April 19, 2026: Battle of the Books

This week we had our first Face to Face Competition of this year’s Battle of the Books Team.  In Battle of the Books, teams of students compete against each other to see who can answer the most questions correctly on the pre-selected books. The books that are used are the fifteen Sunshine State Books that our state Library Association selects each year.  

Our club is open to 3^rd through 5^th graders who want to read and talk about the books.  We start meeting at the beginning of the school year and meet weekly to share our progress and talk about the books.  In December, a “Competition Team” is selected. Six students who will actually compete with the teams from other schools. 

At the end of March was our Preliminary Round, which was conducted virtually.  Our Team logged on and they went head-to-head against teams from 17 other schools.  In 3 rounds of 30 questions each, they answered questions about all 15 of the SSYRA Books.  The top two teams in that virtual competition go on to the Final Round of Competition later in the spring.  We were not one of those teams.

But as luck would have it, another local school had decided that they wanted to host an invitational face-to-face competition.  The Media Specialist felt that even if the schools did not make it to the final round, those students deserved a chance to compete F2F. That the experience was worth the work to make it happen.

With that Invitational now behind us, I have to agree with her. Face-to-face competitions are so much more powerful.  While the virtual competition certainly has its positives, I am just marveling at the difference being in the same space as their competitors made for our students.

-       Being in the same room with your opponents is a powerful motivator.  Seeing their faces as they huddle and talk about the questions. Looking at their expressions for clues as to whether they are sure of their answer or not. These kinds of things were not possible in the virtual set-up.

-       Being in a F2F situation prevented distractions that I have seen during virtual competitions.  During their virtual rounds, after selecting their answer, as they waited for other teams to select their answers, the students chatted, often about things that distracted them from the task at hand. Because teams were muted in the virtual setting, they did not worry about being quiet. This created an atmosphere that was not as serious as the face-to-face setting. 

-       Being in the same physical space allowed students to actually connect with the other competitors.  During down time, between matches, and during our pizza break at the end, competitors met and mingled with students from other schools.  It was fun to hear them commiserate about missing questions or discovering that they had the same favorite book as another student.

While our district’s Battle of the Books format and structure will likely not change, I love that some of our local schools are seeking creative ways for kids who might not make the top tier after the preliminary round, still have a chance to experience a F2F competitive situation.