LinguiSHTIK PLaying Instructions - Gifted Resource Council

LinguiSHTIK Playing Instructions

SCORING Most Correct = 2 points
Middle = 1 point
Wrong = 0 points

CHALLENGE WIN - means that the challenger feels he/she can take just ONE more cube from the RESOURCES to win the game and meet all the demands, the designation and write the correct sentence.

CHALLENGE IMPOSSIBLE - means that the challenger feels that the most recent play or a play that went unchallenged made the solution impossible NO MATTER HOW MANY CUBES ARE TAKEN FROM RESOURCES.

STRUCTURES: simple sentence
compound sentence
complex sentence
compound-complex sentence

NOTE: 4th and 5th graders may designate structures only. 6th, 7th and 8th graders may designate structures or patterns as described below:

PATTERNS:	a. noun (1) - verb - noun (2) (subject - verb - object) b. noun (1) - linking verb - noun (1) (subject - linking verb - predicate noun) c. noun - linking verb - adjective (subject - linking verb - predicate adjective) d. noun - verb (subject - verb) e. noun (1) - verb - noun (2) - noun (3) (subject - verb - indirect object - direct object)
DEMANDS:	1. Type - part of speech 2. Function - usage of the part of speech in the written sentence 3. General - use your imagination, but you cannot make more than one general demand at a time.
A type demand must be made before a function demand; a generaldemand at any time. A demand must be related to the word. For example, given the sentence: "The army could be seen over the high hill." If the demand was "the word must be a noun," the word "army" or "hill" may be underlined. If the demands were "the word must be a noun" and "the word must be used in a prepositional phrase," only the word "hill" may be underlined. If the demands were "the word must be exactly four letters long" and "the word must be in a prepositional phrase," the word "over," "high," or "hill" could be underlined.

Rulings will be made in favor of those concerning themselves with the subject matter of the game as opposed to those who have come up with "gimmicks." For example, the word to be formed must be used in a sentence the way it is normally used. You cannot call any word an adjective simply because you used it as an adjective in the sentence. On the other hand, do not confuse the "gimmick" with the reality that some words can be used as more than one part of speech. NOTE: Demands that relate to highly specific subject matter other than the English language will not be permitted.

CLARIFICATION OF TOURNAMENT PLAY

A labeled game and timer are required for each five member team.

Coaches, serving as judges, may help students if requested during competitions, but ONLY requested information may be given. Further explanations may be given between rounds or after competition.

The members of each team will sit at separate assigned tables to play with members of four other teams. Each participant will move to another assigned table at the end of each round. Generally, team members will not be sitting together for play.

The 4 rounds will last approximately 20 minutes each. A two minute notice will be announced so that games may be finished and so that new games will not be started.

The youngest player at the table will start round one by rolling the dice and making the designation. Play will continue clockwise around the table. New games for the round will be started by players taking turns to the left of the youngest player. The last player listed on the scoresheet for each round is the designated scorekeeper and timekeeper for the entire round. Round two will be started by the second oldest player and round three will be started by the player with a birthday on the largest odd numbered days of the month (ex: 29th, 31st). Round four will be started by the player with a birthday on the smallest day of the month (ex: 2, 4). All other play will continue as in round one.

Enlarged gameboards will be taped to each table. Challenges should be made by saying "Challenge Win" or "Challenge Impossible" and touching the edge of the gameboard. If a player calls "Challenge" only, other players should assume this means Challenge Win. Touching the gameboard will help the other players decide who should be recognized for the challenge in case of ties for who made the call first. Otherwise touching the board is not necessary, but it is a good habit.

If a player makes a demand using a term unfamiliar to other players, he/she does not need to explain the term until the end of that game. In the spirit of a learning competition, the other players are entitled to a definition at that time. Example: Demand - "The noun must be used as a direct object." The player making the demand must be able to explain what a direct object is if asked at the end of that particular game.

A player must have time to consider his/her move, but must not stall indefinitely. Generally, a player should be given at least one minute to play. At that point other players may call stalling and the player has one more full minute to play.

Sentences should begin with a capital letter, end with correct punctuation, and meet the designation and demands of the game. The word relating to the demands must be underlined and spelled correctly. Any other spelling, capitalization, or punctuation errors may be pointed out to the player, but should not prevent the player from earning points.

