In conjunction with the NCAA’s Men’s and Women’s National Basketball Championships, the students at CHSD170’s Washington-McKinley School recently conducted its first March Madness of Reading.
Fourth-grade teacher Samantha Nichols coordinated the event in which students and teachers in grades three through eight submitted the names of some favorite books that they had read or hoped to read.
Once the 32 books that comprised the field were selected, Nichols bracketed the tomes, and the “madness” began! Each week two books competed to advance in their respective bracket with each classroom given a chance to select its favorite and narrow down the field.
“The students were so excited to choose their favorite book and monitor the work’s progress throughout the event,” Nichols said.
As time passed the classrooms became more competitive as they monitored the progress of the book they had chosen.
“The best thing about the event was that spurred an interest in reading in almost all of the students,” Nichols added.
“It was great to see them note the books suggested by the students in other classrooms and see them read the books that had been nominated by their peers.”
At the close of the event, the book selected as the winner of the 2019 March Madness of Reading was Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules, by Jeff Kinney.
Washington-McKinley School Principal Dr. Gretchen Sutherland was effusive in praising the success of the event.
“I am thrilled that our school continues to present events such as the March Madness of Reading,” Sutherland said.
“Events and activities like this one that involves so many of our students are a vital component in enhancing the learning experience, and instill and propagate an affinity for essential skills, in this case, Reading, which is one of the cornerstones of our district’s curriculum.”