Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of the Math Madness Tournament?
When will the Math Madness Tournaments be held?
What is involved in a Math Madness Tournament at my building?
What materials will we receive for our Math Madness Tournament?
What is the cost of the Math Madness Tournaments?
How will my student responses be scored?
How are the problems for the Math Madness Tournament created?
Is it important to have a Closing Celebration in our building?
What is the Regional Tournament?

What is the purpose of the Math Madness Tournament?

Prepare

Each problem is presented in a similar format to the open-ended questions on the PSSA.
Responses are scored using the PSSA format.

Challenge

Students must show their work and explain their answers.
Problems are aligned with the eligible content developed by PDE.

Motivate

Students are working together as members of a team.
Our slogan is used throughout the tournament to help remind students to keep looking for a solution.
Everyone is recognized for their participation in the tournament.

When will the Math Madness Tournaments be held?

Building tournaments should be run from according to the schedule on the home page. This time period places the tournament before the PSSA exams. Students will be exposed to the PSSA format for two weeks, and the week(s) before the PSSA exam will be available for review. While each school may schedule a different time for their Math Madness tournament, this time period is recommended. The Regional Tournament will be held at York College of Pennsylvania. Please check out the home page for specifics.

What is involved in a Math Madness Tournament at my building?

On each day of the nine day tournament, students complete one open-ended math problem that is presented using the PSSA format. Students are given fifteen minutes to solve the problem. Students should show all their math work in the blank space provided on the answer sheet, put their answer in the answer box, and write why they did each step in the lined box. Classrooms are divided into heterogeneous teams of four students. (If needed, three students may be on a team.) This provides an opportunity for all students to be successful. Teams should develop a team name for the tournament. There are two team problems and seven individual problems.

The first and ninth rounds are team problems. Each team works together for fifteen minutes and submits one answer sheet for the entire team.
The second through eighth rounds are individual problems. Each individual works for fifteen minutes and turns in one answer sheet.
Points earned during team and individual rounds go toward the team’s cumulative score. Individual cumulative scores only consist of their individual scores.

After the fifteen minute time period, the teacher collects all the answer sheets. After all papers have been collected, the teacher should review the solution to the problem using student input.

All the answer sheets are collected for scoring. (It is important that all students complete the daily problem before they have an opportunity to discuss the problem with other students.)

What materials will we receive for our Math Madness Tournament?

All materials can be found on our Math Madness website:

Master set of 9 open-ended problems
Sample solution for each problem
Scoring rubric for each problem (on the second page of each problem)
Sample Certificate of Participation
Scoring sheet in Microsoft EXCEL format
Sample problems to use as practice and preparation

What is the cost of the Math Madness Tournaments?

All of the above materials for the building tournaments will be supplied at no cost to you. Each school will be responsible for generating their own copies. Coordinators for each school have the option of providing awards for the Closing Ceremony, according to their own budget.

Each district will be responsible for providing transportation of their students to the Regional Tournament. There is no fee for attending the Regional Tournament.

How will my student responses be scored?

Due to the growing number of participating schools and scheduling limitations of York College Education students, coordinators at each school will need to organize scorers for their school. York College students will not be provided this year for building tournaments.

Buildings may wish to recruit retired teachers and administrators to help with the scoring.

How are the problems for the Math Madness Tournament created?

A Selection Committee consisting of two third grade teachers and one Specialist reviews problems created by York College students majoring in education.

Is it important to have a Closing Celebration in our building?

Yes! This is the culminating event that provides an opportunity for your students to recognize and celebrate that they are ready for the PSSA. The Closing Celebration should be held on the last day of the tournament. At New Salem, our Closing Celebration involves many special events!

Each student is recognized for his/her participation in the tournament. Classroom teachers hand out a personalized Certificate of Participation to each student.
The leading classroom teams are recognized.
The top ten individual winners from the grade level are also recognized.
Members from the high school basketball team perform a skit and sign autographs.

Most importantly, the Closing Celebration motivates the students because they know that "FOR EVERY PROBLEM THERE IS A SOLUTION!"

What is the Regional Tournament?

The Regional Tournament will be held at York College according to the schedule on the main page. Each participating school will send a team of the top four individual scorers from the building tournament to compete against the other elementary teams. The teams will complete problem solving activities and computational rounds for points. At the end of the tournament, individual and team winners will be recognized. We hope to have special entertainment again this year!