Inspired by March Madness and their love for the author Mo Willems of the Elephant and Piggie series, 1st graders engaged in their own “brackets” with a literacy twist. In the first annual “Mo Madness” tournament, books from the series went head-to-head through different rounds, narrowing down a winner in each class. Throughout the tournament, students engaged in meaningful activities surrounding character analysis, reading fluency, persuasive writing and data collection. 

To reveal the Mo Madness winners from each class, we had an Elephant and Piggie themed celebration on April 13th. We dressed up, played games and did fun STEM challenges all based on our favorite Mo Willems books. We even did a scavenger hunt to look for the infamous Pigeon—a character Mo hides in the back cover of his texts. The grand reveal was filled with excitement and cheers, and of course, an ice cream party inspired by the Should I Share My Ice Cream? story.