Four FMIS fifth and sixth graders are headed to Missoula for state Battle of the Books competition
Top: Claire Hamming asks the first tie-breaker question during Fred Moodry Intermediate School's Battle of the Books competition on Friday.
Second: The "battle" went to a second tie-breaker, which the team S.A.A.S won as its members celebrate.
Bottom: All the competitors on Friday celebrate with cupcakes.
Leader photos: Kasey Edge-Faur
The competition was fierce at Fred Moodry Intermediate School on Friday, Feb. 28 when five teams of fifth and sixth graders participated in their school’s Battle of the Books event.
The teams were the Breadians, the Broncos, S.A.A.S, the Book Queens and the Holy Muchachos.
Battle of the Books is a literacy competition intended “to recognize and challenge students who enjoy reading, to encourage and motivate reluctant readers, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension and fluency, to promote academic excellence, and to foster cooperative learning and teamwork among students,” according to the Montana Battle of the Books’ website.
There were 16 questions, and after all of them, the Breadians and S.A.A.S were tied at 88 points.
The questions ask specific questions taken from a passage on one of the pages of one of the 12 books, and students must correctly identify the book title and author.
After two tie-breaker questions, team S.A.A.S emerged the victors and will be headed to the state competition in Missoula.
Fred Moodry Intermediate School librarian Claire Hamming said that teams got eight points for each correct answer and five points for each correct book title.
“They did great,” Hamming said of the students. “There were a lot of high scores on the board.”
The members of S.A.A.S are Scarlet Smith, Annika Olson, Ayden Cook and Sloan Schillhammer.
The competition categorizes students into three grade level groups: third and fourth graders, fifth and sixth graders and seventh and eighth graders.
Each grade category has twelve books picked by state Battle of the Book participants from the previous year.
The books for the fifth and sixth grade category include titles such as “Travel Team” by Mike Lupica, “Simon Sort of Says” by Erin Bow, “Best Nerds Forever” by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein and “Orphan Island” by Laurel Snyder.
The school competition for the third and fourth grade category was the week before, Hamming said, and Kya Kitchen, Liandra Johnson and Zaeleigh
Paull of team Pink Black Purple Unicorns were the champions and will be heading to the state competition.
The school Battle of the Books competition for seventh and eighth graders is this week at Anaconda Junior/Senior High School to determine which students will go to state.
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