Attention: School Librarians, Classroom Teachers, Teachers of Gifted and Talented Programs, English Language Arts Coordinators, and Returning Friends of KLQ,
Welcome to the 2016 American heats of the International Kids’ Lit Quiz™. This is a literary quiz which aims to broaden students’ knowledge and encourage a love of reading. It is open to students in grades six, seven and eight all of whom must be under fourteen years on 1st July 2016
We are growing in leaps and bounds and in order to accommodate our numbers, there will be two heats (Tuesday January 26th and Wednesday January 27th 6:30-9:30 pm). Three to five of top teams will be selected from each heat to compete in the US Final to be held on Friday, January 29th at Welte Auditorium, 6:30 -9:30 pm. A snow day plan has been developed and will be posted on our website. All events will be held in Welte Auditorium on campus at Central Connecticut State University.
Because we understand that selecting a team may take time, a pre-test is made available that may assist you in your school’s selection. The pre-test is intended to be given to a team rather than an individual. All you really need, however, are a group of four students who read widely. The team then works collaboratively during the quiz to answer 100 questions in ten categories. The categories are diverse in order to cater for all reading tastes. Book prizes are awarded and there are prizes for the winning team. The event lasts for three hours, with a twenty-minute break at the halfway point.
Known as ‘the sport of reading’ the Kids’ Lit Quiz™ encourages students to broaden their reading and creates an awareness of genre, authors and titles. The competition is designed to be huge fun, with an element of competition, personal challenge and reward that is seldom available to children whose passion is reading. Just taking part in one of the regional heats provides important experiences that many children may not otherwise have.
Last year CCSU hosted the World Final right here in Connecticut! It was a wonderful cross cultural experience for familes, coaches and teams and all who participated! This year the World Final of the Quiz will be held during the 2016 IBBY World Congress. IBBY is like the world body of children’s literature and stands for International Board on Books for Young People (see http://www.ibbycongress2016.org/). This is great honour and will showcase the Kids’ Lit Quiz to the world. We would like to offer this year’s winning team from The United States an invitation to attend this event in Auckland NZ during August (16th-22nd) 2016.
We look forward to receiving your entry.
Please download the 2016 Entry Packet at https://sites.google.com/site/usklqfinal2016/entry-pack and visit https://sites.google.com/site/usklqfinal2016/klq-brochure in order to view our brochure for further information. Please do not hesitate to contact Dr Cathy Kurkjian, the US National co-ordinator, at kurkjianc@mail.ccsu.edu if you need any further information or Mrs. Lisa Colon, Department of Literacy, Early Childhood and Elementary Education at lydia.colon@ccsu.edu. The Kids’ Lit Quiz website is: www.kidslitquiz.com.
Good luck
Cathy Kurkjian and Wayne Mills