March Madness reigns at Shields Elementary

The March Madness tournament of books is running a bit differently this year at Shields Elementary, where students are voting to name the school’s favorite book.

The goal is to boost connections within the school and help remote students feel just as included as in-person students, said fifth-grade teacher Erin Gannon, who is chairing the competition with third-grade teacher Kate Libby.

Typically, Gannon said, a huge bracket listing of books, modeled after March Madness college basketball tournament brackets, is posted in the hallway outside the gym. This year, the bracket is on the Clever app so all students can click on the book they liked best.

The bracket started with Sweet 16 the first week of March, and the champion will be named the week before spring break, Gannon said. Students read and listen to books, and look for character development, best illustrations, themes, and other elements of a story. 

The tournament features a wide selection of books, including historic, scientific, biographical and social-emotional topics to attract different groups of kids, Gannon said. 

“Everyone should be able to see themselves in all of these books,” Gannon said. “There’s a lot of excitement about which book advances.”

Students keep notes about the books they read on an online tracker page and then vote at the end of the week. Younger grades are voting as a class and older students are voting on their own, Gannon said. Books advance in the tournament by getting more votes.

Fifth-graders are creating commercials each week to highlight different books, Gannon said, and students in all grade levels are engaged in the competition.

The competition is an initiative of the Leader in Me philosophy, Gannon said, which aligns with academic standards such as critical thinking, goal-setting and self-directed learning.