This contest involves the study of paintings from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and paintings from selected Texas museums . The Art Smart Bulletin, published every other year is the source of test material and of history and art elements relative to the 40 selections and is the final authorityin the spelling of artists' names and titles of art works. As part of the study, students will art demonstrate an understanding of art history and interpret ideas and moods in original artworks
Creative Writing
Contestants will be given a prompt with several captioned pictures. From these pictures, the students will create an orginal story based on their selections in 30 minutes.
Dictionary Skills
Students will take a test with 40 objective questions. Contestants will use dictionaries in the competition
Ready Writing 3rd /4th Grade and 5th Grade
Contestants are given a choice between two prompts, each of which defines the audience an dprovides the purpose for writing. The format may be, for example, a letter, an article frot he newspaper oran essay for the principal.
Listening Skills 5th grade
Contestants will listen to a script ranging from approximately seven to 10 minutes in length, takes notes as needed and use their notes to answer 25 multiple choice questions, fill in the blanks and true-false questions. A variety of subject matter will be used for the listening tests.
Social Studies- 5th Grade
Students will be given an objective test. This contest is designed to encourage students to expand their knowledge of social studies, particularly in the areas of history, government systems, economics, citizenship and culture. Subject matter used for the test will be taken from currently adopted social studies textbooks and identified primary source
Spelling 3rd/4th and 5th Grade
Maps, Graphs & Charts- 5th Grade
Spelling 3rd/4th and 5th Grade
This contest is designed to give students exposure to a wide variety of
vocabulary words. It is not a contest of memorization. For the most educational value, preparation for this contest should include instruction in the rules of the English language, meanings and definitions, and root words. In addition to learning to spell proficiently, contestants will learn to write clearly and to capitalize words properly.
Students will write down words given by the pronouncer on their paper at a rate of approximately five words per minute. (A) Grades 3 and 4: 50 words; tie breaker, 15 words. (B) Grades 5 and 6: 80 words; tie breaker, 20 words.
The authority for all words is Merriam Webster’s Intermediate Dictionary. Approximately 20
percent of the test words will come from sources other than the UIL spelling lists.
Maps, Graphs & Charts- 5th Grade
This contest is designed to help students learn to get information from a variety of maps, graphs and charts including world maps, pie charts, bar charts and local area maps. The objective test will measure skills such as using an atlas as a reference book to locate information, -making comparisons, estimating and approximating, using scale and interpreting grid systems, legends and keys. Students will be given an objective test containing approximately 75 multiple choice, true/false and fill-in-the-blank questions which shall be answered in 45 minutes. Subject matter used for the test will be taken from the Nystrom Desk Atlas, available through Nystrom, a division of Herff Jones, Inc. and the League. Contestants may use other atlases in the contest. Tests will also include some combination of other maps, graphs and/or charts that students have never seen before. The atlas and the test will contain the information needed to answer the objective test questions.
Music Memory 3/4th Grade and 5th Grade
The focus of this contest is an in-depth study of fine pieces of music literature taken from a wide spectrum of music genres to expose students to great composers, their lives and their music. In the course of preparing for the contest, students should be given the opportunity to describe and analyze the music, relate the music to history, to society and to culture, and to evaluate musical performance. Students will listen to approximately 20 seconds of up to 20 musical selections. Students in grades 3 and 4 should be allotted sufficient time to answer the matching portion of the test and to write down the name of the major work, if it is required, and the selection title for the tie breaker. Students in grades 5 and 6 are allotted sufficient time to write down the name of the major work, if it is required, selection title and the name of the composer. No matching portion exists for grades 5 and 6. Music List. The League will publish each year the Official UIL Music Memory List and provide sources for obtaining recordings of the music and information on the pieces and composers
Number Sense 4/5/6th Grade
Individuals are called upon every day to use their ability to make quick mental
calculations to make decisions. The development of such abilities should be an integral part of the math curriculum. Concepts covered include, but are not limited to: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, proportions, and use of mathematic notation.
Students will be given a 10-minute, fill-in-the-blank test which they shall complete without doing calculations on paper or on a calculator. Erasures, mark-overs and mark-outs are not permitted. T
he test will cover basic arithmetic and mathematical functions in grades four through six. Another test for the junior high level will include algebra, geometry and number theory.
