Elementary school students in Santa Maria faced off in a competition of reading and comprehension during Wednesday’s “Battle of the Books.”
More than 135 students from fourth to sixth grade tested their knowledge of 30 books on a required reading list.
All of the students had to read at least 15 books to participate.
They were organized into random teams so they could work with kids from other schools.
“This is a real big team building activity because when they get here they don’t know each other they’re put on teams with kids from other schools, so there’s no two kids from the same school on a team and that way they have to learn to work together,” explained Kellie Ouellette, Battle of the Books coordinator for the Santa Maria-Bonita School District. “They introduce themselves in the beginning (and) they are all kind of shy and timid. As they start working together, they start doing better and the teams that really communicate well, they’re the ones who are successful.”
Students answered questions about the books, including points of plot and character and identifying quotes.
The final match was the Anteaters versus the Hornets.
After 25 questions, the Hornets were victorious by a score of 77 to 70.
