Battle of the Books is a voluntary reading incentive program available for students in schools throughout the Archdiocese of Washington. Students engage in a variety of activities and discussions about books to enhance their understanding and appreciation of literature.
The program is sponsored by Our Lady of Guadalupe’s school library in cooperation with the Catholic School Library Association. Students are encouraged but not required to participate.
How do students participate?
Students who choose to participate will join grade-level teams, read selected books, and participate in a Jeopardy style competition. Teams compete against other teams at their grade level answering questions about each of the award-nominated books. The winning team from each class/grade level will then compete against other OLG class champions. The winning team for Our Lady of Guadalupe School will compete against the winning teams from other regional Catholic schools. Not every book will be the best fit for each child so it is important that students work together to ensure each team member is comfortable with their selection. The goals is to ensure that at least one person on their team has each of the 12 books.
Are there different rounds of competition?
Are there different rounds of competition?There are 3 rounds of competition: Grade Level, Building Level and District (archdiocese) Level. The winning team from OLG will be invited to participate against winning teams from other regional Catholic schools at a site to be determined each year.
Where do students get the books?
Families are welcome to purchase books for their child but it is not required. Our school library has at least one copy of each title. The Seattle Public Library and the King County library also purchase multiple copies of these titles. They also have ebooks and audio books for some of titles, so there are many options for access to these books. Some teams choose to purchase a set of books and share amongst their teammates, but this is not an expectation.
What is the timeline for the competition?
- In October, the students are introduced to the set of books selected for the year.
- In January, students form grade-level teams consisting of three to five students but are very strongly encouraged to have a team of four. Students will determine which books each team member will read based on the input from their teammates.
- In late spring (end of April early May) we begin the classroom and building competitions.
