Ristau, Kotten, Syverson earn gold
Posted on: Dec 7, 2021
As regular readers, Lillian Ristau, Mabel Kotten and Habry Syverson made a natural team for this year’s third-grade Battle of the Books competition. With 30 teams in the running for gold, however, they knew they had to keep expectations in check.
“Habry was excited,” said Kotten. “I was medium, like ‘Don’t get your hopes up.’”
In the end, however, the trio outpaced all challengers in answering questions from the 12-book list, earning their gold medals on Tuesday, Nov. 23.
Delano Elementary Gifted and Talented teacher Angela Kalthoff introduced the competition to students on Sept. 28, and students had about eight weeks to read the books before competition began.
“My main goal is always to get students reading,” said Kalthoff. “I also want to get them reading good literature across a wide range of genres. I love that they pick up books they might never have read before and then end up loving them. This year’s list was a new set of books so they are current books and written by some excellent authors.”
In the preliminary, semifinal and final rounds teams are asked questions about each of the books, and the number of correct answers are tallied. To prepare for the event, Ristau, Kotten and Syverson decided to be as efficient as possible.
“We split it up into fourths. We were each going to read four books,” said Kotten, but once they began all ended up reading half a dozen or more with some extra review worked in.
“I kind of just speed read it again,” said Ristau of one book she went over twice. Her favorite book on the list was “Bob” by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass because of “the storyline of it, how a girl has to help find her friend a way home.” Her second favorite was “A Boy Called Bat.”
Kotten’s favorite book was “Moo” by Sharon Creech.
“There’s a cow named Zora and there’s a girl who just moved in and they get to have a big experience. They turn into farmers at the end. It’s very interesting,” she said, adding that her second favorite book was “Dying to Meet You.”
Syverson was not available for the interview after the competition.
Each member of the winning team reviewed practice questions with their parents in preparation for the competition.
“We probably did 30 minutes a day for a few weeks,” said Ristau.
All the practice paid off. In the first round they only answered incorrectly three times. After the initial 30 teams were whittled down to nine in the semifinals, however, the intensity picked up.
“At that point we were excited,” said Kotten. “I think we got five wrong that time. I was like, ‘Oh boy. I don’t think we’re going to get through this round.’”
Ristau agreed.
“At that point I was thinking maybe we were going to get third, but I didn’t think we really had a shot at first,” she said.
They advanced to the finals, however, where the last three teams squared off.
“I was pretty nervous,” said Ristau.
All went well, however, and then came the big announcement.
“First they announced third and then second, so we were like, ‘Whoa! Aaahhh!’” said Kotten of the moment they found out they had won.
“You could tell they had put their work in,” said Kalthoff. “The final round was probably the closest I have had in years. Only a few points separated the top three teams - a great showing by ALL!”
Second place went to the team of Henry Werth, Saoirse Burke and Leo Rabe, and third went to Winston Berg, Zach Lau and Caleb Hanson.
Kalthoff said the event is open to all third-graders, and the teamwork needed to succeed is one of her favorite aspects.
“It is really great to see the students’ excitement throughout the competition and discuss what books they are reading,” she said.
Post Categories: Elementary School