Battle of Books Teams Head to Regionals

From dragons to the moon and wilderness survival to Clementine’s “disastrous” week, local students proved their literary knowledge in the 2014 Oregon Battle of the Books this year.

More than 400 area students in third, fourth, and fifth grade participated in the Oregon Battle of the Books at their schools. To compete, teams of three, four, or five students joined to read the 16 titles on the list. The teams then competed against each other in knowledge and trivia about the books they read.

“The 16 titles this year incorporated stories that were very diverse, allowing all students to find books that once they started reading them, they just could not put them down!” Hermiston Librarian Kristi Smalley said. “Many students have read all 16 titles!”

In Umatilla, “The Eliminators” topped the Rally Readers and the Rock’N’Roll Readers” in the finals to take the top spot. The Eliminators – fifth-graders Ryan Lorence and Trevor Wagner and fourth-graders Quinn Funderburk and Connor Sheller – also competed as a team last year, when they were fourth-graders and third-graders.

“During last year’s final, they won their first match, forcing a rematch and eventually taking second place,” Mary Buckallew said. “This year they completed the tournament with no losses.”

Fifth-grader Anthony Campos will be the fifth member of the team when they compete at the regional competition in La Grande on Saturday, March 8.

Five teams from Hermiston will also travel over the mountain, where the team from Rocky Heights Elementary won the regional competition last year.

In Hermiston, 360 students competed at all five elementary schools. At the end of the tournament, the building winners were:

• Rocky Heights Elementary: Paige Baskin, Abby Sharon,

Alexa Kestler, and Niecy Stamper
• Sunset Elementary: Lynkin McLeod, Karter Arritt, Carlos Orozco, and Karina Madrigal
• Highland Hills Elementary: Regan Hereford, Zoe Douglas, Grace Vertrees, and Gavin Doherty
• Desert View Elementary: Jasper Machado, Payton Baxter, Hayden Sayles, and Cory Bowe
• West Park Elementary: Emma Williamson, Josie Wright, Katherine Haight and Hunter McDonald

Smalley said she has seen an increase in the student level of engagement and the number of students qualifying for pizza luncheons at the schools. To qualify for the luncheon, students must read at least four books and earn an 80 percent or better on their AR quizzes.

“Since the goal of this program is to get students reading a wide variety of text, this is a very encouraging sign,” Smalley said. “The best feedback I get is when a student tells me how much he or she enjoyed reading a book. I am so amazed when a student’s favorite books is a high level one like Birchbark House with a 6.9 reading level. Another student reminded one of his team members that the book The Tale of Despereaux was so much better than the movie.”

The 16 titles in the third- through fifth-grade division are:

• Abraham Lincoln by Mary Pope Osborne, 2011.
• Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich, 1999.
• Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, 2008.

• Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary, 1983.
• Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff, 2008.
• Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins, 2003.
• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, 2011.
• Into the Firestorm by Deborah Hopkinson, 2006.
• Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi, 2012.
• Marty McGuire by Kate Messner, 2011.
• Pie by Sarah Weeks, 2011.
• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, 2004.
• Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff, 2011.
• Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan, 2011.
• Who was Neil Armstrong? by Roberta Edwards, 2008.
• Young Fredle by Cynthia Voigt, 2011.

The Oregon Battle of the Books also offers divisions for middle school – grades six through eight – and high school.

More Stories From Northeast Oregon Now:

Depot Down to Less Than 100 Workers

Hermiston Bans Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Update on Fatal I-84 Crashes

McNary Prototype Eases Lampreys Journey Up River