It’s March, and it is time for March Madness! Okay, not that March Madness, with the college basketball, but the March Madness of books!
Every year, I do a bracket challenge with my class, where I read a book daily, and we vote on our favorite. They love listening to books and love rereading them too! They are excited about their favorite book when the month is over!
They are always looking for more books to read, which helps with reading engagement once spring fever hits (you know what I mean)!
So in this blog post, I will share with you how I set up and implemented March Madness in my classroom and show you how easy it is!
Setting Up the March Madness Bracket for Books
The March Madness bracket challenge is enjoyable. I start with 16 books of my choice. Choose a theme of books that you want your students to enjoy! I put the covers on a bracket poster with eight books on each side.
I read a book a day to my students. Each day after I read a book, I ask my students what they liked or their favorite part. This is a great quick review for students to practice comprehension skills and connect to the book. It also helps with students remember the book when voting.
Students Voting on their Favorite Books
I read one book a day, but on the second day (or second book paring), I ask students to vote on which book they like better. We review both books, and then I have my students vote for their preferred book. Once they voted, the winning book moved to the next round. This usually takes 16 days, though you can always shorten it!
Once I go to the Elite Eight, I reread the stories for my students. They may need to remember the first books I started with or want to hear them again. Whatever the reason, I reread the books to my students, though I usually read both books on the same day, and then they vote. This should only take four max to finish.
Once I get to the final four, I again reread the books to them on the same day, and they vote for the Championship read.
Then the final day comes. We go through all the books that we have read and voted for. I then read the last two books, and then they vote for the one they like the best, which is the winner!
March Madness Reading Challenge
Students love the March Madness Book Challenge. They look forward to reading new books daily and discussing their favorite ones and why they like them. They even start trying to convince each other to vote for their favorite book, giving reasons why the book they wanted should be voted for!
This is a lot of fun and makes March way more interesting since it is usually a very long month!
If you want a copy of the bracket I am using, check it out!
Do you have a book that is your favorite? Leave a comment below and let me know!
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