As March rolls in, the sound of basketballs dribbling and paper brackets flapping fills the hallways, signaling the arrival of the NCAA’s March Madness tournament. Students and adults alike eagerly race to submit their winning selections for the matchups and root for their favorite teams. Educators are met with enthusiasm from their students, who ask them to turn on the game or start a bracket in class…but what about a reading tournament?
The anticipation of the superstar showdown in collegiate basketball is always an exciting time of year for students and educators alike. However, this year brings a new kind of competition – a reading competition among students and their peers. Harnessing the excitement and exhilaration of March Madness, MindPlay utilizes our Tournament module to create our finest tournaments in a student-driven reading competition powered by LightSail.
And now you can try it with your students this spring! Check out our introductory video, where you can learn more about it.
Get ready to join the fun! Set-up is a breeze – just sign up here to get access to the March Reading Tournament, and we’ll handle the rest!
Year-Round Engagement
Is this only for March?
Absolutely not! The MindPlay Tournament Module is a year-round feature, offering flexibility for tournaments of any duration – whether it’s an hour, a day, a week, or the entire school year. This allows students to stay motivated throughout the year and grow to love their relationship with reading.
Students who participated in MindPlay’s March Madness reading tournament last year had an increase of 56% in minutes read from the month before, and they kept reading more after March was over!
Start Your Own Reading Tournament of Books
Create your own classroom tournaments with Mindplay’s Tournaments module! Once you’re in, get ready to dive into our online reading tournaments offering students a choice of over 10,000 high-interest books.
And the best part? You can customize the reading experience to fit your curriculum perfectly by selecting genres, topics, and specific titles. Let the reading excitement begin!
Effortless Tournament Tracking
Tracking the tournament just got a whole lot easier. MindPlay takes care of everything for you and keeps track of it all right within the platform. That’s right!
Say goodbye to those late-night struggles with rulers and tiny brackets, the never-ending copy machine queues for worksheets, and students scrambling to fill out reading logs the night before they’re due. With MindPlay, consider the scoreboard duties handled!
Calculators, spreadsheets, reading logs – MindPlay handles it all seamlessly within the platform! No more heavy lifting for you – from scoring to tabulations to real-time data, we’ve got you covered effortlessly.
Fast-Track Your Own Reading Tournament
Ready to dive in? Setting up your Reading Tournament of Books is a breeze! Simply choose the type of tournament you want – leaderboard, bracketed, or a hybrid of these two – and then pick your competitors. You can have a Student vs. Student face-off or up your game with a Class vs. Class tournament. Then, simply set a start date and time!
Next, decide on the duration of each round or set an end date, and MindPlay automatically generates an online bracket for you, filling it with your registered students.
MindPlay takes care of the logistics! No need to juggle calendars or stress about details.
Scoring and Lexiles: Facilitating Equitable Reading Competitions
You guessed it! MindPlay does the scoring! Just specify how you want it to work – whether it’s based on minutes, words, or pages read – and MindPlay keeps track of everything for you.
MindPlay also offers tabulation by cloze score, incorporating comprehension checks throughout the age-appropriate reading material. Students earn points for correct answers and lose points for incorrect ones.
And don’t forget about Lexile®! MindPlay’s expertise in assessing students’ reading skills by Lexile® level ensures that each reader receives personalized recommendations within their zone of proximal development. This means the books will be just right to keep students engaged while also growing their reading stamina.
We ensure the most equitable reading competitions among peers, regardless of their Lexile® level, when the tournament is based on Cloze scores.
How do I pick books?
Students have the freedom to choose their reading material, but teachers can also curate selections to align with curriculum objectives.
Teaching WWII? Select that as a genre, and MindPlay curates a library of relevant books. Want to explore underwater adventures? Dive into MindPlay’s library and handpick the perfect read for your students.
No more waiting lists at the library or scrambling for resources. Students can read anywhere, anytime, based on your preferences!
District-Wide Reading Showdowns
With District-Level access, administrators can organize tournaments spanning entire counties or school districts. Imagine engaging all middle schoolers in a month-long reading challenge or revolutionizing summer reading programs with MindPlay’s Tournament Module!
Join the Reading Frenzy: Engage Your Students Today
Trust us; your students will love it! Show them our exciting promo video, and they’ll be eager to join the reading frenzy.
It’s time to level up your March Madness Book Tournament with MindPlay. Dive into a free trial today!