Teacher Information

What is March Reading Madness?

It's a fun way to share the joy of books and reading with our class, school, and world. Sixteen books are competing to be the champion! Which one will come out on top?

How do we participate?

Read/listen to as many of the 16 picture books as you can. Talk about them. Share your favorites and vote. First round voting closes on Tuesday, March 16th. You may want to have your students make their own picks for the month prior to voting. You can print brackets for your class or share one digitally if you'd like your students to do this. Please don't worry if you are unable to get to all of the books before the voting starts.

How and when do we listen to the stories?

You can choose to do this however you'd like. The 16 books have been read and recorded by a selected group of St. Joseph High School students and a few other familiar faces. Teachers and students can access these books at this website (this link will also be shared on the media center page, the eResources website, and on the Library/Media Google Classrooms. Students can listen to the stories independently, as a class, at home, during school, whenever and as often as they'd like. Please note that both you and your students will need to be logged into your stjoebears.com account in order to view the recordings.

I will provide time over the next three weeks during our library special for students to listen to some of these stories. Next week, I will introduce our plans for the month and will share one or two of the books with each class.

For Y5-1st grade classes, I will share the following matchups over the course of the next three weeks:

February 25 & 26 - Matchup #6

March 4 & 5 - Matchup #7

March 11 & 12 - Matchup #8

Since students in grades 2-5 may be more independent in listening to these stories, I will provide time each week (February 22 - March 12) to listen to a matchup. Each classroom will be able to decide if this will be done whole group or independently.

We should have two print copies of each title available in the library should you decide you'd like to read the book aloud to your class. We also have 10 of the books available in eBook format. In order to access those, you'll have to go to Lincoln's Destiny Discover page and log in with the following credentials:

Username: sjhsreader

Password: Bears123

What's a scouting report?

Scouting reports will be available for students to reflect on the stories. We have a digital option geared for upper elementary and a print option geared for lower elementary. If you would like to view these and have any printed for your class, please let Connie know. You can see them here.

How and when do we vote?

Voting will occur on the following dates and can be done either as a class or individually. The links to the voting form can be found on the home page. The individual voting form will also be included on the media center page for students to access.

Round 1 (Sweet 16) - Voting must be completed by NOON on Tuesday, March 16. This will ensure that results can be shared with the MBM (March Book Madness) website, so our results will be calculated with other participants around the globe.

Round 2 (Elite 8) - Voting must be completed by NOON on Tuesday, March 23.

Round 3 (Final 4) - Voting must be completed by NOON on Tuesday, March 30.

Round 4 (Semi-Final) - Voting must be completed by 10:00 AM on Thursday, April 1. We will determine our school/district winner, but will have to wait until after spring break to see how the results play out with the rest of the world.

What are some ways to get students talking about books?

You could use some Kagan Structures. Thanks, Kristen, for sharing all of these great cooperative learning ideas.

Timed-Pair-Share

• At the perfect point in a read aloud or video, pause and pose a question to the class related to making a prediction. Ask students to first think about what might happen next, then turn to their shoulder partner to share in a Timed-Pair-Share (examples of directions to share: 30 seconds each, person A goes first).

• This structure works for almost any open-ended question with multiple "correct" responses that you might otherwise pose to the whole group and ask students to raise their hands. Instead of calling on one, call on everyone!

Timed RoundRobin

• At the end of a read aloud or video share, pose an open-ended question to the class (could be something like, "What was your favorite part? Why?" or "Did you like this story? Why or why not?" or "Who was your favorite character? Why").

• Tell students they will have one minute to share with their table team in a Timed RoundRobin. Ask students to first think (allow wait time), select as number (1-4) to go first, set a timer then say, "go".

• Again, this structure works for almost any open-ended question with multiple "correct" responses that you might otherwise pose to the whole group and ask students to raise their hands. Instead of calling on one, call on everyone!

Talking Chips

• Upon completion of the story or video, ask the students an open-ended question that lends itself to sharing an opinion. A specific example might be to pose the question, "How does reading give you freedom?" after reading/listening to The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read. Table teams will then discuss their thoughts using the structure Talking Chips. Please note, any item can be used as a "talking chip", such as bingo chips, popsicle sticks, or pennies.

Jot Thoughts

• This structure is intended to be used for brainstorming prior to engaging in new learning. Before reading Evelyn Rey is Moving Away ask table teams to list all the things best friends might do together using the structure Jot Thoughts. Provide think time, set a timer for 3ish minutes, then say, "go". Students will take turns "saying it" and "writing it" on a slip of paper (or a post-it), not going in any specific order. The goal is to cover the table in the allotted amount of time.

Tips & Reminders

• Remember that one of the tenants of cooperative learning is having a culture of trust and safety among the students in your class.

• Be sure to model the structure with a fun, team building topic first to ensure success.

What are some ways students can promote their favorite books?

1. Encourage your students to root on their favorites by adding to the Hoop Scoops Flipgrid. Students can create a short video explaining why their favorite book should keep "marching on" in our tournament.

2. Have students create posters or advertisements highlighting their favorite books. These can be hung in the classroom or the halls. For a wider audience, take a picture of the creation and post it to our special March Reading Madness Padlet.

3. Talk about the books together as a class.

4. Share some of the resources found on the book resources page.

Are there any dress up days this year?

Yes, see the calendar for Dress Up/Special Event Fridays.

Can I connect with other classrooms participating in March Reading Madness?

Yes, you can! Check out the MBM website for additional details about this. In addition, you can get some inspiration and share with others on Twitter using #2021MBM.

All of the resources you'll need can be found on this site and/or on the media center page under the heading, March is Reading Month Resources. Please feel free to contact Connie, Jen, Jo-Anne, or Mary with any questions you have.

The most important thing to remember is to have fun and enjoy some great books!