Elementary School Library: Battle of the Books

Sign UP Directions

1. Form groups of 4 students. Groups may be any combination of 4th and 5th grade students - from any of the classrooms.

2. Determine whom will the "team captain."  This person is responsible for all forms and communication for the team.

3. Everyone on the team must take home and compete the Individual Sign Up Form.  Team members give this to your Team Captain.

4. Team Captain - fill out the Team Sign Up Commitment Form. 

5. Team Captain - return all Individual Forms and one Team Sign Up form for your team.  ALL Sign up information is due October 14, 2016 to the library.

6. Everyone!  Start Reading! 

ALL are due to your school library October 14, 2016.

Battle Rules

• The Battle will consist of 25 questions which are answered by providing the title and author of the book.
• Ten points will be awarded for the correct title and five points for the correct author.
• Titles and authors must be written in full as listed on the web site when answering the test questions in February.
• No points will be given for a partial title or if only the last name of the author is listed.

Frequently Asked Questions!

1.  Do team members have to read all twenty books?
The goal is to read all 20 books among the team members; but each individual is not required to read all books. How many books each member reads will depend upon the member's reading speed, reading level, and interest in the books. Teams will perform better if each book has been read by at least two team members.

2.  Can my team compete even if they have not read all 20 books?
Yes.  Teams can compete even if they have only read some of the books.

3.  How many times should my team meet?
Teams can meet as frequently as they are able and want to meet; however, we recommend teams meet at least three times prior to the competition.

4.  What kinds of questions will be asked at the Battle?
Each question will include two parts: a question from the book (worth four points) and the author's name (worth one point.) Author's name MUST be spelled correctly to earn the point. Prizes awarded for teams with top four point totals.

All questions will be very specific and the answers will have been mentioned at least twice in each book. Information in any introduction, dedication, chapter heading, foreword, preface, afterword and author note will all be fair game and could possibly be included in the questions for that book. Some editions of books contain bonus material such as discussion questions and author interviews. While the answers may be mentioned in these bonus sections, we do not count these appearances for our requirements.

Sample questions from past battles:

Q1. In the book, No More Dead Dogs, someone is sabotaging the school play.  What are the words that are spray painted on the scenery the first week of rehearsal?

A1. Old Shep, Dead Mutt      Author: Gordon Korman

Q2. In the book Wild Man Island, when Andy washes up on the island, he follows a trail into the forest to find a place to get warm.  He sees a red, jelly-like blob on the trail.  What was it?

A2. Bear scat or bear droppings      Author:  Will Hobbs

Q3. In the book The Lightning Thief, Annabeth, daughter of Athena, accompanies Percy and Grover on Percy’s quest.  Once she discovers which god is Percy’s father, Annabeth teases Percy by calling him a nickname.  What is the nickname?

A3. Seaweed Brain      Author:  Rick Riordan

5.  Where can my team meet?
Students can meet before or after school, during lunch time, or any other common time during the day depending upon everyone’s schedule.

Teams may meet in the library during school hours, provided the teams are respectful of others while practicing. (You will need teacher permission.)

6.  Does the manager have any responsibilities at the Battle competition?
Managers must be present, or have a designated adult present. The team manager or single designated adult will check-in the team and lead them through team photo area. The manager will then become an audience member.

7.  What about costumes?
Teams are not required to wear costumes, but are encouraged to do so. Teams can win prizes for costumes. Please ensure that no book titles, quotations, or authors' names appear anywhere on the costumes. We allow hats and props, but might request their removal during the question competition.

8.  What are my responsibilities as a team manager?

• Ensure team registration form is filled out completely and turned in by October 14, 2016 to your school library.
• Notify library if team decides not to participate in Battle of the Books.

Tomahawk School District

Elementary Division (4^th and 5^th grade)

BOB Reading List (video of the books!)

2016-2017

Golden Archer Nominees (Primary)

The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt

The Night World by Mordicai Gerstein

What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada

Winnie: the True Story of the Bear who Inspired Winnie the Pooh by Sally Walker

Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman

Golden Archer Nominees (Intermediate)

Auggie and Me by R. J. Palacio

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School by Jeff Kinney

Dork Diaries: Tales of a Not-So-Happily-Ever-After by Rachel Renee Russell

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

The Scavengers by Michael Perry

Advisor’s Choices

Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937 by Lauren Tarshis

Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr

Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Students the official Practice BOB MOODLE is now open!  

• Be sure to select the MOODLE Practice link when you log-in to the practice website!
• Each team may log-in only ONE time!  Be sure to read the directions carefully: it is timed and limited to 30 minutes!
• If you do not remember your log-in to the practice website please ask!  (Directions on logging into the practice website are also listed below.) Do NOT change it!
• When you select the MOODLE Practice link, you will see:

Practice Website!  BOB groups have your log-in and username.  Each group shares the same log-in.  Practice many times!

To access The Practice Website:

• From the Moodle main page http://www.wemtamoodle.org/battle

• FIRST click on your course (Elementary, Middle, Senior)

• THEN log in with your team username and password, begins with es, ms or sr.

When posting to Moodle forums ...

• All school rules apply

• Your team account is attached to your Advisors’ email account

• Stay on topic - discuss the book with details, not ‘cool’, ‘me too’, etc

Use the Draw10 Practice quizzes

   Check yourself!    Game for Wednesday January 25, 2017!

Kahoot!  Game to challenge what you know about the books!  

  TeachingBooks.net provides original, in-studio movies of authors and illustrators, and a wealth of multimedia resources on K–12 books to support reading and library activities for all grades and content areas. TeachingBooks.net, a database provided by DPI via Badgerlink, has created customized links for each of WEMTA's Battle of the Books lists.

Search for either the title of the book or "WEMTA Battle of the Books" and select the elementary list of books for Wisconsin.  

**Home Access instructions are posted on the Tomahawk School District Resource Database Page.

Get Started Meeting!  Wednesday October 19, 2015 immediately after morning announcements (about 8:15 am) in Elementary Library.  Meet for about 15 minutes to get start up materials.  This meeting is required for ALL Team Members - your team must be all together at this meeting!

Practice Days: (come to elementary library after you eat lunch)​

• November 2, 2016
• November 16, 2016
• November 30, 2016
• December 14, 2016
• January 11, 2017
• January 25, 2017
• February 8, 2017

All books read and returned to library by Friday February 10, 2017

Tomahawk Elementary Contest Date

• Elementary School: Tuesday February 14, 2017 at 8:20 AM in the Auditorium.

State Contest: February 21 - 24, 2017