Adventures in Music Bracket Competitions for Spanish Class

I’ve got something really exciting for you this! See, I’ve been keeping a secret – I hung out with Allison Wienhold of Mis Clases Locas and learned allllll of her tips & tricks for… music brackets! Allison credits Justin at Spanish Plans with the origin of music brackets.  

Now – I wasn’t really a fan of music brackets. They seemed overwhelming and time consuming and like something I just didn’t want to get involved with. But Allison has convinced me they’re worth giving a try! In fact – her views on why music brackets are so important align with my views on building libraries in our classroom. In short – something is for everyone and everyone deserves to have that something that is for them. 

What is a music bracket? In short – it’s a competition for students to choose their favorite song. It’s styled after March Madness (or insert your favorite sports play-off). Students choose 1 song from a pair to move on to the next round and continue until there is one winner.

Do brackets take all day? They don’t have to! The beauty is that you can make it what you need it to be in your classroom! Need full day plans for 3 weeks? Dive into the artists and their home country, the lyrics, the cultural elements, and more. Need a 5 minute break? Just play the songs and vote as a bellringer activity! The choice is your’s!

Do you change the songs? No! In true bracket style, the songs that you start with are the ones you choose from. BUT you could spend more / less time with them as they move through the bracket!

How do I choose appropriate songs and videos? YOU are the professional in your workspace and ultimately only you can make that choice. BUT Allison has worked over the years to curate some brackets that are more appropriate for high school and others that are more appropriate for middle school or a conservative high school space. You could choose to just do the lyrics and not the video as well if you don’t feel the video is appropriate!

March is so busy and it’s Spring Break – can I do this another time? You can do a bracket ANY TIME! Especially if you’re going to vote in your classroom vs a “world wide” vote competition. Allison even creates an amazing bracket for Hispanic Heritage Month that showcases songs from every Spanish speaking country that can be used anytime as well!

What if I want to do more than just the song? YES! We love that! You can always dive into the artist, the country, a map, the culture of their city / country, and more. If you’re wanting more than 5 minutes of class time to be dedicated to this bracket competition – the world is your oyster!

How can this impact students? The greatest gift we have in a CI classroom is that we CAN give everyone something to latch onto. Maybe it’s a calendar talk event, maybe it’s a book they love, maybe it’s a class story… or maybe it’s a song.

What if I need some convincing..? Friends – that was me too. But here’s the thing to remember. You can try something and not like it and stop. You can try something and modify it to make it work for you. You can try something you don’t love and see your kids love it. Give it a go.

Eeek. I don’t think I can make my own bracket? Good news! You don’t have to! Allison is the QUEEN of brackets and she has SO MANY that you can choose from to have a READY TO USE bracket for your first time! You can find Allison’s brackets here and on TPT!

BONUS! Allison and I will be hanging out again this summer in June at Comprehensible Iowa and we would LOVE to see you there! There are scholarship opportunities for 1st year teachers and more available that you can check out. I’m SO excited to be presenting on “No more secrets!” and giving a 2 hour workshop on activities that will engage students and bring FUN back into your classroom! You can sign up here! If you’re reading this after June 2026 – you can always visit https://comprehensibleiowa.wordpress.com/ for the most updated conference information!