HOW IT WORKS
FORM A TEAM
Form a team of 3-10 students from your school or public library. All participants must be in 4th-8th grade and be located in Maine. It is even more fun when there are several teams competing from one school!
REGISTER
Have your school representative (teacher, librarian, etc.) register through the Google Form in the "Register" section of this website. Registration opens in September and closes in November of each school year.
READ
You and your team read the books on this year's reading list.
It is best to split the reading up between all team members.
COMPETE
Teams will complete the Kahoots in Team Mode. The team with the highest total score for each round will move forward.
In Rounds 2 and 3, team scores are entered into a spreadsheet so we can see who has the highest score and therefore who won.
Librarians/Teachers will receive an email ahead of each round with details, deadlines, links, etc.
For more details on how the rounds play out, scroll down
TIMELINE
Start reading as soon as you form a team. Dates for each Round will be announced in the fall after registration closes. The first Kahoot for Round 1 is typically available in November.
Round 1 (School/District):
All registered teams will compete in a Kahoot against other teams in their school. Only one team per participating district (the team with the highest score) will move on to Round 2. This means if you have teams from multiple schools in your district, all of those teams will have to compete against each other in order to figure out which team will move forward.
Round 2 (Regional):
The winning team from Round 1 in each participating district will compete in another Kahoot against other districts within their region (North, South, East, West, or Central Maine). The team with the highest score from each region will move on to the final state round.
Round 3 (State):
The winning team from each region will compete against each other in one final Kahoot. The team with the highest score is the winner of the state round and is crowned the Great Maine Book Tournament winner!
Confused about how each round plays out? View this flow chart for a visual representation.
Note: While we use current Maine Student Book Award nominees for our reading list, we are not affiliated with the MSBA
REGISTER
FAQs
Q: Does it matter how I access the book?
A: Students may access the medium which feels most comfortable to them whether that's a physical book, an e-book, an audio book, etc.
Q: Do I have to read every book from the list?
A: That's up to you. You are encouraged to split up the reading among your team members so that you all read several books rather than all of you having to read all of them. Just do your best!
Q: What kind of questions will be on the Kahoot?
A: Every question will be multiple choice with 4 possible answers. You should know titles and authors of all the books, plus major plot points/summary, major characters, settings, book format (graphic novel, novel in verse, etc.), any information that's pertinent to telling the story, etc. Questions will likely become harder as we move through each Round of the Tournament but your team will do fine with general information about each book as listed above.
Q: What if my school/district only has one team participating?
That’s fine! You’ll automatically move to Round 2 but you should still do the Round 1 Kahoot so you know what questions were asked already. Plus it’s good to practice so you’re ready for the Regional Round!
Q: I'm a public librarian. Can I form a team?
A: Absolutely! As long as the patrons who are participating are Maine residents in 4th-8th grade.
Q: Can homeschool students participate?
A: Yes! You'll want to connect with your local public library, local homeschool group, or local school as applicable to talk to someone about participating and forming a team.
Q: Can we see some sample questions?
A: See the Past Kahoots page
PAST KAHOOTS
Want to know what type of questions to expect? Take a peek at these Kahoots from previous years.
HALL OF FAME
2023-2024: York Middle School
2022-2023: South Bristol School
2021-2022: RSU 29 in Houlton
2020-2021: North Yarmouth Academy
2019-2020: Mast Landing School in Freeport
2018-2019: Eric L. Knowlton School in Berwick
ABOUT
The Great Maine Book Tournament was started by Kerrie Lattari in 2018. As a middle school Library Media Specialist she was looking for a way to engage her students with the Maine Student Book Award* in a new and exciting way and the idea for the tournament was born.
With the help of other librarians and teachers around the state, there have been 6 consecutive tournaments (even amidst the pandemic!) with participation from all corners of Maine!
We look forward to seeing the evolution of the GMBT and helping our students discover all of the amazing books out there!
*While we use current Maine Student Book Award nominees for our reading list, we are not affiliated with the MSBA
Questions? Contact me here