Welcome to the BVSD Battle of the Books Competition!

Overview: 

Battle of the Books is a Quiz Bowl Style Competition for students in grades 3-12. When students enroll in this battle, they commit to working with a school team to read books from the Battle of the Books list. The list includes ten to twelve books of various levels of difficulty. Students can read the books independently, as part of a school group, or with an adult. Some titles are also available as audiobooks which is a great strategy as well. Students then compete in teams at the school to answer questions about the books. In April, each school sends one team per participating grade level to compete in the district Battle of the Books. The goal of Battle of the Books is to teach students how to work together in a group for a common goal, expose them to award-winning pieces of literature, and encourage a high volume of reading inside and outside of the classroom.  Yes, it is a competition, but the purpose is to foster a love of reading!

• Even though this is a competition, the purpose of Battle of the Books is to inspire reading for the love of reading, not competition.  Please follow all the rules below and remember we want to be fair to all the students participating in the competition and compete under the same guidelines.

• All students are encouraged to read ALL the books on the Book List for the event.

• School Teams compete in March to send one winning team per grade level to the District competition in April.

Team Design:

• A School team is a group of students in the same grade level. 
  • Students read all fall semester.
  • Practice questions are sent to the team managers in January. Team managers can use them to practice for the school and district competitions.
  • Grade levels teams compete at the school level to determine which 5 students will move on to the district competition in April.
  • All school battles should be completed by date tbd.

  • School winning teams register to this form by date tbd.

• A District Team is a group of up to 5 students within the same grade level. 
  • If a student unexpectedly can not compete, teams will be allowed to substitute in another student who must be reported at the end of the day before the competition. There will not be substitutes rotating into the battle during the competition. 

District Competition:

• Locations will be announced in December
• Multiple teams sit in assigned classrooms and complete a quiz under the guidance of an emcee who will broadcast into each classroom.
• Questions will be read aloud by the emcee while students follow along reading on their team chromebook. Teams have 30 seconds to answer. All teams move to the next question at the same time.
• Awards are given out live after any ties have been resolved. Team members receive a certificate and a new book. The team takes home a traveling trophy to display for the following school year.

Battle of the Books Titles:

• The Battle of the Books Titles List will be posted on the Battle of the Books main page in September.

• BVSD uses books from the Alaska Association of School Librarians. All books and questions are selected and written by this organization and not by employees of BVSD.

Costs:

• BVSD purchases your school membership and a district membership along with covering the costs involved in conducting the district competition.  

• School Coordinators are responsible for gathering the books and running the school battle. 
  • Both the Boulder Bookstore and Barnes and Noble Boulder offer teacher discounts of 20%. 
  • The Library Services department will do their best to add BoB books to the district digital library (Sora) and to supplement school libraries with print copies if possible.
  • Donations are welcome. 

• Schools/Teams may choose to design and purchase Team T-shirts to wear to the district competition.

Timeline

Fall 2024:  Get students excited to participate! 

• Bookmarks will be available once the reading lists are finalized.

• All resources can be found in this Battle of the Books webpage. 

• Recruit and identify a Team Manager for each grade. This team manager could be a classroom teacher, teacher librarian, support teacher (ESL, Literacy, Special Education), community volunteer or a parent. The Team Manager will attend the district event in the Spring with the team and will support students reading the books during the school year. 

• Register your teams in October using this Registration Form. You do not need to know the exact students. This registration is only your intent to send grade level teams to the district battle in the Spring. Please include email addresses of all those who should receive communications from the district.  

• Recruit a volunteer to help us run the district Battle in April. In an effort to run a smooth and efficient competition, we are asking each participating team to recruit at least one volunteer to help out on the day of the District Battle. Volunteers who are not BVSD employees must complete the BVSD volunteer process before working at the district event. 

• Start reading and reading and reading and reading!!!

Winter 2024/25:

• Continue to support the reading and discussion of the books through book clubs, lunch groups, or check ins.

• Support students to participate in Practice Rounds for fun! BVSD will upload practice round questions into this Battle of the Books Manager Resrouces page in January.

• Confirm your volunteer can be available for the District Battle.  Volunteers will be expected to arrive early for a brief training session.

Spring 2025:

• If you have more than one team for a grade level, or if you have more than 5 students competing for a spot on the grade level team, run School Battles before date tbd to determine who will be competing at the district level. A BVSD employee should oversee the school battle. 

• Submit the names of your students at each grade level representing your school in the district battle using the District Battle Form which will be emailed to Team Managers in the Spring.

Notice:

• Please check in with your school to find out who is organizing the school competition in March. This information is only for the district competition and schools will coordinate their own event first. The coordinator can be any Staff member or a Volunteer.

• Volunteers must complete the BVSD volunteer process before working in schools or with students. 

• A virtual Team Manager Meeting will be held date tbd. Calendar invitation with the Google Meet link will be sent out by December 1.

The School Coordinator:		Timeframe
Advertises School & District Event Information		10/1-12/1
Sets up a plan for team formation and school competition if necessary		10/1-2/01
Ensures all managers have completed the BVSD volunteer process before working with students		10/1-12/1
Communicates to School Team Managers.		10/1-4/1
Collects and Stores student permission slips English | Spanish		10/1-6/30
If unable to attend and help at District competition, recruits volunteers		10/1-4/1
Holds school competitions & reports winners to the district BoB Coordinator		1/1-4/1
Attends and supervises at the District Competition		April

The Team Manager:
Completes the BVSD volunteer process before working in schools or with students.		10/1-12/1
Recruits and registers grade level teams - see  team formation and school competition		10/1-12/1
Collects Student permission slips prior to meeting as a team and gives completed slips to the coordinator. English | Spanish		10/1-1/1
Provides support to students throughout the reading and quizzing process		10/1-4/1
Communicates to families and students (team members)		10/1-4/1
Prepares Team for District Competition		April
Attends and supervises at the District Competition		April