Intro   Hi and welcome to Books Between - a podcast for teachers, parents, librarians, and anyone who wants to connect middle grade kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love.  I’m your host, Corrina Allen - a teacher, a mom, a college basketball fan, and a lover of all things science. Coming from my dad’s side, I grew up on a steady diet of Syracuse games and highlighted brackets scattered all over the house every spring. And on my mom’s side, I grew up with a steady diet of David Attenborough documentaries and trips to just about every planetarium and nature center in the state.   This is Episode #17 and today I’m chatting with you about March Book Madness and featuring twelve fabulous books about science and scientists.   Main Topic - March Book Madness   It is almost that magical time of year when a little March basketball mayhem can be harnessed into a fun competition that celebrates children’s literature. Of all the book related activities that I tried with my students last year, participating in March Book Madness was by far the most engaging thing we did. My 5th graders loved it, the students across the hall were talking about it, the teachers walking by our class were making predictions - it was fantastic. It got kids reading and promoting books to each other. And mostly - it was just fun. So today, I’ll discuss three things: what is it, how can I participate, and where can I get resources and more info? A quick heads up before I begin - as always, I have your back and every resource and website I mention will be linked in the show notes and on AlltheWonders.com.   What is March Book Madness? March Book Madness is a bracket-type tournament modeled after the NCAA tournament where you have books going head-to-head to see which one will advance to the next round. Typically, you start with 16 books and then week by week narrow them down to the final match-up. Usually the brackets are created with a big display in a classroom, hallway, or library. I think a public place is best so you really create that community buzz about the books.   For each round, you have students vote on each match up to determine which book makes it to the next round. Last year, I had a meeting with my class to determine which books to start with. They each had their reading journals in their lap and we hashed out the top 16 books that most of the class had read. Our picks last year were: The One and Only Ivan, The Honest Truth, I Funny, Big Nate, Hatchet, Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, Home of the Brave, Auggie & Me, The Crossover, The Hunger Games, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Smile, Flying Solo, El Deafo, Wonder, and Sunny Side Up. Generally if a lot of books in a series were recommended, we just put in the first book to represent all of them.   Before we got going, I had every student fill out a bracket to predict who would win and the kid with the most points for each round would get a free book from our next Scholastic order. Once we got going, we voted via a Google form and my rules were that in order to vote on a match-up, you had to have read BOTH books. So - that really got students reading books that they might not have picked up themselves so they could participate and vote for their favorites, too.  But - you can handle that however you think is best. Last year in our class, The Crossover narrowly beat out The Honest Truth. And I can’t wait to see what they pick this year.   How Can I Participate? It’s easy, hardly any supplies are necessary so it’s an activity with lots of bang for your buck. So - option 1 - poll your class and decide on your 16 starting books that way. Or, option 2 - participate in the 2017 March Book Madness already set up online by the amazing Tony Keefer and Scott Jones. If you head over to marchbookmadness.weebly.com these two 5th grade teachers from Central Ohio have set up this awesome website with three different tournaments you can join - Picture Book, Middle Grade Novel, or YA.  I think my class will be doing the