A joint project of the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper in Education
Program and the Pinellas County Schools Office
of Library Media /Technology.

Battle of the Books Goes Online


A new blog expands the popular student reading program.

What's More Fun Than Reading a Good Book?

For many Florida students, the answer is going head to head with classmates in the annual Battle of the Books competition.

Students across Florida read books selected by school media specialists around the state. Then kids participate in quiz show-style contests about the books' most minute details, complete with buzzers and adrenaline-fueled
responses.

In this age of digital natives - those who have never known a world without the Internet - Bonnie S. Kelley, supervisor of library media/technology for Pinellas County Schools, wanted to make sure her Battle of the Books program kept its appeal. Her idea: take the "battle" online.

"Our Battle of the Books program has grown each year and is immensely popular with the students and teachers," Kelley said.

"But I know you have to keep raising the bar to keep kids' interest, so bringing in an interactive online element seemed like a natural choice."

Kelley's idea for a blog where students could discuss books in the Sunshine State Young Readers Award and Florida Teens Read programs was a natural fit for the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper in Education program.

"The Times loves readers, period," said NIE manager Gretchen Letterman, "and the newspaper has embraced the digital shift in the industry with multimedia reporting, dozens of blogs and, in NIE, even podcasting curriculum developed
by a teacher on our staff."

The blog will include discussion questions tying the books' themes to stories in the news, allowing an opportunity for students to respond to more complex questions than those that traditionally appear in the book battle competition.

The Book Battle Blog begins tomorrow at blogs.tampabay.com/bookbattle. There will be separate discussion groups for elementary, middle and high school
students, and comments will be reviewed by Times NIE staff and volunteer library information specialists from around Pinellas County before being posted.

To learn more about the Book Battle Blog, go to tampabay.com/nie and select
Book Blog from the Fast Links sidebar.

Elementary   Our first book for the Sunshine State Young readers Grades 3-5 will be Whittington by Alan Armstrong

Middle School Our first book for the Sunshine State Young Readers Grades 6-8 will be the Anybodies by N.E. Bode

High School Our first book for the Sunshine State Teen Readers is Hit The Road by Caroline Cooney

Resources/Links

How To Use the Book
Battle Blog guide
Click Here to view

Sunshine State Young Readers
Award Program
Includes annotated book lists for
grades 3-5 and 6-8; teacher and
media specialist resources; school
program promotional ideas; and order
form for buttons, lanyards, bookmarks,
spine labels, "I voted" stickers, pencils,
and silver seals.
http://myssyra.org/

Florida Teens Read Program
A Florida Association for Media in Education
(FAME) initiative, this Web site includes
annotated book lists for grades 9-12;
media specialist resources; past winners
and information about the selection process.
http://www.floridamedia.org/
displaycommon.cfm?an=12

Grades 3-5
Whittington by Alan Armstrong
A tattered tomcat, Whittington, earns his keep in
a New England barn as a ratter and a storyteller.
He claims to be a descendent of Dick Whittington’s
anonymous cat and he charms everyone with his
clever retelling of the English folktale Dick Whittington
and His Cat. The barn’s soft-spoken owner, Bernie,
and the barnyard animals become engrossed in the
cat’s enchanting stories as the long, snowy winter
lingers. This magical tale will delight readers whether
they read it curled in their favorite chair or hear
it read aloud.
Random House Books for Young Readers, ©2005.

Whittington Home page
http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-armstrong-alan.asp

Whittington Discussion Guide
Click Here to View PDF

Whittington Teacher Guide
Downloaded from Teachers@Random on September 7,
2007 from www.randomhouse.com/teachers
Click Here to View PDF

Grades 6-8
The Anybodies by N. E. Bode

Twelve-year-old Fern and Howard Bone were
switched at birth through a hospital mixup.
The families discover the mistake and decide
the children will spend the summer with their
birth parents. Fern meets her father, the Bone,
who is an "Anybody." As a shapeshifter, he
can change into someone or something else;
however, his transforming abilities have
mysteriously disappeared. To restore his powers,
they must find The Art of Being Anybody, a book once
owned by Bone’s dead wife. Father and daughter
journey to the grandmother’s magical boarding
house which is crowded with books. It is here
that Fern discovers her talent – the ability to
shake elements of stories out of books into
the real world. This story cleverly combines
humor, family drama, and mystery into an
enchanting tale that will have readers
begging for more.
HarperCollins, © 2004.

The Anybodies Home page
http://www.theanybodies.com/

The Anybodies Discussion Guide
Click Here to View PDF                              

Grades 9-12
Hit the Road by Caroline Cooney
Sixteen- year- old Brittany acts as a chauffeur
for her grandmother and Gran's three friends
on their way to a college reunion. This adventure
involves lies, theft, kidnapping and lessons that
will soon not be forgotten.

Hit the Road Author Home page
http://www.randomhouse.com/author/
results.pperl?authorid=5635

Hit the Road Discussion Guide
Click Here to View PDF

Hit the Road Reviews
http://www.teenreads.com/reviews /
0385729448.asp