Grades 3 - 6
October 4th - May 12th

What is Battle of the Books?

Battle of the Books is a voluntary reading incentive program that we offered at IHM. It is a competition that promotes literature among elementary age students and enhances reading comprehension skills. The purpose is to encourage students to read good books and have fun while reading them.

How does a student participate in Battle of the Books?

A student participates by reading from a book list provided. Students may count books they have read before. However, they cannot count books that they have only seen on a video or a movie. They must read the book or listen to it on tape. It is recommended that they keep a summary so that they can review this information before their competition. Summary logs will be provided.

How does Battle of the Books work?

• Students form teams of 3 to 4 students.
• Each team should register with Mrs. Wilson, giving her the name of each team member along with a group name.
• Mrs. Wilson will monitor each group’s progress over the next few months.
• Questions are in a “Jeopardy style” format so the answers will have to be given in the form of a question. There are several rounds in which questions will be asked to each team in turn. Team members must confer with each other before answering.
• Students designate a captain to speak for the group who answers for the team once they have conferred. We must emphasize that only the captain can speak for the group and only after conferring with team members. Students are given 30 seconds to answer a question. Answering the title correctlyearns the group 2 points. One additional point can be earned by correctly naming the author of the book.
• If the group does not know the title of the book, the next group has 5 seconds to answer the question for the same amount of points. If the second group does not know the answer, the next group starts with a fresh question.
• A local school competition will take place in the library in April.
• The winning teams from each grade level (3-6) will participate in the Archdiocesan Battle of the Books Competition.

Do all team members have to be from the same homeroom?

No. You can have team members from either homeroom, but they must be from the same grade.

Where do the students get the books?

The annual lists of books are posted on the IHM website. The IHM library will try to have multiple copies of many of the titles. Students are also encouraged to visit their public library as well.

When do students read the books?

Students will read their books during the months of October through April.

When is our school Battle of the Books competition?

The IHM school competition will take place around the first week in May. Each grade level will be assigned a certain day and the competition will be held in the library. Parents are welcome to come to the competition.

When and where is the Archdiocesan competition?

The Archdiocesan competition will be held at Queen of Angels Catholic School on May 12th.

When can we start reading Battle books?

Students can start reading at any time. No student will be expected to read all of the titles. Each team should divide the titles equally among the members and the students can take notes for the group on the books they read. Just remember, the competition is a long way off and remembering all those details can be difficult. Work with your team to develop a strategy for remembering all those details. HAVE FUN AND GOOD LUCK!