Battle of the Books 2015

Battle of the Books is serious business around here. And Ivory joined the ranks this year. In previous years, I have tried hard to read the books with the kids or make sure they are reading, but I have turned ownership over to the kids. I figure if they read the books, they can feel good about doing well. If they don't read, and do poorly, that is part of life. (And I guess there is always the scenario where they read the books and still do poorly. That also is part of life.)

Let's start with Miss Ivory. She was very excited to read and battle. She worked hard in her group and read almost everything. She was the team captain, but only because the original captain moved. They made posters at school and I think her team did such a great job.

Volunteering for Battle of the Books is my favorite. I didn't ever see Ivory's team, but I hear on day 1, in one of her battles, each team didn't miss ANY questions. (That hardly ever happens.) Ivory's team won three, tied one, and lost one. That is pretty darn good. The next day during tournament play, they lost early on, but I think she did a fantastic job and she will be all ready for next year.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of Robyn. I did get to help with one of her battles. They won a lot of battles the first day, and during tournament play, moved on to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by a really good team. Robyn was also her team captain. She did a great job, especially since I know not all the kids on her team read the books.

June is at a different school and I have never helped there before, but this year, I was able to volunteer over there as well. First team of the day happened to be June's team. They won, and went on to win all of their battles. Smarties.

I don't take pictures during battles because usually I am helping, so I didn't get any pictures until the final battle at June's school. (Although Robyn didn't make it to the finals, she was called back up to be in the All-Stars battle against the teachers. The kids creamed the teachers!! They do every year.)

It was kind of sad because the finals at June's school was between two teams of girls from the same class. So really, just a bunch of friends battling. June said she was torn between wanting to win and wanting the other team to win.

In the end, June's team was victorious. They did a good job and everyone was a good sport on both sides.

Next up...battling the teachers. (Their teacher Mrs. Billings was the team captain.)

It wasn't a competition...at least not a close one. The kids blew them away.

Oh...I should tell you all the team names.

Ivory was on the Reading Rescuers.
Robyn was one of the Golden Books. (Cute.)
And June was a Read Dragon. (Pronounced 'red'. Clever pun, I think.)

June's team went on to the district competition. They went last year and did okay. (Did I ever blog about it??) They lost their first two games, but came back to win two and tie one, I think.

This year, they did much better. Four games won in a row. They kind of lost their momentum on the last game and didn't pull through, but overall, I think they felt good about the day.

Here they are at the end waiting for results. They only announce the top five teams and sadly, the Read Dragons did not make it. (It was later that we found out that ranked number six. Not too shabby.)

Mrs. Giles always helps out with the event. She is such a great lady. What makes me happiest of all is that since the program started, her school, Vineyard, has never won. This time, Vineyard went all the way to the top. In fact, the team that beat Robyn's team were the champions. Good job Vineyard. (And you can feel a little better about losing to them Robyn.)

Good job all you girls.

Oh...I was just removing pictures from my phone and I found this picture from last year at district....when they were the Bookworms. They sure grow up a lot in one year. And yes, I have too many pictures on my phone.