If "Challenge Impossible" is called when other plays have been made since the "impossible" demand was made, no player should be held accountable. In other words, in this situation, if the "Challenge Impossible" is upheld, the challenger earns two points and all other players earn one point. No one earns zero points.

Attached is an explanation of sentence patterns for 6th, 7th and 8th grade competition. Each pattern is labeled with the corresponding letter from the rule book.

At the end of each game, players should enter the number of points earned on the score sheet. At the end of the round, the points for all games are totaled by the players. The scorekeeper should double check each sheet to verify that the total number of points is correct. The scorekeeper, with the player's approval, will write in each player's score and turn in the forms to a judge who will turn in the table score sheets to the scoring table.

The rules on pages 6 - 13 of the instruction book will be the guidelines for this competition.

Remember, players will probably learn something new about language. This is an objective of tournament play.

Players may not bring reference materials to use during tournament play.

The final authority used to determine the validity of the words formed will be the dictionary that is available at each tournament. The dictionary used for this year's competition is:
The American Heritage College Dictionary
Third Edition
Houghton Mifflin Company
Boston-New York
1993

Any rulings regarding word function or sentence designation will be determined using the reference available at each tournament. The reference used for this year's competition is:
Instant English Handbook
Madeline Semmelmeyer and Donald O. Bolander
Career Publishing, Inc. 1985

If you have any other questions, feel free to call Connie Burkhardt at work (314-493-6200 x2213) with a message or at home (314-839-8771).

SENTENCE PATTERNS

Snowflakes come in an endless variety of shapes; no two snowflakes are exactly alike in every detail. Nevertheless, all snowflakes fall into one or the other of a few basic snowflake patterns-a starlike pattern, for example, or a doilylike pattern, or a needle shape, or a bullet shape or a pyramid shape.

English sentences, strange as it seems, have something in common with snowflakes. In the first place, they come in an endless variety, just as snowflakes do. Many of the sentences that you have said so far today, for example, you have never said before and you will never say again. In the second place, all English sentences-in spite of their endless variety-are built on just a few basic patterns, four of which we are going to look at right now.

Pattern 1: S - V Rule Book--D

Suppose that you observed the following situations in the course of a day:
--your team losing
--some men arguing
--a dog barking
--some boys swimming

In reporting these situations to someone else, you would almost certainly use a pattern with only two essential elements in it - a subject (S) and a verb (V). You might use the pattern in its barest form, like this:

S    V	
We lost.

     S    V
The men argued.

     S       V
The dog was barking.

     S        V
The boys were swimming.

But more likely, you would fill out the bare pattern with details of various kinds - like this:

S    V
We lost again today.

     S     V
The men argued about politics.

      S		      V
That dog of theirs was barking all day long.

         S     V               V
Several boys were foolishly swimming across the lake without a rowboat.

This basically simple S-V pattern is the pattern our words fall into whenever we want to get across the basically simple idea that some person or some thing (the S) did or does or will do a certain action (the V).

Pattern 2: S - V - O Rule Book--A

Here are some examples of a different kind of situation that you often observe in the course of the day:
--your sister cooking hamburgers
--a waitress taking an order
--a boy slamming the door
--a man parking a truck

In reporting situations of this kind, you would be pretty sure to use a sentence pattern with three essential elements in it - not only a subject and a verb, but also a direct object (O).

  S      V            O
Martha cooked the hamburgers.

        S     V         O
The waitress took our order.

  S               V          O
Henry suddenly slammed the door in my face.

      S     V         O
That man parked his truck right in front of our driveway.

This three-part pattern is the pattern we use whenever we want to get across the general idea that some person or some thing (the S) did or does or will do an action (the V) to some other person or thing (the O). This S-V-O pattern is the one we use more often than any other.

• Spotting the direct object. There is no single, foolproof formula for finding the direct object. Here is one formula, however, that works pretty well most of the time: To find the direct object, look for the noun or pronoun that comes after the verb and tells what it was (or who it was) that the action was done to.
This formula is easy to use - both in sentences that have no detail-giving words and in sentences that are full of them.

