General Rules

The Sponsor/Moderator-Game Host for the school must pre-register each team.
This round is available to any eligible team that has registered for the competition and

• wishes to be recognized as a participant in the District's Battle of the Books
• wants to try to earn a spot at the Grand Battle of the Books

The Online Battle of the Books is held online over a period of two weeks. Once a team enters their password code to begin the competition, they must finish the competition within the 20 minutes allotted.
If a team exits the Battle of the Books browser window or attempts to open a second browser window, they will be knocked out of the Battle of the Books competition.

If a team shuts down the computer before the computer declares the competition finished, the team is disqualified unless the Moderator-Game Host and Referee testify to extenuating circumstances.
If extenuating circumstances do arise during an ongoing Battle, contact Library Media Services immediately at (561) 684-5220.

Sponsors must log-in to the Battle of the Books website in order to start a team’s competition. Sponsors will see all of their teams. Please review the team participants carefully. Modifications can only be made before the Battle starts. If modifications are made, the Sponsor will need to refresh the page. When ready, Sponsors will click the “Start the Battle” button.

Sponsors will then verify that the team consists of the students listed and attest that the students will be monitored and unable to use any outside sources of information. Since the Sponsor must log in with active directory credentials, the Sponsor will serve as the Moderator. Please have another employee serve as the Referee who will monitor the students during the online test. The Referee will need to input their employee ID # at the start of the Battle. This will serve as the Document of Participation (no other paperwork will need to be completed).

If the school is sponsoring more then one team for the Online Qualifying Battle, teams should be scheduled independently of one another so that competitors do not see the questions prior to their own Battle.

Team members who have completed a Battle should be cautioned to not talk about the questions until all Teams have finished their Battles.

A student may not serve on more than one competing team.

Questions are in a multiple choice format. Approximately twenty questions are written for each book resulting in a pool of about 300 questions.

One team member should be designated as the Team Captain and will use the mouse to select an answer on behalf of the team.

The computer will continue to generate random questions about the fifteen books for 20 minutes. The computer will notify the Team when the 20 minutes is up and the competition is over.

Wrong answers could result in a penalty for the team if a tie results in a comparison of the percent of the right to wrong answers.

Within 48 hours of the last day of competition, the winning teams will be contacted. Once the teams accept the invitation to the Grand Battle, the winners will be announced district-wide.

The Battle of the Books organizers are not responsible for factors that affect the speed of the internet connection, but caution competing teams to monitor internet traffic speeds before selecting the time of day they want to compete.

At each level, elementary, middle and high, the two top scoring teams will be invited to the Grand Battle of the Books.

A school may send only one team to the Grand Battle of the Books. If two or more teams at any one school have the exact number of correct answers after completing the Online Battle of the Books district judges will review the percent of correct answers for questions attempted to determine which team represents the school.

Likewise, a level may only have two teams compete in the Grand Battle of the Books. If two or more schools have the exact number of correct answers after completing the Online Battle of the Books district judges will review the percent of correct answers for questions attempted to determine which team represents the school.

The two teams with the highest scores from the SDPBC Online Battle of the Books, in elementary, middle school and high school, will compete in the Grand Champion Battle of the Books. Team members were determined when the school registered each team.

The top two teams at each education level must represent different schools. In the event a single school has two or more teams in the top ranking, the percent of correct answers for questions attempted will be used to determine which team represents the school. If this procedure fails to break the tie, teams at the school will be asked to participate in a second online Battle to determine which team will represent the school.

The school-based sponsor is responsible for

• field trip permit [PBSD 0755]
• chaperons
• transportation
• photo permission slips [PBSD Form 1941] and,
• lunch, if necessary

The Team will be composed of the same members registered on the Battle of the Books website.

If members of the team are absent or are scheduled for other obligations, the Team may forfeit or may compete with the available team members.

Teams are urged to arrive at the facility a minimum of 30 minutes before their scheduled time for competition. Competition times are set at:

Elementary - 9:00 am (arrive at TEN at 8:30 am)

High School - 10:30 am (arrive at TEN at 10:00 am)

Middle School - 1:00 pm (arrive at TEN at 12:30 pm)

The sponsor will notify the District Committee Officials before the start of the Battle of the names of each team member present and will turn in photo permission forms (Form 1941) to the competition judges. If a team member who is scheduled to play will be arriving late, the sponsor should notify the District Committee Official before the start of the Battle to assure the late player joins the team with as little disruption as possible.

If a team does not appear for the scheduled Battle, it will forfeit the meet and receive zero points. The opposing team will be declared the winning team of the final "Championship Grand Battle".

In the event of an emergency that would generally result in the closing of all schools or severe traffic conditions, the "Grand Battle of the Books" competition for that day will be cancelled automatically and will be rescheduled for a later date.

The Grand Battle of the Books will take place in a TV studio so that the competition can be filmed for delayed broadcast to schools.

Unique questions are written for this round of competition. Every effort is made to balance the difficulty of these questions so that each team will have an opportunity to succeed. Questions are written to minimize the possibility of more than one title being a correct response. That is, questions are designed to minimize the need for challenges. Therefore, challenges should only be made by a Team Captain who has significant cause to do so.

Teams will alternately answer random questions that begin with, "In which book…." The Moderator-Game Host will ask the first question to the team whose team name is in reverse alphabetical order. For example, if the two teams are named Alpha and Omega. Team Omega will get the first question.

There will be ‘even ups’ so that each team has the opportunity to earn the same number of points.

The Moderator-Game Host will read the question carefully, slowly and loudly enough for each participant to hear. After the question has been read, the game clock will begin timing. The team has 15 seconds to answer the question.

The Team Captain will give the answer for the team. The team may confer together to reach consensus but cannot use any notes, copies of the book or other tools to research answers. The answer must be given before TIME is called. The correct answer will be the title and author of the book.

