Battle Of The Books

 by Tragash Jonathan

On March 6, 2019, GIA students from grades 5 to 8 participated in the Battle of the Books sponsored by Pearl River Delta Library Association at the International School of Dongguan.  The students competed their hardest amongst international schools around Guangdong province.

As Director of the GIA program, I am extremely proud of our students. This is the 3^rd year that we have participated in the competition and each year we have increasing student interest in reading.  They bring their all every year and hold their own against native English-speaking students.  Each team of 5 students must read and master 10 books varying in difficulty across multiple genres.  Team captains worked diligently to organize their teams and make sure that no page was left unturned.

Students used their spare time between classes, at lunch and over the holiday to become book experts.  In order to stay in the 90^th percentile of readers students must dedicate a minimum of 20 minutes a day which adds up to around 1.8 million words a year.  It is very difficult for our busy students to find this time.  Students in Battle of the Books have definitely met their mark.  

Congratulations to all of the excellent GIA readers!  We hope to have more students compete with us in the 2020 Battle of the Books!