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Battle of the books pits Grades 7 and 8

The Estevan Area Literacy Group’s (EALG) Battle of the Books has become a popular event among local Grade 5 and 6 students since it was introduced in the spring of 2016.
Estevan
From left, Estevan Area Literacy Group co-ordinator Kim Marshall presented the winners’ trophy to Book Smugglers members Laura Swirski, Kristen Carlson, Jesse Gibson and Seth Peters.

The Estevan Area Literacy Group’s (EALG) Battle of the Books has become a popular event among local Grade 5 and 6 students since it was introduced in the spring of 2016.

Now the literacy group has extended the competition to Grades 7 and 8 in an effort to ensure older students still have a chance to pit their literacy knowledge against each other.

The inaugural Grade 7 and 8 battle was held on Friday morning at Hillcrest School. Students read several books prior to the competition, and then EALG co-ordinator Kim Marshall asked them a total of 50 questions about those books. Students jotted down their answers, and received points if they were correct.

Some questions were worth more than one point.

“It went very well,” said Marshall. “Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Most of them knew their books very well. And I was just happy to see this many kids interested. The kids that are here are excited to be here.”

The Book Smugglers from Spruce Ridge School finished in top spot with 55 1/2 points. They also took home the award for the best team costumes. The Book Wizards, also from Spruce Ridge, were second with 53 1/2 points, followed by the Midnight Readers from Hillcrest School, who finished third with 48 1/2 points.

Marshall was impressed with how close the competition was for the top three teams.

“That shows that everybody did their homework and read the books,” said Marshall.

Also entered were the Bulldogs from Pleasantdale School, who won the award for the best team name, and the Pixie Dust from Hillcrest School.

She expects the Grade 7 and 8 Battle of the Books can become an annual event, just like the showdown for Grades 5 and 6. The kids in the older age groups had asked for a Battle of the Books of their own.

“Hopefully as they age out of the five and six (battle), they’ll just want to join the seven and eight,” said Marshall.

The battle for the older kids was a little more relaxed, she said. The students know what’s going on, and they know how to prepare. The materials were a little more advanced, but they also had some materials that were the same from the Grade 5 and 6 book battle.

“In the future, we’ll try to add more,” said Marshall. “But even in the (grade) five and six (competition), we try to include everything from a Grade 3 reading level to a Grade 8 reading level, so that anyone who participates can find a level they’re comfortable in.”