Third-graders arming themselves with books

february 7, 2013

Schuylerville third-graders are mobilizing their literary talents in preparation for the Battle of the Books, a regional literacy competition testing students’ knowledge of 10 books. The battle will take place on Thursday, March 15, 2013, though Schuylerville’s 14 star readers have been preparing for a few months.

“We meet once a week during lunch to discuss the books and review trivia related to the stories,” said Elementary School Librarian Maria Weeks. “The students read on their own time. It’s up to 50 pages per week, so the students participating are very motivated readers.”

For the competition, students must answer questions about 10 books that are read by all teams. The books are chosen based on Lexile levels, which is a measure of the difficulty level of a particular book or text. Half of the books are fiction and half are non-fiction. For third-graders, this year’s books include Rules by Cynthia Lord, Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan and Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca.

Some of the books are those recommended for children to read in order to be prepared for the more difficult learning standards (i.e., the Common Core Learning Standards) being introduced in New York State and throughout the nation.

The Battle of the Books will be held at Adirondack Community College and will include area students from grades 3-6; Schuylerville may expand its participation to grades other than third in the future, depending on student interest. At the moment, though, the district’s current team members are excited about the opportunity to participate.

Schuylerville third-graders look over the newest book they'll read in preparation for the Battle of the Books competition.

“I wanted to do this because reading is my best subject,” said Sam Badali.

“I like talking with others about the books we’ve read,” commented Clare Sacks.

At a recent lunch-time meeting, the participants tried to come up with trivia questions that might be asked during the competition. They also discussed some of the favorite books they’ve read so far.

“My favorite is Sarah, Plain and Tall,” said Anna Lail. “I like the descriptive writing in the book."

Many students mentioned Rules as a favorite due to the memorable characters (a child with autism and a paraplegic boy, for example) and some hilarious lines, which the readers can recite word-for-word.

The third-graders participating in Battle of the Books are:

 

Liam Armstrong

Sam Badali

Anna Belden

Victoria Cooper

Daniel Farbaniec

Jack Gulick

Anna Lail

Claire Pelletier-Hoblock

Katie Pelletier-Hoblock

Ryan Rhoades

Alexandria Robeson

Clare Sacks

Mark Solen

Caleb Wright.

 

Best of luck to the students in the competition!