Putnam patriot., 1911-06-16
Addition Contest

T, order to improve the addition in all my grades, I gave teachers meet ,,g last winter on the subject of addi- .;o, and started an addition contest in all my schools.
 The contest was simple but required occuracy and speed. During the year aocb teacher drilled her pupils in va- lions ways on 64 selected combinations. Six plus four is combination-One .,ethod of drill consisted in having a pupil give the answers to the sixty-four combinations which has been put on paner chart by the teacher, and for the teacher to time the pupil in order to see how long it would take him to give all the answers. The quicker a pupil oonld do it the better adder he would he usually In order that the poor ad- der would be induced to hard work, we were going to compareithe average ef one school with that of any of my otber schools, rather than compare pu- nil WiIl pupil eACluslNSly
 few weeks ago 1 tested every school with my own chart and record ed the time necessary for any pupil to oiye the answers to the 64 combina- lions on my chart. 1 then found the average time for each school including only those pupils above the second grade. l am reporting the leading schools with their averages in seconds.
 Next year 1 shall include the second grade in the addition contest and shall have contest in multiplication.
 Christina C. Curtis, Woods school in Ashford, D seconds.
 Mildred l.. Brown, Chandler in Woodstock, 51 seconds.
 Eva NJ. Spaulding, Warrenville school in Ashford, 56 seconds.
 Mrs. Ella B. Greene, Ashford in Ashford, 57 seconds.
 Alice J. Carpenter, East Side school in Eastford, 57.3 seconds.
 Abigail D. Amidon, Pumpkin Hill in Ashford, 5S seconds.
 Jessie NJ. Griggs, West Ashford school, 50 seconds.
 Amy F. Miller, Buell. school in East ford, 65.6 seconds.
 Mary McNamara, PhoeniXville school in Eastford, 66.3 seconds.
 Iva B. Johnson, Red White in Woodstock, 72.1 seconds.
 Sarah A. Potter, English Neighbor- hood in Woodstock, 72.6 seconds.
 Lucy J. Jacobs, Bugoee Neighbor- hood in Woodstock, 75 seconds.
 Flora B. Alton, Center school in Woodstock, 76 seconds.
 The average of the other schools ranged from 76 to 127. One school only had third grade pupils who could not go through the chart. Several schools had first grade pupils who could not go through with commend able speed. The average for the first grade of five pupils in the Quasset school, taught by Miss Anna Nelson, Woodstock, was IF seconds. One of this first grade could add this chart in 76 seconds. Walter Dew who has just finished first grade in the Phoenix vile school, taught by Miss McNama "a, was able to add the chart in 57 sec onds.
 The fastest individual pupils with their records are as follows: Ashford pupils: Vera Bennett 2S, William Huebsch 30, Alice Burrill B, Bertha Burril 35, and Lawrence Schuh 3o. Eastford pupils Ethel Spink g., and Godfrieda Kucera 37. Woodstock pu- pils: George Swenson S1, Ross Zastera 86, Harold Ramsey 36, Mary Galenski 3S, and M abel Richardson 39.
 The Woods school in Ashford has been successful in winning first place this year in all my towns in attend ance, in the addition contest, and in securing the largest number of wild flowers. This school has found III va rieties when 1 made my last visit and had found some rare varieties of orchids. They are so rare that flower authorities did not know they could be found in Connecticut.
 Charles E. Pratt