As March rolls around, there’s more in the air than just the scent of spring—it’s also the time for March Madness! While this annual basketball tournament has fans cheering and brackets busting, it’s also a fantastic opportunity to inject some excitement into our ELA classrooms. So, let’s lace up our literary sneakers and explore some slam-dunk ideas to make March Madness a hit with your students!
What’s the Buzz about March Madness?
Before we dive into the fun stuff, let’s do a quick layup into the history of March Madness. Picture this: 68 college basketball teams from across the nation battling it out in a whirlwind tournament to claim the title of national champion. It’s like the Olympics of college hoops, complete with underdogs, upsets, and unforgettable moments. And the term “March Madness”? Well, let’s just say it perfectly captures the frenzy and excitement that grips fans every year.
Now, Let’s Bring March Madness to the ELA Court:
- Bracketology Bonanza: Just like sports analysts dissect matchups and make predictions, why not get your students in on the action? Create your own literary brackets, pitting iconic books against each other. Will “To Kill a Mockingbird” reign supreme, or will “The Great Gatsby” pull off an upset? Let your students debate and defend their picks with passion and gusto.
- Sports Writing Spectacular: March Madness generates a plethora of sports writing, from game recaps to in-depth analysis. Challenge your students to write their own sports articles or blog posts, capturing the drama and excitement of the tournament. They can channel their inner sportscaster, providing play-by-play commentary or post-game interviews with fictional players.
- March Madness Memoirs: Encourage your students to reflect on their own experiences with competition and teamwork by writing personal memoirs inspired by March Madness. Whether it’s recounting a thrilling victory on the basketball court or navigating the highs and lows of a group project, encourage them to dig deep and share their stories with authenticity and vulnerability.
- Literary Analysis Showdown: Just like a buzzer-beater shot, literary analysis can be thrilling and unexpected. Dive into fun texts, exploring themes of competition, resilience, and teamwork. Whether it’s dissecting the symbolism in a basketball-themed poem or examining the character dynamics in a sports-themed novel, there’s plenty of literary gold to uncover.
- March Madness Games: Inject some fun into your classroom with games and activities. Host a vocabulary showdown, challenging students to define basketball-related terms or ELA concepts in a fast-paced quiz. Or organize a March Madness-themed scavenger hunt, sending students on a quest to uncover literary clues scattered throughout the class.
The Final Buzzer For My Class:
If you want to use March Madness in your class and have no idea where to start, let me give you a couple of ideas from my own class. You can try fun activities like related to March Madness, a digital escape room, a bingo game, a scavenger hunt or a reading escape room.
My favorite part is however the March Madness Bracket Championship. I love to explore the intersection of sports and literature by analyzing a wide variety literature. My favorite is the First Chapter Friday challenge. It is a great opportunity to introduce my students to new and popular books during the month of March.
However, this year I am trying new types of brackets because I have multiple classes that want to do this activity. I’ll have a poet vs poet challenge, a book tasting bracket, a women poets competition and a Black poets championship. I have set up everything over the weekend and we are so ready to start.
I know that this year I’ll make a March Madness season to remember – because why should the sports fans have all the fun? If you need any help or ideas to spice up your ELA plans, just give me a shout. So, grab your clipboard, rally your team, and let’s make this March one for the books!
What are your favorite March Madness-inspired classroom activities? Share your winning strategies in the comments below!