A March Madness Book Tournament for your 6th graders? Sure!

 Are you feeling it?  It's that time of the year when kids need a little extra "oomph" to stay focused?  (Or maybe you've been feeling it all school year?)

One of my favorite ways to get kids excited about books at this time of the year is to host a March Madness Book Tournament.  Challenge your students to pick their #1 ALL-TIME FAVORITE book of this school year.  

That's easy for some and so, so hard, for others!

I give students a basketball like the one below to color and write on, and a note sheet to organize their thoughts.  You can click here to get it free and get your students started!

The kids get so charged up about this!  You can feel the excitement as they decide on their book (and a little coloring doesn't hurt.)

And think of the March Madness Books Bulletin Board you get from this!  In my case, it was the wall in our hallway because we needed way more space!

Week 1:

1. Before you start, have some students help you put brackets on the wall.  I just used masking tape, but I learned to use blue Painter's tape the following year so it was easier to see!
   
   
   
2. A day or two before students talk about their books, get the titles from each student.  Create a quick Google Form or paper list with check-off boxes.  
3. On the day you've designated, your students should come prepared with a colored basketball and notes on their book.  We usually sit in a circle so students can see each other, but you could have them come to the front of the room to present. Give each student a few minutes to talk about their book.  
4. At the end of class, students vote on the books they would most likely want to read (or have read and liked.)  Pick a starting number based on how many students you have so that you start at 32.  If you only teach one class, start at 16.  I had 55 students some years, and 75-80 other years, so we always brought the number down to 32.  If you have 25-30 students, start with 16.  
5. Were there duplicate presentations of certain books?  That's fine, but count them all as one.  Those students will work together if their book makes it to the next round.
6. Move the 32 basketballs in your display to the next round.  I didn't announce the next round; I waited until the kids went to lunch, then moved the basketballs.  It was very exciting for them to come back and see!

Week 2:

1. This week have all your students, REGARDLESS of whether their book was voted out or not, complete a travel brochure.  This is a fun way to focus on the book's setting; their job is to persuade others to visit that location.
2. That can be a little tricky for some students, especially those who love books about the Holocaust, or who read scary or dystopian books.  I let them get creative by using a specific location that might have felt like a "safe space" for their character.  One student, who'd read Making Bombs for Hitler asked if he could make the work camp a museum that people today should visit.  I thought that was perfect.
3. At the end of the week, put the brochures on display and have students choose the 16 that they think best show the setting.  Move those basketballs to the next set of brackets.

👉👉Come back next week to learn about what happens in the following weeks of the tournament!

✅  If you'd like to try a March Madness Book Tournament and just don't have the time to create one yourself, click on the picture below.  I've got you covered with plans, graphic organizers, bulletin board letters, and more!