CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THE MANAGER DUTIES.
Thank you for accepting the responsibility of Team Manager for the students on your team! This sheet will outline what you need to do to have a successful and prepared team.
General Duties/Guidelines:
✓ Your overall job is to keep your team on track while preparing for the Tournament.
✓ You are permitted to read some/all of the books in order to help them prepare, but you aren’t required to do so.
✓ You are also permitted to use online resources to help your team prepare.
✓ You will help assign your team their books to read, help them decorate their team poster and t-shirts, and also set goals for them.
✓ Remember, t-shirt and poster designs must be approved by the principal before you make them. You may email a picture of your design (tdkaminski@southfayette.org) or turn in a drawing of your design to the office once you’ve decided on a design. The latest date for design approval is MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24.
✓ Utilize the South Fayette Public Library for books. The SF Public Library has purchased and borrowed many copies of each of the books in preparation of the Battle. Encourage your team to check out books from the public library. They also have resources to help practice for the battle.
Immediately and through beginning of December:
___ Check your calendar. You MUST be available for the Battle night on Friday, March 7, 2025. Teams and managers arrive between 6:00pm-6:15pm. Tournament starts at 6:30pm and will last approximately 2 hours.
___ Have your first meeting to discuss your team name, design ideas, and divide the book list. Choose a t-shirt color and get the sizes of each of your team members.
___ Please collect permission forms from each team member. Forms can be found on the Battle of the Books website. Do NOT turn these in. You just keep them as documentation. Permission forms are due by December 6.
___ Complete the Google Form to register your team by December 6. Form is on this website.
Meet with your team to decide on a team name, t-shirt color and sizes, and assign the reading list (who will read which books). Collect permission slips from each member of the team and complete the online registration form. When dividing the list, keep in mind that there are ten books on the list. Each book must be read by at least one team member. Each team member must be assigned two different titles to read. After a team member has read their two assigned titles, then they can go on to read additional books on the list as a backup. Give your team members a goal of when to have their first book read by to keep them on track.
December-January:
___ Check in with your team to see if they are reading. (First book should be completed soon).
___ Once a design for poster and t-shirts is decided, email a sketch/picture or turn in a drawing to Mr. Kaminski.
tdkaminski@southfayette.org.
Make sure team members are reading their assigned books. At this point, team members should have at least one of their books completed. You should also be discussing and finalizing design ideas for t-shirts and poster. Turn a picture into Mr. Kaminski through email or a paper turned into the office. Do not put any authors’ names on your poster.
January- mid-February:
___ Quiz your team members on authors’ last names.
___ Check to see if they are on their second book. By the third week of February, check to see if they completed their second book.
___ If you haven’t already done so, get your designs approved by Mr. Kaminiski. Final approval date is February 24.
___Start making t-shirts and posters.
Quiz your team on the authors’ last names. Correct spelling will win them an extra point on the night of the tournament. Design a team poster to be displayed the night of the Book Battle. Do not put any authors’ names on your poster. Use a 22”poster board, and make the letters large enough to be seen from the bleachers. (Poster and t-shirt designs must be approved by the school principal for suitability.) Our goal is to send t-shirts home at the beginning of February. The entire team’s shirts will be distributed via the student related to the team manager. If a teacher is a team manager, t-shirts will be given directly to the teacher.
Mid to end of February:
___ Students may read additional books if they choose.
___ Continue to quiz your team on authors' last names.
___ Choose a team captain.
___ Bring finished poster to the school the week of March 3. Posters will be hung on your team’s spot before the Battle. That way you will know where to go and sit the night of the battle.
The Book Battle is coming soon! Assign additional books to those who would like to read more as a backup. Team members need to choose a team captain who will be responsible for writing down the team’s answers and the authors’ last names on the night of the Battle of the Books. Only one student from each team must be responsible for this!
Complete any last minute preparations with your team. Remind them to wear their t-shirts to the school on the date of the Battle of the Books and to arrive between 6:00-6:15 PM to the Intermediate School Gym on Friday, March 7. Doors will not be open before 6 PM. The Tournament starts promptly at 6:30 PM.
POSTERS MUST BE TURNED INTO THE LIBRARY OR OFFICE THE WEEK OF THE BATTLE, starting MARCH 3!
March 7:
___ Arrive at the Intermediate School Gym between 6:00pm-6:15pm.
___ Students wear their t-shirts.
___ Managers will pick up a packet as you enter the main lobby of the Intermediate School.
___ Find your area to sit in the gym by locating your team’s poster that has already been hung.
___ Make sure you and your team do NOT bring any notes or copies of the books into the Battle.
___ Managers will sit with their team.
At 6:30 pm, three rounds of questions will be asked. Each round includes 10 questions, 1 from each book. The question will be repeated twice, and then the timer begins. Students will have 30 seconds to decide upon an answer. The team captain will write it on the pad, along with the author’s last name (spelled correctly). When “time” is called, the captain hands the paper to you, and the answer will be announced. (Note: The answer the team wrote down is what you go by, not what they have discussed. If you are not sure if their answer should count, then raise your hand to voice your concern and the judges will make a ruling. Students are not permitted to leave their seats to discuss an answer with the judges.)
You determine how many points the team will receive, record the score on the tally sheet, and hold up the scorecard for the audience to see.
4 points: correct answer and author’s last name (spelled correctly)
3 points: correct answer but incorrect or misspelled author
1 point: incorrect answer but correct author
0 points: both the answer and author are incorrect
After three rounds, if there is no tie for first place, then you return to your team. The winning teams will be announced.
Note: If a tie for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place occurs among teams, then all teams will answer a tie-breaker question or questions until the tie is broken.
Thank you again for being a team manager!!