SENTENCES WITHOUT DETAIL-GIVING WORDS--
Dad burned the toast. (What did Dad burn? The toast.)
The dog was chasing the mailman. (Whom was the dog chasing? The mailman.)
The tollway will save time. (What will the tollway save? Time.)

SENTENCES WITH DETAIL-GIVING WORDS--
Frankie drove the tractor all the way into town. (What did Frankie drive all the way into town? The tractor.)
He certainly should have paid the rent before this! (What should they have paid before this? The rent.)
Everyone has probably forgotten him after all these years. (Whom has everyone probably forgotten after all these years? Him.)

Pattern 3: S - V - IO - O Rule Book--E

Here are some examples of a third kind of situation that you observe every day of your life:
--someone telling something to someone
--someone making something for someone
--someone giving something to someone

In reporting situations of this type, you would of course use a subject (S), a verb (V), and a direct object (O). But you would also be likely to use fourth essential element as well - an indirect object (IO), tucked in between the V and the O. For example:

 S    V      IO          O
Sam told everyone the secret.

 S    V         IO                O
Bill made his mother a driftwood lamp.

    S      V        IO     O
Mr. Smith gave his wife a box of diet candy for her birthday.

As you can see, the indirect object everyone tells to whom Sam told the secret; the indirect object mother tells for whom Bill made the lamp; and the indirect object wife tells to whom Mr. Smith gave the box of diet candy. An indirect object, then, tells "to whom" or "for whom" - without the use of the preposition to or for.

The list that follows should help you recognize an S-V-IO-O sentence when you see one.

The IO will be a noun or a pronoun.
The IO tells to whom or for whom (or occasionally to what or for what) someone told or made or gave-or wrote or built or took-something.
The IO always comes in a certain spot-right after a verb like tell or make or give.
There will not be an IO in a sentence unless there is an O as well.
Indirect objects-like simple subjects and direct objects-are not to be found in prepositional phrases. The boldfaced words in the following sentences are not considered indirect objects:

Sam told the secret to everyone.
Bill made a driftwood lamp for his mother.
Mr. Smith gave the candy to his wife.
Jerry bought two pairs for himself.

Pattern 4: S - LV - C Rule Book--B and C

All of the real-life situations we have talked about so far in this chapter have centered around action of some sort - for example, winning, losing, barking, swimming, cooking, eating, worrying, telling, making, or giving. Not all of the situations we want to report, however, are action situations. Sometimes we want to report such actionless things as these:
-the occupation or nationality or religion of some person
-the weight or shape or color or size of some thing
-the look or the feel or the smell of some thing

To communicate meanings of this type, we generally rely on a quite different sentence pattern - a three-element pattern whose essential parts are a subject (S), a linking verb like is or seems or looks (LV), and a predicate complement (C). Here are some examples of sentences built on this S-LV-C pattern:

     S       LV      C
Mr. Phillips is a plumber.

         S      LV            C
This knapsack seems awfully heavy.

        S         LV      C
Those lemon pies look marvelous.

You can easily see why the verbs in these sentences are called "linking verbs." Instead of expressing an action (as most verbs do), these verbs simply link the complement to the subject. The linking verb is links plumber to Mr. Phillips. The linking verb seems links heavy to knapsack. And the linking verb look links marvelous to pies.

You can see why the words plumber, heavy, and marvelous in these sentences are called "complements" if you know that the word complement means "completer." A complement is needed after a linking verb to make the sentence pattern complete.

WITHOUT A COMPLETER
Mr. Phillips is...
The knapsack seems...
The pies look...

WITH A COMPLETER
Mr. Phillips is a plumber.
The knapsack seems heavy.
The pies look marvelous.

Most often the predicate complement will be a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective. For example:

     S                        LV     C
The men in the leather shorts are Germans.  (Noun)

        S          LV      C
The president should be someone from the ninth grade.  (Pronoun)

     S   LV    C
The mud felt good between my toes.  (Adjective)

From: GUIDE TO MODERN ENGLISH, Marguerite Blough, Mary Linehan Mackinnon, H. Alan Robinson & Charlotte Wilson, 1975, Scott, Foresman, and Company; Glenview, IL

Samples
Playing Mat
Game Record
Table Score
Player Score

For more information regarding LinguiSHTIK or Academic Challenge Cup, please call the GRC Office at 314-962-5920.