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: March 1, 2018 Time: 5:00 - 7:00 pm Location: Austin Discovery School 9303 FM 969 (MLK Boulevard) Austin, TX 78724 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 a team of up to five students; one alternate team member is allowed. Each middle school in the Central Texas area is allowed one team of six students. The team will consist of 5 competing students and 1 alternate. Homeschoolers are also invited to participate. A registration fee of $50 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 dinner arrangements. Snacks, pizza, and drinks 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. “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 2017 Lone Star List. The official title and author list for the 2017 MS Battle of the Books competition can found by following the link at the left. This list (the bold words) will be referred to for spelling, capitalization and completeness of titles. 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 Round 1 will consist of twenty-five questions worth 2 points each. A question will be read and teams have 25 seconds to discuss their answer and write it on a white board. All teams will display their answers at the same time. Titles of books must be written exactly as displayed on the Authority List and must be spelled correctly. No partial credit will be given. When required, authors’ last names must be spelled correctly. For short answer questions, answers should be easily recognized. If a word is misspelled, the judges’ discretion is final as to whether an answer is correct or not. 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 twenty-five questions worth 2 points each and will proceed in the same manner as Round 1. 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. | ||||