FAQ

March Music Madness FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions 

This annual competition is held every March and features 16 songs from the previous year. For each bracket, students listen to two songs and vote for their favorite. The song with the most votes moves on in the tournament.

What is this all about?
This is a knock-out style tournament where two songs from the last 12 months face off against each other to see which song advances to the next round. Students in Spanish classes listen to the songs and vote for their favorite. It is a super fun and engaging activity that students generally name as one of their favorite activities of the year.

How do I participate?
Each day in class play the songs for that day’s bracket and have your students vote for their favorite. The playlists are available on the MMM Home Page. Then have your students vote in the poll for their favorite to see which song advances to the next round. All classrooms are welcome to participate and participation is completely free.

I’ve seen other brackets online. What’s the difference?
The phenomenon of a Spanish song bracket tournament took off after our original tournament in 2014. We are proud to be the creator of the first tournament and truly appreciate the hundreds or thousands of teachers who have participated in our bracket. One thing that makes our bracket special is that it features a variety of HIT songs from the PAST YEAR. All of our songs must be current (from the previous 12 months). Here’s a sample of how our 2023 songs ranked:

When does this start?
If you follow along with the official calendar, this tournament lasts 3 weeks in March. Following along with the national schedule allows students’ votes to impact which songs advance.

However, we know every school has different calendars, so our tournament is flexible that you can do it in your own classroom at any point. Our national polls are up for the whole month.

Do I have to vote online?
Online polls are set up so that students can vote with their peers across the nation. Voting will be conducted through an online poll so all votes must be entered from an internet-connected device.

Teachers may direct students to the voting page or you will be able to send them a direct link to the poll. You might send this link to students via email, your own website, sharing the url in class, or posting to a class management site like Google Classroom.

Students find it motivating to vote when they are voting with a national audience. However, you could also vote in class and choose the winning song from your own classes/students. You can also do both and compare your classes’ tally with the national poll.

What do I do in class?
Teachers who’ve done MMM in the past have shared how they implement the tournament in their own classrooms. Each teacher and class is different which means there is no wrong way to do it, so feel free to adapt to your own classroom needs.

Do I have to follow the same schedule?
No, you can choose your own schedule, however, the “official” winner, as voted on by our national poll, will be determined by the end of the 2^nd day of the poll.

However, we realize that every school has a different schedule, for that reason, we make our bracket available for teachers to choose how to best use it in their own classroom according to a schedule that makes most sense for them. We over a condensed 2 week time-table or a schedule to join us for the final 8 songs.

How long will the polls be open?
The polls will be left open for teachers who are not following the official schedule on the exact same schedule, but the official winner will be determined by the number of votes received at the end of the second day. All polls will remain open from 1 month after our first bracket opens.

How are the songs chosen?
All songs must be released within the past 12 months. We start by looking at the top hits of the year and weed out the inappropriate songs. We look for songs and artists that are popular and would likely be heard on the radio within latin stations in the US. We try to include a variety of genres and also look at the awards shows to find award-winning artists.

Are these songs appropriate?
All videos should be appropriate for most school settings, however, you will want to preview any videos before you show them to make sure they fit with your school’s culture. If you are not comfortable with any videos, you can choose to show the lyric video instead. You don’t even need to show any videos – it’s a music competition, so students should be voting based on the song, not the video.

For the first round, I personally do not show the official video, as I want the students to focus on the music/song itself and not vote based on the video. You can choose to show the lyric video instead. By the second round, I usually show the official video.

What songs are involved this year?
Go to this years MMM home page on the Menu Bar our of site to get more details about this year’s bracket.

Do I need to buy anything?
Nope. Participation in the tournament is completely free as teachers can download the bracket, access a playlist, and vote on our website. We do offer a product that includes all the printable materials. If you participate and want to support us, you can purchase our product on TpT.  You can also choose to donate a “cup of coffee” to support the many hours it takes to organize this and the costs to host the polls.

Is there a shared drive of resources? 
We welcome collaboration from all teachers who participate. Together, we are better. If you create any resources or lyric activities, you can share them and view other shared resources on our shared Google Drive Folder. Be sure to join our Facebook Group to collaborate with other teachers and get all the links you need, including our shared folder.

Prizes?
We typically host a raffle for teachers to submit their predictions on which songs they think will win. No purchase is necessary for teachers to participate in the tournament or the contest.

Many teachers also provide small prizes for their classroom for the same. Get more ideas on our FB group.

For any additional questions contact us, find us on social media @SpanishPlans, or post on our tournament Facebook group.

Social Media:

Please spread the word about our tournament by posting on social media. Make sure you mention that you are using the SpanishPlans Bracket. Post pictures of your display, classroom activities, and more. Social media is the best referral for more teachers to join. Tag us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @Spanishplans and use the hashtag #SpanishPlansMMM