Battle of the BooksAn exciting reading club that uses a game show style set

up to test teams' knowledge of pre-selected books.

by Chris Wilkie and Erin Walton

                            

Agenda

1.  History2.  Rules 3.  Tournaments4.  Choosing Books5.  Questions6.  Student's Responsibility

History of Battle of the Books• original idea for Battle of the Books started with

a Chicago radio program sponsored by the Chicago Public Library in the 1940's

• first used in the school environment in 1981, in Alaska, by a school librarian involved in the

original radio program, as a student• since then it has spread across the United

States in various formats• we have adapted our Battles based on the

book:Cook, S., Corcoran, F., Fonnesbeck, B. (2001).  Battle of the Books and

More: reading activities for middle school students. Fort Atkinson, WI:Alleyside Press. ISBn 1579500471

    

Rules for Battle of the Books 

• Teams of 2-4• Grade 5 and up• Number of books 8-10• Each team has to read all of the books on

the assigned list

Rules for Battle of the Books

• The answer to the question consists of the title and the author; spelling must be correct, missing “the, an” etc. at the beginning of the title is alright

• Title is worth 3 points-must be spelled correctly• Author is worth 1 point-must be spelled correctly • There are no half marks if the author/title is half wrong  

 they don’t receive points-  if it is wrong it is wrong

Tournament Rules• Start with an author/title battle at your own school• Do question tournaments in your school (2-3 from each

book) • Each tournament consists of 15 questions.  The team

with the most points at the end wins• Keep track of the points for each question tournament• Highest scoring teams are sent to the inter-school

tournament• You can do a play-off style or allow the top teams to play

2-3 rounds and then tally the points   

What happens at a Tournament?

• Each team needs a table and a small whiteboard• At large tournaments people are needed to keep track of

the points, time each question, and read questions • Ask the question and give the students a specified

amount of time to answer the question, usually 30 seconds

• Everyone holds up the whiteboard at once• Have a prize for each member of the winning teams

Choosing Books

• Wide variety of genres• Variety of reading levels• Heavier on the boy books• Need several copies of each book

 

• Each teacher chooses 3-4 books to write the questions

• Questions must have the answer of the title and author

• Each book should have 20-25 questions written

• Use the first 8 or so questions for home tournaments and the rest are used for school wide tournaments- the same questions are never used twice

Questions

• Knowlege/comprehension questions• Related to setting, character, plot, theme, quotes• Question needs to fit only 1 book• Avoid main character names• Start questions with: "in which book..."• Sometimes questions are challenged - have a

plan in place to address any challenges 

Questions

• All students on the team may read all of the books or decide to read a designated number of books

• Have a Battle Tracking sheet to display in the library with the team names and the books so students can record and track their readings

• Make a bookmark of the names and authors of the books for the students to study from

Student's Responsibility

Sample of note for mini tournament

Battle of the Books Mini TournamentWe will be having Battle of the Books Mini Tournament on Tues., Jan. 22nd at noon.  Please bring your lunch that day. Don’t bring anything that needs to be microwaved.  Bring something that is easy to eat, so that we can start our mini-tournament as soon as possible. We will meet in the library at 11:45.Thank youMrs. Wilkie

Invitation to the tournament in the gym Battle of the Books

  There will be a Battle of the Books Tournament in the gym on Feb. 11th at 9:45.  Parents are invited to attend.  Two teams will be chosen to attend the Battle of the Books Tournament at Massey School on Feb. 19th at 3:50.  We will be playing against Massey, Wilfred Walker, Ready and Hunt Schools.  We are playing for a trophy that will stay in the school that wins.  Each member of the 1st and 2nd winning teams will receive medals.Good luck to all the teams!!!Mrs. C. WilkieTeacher/Librarian

Thank You

Thank you to the following teacher-librarians was are part of the Battle of the Books team and make it successful:

Donna Lindstrom                Wendy Tingle Chris MacLennan               Jeannette RevetCharmaine Stouse              Margaret CowieJara Langill                         Betty O'Byrne    

Tournament Pictures