Battle of the Booksby Lauri Griffin | More from this Blogger 28 Jun 2008 06:29 PM My twin boys are busy this summer reading up for Battle of the Books. They love to read, have great memories, and love to discuss (argue) about books, so this a great program for them. We've had a lot of fun asking each other questions about the books we've read. The kids actually do a lot better than I do! Battle of the Books is a reading incentive program for students in grades 4th-12th. Our elementary school has sponsored a team for many years. Students who are interested in participating read from a list of pre-chosen books. Most of the books are fabulous reads. The students then compete against other groups of student demonstrating their knowledge of the books. The competitions are run like College Bowls. The better a team does, the longer they are in the competition. There are even regional and statewide competitions. This program is great for encouraging reading. It's also a fun way for the children to have an opportunity to talk about books with other students, their parents, and their teachers. Parents who love books are often encouraged to volunteer by helping think up sample questions. The America's Battle of the Books site provides resources to students, parents, public and private schools, librarians, home schools and international schools. Their site has the recommended book lists, training videos, instructions for starting a program, and a listing of possible sponsors. You can also order copies of the books from their site if you want multiple copies of the same title. Example titles from our school are Kokopelli's Flute by Will Hobbs, The Cay by Theodore Taylor, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis, The BFG by Roald Dahl, The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis, and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. Even if your school doesn't participate, check out their book lists, and consider asking one another questions about the books you are reading. It's really a lot of fun. Also See: Great Books For Your 5th Or 6th Grader Learn more about Lauri Griffin  Lauri lives in Colorado with her husband and three sons. Amidst all the laundry and packing of lunches, she tries to keep parenting fun. Relevantmedia tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags Battle of the Books, booklists for kids, encouraging reading, making reading fun, reading quizzes Discuss this article
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