During February and March, students in 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th grades participated in March Book Madness, a literary challenge inspired by the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament. This bracket-style tournament encourages students to read a variety of books and vote for their favorites to advance to the next round.
“Our goal was to get the kids excited about reading. It exposed them to topics that they might not know about, and it opened them up to a lot of different genres, history, and types of characters.” said Literacy Coach Val Falco.
In 2nd and 3rd grades students participated in the picture book brackets, where teachers read aloud to them, while 5th and 6th graders read middle-grade chapter books. In order to vote in a bracket, students had to fill out online forms discussing why one book was superior to the other, encouraging them to think critically about the characters, themes, and stories.
Second-grade Teacher Kelli Heslin said her students were excited to start the day and learn which book would be advancing to the next round. “They want to read these books. We have them in the classroom and all they want to do is go back and re-read these books.
Teachers have seen students’ interest in reading increase throughout the months. “They come in asking me to read every day, so they’re definitely reading more books than they typically would, ” said 5th-grade Reading Teacher Chelsea Mastin. “They are reading books that they didn’t previously have background knowledge on, like ground zero and 9/11.”
During the read-aloud sessions, 6th-grade Science Teacher Christopher Bonacquisti said students were engrossed in the stories. “They’re gripped by the story, they are silent, they are engaged, they want to know what happens. When you stop the chapter and you close the book they want you to keep reading.”
To further the interest of the students, 5th and 6th graders got to interact with authors of the book they read and ask them questions. Getting insight into the writing process and character development.
Looking forward, BH is planning to expand the March Book Madness challenge to include all grades next year.
