BATTLE OF BOOKS
Annual event at Skidmore College draws selected students in Grades 3 to 5 to answer questions about five fiction, five non-fiction books
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Back in September the work began at Schuylerville Elementary School.
Selected students in third, fourth and fifth grade read five fiction books and five non-fiction books, meeting before school with their coach twice a week. On Monday, the months of hard work were put to the test as the group then competed in the seventh annual Battle of the Books at Skidmore College.
The students prepared for all sorts of questions about the books. The competition is round-robin with students having 20 seconds to answer a recall question, responding with the full author and book title to secure points.
Fifth-grader Olivia Crowley participated in Battle of the Books again Monday.
“Working together as a team to answer questions is just really fun,” Crowley said. “It’s really fun because all of my friends are here and we love to read and talk about books.”
Loving to read is the only requirement to be included in the battle.
“You don’t need to be the best reader, but you have
"Working together as a team to answer questions is just really fun. It’s really fun because all of my friends are here and we love to read and talk about books." — Fifth-grader Olivia Crowley, who participated in Battle of the Books on Monday
to want to read,” Crowley’s coach Maria Weeks explained.
Weeks doesn’t just coach the fifth grade. She’s the third and fourth grader Battle of the Books teacher at Schuylerville as well.
“It’s fun, because these kids are reading anyway. They might not pick these books to read, so it’s nice to expose them to books that they wouldn’t maybe chose on their own,” Weeks said. “Sometimes they find a book they really like [for example] Gregor the Overlander, there’s five or six books in the series, and I have kids who never would have picked it up, and now they have read all of them, plus all of the Battle of the Books’ books.
“It gets them excited. They tell their friends about the books.”
Washington-SaratogaWarren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES hosted the event for the seventh year. School Library System Coordinator J’aime Pfeiffer said the event continues to grow each year.
This year more than 470 kids competed, creating 62 teams. Nine of the 10 books are the same each year, explained Pfeiffer, to save the schools money. One new book, however, is introduced to the specific grade level each year.
Gregg Barthelmas, principal of Schuylerville Elementary School, said he’s always impressed watching his school compete.
“You see them in there in how they take it to heart ..,” Barthelmas said. “They don’t realize at the time when they are going through the motion of trying to win this competition, what they are really doing with regards to learning in general.
“I am super proud of them, because they are going above and behind.”
Fourth-grader Sylvie Farbaniec, said she liked making new friends.
Farbaniec had fun competing, she said. The event’s toughest challenge, however, was the time limit.
“To agree on one book while we are competing,” Farbaniec said. “We might agree on two, but we only have 20 seconds to answer, so we have to agree on one and then answer.”
Third-grader Jason McCaughey agreed the biggest challenge was the time. McCaughey, who competed in Battle of the Books for the first time, said it was very exciting to be there.
He does have a favorite book.
“Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, because it’s about a dog and a girl,” he said.
It’s a long process as the children read and re-read the books. Weeks quizzes them using flashcards. The group watches videos from the authors. There’s even an online game to practice, but it’s all worth it in the end.
“It’s such a great thing for them be able to come in and compete for something academic that they’re doing in school ..,” said Weeks. “It’s huge that BOCES puts this together, because this is not something any of us could do on our own.
“For them to put together, for Skidmore to let us come and let us use their space, it’s great. The kids look forward to it. It gives us a chance to shine.”