📖 SIXTH GRADE SUCCESS
What's happening: Talk about the ultimate battle! Sixth and eighth grade students at Smith School took this year’s Battle of the Books to the next level with outstanding performances.
Battle of the Books is a Trivia Competition for students based on a predetermined list of 15 books. Since October, student teams of five have read the books, discussed them, and held meetings to practice quizzing each other on the contents.
This is the 13th year that Smith School has had a participating Battle of the Books team, and I am pleased to tell you that this year was the first-ever formalized in-school battle at Eric S. Smith School!
6th Grade Teams:
"The Finals": Micheal Bellapianta, David Yale, Faris Malik, Bobby Howard, Edward Jean (final score: 56)
"The Smart Aleks": Arlette Ngabo, Emily Sands, Joey Burns, Erin Lee
"The Smarties": Emma Latorre, Emily Al-Ola, Elena Oppenberg, Kudrat Kaur, Henry Ardito (final score: 48)
📖 EIGHTH GRADE EXCELLENCE!
Smith School 8th grade students also represented Ramsey Schools with outstanding participation in the County Competition last week.
Both teams tied for third place in the county with 56 points each.
8th Grade Teams:
Team 1: Kareem Hassan, John Giudice, Greg Stefanelli, Allen Lee
Team 2: Ellie Thumm, Dylan Lagomarsino, Lin Miao, Summer Goodfellow, Lila Yakata
Why it matters: Battle of the Books carries substantial academic and social importance, including promoting reading, critical thinking, vocabulary and language skills, retention and recall, and research skills.
Participation helps students collaborate, build confidence, develop a sense of community, and encourages a lifelong love of reading.
What they’re saying:
“"Our students have worked tremendously hard these past months. I admire their tenacity, their collaboration, and the critical thinking demonstrated in the competition. It is such a joy to share a wide array of books and see students engage in stories they might never have tried if not for this club!
But above all, I am exceptionally proud of the superb sportsmanship our students demonstrated. Multiple adults at the competition stopped me to express how respectful and well-spoken our students were. They represented Ramsey in the best possible light. Congratulations to all!".” -Kasey Kelly, Smith School Library Media Specialist
🎉 Congratulations reading Rams! What an awesome accomplishment!