Central Texas Battle of the Books Rules
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Please note: Rules are subject to change. Team sponsors will be notified if any changes are made.
General Information Date: February 19, 2020 Time: 9:00am - 12:00 pm (check-in begins at 9am, competition begins at 10am) Location: Region 13 Education Service Center 5701 Springdale Road Austin, TX 78723 The Central Texas Battle of the Books is an academic quiz game for middle school students based on the Texas Lone Star Reading List. This is a middle school competition. “Middle School” is defined as grades 6, 7 and 8. Each school having middle school students may field up to TWO teams. A team will consist of 5 competing students and 1 alternate (if teams want). Homeschoolers are also invited to participate. A registration fee of $25 per team is required to cover the cost of hosting the event. Team sponsors may register their teams using the Register page. Team sponsors are responsible for arranging parent permission and transportation for team members to and from the competition. Teams are responsible for their own lunch arrangements after the competition. Snacks and water will be provided. Each team must have a team name and create a poster displaying that name. Posters will be taped to each team’s table on the day of the event to identify the team to the judges. Posters should be legible and large enough to read at the front of the room. Please check the Poster Contest page for guidelines on poster creation. “Uniforms” are not required, but teams are encouraged to display school and team spirit! Questions Questions will come from the 20 books selected for the 2019 Lone Star List. The official title and author list for the Central Texas Battle of the Books competition can found by following the link at the left. The book titles and author's last names (the bold words) should be memorized as they may be referenced in some questions. Please make sure your team knows and studies this! Types of Questions
Questions may come from the body of the book, illustrations, glossary, author notes, or any other information provided by the author. Questions will not be asked from the cover illustration of the book. Procedures For the 2020 competition we plan to use the online quiz program Kahoot, with some modifications to make the software fit our rules as closely as possible. Round 1 will consist of at least twenty-five questions worth 1 point each. A question will be read and teams have 30 seconds to discuss and answer. Titles of books must be identified exactly as displayed on the Authority List. The spelling of an authors’ last name may be part of identifying which answer is correct. After Round 1, ALL teams will continue on to Round 2. At the beginning of Round 2, the teams winning the first round will begin with the following point totals: First place: 5 points Second place: 4 points Third place: 3 points Fourth place: 2 points Fifth place: 1 point Sixth and up: 0 points Round 2 will also consist of at least twenty-five questions worth 1 point each and will proceed in the same manner as Round 1. If teams are subbing in their alternate team member, it must be done before Round 2 starts. The winner of Round 2 is the winner of the contest. If there is a tie after Round 2 all teams with the top score will proceed to a tie-breaking third round. Tie Breaker The third round will consist of three-question sets. The team ahead after the first set of three questions will be the first place winner. If there is no winner after the first set of questions, another three questions will be asked. There will be a total of 3 three-question sets. If there is a first place winner and there is a tie for second place, both (or all) second place schools will be declared second place winners. Challenges to Questions/Answers There will be no challenges allowed. | ||||