SCASL Conference Presentation 2016
WHAT?
A competition for students to have fun reading
books, then answering questions about them.
There are ten new books in the program each year.
A school competition is held in January, and the
winning team advances to compete against other
teams in our district.
WHY?
We began this adventure to bring uniformity to our
elementary schools and advocate for our profession.
We also wanted to promote literacy and healthy
competition in a fun way.
WHO?
10 Elementary schools in
3 communities: Seneca,
Walhalla and Westminster
Fourth and fifth grade
students are invited to
participate. They form teams
of 4 to 5 for the competition.
WHEN?
Fourth and fifth graders are told about the program
during orientation in August.
Applications are turned in by Thanksgiving. Practices
begin after Christmas (either before, during or after
school).
WHERE?
School competitions take place in each school
building.
The district competition is held at an elementary
school on a Saturday morning (9 am – noon).
HOW?
Book Selection
Timeline
Writing Questions
Rules
Volunteers
Competition Day
Awards
BOOK SELECTION
Our media specialists read the new SCASL Children’s
Book nominees in the spring and narrow down the
list to 10 titles.
Reading levels and interests are taken into account.
The list is sent home in report cards for rising 4th and
5th graders. The public library receives the list, too.
We label the selections and
keep them in a special place for
participants. Participants
receive a “BOBmark” to check
off the books as they read.
TIMELINE
We create a timeline of events for the school year.
This keeps us on track and consistent. 
Media Specialist Timeline
August 2015 – Share BOB titles at orientation with 4th and 5th grade.
September 2015 – BOB applications available to students
October 2015 – Check student progress– aim to have 2-3 books read
November 20, 2015 – Application cut-off; must have read 4-5 titles
December 2015 – Begin practices after Thanksgiving break
January 2016- School practices continue after Christmas break; Members of
teams must have read 8-10 titles by mid-month.
Week of January 25, 2016 – School competition (MUST be completed by Jan. 29)
Jan. 29, 2016 – T-shirt orders due
February 13, 2016 – District competition (snow make-up date of Feb. 27, 2016)
WRITING QUESTIONS
One media specialist writes the questions for one
book. Questions are reviewed and edited as a group.
20 school questions
10 district questions
5 tie breaker questions
*District and tie breakers may include
partial and/or full quotes.
We make sure our
questions challenge
the students!
RULES – TEAMS
Teams may not bring anything into competition rooms (electronic
devices, paper and pencil, etc.).
Only one team member is spokesperson.
Team members may talk to each other about an answer only
when it is their turn to answer and only after the question has
been read. If a team member talks out of turn, the team will be
penalized.
A correct answer consists of the entire book title.
Once the team spokesperson begins to respond with a title, only
that title will be accepted as the team’s answer.
Questions will be read only once for each team.
Students are encouraged to “huddle” after
questions are asked.
RULES - QUESTIONS
Teams are each asked 10 questions in a round. They are allowed 40 seconds
to answer a question (after 30 seconds, “warning” is announced).
Correct answers receive 5 points. If a team misses a question, it bounces to
the next team (they may earn 3 points for a correct answer).
Tied scores result in a tie breaker round:
Each team will receive the same question, and each team member
will write the answer to the question on a card (there is no conferring
with teammates). The team with the most correct written answers
will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, this process will be
repeated until a winner is determined.
RULES - CHALLENGES
Challenges must be made before the next new question is asked.
The round will stop while the challenger is given the opportunity to
explain why the question is being challenged.
A coach may confer with the team challenging a question. The team is
given an unmarked copy of the book in question by the judge; they
have three minutes to explain and prove the challenge.
If the challenge is found to have merit, scores will be adjusted
appropriately. If it is found not to have merit, the scores will stand.
If the judge cannot determine if the challenge has merit, the question
will be discarded, no points will be awarded to either team, and the
question will be replaced.
The decision of the judge is final and cannot be challenged.
·
VOLUNTEERS
Teachers, media specialists, literacy
coaches, and administrators are
recruited to assist with the district
competition. Our district gives
professional development credit to
volunteers.
Moderators – ask questions in preliminary rounds
Timekeepers – keep time as questions are asked
Tallykeepers – keep up with how many questions are
asked to each team
Scorekeepers - keep score for each team
We make sure competition rooms have volunteers from several
different schools. We spend about 20 minutes coaching our
volunteers on their jobs for the day.
COMPETITION DAY
We offer light refreshments to our volunteers, and then
we go over job assignments for the day.
We begin in the cafeteria with all students and families.
After an introduction and reading of the rules, teams
are randomly drawn for the first round of
competition (these take place in classrooms). The
process is repeated for the second round.
Teams not participating in the final round receive
participation medals on stage.
The final 3 teams compete on stage for the final round;
medals and trophies are presented when the
competition is over.
AND THE WINNER IS….
Each school team receives a BOB t-shirt.
Students not participating in the final competition are awarded
participation medals after the second preliminary round.
Trophies and medals are awarded for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place
winners. The trophies are displayed in the media center.
Plaques with student names are displayed in the media center.
A celebration and/or trip is planned for the school winners.
A press release is sent out by our district to local news agencies.
WORDS OF WISDOM
Keep things consistent – have school practices begin at the same
time and make school competitions the same week.
Use score cards, timer apps & microphones
in school and district competitions.
Start planning early!
Do not plan Book Fairs
during BOB competitions! 
Ask for feedback from parents, volunteers and
administrators.
Don’t be afraid to ask for money to help pay
for BOB!
This is a team event for the students and the media
specialists. Work together to make it a success!
QUESTIONS?
If you would like more information, samples,
forms, etc., please email us!
Fredda Shaw @ [email protected]
Cindy Edgerton@ [email protected]
Melissa Farmer @ [email protected]
Mary Anne Robbins @
[email protected]
Joy Waller @ [email protected]