Sunday, April 20, 2008 10:56 PM CDT
'Battle of the Books' couples reading, spirit of competition
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — Saturday’s “Battle of the Books” at Riddle Elementary School was a real page-turner: There was plenty of drama and suspense accompanying the annual trivia competition among Mattoon fourth- and fifth-grade students.
But even though only one team from each grade level emerged victorious, many participants said the preparation for the contest was worth the effort simply because it entailed consuming a lot of good books from the renowned Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award list, from which all of the Battle of the Books questions were derived.
“It was just fun to read books you never read before,” said Trey Skocy, captain of the all-male “Battling Book Beasts” team, which came in second place overall among fourth-grade teams.
Groups of four to five from Williams and Riddle elementary schools divvied up the 20 novels chosen by Battle of the Books organizers, including Mattoon elementary school librarians Peggy Burton and Jennifer Muzzy.
The contest featured several rounds of head-to-head competition, followed by semifinals and finals.
With the exception of the latter half of the final round, teams had to provide the titles of books and the names of their authors in response to questions from a moderator. The opposing team could “steal” questions following incorrect answers.
For example, in the deadlocked fifth-grade semifinal round, moderator Malinda Sawyer, a third-grade teacher at Williams, asked a tie-breaker question: “In which book is the setting the coast of Newfoundland?”
The “Fantastic Four” team from Riddle incorrectly answered, “Stone Warriors,” but the all-girl “Five Flavors” team correctly said “Thunder from the Sea” and sealed a berth in the final round.
The members of the Five Flavors — Elizabeth Heldman, Megan Shaffer, Ali Janes, Madison Webster and Christin Watkins — said they studied the books at home on their own and together during recess at school. The Five Flavors ultimately placed second in their grade level.
In the second half of the final round, the questions addressed elements common to multiple books on the list, and teams had to name the titles of two of these novels, but not their authors.
“That was the easiest” round, said Blake Raboin, member of the winning fourth grade team, the “Pop Rock ‘N Readers,” which also included Alyssa Nichols, Gabby Garza, Lindsay Spitz and Macy Rogers.
The “Runts” team from Williams — made up of Hope Shumard, Hunter Levingston, Jackson Berg, Craig Henness, Daniel Ferguson and Dylan Eveland — placed first at the fifth grade level. All of the teammates participated last year as well.
The secret to their success, said Levingston, was “paying attention.”
And “patience,” added Henness.
And “not blurting out the answer,” Berg blurted.
This was the second year of the Battle of the Books in Mattoon. Burton said she and Muzzy hope to include other area schools in future contests.
“I think it went very well,” she said of this year’s event. “The kids there were here were dedicated. They’ve done the reading. They were excited.”
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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