SCASL Conference Presentation 2016

WHAT? A competition for students to have fun reading books, then answering questions about them. There are ten new books in the program each year. A school competition is held in January, and the winning team advances to compete against other teams in our district.

WHY? We began this adventure to bring uniformity to our elementary schools and advocate for our profession. We also wanted to promote literacy and healthy competition in a fun way.

WHO? 10 Elementary schools in 3 communities: Seneca, Walhalla and Westminster Fourth and fifth grade students are invited to participate. They form teams of 4 to 5 for the competition.

WHEN? Fourth and fifth graders are told about the program during orientation in August. Applications are turned in by Thanksgiving. Practices begin after Christmas (either before, during or after school).

WHERE? School competitions take place in each school building. The district competition is held at an elementary school on a Saturday morning (9 am – noon).

HOW? Book Selection Timeline Writing Questions Rules Volunteers Competition Day Awards

BOOK SELECTION Our media specialists read the new SCASL Children’s Book nominees in the spring and narrow down the list to 10 titles. Reading levels and interests are taken into account. The list is sent home in report cards for rising 4 th and 5 th graders. The public library receives the list, too. We label the selections and keep them in a special place for participants. Participants receive a “BOBmark” to check off the books as they read.

TIMELINE We create a timeline of events for the school year. This keeps us on track and consistent. Media Specialist Timeline August 2015 – Share BOB titles at orientation with 4 th and 5 th grade. September 2015 – BOB applications available to students October 2015 – Check student progress– aim to have 2-3 books read November 20, 2015 – Application cut-off; must have read 4-5 titles December 2015 – Begin practices after Thanksgiving break January School practices continue after Christmas break; Members of teams must have read 8-10 titles by mid-month. Week of January 25, 2016 – School competition (MUST be completed by Jan. 29) Jan. 29, 2016 – T-shirt orders due February 13, 2016 – District competition (snow make-up date of Feb. 27, 2016)

WRITING QUESTIONS One media specialist writes the questions for one book. Questions are reviewed and edited as a group. 20 school questions 10 district questions 5 tie breaker questions *District and tie breakers may include partial and/or full quotes. We make sure our questions challenge the students!

RULES – TEAMS Teams may not bring anything into competition rooms (electronic devices, paper and pencil, etc.). Only one team member is spokesperson. Team members may talk to each other about an answer only when it is their turn to answer and only after the question has been read. If a team member talks out of turn, the team will be penalized. A correct answer consists of the entire book title. Once the team spokesperson begins to respond with a title, only that title will be accepted as the team’s answer. Questions will be read only once for each team. Students are encouraged to “huddle” after questions are asked.

RULES - QUESTIONS Teams are each asked 10 questions in a round. They are allowed 40 seconds to answer a question (after 30 seconds, “warning” is announced). Correct answers receive 5 points. If a team misses a question, it bounces to the next team (they may earn 3 points for a correct answer). Tied scores result in a tie breaker round: Each team will receive the same question, and each team member will write the answer to the question on a card (there is no conferring with teammates). The team with the most correct written answers will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, this process will be repeated until a winner is determined.

RULES - CHALLENGES Challenges must be made before the next new question is asked. The round will stop while the challenger is given the opportunity to explain why the question is being challenged. A coach may confer with the team challenging a question. The team is given an unmarked copy of the book in question by the judge; they have three minutes to explain and prove the challenge. If the challenge is found to have merit, scores will be adjusted appropriately. If it is found not to have merit, the scores will stand. If the judge cannot determine if the challenge has merit, the question will be discarded, no points will be awarded to either team, and the question will be replaced. The decision of the judge is final and cannot be challenged. ·

VOLUNTEERS Teachers, media specialists, literacy coaches, and administrators are recruited to assist with the district competition. Our district gives professional development credit to volunteers. Moderators – ask questions in preliminary rounds Timekeepers – keep time as questions are asked Tallykeepers – keep up with how many questions are asked to each team Scorekeepers - keep score for each team We make sure competition rooms have volunteers from several different schools. We spend about 20 minutes coaching our volunteers on their jobs for the day.

COMPETITION DAY We offer light refreshments to our volunteers, and then we go over job assignments for the day. We begin in the cafeteria with all students and families. After an introduction and reading of the rules, teams are randomly drawn for the first round of competition (these take place in classrooms). The process is repeated for the second round. Teams not participating in the final round receive participation medals on stage. The final 3 teams compete on stage for the final round; medals and trophies are presented when the competition is over.

AND THE WINNER IS…. Each school team receives a BOB t-shirt. Students not participating in the final competition are awarded participation medals after the second preliminary round. Trophies and medals are awarded for the 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd place winners. The trophies are displayed in the media center. Plaques with student names are displayed in the media center. A celebration and/or trip is planned for the school winners. A press release is sent out by our district to local news agencies.

WORDS OF WISDOM Keep things consistent – have school practices begin at the same time and make school competitions the same week. Use score cards, timer apps & microphones in school and district competitions. Start planning early! Do not plan Book Fairs during BOB competitions! Ask for feedback from parents, volunteers and administrators. Don’t be afraid to ask for money to help pay for BOB! This is a team event for the students and the media specialists. Work together to make it a success!

QUESTIONS? If you would like more information, samples, forms, etc., please us!  Fredda  Cindy  Melissa  Mary Anne  Joy