How to Run a March Madness Poetry Bracket in Any Classroom

March can feel like the longest month of the year.

Energy dips, behavior gets louder, and even lessons you normally love can start to feel like a slog. That’s why this episode is all about a high-engagement poetry routine that brings competition, discussion, and close reading into your room without creating extra work.

In this bonus episode, Genevieve (our membership manager and a real classroom teacher) breaks down exactly how to run a March Madness Poetry Bracket with students. Even better, it works whether you love poetry or your kids usually groan the second they see a stanza.

A poetry bracket is a structured tournament. Students read a set of poems, compare them head-to-head across multiple rounds, and vote on which poem advances. The twist is that students do not vote based on vibes. They vote with evidence.

Every round includes rereading, discussion, and justification. By the end, students have practiced literary analysis without feeling like they were writing an essay.

HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:

1️⃣ Poetry becomes engaging when there’s a purpose
A bracket gives students a reason to reread and compare, not just “answer questions” about a poem.

2️⃣ Every vote builds evidence and justification skills
Students have to explain why a poem should advance, which is argument writing in disguise.

3️⃣ The structure hits reading, writing, and discussion at once
Each round includes a quick write, small group talk, and a class vote, so you get strong standards coverage without a long unit.

WHAT YOU NEED TO SET THIS UP

Keep it simple. You only need three things:

Poems
Start with 16 short poems that students can reread easily. Mix tone, structure, and voice to keep buy-in high.

A bracket
Print one, draw it on the board, or make a digital version. Students should have two copies: one for predictions and one to track winners.

A voting method
A Google Form works especially well because you can add one key piece: a short written justification for each vote.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

March Madness Poetry Bracket resource in the EB Teachers ELA Portal

Poetry: A New Perspective YouTube Episode

MORE FROM EB ACADEMICS

EB Teachers can find this March Madness Poetry Bracket inside the portal, ready to print and run.

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