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Keysor Kids Rock “USA Rocks” Times Table Rock Stars Competition
On May 4-6, Keysor elementary students in third, fourth, and fifth grade competed in the nationwide “USA Rocks” times table competition. Fourth-grade student Simon Aholt placed first in the country and fellow fourth-grade student Paul Wonsidler placed third in the country in the individual competition. Students in Miss Bordenkircher’s fifth-grade class placed third in the country in the classroom competition. Keysor students collectively placed second overall in the school competition. The competition featured 22 schools, 96 classes, and 1,141 students.
Keysor students play the “Times Table Rock Stars” app in their math class. The app supports math fluency for students. Typically, Keysor students spend at least five minutes on the app during their morning work or “math warm up,” where students answer multiplication and division questions as quickly as possible during 60-second rounds. On average, Simon and Paul completed 120 equations during the 60-second round. For the “USA Rocks Times Table Competition,” Keysor students used the app for three consecutive days and amassed points based on how quickly they answered questions. Throughout the online competition, the kids could monitor the leaderboard on the app and learned of Keysor’s multiple successes in the competition.
Kelly Lauberth, 4th grade teacher, initially introduced Times Table Rock Stars to Keysor in January 2022, after learning about it while listening to the daily podcast “KidNuz” with her students. “We listen to “KidNuz” as part of our morning meeting, said Lauberth. “After watching a segment on the show and learning about this app, I knew this would be a great resource for our kids. The students agreed and started using Times Table Rock Stars earlier this semester.”
Keysor students started using the app as a pilot supplemental resource for Kirkwood School District (KSD) in January. The student results have been positive, and KSD is looking to expand access to the app to additional KSD elementary schools during the 2022-23 school year.
As a top finishing school, Keysor will be featured in a “Times Table Rock Stars” testimonial video scheduled to be released later this summer and KSD will receive the app for free usage to all students on their District-issued iPad. In addition, Simon and Paul both received Times Table Rock Stars certificates, and Miss Bordenkircher’s class won a $100 Amazon gift card to put toward an end-of-the-year class party.
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Photo caption one: Keysor Fourth-grade student Simon Aholt placed first in the country and fellow fourth-grade student Paul Wonsidler placed third in the country in the individual competition.
Photo caption two: Keysor fifth-grade students in Miss Bordenkircher’s class placed 3rd in the nation in the “USA Rocks” Times Table Rock Stars Competition. The class won a $100 Amazon gift card to put toward an end-of-the-year class party.