Please check with your teacher to confirm when your classroom battles will begin.
Keep reading from the list of selected book titles for the 3rd-5th Grade Division, and be sure to check out some PRACTICE QUESTIONS created by the Cedar Mill Library. These are not official OBOB questions, but should give your student an idea of the similar style of questions they might be asked during a battle.
The Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is a voluntary statewide program for reading motivation and comprehension sponsored by the Oregon Association of School Libraries in conjunction with a Library Services and Technology Act grant. The goals are to encourage reading for enjoyment, broaden reading interests, increase reading comprehension, and promote cooperative learning.
The Oregon Battle of the Books Hiteon competition is here!
The OBOB program is intended for students to read selected books and answer questions on their content. Between now and Winter Break , students should be forming their teams and reading from the OBOB Book List for 3rd-5th Grade Division.
Each team will be made up of 4 students, with an option of selecting one alternate. However, only 4 members can participate in a battle. A spokesperson will need to be selected for each team. Teams should give their list of participants and team to their classroom teacher before returning from Winter Break in January.
Note to Volunteers: The Oregon Battle of the Books is a voluntary program. OBOB welcomes students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. You may feel that the content and/or theme of a title is not appropriate for your child. OBOB recommends that you read and discuss these books together with your child.
We are excited to be able to the OBOB tradition as we know so many of our Hiteon students and families enjoy this!
HISTORY
The original idea for Battle of the Books came from a radio program sponsored by the Chicago Public Library in the early 1940’s. Prior to 2006, several schools in Oregon had their own Battle of the Books competitions.
In 2006, Oregon Association of School Libraries (OASL) President Allen Kopf formed a committee to submit a LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) grant proposal for a statewide Oregon Battle of the books program. The OASL Committee managed five successful years with other 410 schools participating in local, regional, and state competitions.
To learn more about Oregon Battle of the Books, please visit the OBOB website.
Player and Team Guidelines
- All students participating must be in grades 3 – 5, 6 – 8, or 9 – 12 for the current school year.
- Students must participate within the school that they are registered. A school may not form a team consisting of students registered at multiple schools.
- Each team must have a sponsor from their school who is a school library media specialist, library paraprofessional, or other school staff member.
- Composition of the team members may not change once the regional battles have started.
- Regional competitions do not require participation in a district/county/ESD competition. State battles do require participation in the regional competitions.
- Each school may send only one team, per division, to the regional competition (grant recipients must attend and compete in the regional competitions).
- Each region will send its top team in each division to the state competition. Some regions will be allowed to send more than one team to the state competition, depending on the number of registered teams competing at the regional competition. Regional managers will be notified of the number of teams their region is allowed to send to state each year before they host their regional competition.
- Teams are usually made up of four members, with one optional alternate, for a total of five members. However, no more than four students may participate in any given battle.
- There may be only one alternate. This alternate may take the place of another player for a battle. When the alternate is used, the alternate must remain in competition for the entire battle. No other substitutions may be made during a battle.
- No other person may assist in answering any question directed to a team, or any challenge decisions, including the team’s coach. The Moderator will disqualify a team determined to be receiving outside help.
- In the event of a situation that is not specifically addressed in the OBOB rules, the decision of the Moderator/co-Judge(s) in the room for that battle is final.
- The OBOB Committee has the authority to refuse to allow a team to participate in the event of unsportsmanlike behavior or other extenuating circumstances.
For specific information on rules and competition procedures, please check out OBOB Official Handbook. For up to date information about OBOB, please visit OBOB’s Facebook Page.
January – mid February | Classroom Battles – These will be held by teachers in their classroom. The number of teams competing in a class determines the start date of the battles. All battles use the same questions each day, whether they are practicing or if they are in an “official” battle. All classroom winners will be decided before grade level battles begin.
End of February | Grade Level Battles – The winning team from each grade level classroom will compete in battles against the other classroom winners of the same grade.
Late February – Early March | School Battles – The winning team from 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade will battle against each other to determine our school team to represent Hiteon at the Regional Competition. There will be one battle a day until a school winner is decided.
Regional Battles – The location and time TBD.