What is Battle of the Books?
Battle of the Books is a voluntary reading incentive program for students in grades 3-12. The purpose is simply to encourage students to read good books and have fun while competing with peers. The OCC Battle of the Books competition is comprised of high school students from various Central Ohio schools. Each school sends one team to compete. Teams compete by answering trivia questions based on 25 books.
What does "The Battle" consist of?
The OCC Battle of the Books "Battle" takes place in the evening after school. It is a tournament or game, like College Bowl or Family Feud, in which students' teams earn points by answering questions about the books on the book lists. After the advisors for each team compete in a seeding round, teams are sent to their first round of the "Battle." They play several rounds, each against a different team. At the end of the evening, points are totaled and the two teams with the most points are invited to a "Grand Battle," with the other teams as their audience. Find the rules here.
How does a student participate?
A student participates by reading from the book list provided for that year's Battle of the Books. 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. Students read the books on their own throughout the year. The OCC Battle of the Books competition is held every spring, so students have the opportunity to read books over the summer.
What are the benefits?
The students gain knowledge and enjoyment from reading good books, sharing them with friends, parents and teachers, plus a fun day of playing in the "Battle."
How many students are on a team?
Each school has one team of at least 5 members. If a team has more than 5, team members can rotate or sub in after a round has been completed.
Do students have to read all the books?
No, the more students that are on a team, the fewer books you will have to read. This way, each team member is responsible for their couple of books and becomes the expert on those books and teaches the rest of the team.
"Home." America's Battle of the Books. N.p., 2014. Web. 03 Apr. 2018. <http://www.battleofthebooks.org/>.