The 3rd annual WISD Battle of the Books Tournament is quickly approaching. Middle grade (6-8) teams from Tison, Hall, and Seguin will compete against each other on Friday, April 20th at the WHS library for tournament glory!

If you are new to this style of competition, check out this video from Region 13: http://www4.esc13.net/library-media-services/battle-of-the-books/

Books for the WISD Battle of the Books Tournament are selected from the Texas Lone Star List as well as other ALA (American Library Association) award lists. The following is posted on the website for the Texas Lone Star List:

The Texas Lone Star list is a recommended reading list developed by public and school librarians from the Young Adult Round Table. The purpose of the list is to encourage students in grades 6, 7, or 8 to explore a variety of current books. The Lone Star list is intended for recreational reading, not to support a specific curriculum. Due to the diversity of this age range, Texas librarians should purchase titles on this list according to their individual collection policies.

There are ten books selected for the battle. Below are the book covers, titles, and authors of the ten books selected for the 2018 WISD Battle of the Books Tournament.

ELA teachers and co-teachers at Tison and Hall will choose five to six students to make a team. Each team will need to create a team name as well as a poster to display the day of the tournament. Posters should be legible and large enough to read at the front of the room. There will be an award for best team spirit! Each team will also need to elect a team captain prior to the tournament.

Each ELA teacher or co-teacher will act as the B.O.B. coach for the team he or she created. However, this role is not an active one - the coach's job is mainly to keep the materials (books & fact tracker forms) for his or her team in a central location and maintain the record sheet to keep track of who's read which book.

Questions will come from the ten books listed above. Types of questions might include multiple choice, true/false, and short answer.

Identification-Type Questions

Quote Identification -- students identify the book from a direct quote and answer with the title of the book and the author's last name.

Book Identification -- "In which book..." or "In which TWO books..." -- students answer with the title of the book and the author's last name.

Answers to identification-type questions must also use the correct spelling and punctuation for the book title and author!

Questions may come from the body of the book, illustrations, glossary, author notes, or any other information provided by the author inside the book. No questions will come from the book's cover illustration.

Round 1

Consists of twenty-five questions worth two points each.

A question will be read (as well as posted on a giant screen) and teams have 25 seconds to discuss their answer and write it on a white board. All teams will display their answers at the same time.

TITLES OF BOOKS MUST BE WRITTEN EXACTLY AS DISPLAYED ON THE TITLE PAGE OF THE BOOK, AND MUST BE SPELLED CORRECTLY. WHEN REQUIRED, AUTHOR'S LAST NAMES MUST BE SPELLED CORRECTLY. No partial credit will be given.

For short answer questions, answers must be easily recognized. If a word is misspelled, the judges' discretion is final as to whether an answer is correct or not.

After Round 1, ALL teams will continue on to Round 2. At the beginning of Round 2, the teams winning the first round will begin with the following point totals:

1st Place: 5 points

2nd Place: 4 points

3rd Place: 3 points

4th Place: 2 points

5th Place: 1 point

6th and up: 0 Points

Round 2

Consists of twenty-five questions worth two points each and will proceed in the same manner as Round 1. The winner of Round 2 is the winner of the contest. If there is a tie after Round 2 all teams with the top score will proceed to a tie-breaking Round 3.

Round 3 (Tie-Breaker Round)

Consists of three-question sets. The team ahead after the first set of three questions will be the first place winner. If there is no winner after the first set of questions, another three questions will be asked. There will be a total of 3 three-question sets.

If there is a first place winner and a tie for second place, both (or all) second place teams will be declared second place winners.

Challenges may be made for the following reasons:

*A team feels their answer should have been correct.

*A team feels that the judges' answer to a question is incorrect.

Teams should be prepared to defend their challenge by locating textual evidence in the book in question. A set of books will be available to the teams and the judges for this purpose. A team has exactly 1 minute to locate the textual evidence.

Only the team captain may bring a challenge to the judges. Team members will signal to the judges using a "Challenge" sign. The team will meet the judges at the judges' table for the challenge hearing. After the challenge has been heard, the team will return to their table to wait for the judges to confer and announce their decision.

Challenges must take place before the next question is asked. Challenges will NOT be heard once the next question has been asked. Each team is only given ONE challenge opportunity the whole tournament.

The judges' decision is final and will be made with all fairness in mind.

The following are a few sample questions from the 2014 Battle of the Books Tournament hosted by Region 13.

Sample Question #1:

In Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip, which character is Peter describing in the following quote:

"I love the guy, but he barely seems to notice that other human beings have emotions, so he says and does completely offensive stuff at random moments without a shred of explanation."

Sample Question #2:

In which two books does the father of the main character have a gambling problem?