A correct answer scores 5 points. If the team only provides the title of the book, they will receive 3 points. If the Team Captain gives the correct title but the incorrect author(s), the Moderator-Game Host will state, "The title is correct but the author is incorrect" and the team will earn 3 points. No author points are awarded unless the correct title is given in the answer.

If a team answers incorrectly they receive zero points. The first team to reach a score of 125 points or higher AND is leading the other team in points will be declared the winner.

Opposing teams will not be given an opportunity to answer the same question.

The Moderator-Game Host may answer "Correct" or "Not correct". The correct answer should not be stated by the Moderator-Game Host during the competition.

No points will be deducted for a wrong answer which simply means that it pays to 'guess' if a team is not sure of the answer.

Team members may confer over answers. The designated spokesperson for the team will announce the answer before or immediately after the 15-second timer sounds.

The first complete response from the Team Captain is the only acceptable response. A partial title is an incorrect answer. The author of the book however, can be designated by last name only or first and last name. If a title has more than one author, all authors must be named in the response.

Any challenges to a question or an answer can only be made by a Team Captain or a Team sponsor. All challenges must have irrefutable, text-based evidence in order to overturn a ruling.

Any concerns about the Grand Battle of the Books rules should be conveyed by the Team Captain or the Team Sponsor to one of the judges.

The Moderator-Game Host and Referee will be the final authorities on the acceptability of an answer, on the rules of the competition, and on the conduct of the competition.

The winning team takes the traveling trophy back to their school. The team name, school and team member's names will be engraved on the perpetual trophy hanging in Fulton Holland Education Service Center.

Any team that does not appear for a round will automatically forfeit to the opposing team. Points will be awarded to the team that is present as if that team had correctly answered all questions, (i.e. 125 points).

If an audience is present, they must be cautioned to not make any sounds during the competition that might lead a team to an answer. Answers called out or noises telling a team they are incorrect will automatically earn the team zero points for that question. The audience is encouraged to applaud at the end of each round of questions. Cell phones must be turned off.

Family members and friends are welcome to watch the battles as room space permits. Young children who cannot remain still and quiet for an hour will not be permitted in the audience. To insure fairness to all players, silence should be maintained for the duration of the Battle and all applause should be held until the Moderator-Game Host states that the Battle has concluded. No one from the audience may coach any team or team member or provide answers. Challenges are not to be prompted by audience members. Any audience member who violates these rules will be asked to leave the room. No food or drink or cell phones are allowed in the television studio.

Should a parent have a concern about any aspect of the competition, they are to express the concern to the team sponsor. The team sponsor may bring the concern to the competition officials during the competition if it affects the outcome of the competition. Other concerns should be emailed to the contest officials after the team sponsor returns to school.

An answer is considered correct even if mispronounced, as long as the Moderator-Game Host and/or Referee can discern it. That may mean that an incorrect article in the title may be used or an answer may be slightly off. If the main title is given, but the subtitle omitted, the answer will still be deemed correct.

The author’s name should be given as it appears on the Battle of the Books List. Giving only the last name of the author is acceptable. Author names are considered correct even if mispronounced, as long as the Moderator-Game Host and/or Referee can discern it. If a title has more than one author, all authors must be named in the response.

If there is some inaccuracy or mispronunciation in an answer, the Moderator-Game Host may consult with the Referee before announcing the answer to be correct or incorrect.

Should any team member other than the Team Captain provide an answer, the officials will ignore the response and continue to wait for the Team Captain’s response. Only Team Captain’s responses will be considered for judgment.

If the Team Captain begins to give the answer but becomes unsure of part of the response, the Team Captain may readdress his/her team members for clarification as long as "TIME" has not yet been called. For example, if the Team Captain begins his/her answer with "Charlotte’s Web by…" and can’t remember what the author’s name was, he/she may readdress their team to gather the additional information. The Team Captain may then complete the answer as long as this whole process is completed within the 15 second answer period.

Should the Moderator-Game Host misread or mispronounce a part of a question, the Moderator-Game Host may correct him/herself and continue.

If the Moderator-Game Host mistakenly gives the answer to the question, a new question will be substituted.

Should an audience member disclose an answer, the question will be eliminated and another question substituted. The offending audience member will be excused from the room for the duration of the Battle.

Decisions made by the District Moderator-Game Host, Referee and/or Timer Keeper/Scorer are final including decisions made during the competition to enable a successful conclusion to the contest.

In the event that one hundred [100] total questions – the equivalent of 50 questions per team - have been asked and the teams have remained tied and have had even opportunities to answer questions [i.e. even ups], the competition will change format to a shoot-out.

The moderator will ask ten questions alternating teams. The answer to each question will now be given by individual members of the team in the order in which they are seated beginning with the team captains. The team may no longer consult with fellow team mates. Each member of the team must answer based on his/her own knowledge of the fifteen titles used for the competition.

If a team has five members, each one of the five will be asked a question he/she must answer individually. If a team has three members, each of the three students will be asked a question and then team member 1 and team member 2 will answer a second question. If a team has four members, each of the four students will be asked a question then team member 1 will answer a second question.

The team with the highest score will be declared the winner. At the end of the “shoot out,” should the two teams remain tied, a second ‘shoot-out’ will be attempted again asking ten questions to alternating teams in the order in which team members are seated beginning with the team captains. Team members may not consult with one another during the “shoot out” round.

If a tie score is in place after the second shoot out, a tie game will be called and both teams will be declared 1st place winners. The trophy will then reside the following year for one semester at each school. Using ‘reverse alphabetical order’, the school whose team name begins with a letter closest to “Z” will host the trophy the first semester. Both team names will be added to the trophy and the perpetual plaque.