March Madness Tournament of Books

As most people know, I am a huge sports fan. Basketball is not usually one of my top sports, but I become an NCAA college basketball fan every March! So I was excited when I first heard about the March Madness Tournament of Books a few years ago. I wish I knew who to give credit to for this idea as it is one that has evolved and becomes part of my school(s) each year. My school community was equally excited when I presented it to them. We could tie our love of basketball (a school favorite!) and books into a month-long event.

In previous years (and years) we had celebrated Read Across America Day, Dr. Seuss’ Birthday and Community Reading Day in March. We decided it was time to switch things up and quickly embraced March Madness. We couldn’t wait to celebrate our favorite picture books and invite guest readers in all for our tournament.

CHOOSE YOUR BOOKS

The first thing we had to do was choose our books for the tournament. That first year we had staff recommend some of their favorites. We started with 16 staff favorites. There was lots of variety.
There are many ‘book lists’ to choose from when narrowing down your book choices.

We started with our bracket of 16 books and gave classes two weeks to read all of the books. In the following two years, we divided the school in half for the first round so classes didn’t feel they had to read them all at once. This is a great strategy for larger schools. At one school, we divided the tournament into the four wings of the school, and then everyone came together to vote in the final 4 and championship rounds.

Set up Voting

Students voted in their classrooms on a Google Form. Younger students were able to vote on an iPad by touching the book of their choice. They were so excited to be able to vote on their own. I loved listening to their thinking as they were making their choices. Even our middle school students enjoyed the opportunity to vote on the picture books. You can also use paper voting ballots and have students tally the votes and enter those on a Google Form. Our preschool class would vote by standing on whichever side of the room had their favorite book. The voting possibilities are endless!

Create a Display

I recommend having a bulletin board where the whole school community or your class(es) can see the tournament come to life. We have always had the display in a prominent place in the lobby of the school. I would take photos for the covers of the books, or you can simply find the photos online. We put the photo of the winners from each round on the board to announce the winners. Everyone would get excited to see if their choice made it to the next round.

Invite Guest Readers

Inviting in guest readers is one of the best parts of the tournament. We invite community members, parents, and other staff members to read in our classrooms. Our school nurse was the best reader. She read “Gaston” and came complete with props and popsicle stick puppets. The students are always excited to have someone new come read to them. We even had some of our elementary students read to the middle school classrooms. This was a huge hit! I love being one of the gust readers, especially when it’s one of my favorite books.

Take it Virtual

We transitioned our Tournament of Books virtually last year after our school building closed in the middle of it. It took a little time to transition with the uncertainty of when/if we would be returning. Staff stepped up and recorded themselves reading the remaining books and we would share them in Google Classroom and on our Facebook page. We shared the link to a Google Form for families to vote. When there’s a will there is a way! I did a fun virtual video announcement of the winner!!!

If your school is virtual or hybrid, this is a wonderful adaptation to continue your Tournament with at home learners. It’s also a way to bring the whole school community together for the month. I’m sure you have some local heroes and celebrities that would love to record themselves reading one of your tournament books.

Reveal the Champion

This is my favorite part of the tournament- getting to reveal the CHAMPION! The first year we had 8th graders decorate two paper boxes like the two finalist books. The day of the assembly, I put balloons in the box of the winning book. We held a whole school assembly. Two teachers did a read off. Each reading very dramatically one of the finalist books. We then had students cheering for which book they thought should be the winner. Two 8th graders lifted the covers of the boxes to reveal the balloons and winner!

The favorite reveal is when I set off a confetti cannon on the side of the winning book. There’s nothing like confetti to celebrate a championship.

NO matter what books you choose, how you vote, who you invite in to read or how you choose to reveal the winner: CELEBRATE THE LOVE OF BOOKS AND READING DURING MARCH MADNESS!

Brown Bag Teacher Resources

Resource for High School by Knowledge Quest

March Book Madness Resources (Picture/MS/YA