March Book Madness (Plus a Big Announcement)
March 2, 2026
It’s March. It’s madness. And yes… we’re making racket talking about brackets.
But before we jump into books, we shared a quick update in Episode 229:
After eight seasons (and 229 episodes!), the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast will pause at the end of this school year. We’ll wrap up with Episode 235 and then take a break.
We started this show at our kitchen counter in 2018. Now life is wonderfully full with family, nonprofit work, school, studio time, etc. and it’s time to step back for a bit. That said, we love podcasting together, so this likely isn’t goodbye forever… just a pause.
Now… back to the madness.
March Book Madness
If you haven’t explored March Book Madness, this is your sign.
Started in 2015 by two teachers in Ohio, March Book Madness takes the excitement of basketball brackets and applies it to reading. Books go head-to-head. Students vote. Brackets advance. Champions are crowned.
And the best part? It works for:
- Picture books
- Middle grade books
- Young adult books
The official site provides:
- Ready-made brackets
- Voting timelines
- Book lists with covers and descriptions
- Hall of Fame winners from previous years
- A map of participating schools and libraries
You can go all-in with the national voting schedule, or you can run your own classroom version. No pressure, fully customizable.
Why It Works
- Creates excitement around reading
- Low-pressure competition
- Flexible structure (whole-class read aloud, small groups, independent reading)
- Easy buy-in for reluctant readers
- Great source for high-quality book recommendations
Many schools print the book covers and create giant hallway brackets. Some compete across grade levels. Some libraries participate. Some teachers just use the book lists to stock their classroom shelves.
You can even shrink the bracket if needed — Final Four only? Totally fine.
And yes… you can bracket anything. (Books. Basketball. Potatoes. Apparently.)
Epic for Digital Reading
We also revisited Epic — which we previously discussed in Episodes 25 and 50.
Epic is free for educators during the school day and offers thousands of leveled books for students. It’s a great complement to March Book Madness or just a way to increase reading access.
Families can also subscribe for home use, which makes it a helpful year-round resource.