There have been busted brackets, surprising upsets and a few heartbreakers during the early days of March Madness. Ironically, these things have not only happened at the NCAA basketball tournament, but also at Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Elementary. The elementary students are in the midst of their own type of tournament: Global March Book Madness.
The official website explains the project like this: “Students from around the world nominate books which are pitted against each other in duels until a champion is crowned.” There are two divisions- novels (for the older students) and picture books (for the younger ones). In each division, 64 books were chosen and then organized into a March Madness-reminiscent bracket. Throughout the month, the books are voted on until there is an ultimate winner in each division.
This fun project started in 2014 after Nate Balcom, a 5th grade teacher in Grand Island, Nebraska, tried it with his own class. Over the next few years, the project grew and grew. This year, the activity’s website says that they have over 34,000 registered participants all over the world that include school classes, families and individuals.
In the CGD district, the Global March Book Madness was introduced this year by Title I teacher Jeannette Corrow. Corrow, who is new to the district this year, said she had wanted to do the project last year at her previous school, but COVID put a damper on the idea. She was excited to share the idea with K-12 Librarian Kristina Moore and Library Para Missy Hansen.
Moore said the project is going very well in the first few weeks. She explained students vote for what book they like best during their library time each week. They also got a chance to fill out their own brackets for a local competition.
The educators love that the project has not only been a fun library-time activity but has also created a buzz around reading. Corrow said, “The brackets have generated an interest in reading. Even kids who usually don’t like to read are getting excited about these books.”
Hansen added that another plus is the great variety of books the brackets contain. For instance, the novels one includes old favorites like “The Hatchet” and “Holes” plus lots of newer books including graphic novels. Last year’s winners were “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” for the novels bracket and “The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors” for the picture book category.
For their part, the educators are thrilled to keep kids reading in any way possible, especially towards the end of the school year. Moore said she is always impressed by the CGD students and their interest in books. “Our kids really do love reading. We have a great group of readers here.”
Hopefully, as March Madness progresses, that interest will continue to grow. Students will be voting this week for books to make the Sweet 16! You can visit sites.google.com/view/globalmarchbookmadness to learn more about the project.
