March Madness in the Middle School Classroom

March can be a LONG month with little to no days off. Am I right or am I right? We need a little something to look forward to in March! This is just one reason why I love bringing March Madness into the classroom. March Madness is also the perfect time to analyze poetry in an engaging way AND to incorporate math tasks with data analysis!

ELA: The Editable Poetry March Madness Activity

Students will close read each of the poems in the match up and then rate the poems/poets based on the rubric. Whichever poem has the most points, advances! If the points are tied, you can vote as a class or students can choose their favorite poem to advance. Students continue reading poems, rating poems, and advancing teams on their bracket. A Google Form is included for students to record who wins if they do it individually, in pairs, or in groups, and you want to see the data for the class.

An Analyzing Poetry Sheet is included where students analyze the meaning, form, language, theme, and mood of the poems. Students are then asked to reflect on the bracket and create a written response using evidence to explain why the poem/poet won the tournament.

Note: This resource is editable so you can pick and choose which poems you use with your classroom. I have also had teachers incorporate songs into the line up! This activity has helped my students to develop a LOVE of poetry!

Check out the activity here.

Math: March Madness Math Activity

Students fill out the bracket with who they think will win each game and advance. Students are also responsible for updating their bracket, highlighting each win, and adding up their points per round. This can be independently, with a partner, with a group, or classes can compete against other classes.

Students analyze and reflect on their data, as well as previous tournament data.

Whoever has the most points wins an award, as well as the runner-up!

Check out the activity here.

Final Thoughts

I love an opportunity to incorporate real world math into my classroom and an opportunity to get students excited about analyzing poetry. These activities do just that!

Let me know if you try either activity in your classroom! Happy March Madness!