Books, Battles, and Buzzers: How Friendly Competition Fuels Motivation

Abstract

Kahuku is known for sports and large supportive families. Understanding the inherent strengths of the community, the Kahuku Public and School Library harnessed the importance of friendly competition and parental participation to create Battle of the Books, an after-school, extra-curricular program for 1st-6th graders to make reading social. Similar to a quiz game show where teams of students compete for prizes to answer the most questions correctly about books from pre-selected reading lists, it is the only multi-school, face-to-face reading competition in Hawaiʻi for elementary school students. Learn about the obstacles, workarounds, outcomes and future plans for this program.