We are excited to introduce our Microsoft Teams team, "Math Circle," a virtual space dedicated to math enrichment at Horace Mann Elementary. Whether your child is a budding mathematician or you're looking to provide them with additional learning opportunities, Math Circle is the place to be!

What Can You Expect?

• Announcements: Stay up-to-date with the latest news on math contests, preparation sessions, and other math-related events.

• Resource Sharing: Access practice tests from previous competitions, study materials, and more.

• Community: Connect with other parents, share insights, and engage in discussions about math enrichment.

How to Join

Follow these simple steps to join our MS Teams team:

1. Download Microsoft Teams: If you haven't already, download and install the Microsoft Teams app on your device, or access it via your web browser here.

2. Sign In: Open the app and sign in with your Horace Mann PTSA account. If you don't have one, you can create it through this site or you can choose to use another Microsoft account unrelated or create one here. If you choose to use your own Microsoft account, then the following instructions may not allow you to join. However, you can email us at math@mannptsa.org with your email and we can add you in manually. 

3. Join Team: Click on the "Teams" tab on the left sidebar. At the bottom, you will see an option to "Join or create a team." Click on it.

4. Enter Code: Enter the team code "a8kka9u" and click "Join."

OR

4. Use Direct Link: Click on this invitation link to directly join the team without needing a code.

5. Welcome!: Once you've joined, take a moment to explore the channels, resources, and announcements we've posted.

Need Help?

If you encounter any issues while trying to join or navigate the team, please don't hesitate to contact us through math@mannptsa.org. We're here to help! Feel free to directly post questions in the general channel of the team and use @ symbol to call our attention to it.

MATH CHALLENGES 

Math Challenges are designed to gives elementary students grade K-5 opportunities to sharpen their mathematical problem-solving skills. There will be 15 sets of challenges every other week starting in September and ending in May.

Throughout the challenges, the program covers problem solving strategies such as draw a picture or model, make an organized list, look for a pattern, working backward, and guess and check.

Here is how to participate:

1) Pick up the current Math Challenge from the front office, print it out from here: https://www.mathinaction.org/horace-mann.html, OR solve it from an electronic device and use a scratch paper to record the answers of the questions you solve. Neatly write your name, grade, and teacher at the top.

2) Solve as many problems as you can (more than you are required to do). We encourage you to discuss strategies and solutions with your parents and siblings. 

3) Drop it off in the collection box in the front office or email it to math@mannptsa.org by the Wednesday 3pm deadline in the following chart.

Once every two weeks there will be a drawing for prizes from the correct entries submitted, and students who submit all the challenges will be recognized at the end of the year.  The program is completely free, and no sign-up is necessary. This is a great opportunity for families to be involved and enjoy math through fun and engaging math problems. We encourage parents and siblings to get involved in discussing and solving them. Schedules and problem-solving strategies are available at www.mathinaction.org.

The Math is Cool competition consists of two individual rounds, as well as several team rounds, including a team multiple choice, triple jump, and college bowl rounds. Math is cool provide a platform for students to challenge themselves and work on more advanced math problems. This can be helpful in preparing them for the rigors of higher-level math courses in middle school. Learn more

• Eligibility: Grade 4 and 5 (open to Grade 3 conditionally)
• Team: 3-4 students from the same grade​
• Location: In Person at Liberty High School,
  16655 SE 136th St, Renton, WA 98059 (50-60 minutes' drive from Horace Mann Elementary)
• Date of Exams: Grade 4 on March 23rd, 2024​ and Grade 5 on March 9th, 2024
• ​Time of Exams: 9am-2pm, with Award Ceremony starting at 2pm
• Format: Group and individual tests

• Registration (Closed):
  Math is Cool officially registers students for grades 4 and 5. However, grade 3 students are also welcome to participate at the grade 4 level. Preference will be given to 4th graders, but if spots are available, we will be happy to accommodate 3rd graders as well

  
  Please make sure you follow both step 1 and 2 to register for Math is Cool and step 3 to sign up for enrichment.

