Battle of the Books

Fifth grade at EES has many fun traditions, but one of the best is the annual Battle of the Books competition. This program started ten years ago as an idea by fifth grade teacher Angie Kennedy. “We were trying to find a program that would make students want to read more,” Kennedy remembers. “I started doing some research and read a lot about America’s Battle of the Books and liked the idea of how a competition style really motivated students and, in turn, fostered a love of reading.” Fifth grade decided to implement the program at EES in the fall of 2014, and the tradition began!

Each fall, students are given a list of 28-30 books. These books are different each year, consisting of different genres and reading levels. The students are then put into teams of 4-5 and decide what books each team member is in charge of reading during the school year. They then meet as a team monthly to discuss their reading progress, often with parent/ teacher volunteers at lunch during early release days.

During the first few years, it was a challenge for the fifth grade teachers to find enough copies of books for our students to read. Eudora Schools Foundation stepped in and started giving a yearly donation of 2 copies of each book to each fifth grade classroom. Also, the Eudora City Library started getting copies of each book on the list each year and making a special checkout section at the library as well!

In May, the students put all of their reading knowledge to the test in the Battle of the Books competition. Each team participates in 8 battles in the morning, testing their understanding of each book. The battles consist of different game styles, including White Board, Family Feud, Relays, and Quiz Whiz. After the morning competitions, everyone celebrates with a pizza lunch provided by EES PTO. During lunchtime, the scores are tabulated, and the 30 fifth grade teams are narrowed down to the top 3. The final battle consists of the top 3 teams answering 22 questions until the ultimate champion is revealed. The winning team gets medals, plus their team names are engraved on a plaque outside the aquatic pod at Eudora Elementary - a lasting memory of their achievement!

Throughout the years, the Battle of the Books competition has become a staple of fifth grade at EES. Students look forward to getting their book list each year and working as a team to accomplish a goal. The fun of this reading competition will continue for many years to come!