Information for Coaches and Parents

Book lists for students, parents and coaches are available in the school library and on our webpage.  A collection of “Battle” books for fifth grade is available to be checked out to Battle participants one book at a time for two weeks at a time.

There is no deadline for sign-up. There can be 3 to 4 students per team. 

Parents, teachers, or high school students can be coaches.  Coaches do not have to read the books, but are certainly welcome to (they’re fun).  As a coach, you need to be the contact person for parents and battle coordinators (we need your email and/or phone number).  You will need to be a registered volunteer through the District 6 website.  You must organize meetings (frequency, location, and time; fun and focused, but not too frequent or lengthy)
Coaches should help their teams decide who reads what, encourage their teams to read, help memorize titles & authors (flashcards, for example), help with practice questions, help decide team name, make team poster, and attend the battles to support your team.

If you haven't already had a meeting, schedule one soon. Speak to the students on your team and get their contact information. Here's a breakdown of what you should do when you meet. 

*1st meeting: make sure everyone has a reading list, decide who will read what and how many times, pick a team name, silly or serious (some are just seriously silly), let Bridget know what it is, and have your team create a poster (include the team's name).

*2nd meeting: finish team poster, check on how the reading is coming along, start memorizing book titles and authors (by making and using flashcards, for instance). When it's complete, bring your poster to Bridget to be put on display in the library!

*Subsequent meetings: practice titles/authors, use practice questions, familiarize team with how the battles work

*Try to make meetings fun and not too long
*Keep parents of your team members informed with reading lists, dates, times, and places of meetings and battles

During the Battle, questions will take this format: “In which book……?”  The team must come to an agreement and answer in this format: “___(title)___ by __(author)___.”  

Example: “In which book is the main character a pet hamster?”  Answer: “I, Houdini by Lynn Reid Banks.”

There are practice questions available for most of the books that coaches can use to quiz their teams.  These give contestants the chance to practice titles and authors and become comfortable with the format.  Mr. Zwickle has these, so contact her when your team is ready for them.

6 or more teams compete in the same round in the same room.  Judges will ask the same question to all of the teams at once.  Instead of saying the answer out loud, teams will write their answers on whiteboards and keep them concealed until everyone has finished writing.  Teams still have 30 seconds to begin writing their answers, but after 30 seconds are up, the team must be silent while the writer finishes writing the answer.  When everyone is ready, all teams reveal their answers at the same time. There is no penalty for slight spelling mistakes, although contestants should know how to spell the titles and authors’ names.  Answers consist of the title (5pts.) & author (3pts.) for 8 points possible per question. The answers need to be complete (title & author’s name).

MOST IMPORTANTLY, PLEASE REMEMBER: Good sportsmanship within your team and with other teams is the key to a great experience for everyone.  Have fun!