  1. ⁠Participation Fee: The participation fee for Math Is Cool is set at $15 per participant. Please sign up at https://mannptsa.org/Packet/MathIsCool
     (You will be redirected to Step 2 once you have completed Step 1)
     
     
  2. Team Spreadsheet: To streamline the registration process, we have created a team spreadsheet Math is Cool SignUp.xlsx. If you already have a team, use a unique color to identify your members. Colors only need to be unique by grade, so there can be different “Red” teams for 4th and 5th grade.
  • Looking for a Team: If you're looking for a team, check the spreadsheet for other students with incomplete teams. See if you can join one of them. If that doesn't work, look for individuals marked as "Looking" in the spreadsheet to form a team together. If all else fails, put "Looking" to signal your search for a team.
  • ⁠Parents/students are responsible for forming their own teams. Once the registration is closed, anyone with “Looking” at that time will be assigned to a team, if possible.
    
    
  3. Enrichment/Preparation Classes: With the help of some high schoolers, we will be offering enrichment and preparation classes to ensure that our participants are well-equipped for the challenges of Math Is Cool. To sign up, please visit https://mannptsa.org/Page/Enrichment/AfterschoolClasses

MATH CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT

We are excited that your kid(s) may be participating in the MATH CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT that will be taking place at Horace Mann Elementary on April 19th at 3:50-5:20pm. The tournament will be held at the Commons area and it's tailored to students Grades 2-5 (Grade 1 students may participate at Grade 2 level if they wish).

Below is the detailed schedule for the event:

3:50 – 4:05 p.m.              Check-in and seating assignments

4:05 - 4:10 p.m.              Instruction and opening remarks

4:10 - 4:30 p.m.              Mental Math

4:35 - 5:15 p.m.              Problem Solving

5:15 – 5:20 p.m.              Students to be released to parents.

Link to general information about the 2024 National Math Challenge Tournament (intro, format, awards, etc.): https://www.ellipsisacademy.com/2024-math-challenge-tournament.html The information in this page contains good amount of information on MCT for parents/students who are new to MCT.

REGISTRATION

Here is the link for the 2024 MCT students’ registration for our school: https://ellipsisacademy.as.me/?appointmentType=57225798.

CHECK-IN

Check in will be by LAST NAME (A-I, J-Q, and R-Z).               

WHAT TO BRING

Writing tools (pencils and erasers), a water bottle, and a book to read (incase students finish early).

THE TOURNAMENT

Mental Math Challenge (20 minutes) – Students will be presented with 40 problems to be solved by students “mentally”.  Because of the emphasis on speed and accuracy, students are given only 20 minutes to answer as many of the 40 problems as they can. Each correct answer is worth 2 points. Maximum Mental Math score is 80.

Problem Solving Challenge (40 minutes) – Students will be presented with 20 problems to solve. The first 8 questions are worth 5 points each, the next 7 questions are of intermediate difficulty and worth 7 points each, and the last 5 questions are harder and worth 10 points each. During this round, participants will be given scratch paper to do any calculations they need to reach their final answers. Maximum Problem-Solving score is 139 points. The Mental Math and Problem-Solving scores will be added together to determine individual awards for a maximum of 219 points.

Tournament tests are completed in a traditional way using a paper answer sheet and pencil. Tests will then be scanned in and scores will be generated by computers. Please make sure your kid(s) are comfortable with “bubbling” in the answers. Please read the MCT Guidelines for Participants.

EMERGENCY

We have your phone number in our records (that you submitted during registration). We will use this in case of an emergency. Please double check your phone number during check-in.

RESULTS

All results will be announced and posted on May 10th, 2024. 

Important notes about students’ registration

Tournament Fee: $25 per student.

This tournament is in-person only and not available online. Seats are limited and first come first serve.

Tournament fee is non-refundable and non-transferable - 20% of the tournament fee will be given back to participating schools (through the MCT give back programs). For more information about the give back program, please click HERE: https://www.ellipsisacademy.com/mct---school-registration.html.

If you need to request changes (i.e. division, name, etc.) after registration, you can submit a Change Request at: https://www.ellipsisacademy.com/mct-change-request.html.

Once you've registered, you will immediately receive a registration confirmation email containing additional information. If you didn't see the confirmation email, please check your spam or junk folder.

Last day to register is March 15, 2024.

Last day to submit a change request is March 15, 2024.

2023-2024 MATH CHALLENGE SCHEDULE

All Math Challenges can be found here: https://www.mathinaction.org/horace-mann.html

Contact Math Co-Chairs Sandi Xhumari and Subeka Chhabra at math@mannptsa.org for any inquiry about mathematics enrichment at Horace Mann. We welcome new ideas and suggestions to make mathematics more fun for our students.