Winners of the "Battle of the Books"

Anna's team won the Battle of the Books competition today at their school and they are going to the district to compete on Friday, March 23rd!

At Meadowview Elementary School (and all the other schools in Woodridge School District 68), kids in 3rd grade and 4th-6th grade competed in a Battle of the Books. A list of books to read for the battle is given out at the end of the previous school year so kids can begin reading if they choose to start. They have time throughout the school year until the day of the battle to complete their reading.

Students who want to participate are put onto a team. Anna and the other 3rd-6th grade students who are in Mrs. Neylon's Literacy Enrichment class, are required to participate. Emma decided that she wanted to participate this year, too.

The list of 12 books for 3rd graders to read were: Mr. Popper's Penguins, Freckle Juice, A Lion to Guard Us, Tornado, Muggie Maggie, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Molly's Pilgrim, James and the Giant Peach, My Father's Dragon, Boxcar Children, Charlotte's Web, and Little House in the Big Woods.

The list of 30 books for 4th-6th graders to read were: The Wish Giver: Three Tales of Coven Tree; The White Mountains; Ice Magic; Because of Winn-Dixie; Phineas L. MacGuire…Erupts!: The First Experiment; By the Great Horn Spoon!; Boxes for Katje; The Patchwork Quilt; What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?; My Side of the Mountain; Old Yeller; Time for Andrew: A Ghost Story; Sheep; Redwall; Harry's Mad; A Wrinkle in Time; Ella Enchanted; Number the Stars; Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days; Anne of Green Gables; Hatchet; Clementine; My Rotten, Redheaded Older Brother; Meet Addy: An American Girl; Scared Stiff; Esperanza Rising; There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom; Knights of the Kitchen Table; Love, Ruby Lavender; and Castle in the Attic.

Each team agrees to read certain books to help their team. They fill out a sheet indicating which books they agree to read and they and their parents need to sign it and have it turned in. Most teams were made up of 7-8 people. Anna's team had 8. Fifteen questions were asked and each team answered the question on their team's dry erase board. They received 5 points for correctly listing the title of the book and 2 points for correctly listing the author of the book. Anna's team (Natasha Krska, Amelia Korbitz, Chloe Orona, Brittany Morales, Jahira Munoz, Natalia Aguilar, Jacey Evangelista, and Anna) did well by receiving 93 points out of the 105 points possible. Way to go Anna! Good luck competing with the other schools at the district competition on Friday!

Like Father, Like Son

For those who Clinton and his LOVE of reading and know Benjamin and his LOVE of reading, you would say "like father, like son". You would never have thought that Benjamin didn't like to read when he was in 3rd grade or even younger. He needed additional help when it came to reading. In 3rd grade, it was a challenge to get him to read and take the required Accelerated Reader (AR) Tests. When Benjamin was in 4th grade, it finally hit. He developed a LOVE for reading.

Over the past few years, he has become much more of an avid reader, a book worm. The thing about Benjamin is that he loves reading books "he" wants to read. It was more of a struggle in 5th and 6th grade when he was on a "Battle of the Books" team. He and three or four friends had agreed to read certain books off of a selection list. They had to know about the stories, the title, and the author when competing. It wasn't his favorite thing to do, but he did it. He said that everyone would want him to be on their team because of his love of reading. I don't think his friends ever saw him without a book in his free time. They got a kick out of his laugh when he would be reading because he would laugh out loud. What he didn't like being on those teams, was having to read required books from the selection list, and not books of his own genre preference.

Now that Benjamin is in 7th grade, he doesn't have to read books and take tests on them, but instead, he has to read a total of 25 books this school year. He has to read books in various categories, which again, makes it less desirable, but it doesn't stop him from reading. The book he is currently reading is "Lord Brocktree" by Brian Jacques. It is a book from the Redwall series. Benjamin loves reading fantasy and fiction books, especially books that are in a series. There are various books that he is waiting to read once they are published. It kills him to wait for books.

I love that boy! I love that he has a passion and love for reading. Hopefully, that passion can carry him far with other studies in school.