Battle of the Books - Rules and Procedures

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presented by Howard County Library and the Howard County Public School System

2013 Coach Handbook

Rules and Procedures

Check In Procedures

1. A team consists of five students. Each student must have turned in a signed participation form and a signed photo release form to compete. Each team must have at least three students checked-in at their Battle location by 6:45 pm. If three students are not present at this time, the team will be disqualified. After 6:45 pm, no other team members will be allowed to participate. Teams play against every team at their Battle location.

2. Each team must have an adult coach present at the Battle. In case of emergency which prevents a coach from being present at the Battle, another adult must take the coach's place or the team will be disqualified. Coaches or their designees will check in starting at 5:45 pm and will receive their information packets. Coaches will then go to their designated area in the auxiliary gym to await the arrival of their students. If they are accompanying their coach, students will also be allowed to check in at 5:45 pm. Otherwise, student check-in begins at 6 pm.

3. Coaches will receive a packet of pencils, answer sheets and other Battle supplies, as well as a packet of certificates for their team members.

4. No cell phones, electronic devices, or other reading materials will be allowed on the gym floor by coaches OR students.

5. Once students have checked in, they will be accompanied to a staging area for team pictures and to line up for the procession into the gym where the Battle is played.

How the Battle is Played

1. Team members sit together on a thin mat on a 5'x7' grid on the floor of a school gymnasium. A chair will be provided for each coach.

2. For safety reasons, no items may extend beyond your team's grid space or they be removed.

3. No blankets, pillows or sit-upons will be permitted on the floor.

4. While coaches process in with their teams, they do not sit with their team during the Battle. Coaches will sit with another team, and are expected to moderate and encourage that team. There will be announcement during the opening ceremony when coaches are to move to their mentored team.

5. A moderator will ask questions about the books. The moderator will read each question only two times.

6. The Battle will include at least one question about each book.

7. Four different types of questions may be asked:
a) a direct quote from a character in the book
b) a question or statement about something that happens in the book
c) a passage taken directly from a book
d) a question about something from an illustration or picture

8. Teams will have 30 seconds to quietly discuss and record their answers. The scribe (team member designated to write the answer) will write the title and author on an answer sheet. Answers are strictly from memory. No notes or books may be used.

9. When the 30 seconds are up, time is called, all pencils must be put down, and the answer sheets will be collected by a volunteer. Even if the team did not write down an answer, the blank answer sheet will still be collected.

10. After the answer sheets are collected and turned in at the scorekeeper's table, the moderator will announce the answer to the audience.

11. Any allegations of cheating must be made by a coach to a staff member before the start of the next round. The matter will be taken to the head judge for a ruling. 

Types of Questions
The answer to any type of question is always the title of the book and the author.
Examples:

A direct quote from one of the characters
Q: “I am nothing but a half-crazed, feather-headed old maid.”
A: Ghosts I Have Been by Richard Peck
Q: “What is a library?”
A: Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair by Patricia Polacco


A statement about something that happens in the book

Q: In which book does a family's special friend arrive inside the coat of a man looking for a job?
A: How It Was With Dooms by Xan Hopcraft

Q: In which book do we learn that King Louis XIV had a collection of 413 different beds?
A: The Complete Book of the Night by Sally Tagholm


A passage directly from the book

Q: “Her hair was yellow and her face was yellow because she had always been ill in one way or another.”
A: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Q: “Out of all of his dreams, his was the one he liked the best, even if it seemed to be the one most out of his reach.”
A: Heat by Mike Lupica


Details about an illustration or picture

Q: In which book does a nasty lady wear crescent moon earrings?
A: The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka

Q: In which book will you find illustrations of water ballet moves?
A: Regarding the Fountain: A Tale in Letters, of Liars and Leaks by Kate Kilse