Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links, which means I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase using the links, at no cost to you. I never include links to anything I haven't purchased myself.
If you're an ELA teacher, chances are you've heard of First Chapter Fridays. I started First Chapter Fridays in my classroom last year. I had no idea how they would be received or how awesome they are, but now I do, and I wouldn't dream of NOT having First Chapter Fridays in my classroom!
First Chapter Friday - What is it?
If you haven't heard about First Chapter Fridays before, the first thing you should know is that they look different in every classroom depending on the way each teacher chooses to use his/her class time. However, they all have the following few things in common. Teachers read the first chapter of a novel to their students every Friday, typically with no strings attached. So, students don't need to take notes, for example, while they listen or fill in a worksheet. All they need to do is sit and enjoy the experience of being introduced to a new world, relatable characters, and the joy of getting wrapped up in a good story!
Why Spend Time on First Chapter Fridays?
Reason Number 1: It helps students learn about the characteristics of each literary genre.
I use First Chapter Friday as an opportunity to teach my students about the literary genres. When my students come into class on Fridays, they start with a bellringer quiz. Then, I present them with three book options that I've selected from the same literary genre.
So, for example, if my First Chapter Friday is taking place during October, I'll dedicate several Fridays to books that fall into the spooky/scary/horror-fiction genre because it's spooky season/Halloween time. Three books from my classroom library that I featured last year from the genre are Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman, The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier, and Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker.
Week after week my students hear me talk about genre as I read the back of the book descriptions and the first chapter from a book in our featured genre. Over time, the repetition helps the information stick, and my students get better and better at identifying the different literary genres based on the traits of each genre.
Reason Number 2: Reading aloud helps me model reading pace and inflection. I've learned over time that when students are reading aloud, they are often more focused on not mispronouncing a word and getting through the paragraph as quickly as possible. It can seem more about surviving the text than enjoying it. (Side note - I don't force students to read aloud in front of the class. I've observed this from the students who volunteer.) When I read to my students, I know that they are soaking up information about pacing, inflection, tone, and mood without even realizing it! They hear the pauses when I reach a comma, and they feel the excitement with every exclamation mark!
Reason Number 3: Enthusiasm is Contagious.
Speaking of excitement, if my students hear the excitement in my voice, they get excited about the story! If they hear the tension, they feel tense waiting for the plot twist. And most importantly, if they see me thoroughly enjoying a book, they understand that reading actually CAN be a wonderful adventure and truly enjoyable.
So, what does the structure of First Chapter Friday look like? Again, it's different for every teacher. However, this is what First Chapter Friday looks like on any given Friday in my classroom.
It Starts With Student Choice
As I said before, I start my First Chapter Fridays by presenting my students with three book options that I've selected from the same literary genre. I hold up the first book so my students can see the cover. Next, I share any fun facts that I may know about either the book or the author. Then, I read the description on the back of the book out loud. I then repeat the process with the remaining two books. When my students have all of the background information that they need to determine which book interests them the most, I take a vote and let my students decide which book I will read the first chapter of.
Some teachers don't vote and simply choose the book that they'll feature for the week. One of the reasons I select three options and let my students choose is simply because I enjoy giving my students choices whenever I can, but the main reason is I think that it makes them more invested in the process.
On To Reading
After my students select a book, I read the first chapter.
I try to select three options that include a first chapter that ends with a little suspense. It makes drawing students in and piquing their interest in the book so much more fun and effective! However, we can't always have a suspense-building or action-packed plot right out of the gate. If the first chapter of the book my students choose for me to read is short, I may read two chapters. If the book begins with a prologue, I sometimes read the prologue plus the first chapter. It all depends on the individual book. So, you've read - now what?
After I've finished reading, my students have whatever time is remaining in our classroom to read books that they've chosen for themselves independently. My goal is to make sure that they have at least 20 minutes to read independently on Fridays. They also read after they've finished their work for the day Monday - Thursday, but this is our dedicated chunk of class reading time.
(Check out my post Making Independent Reading Time Relaxing and Fun to learn more about helping your students get the most out of independent reading time!)
Before my students start reading, I offer the three books that I've featured for the day to the class. There are typically at least four students who want to continue reading the book I've featured and some are usually interested in the other two that didn't get chosen based on the details I shared and the back of the book description. Sometimes, however, the book is wildly and unexpectedly wanted by nearly every student. This happened last year with Scary Stories for Young Foxes. (I'll share more about what to do in this situation in just a moment.) When more than one student wants to read the same book, it leaves teachers with the difficult task of deciding who gets to read the highly sought-after book first. (What a problem to have though, right?! I'll take this problem over any other problem any day!) Here's how I handle it.
First, I write the name of each student who wants to book down on a piece of paper. Then, I select a student at random (who isn't vying for one of the books) to give me a number. I use the number to count down the list and when I land on the selected number, that student gets the book next. If the number is higher than the number of students on my list, I just loop back to the top of the list and keep counting until I hit my number.
A quick little heads up - At some point, one of the students you've chosen to select the number will decide to be ornery and give you a number like 7,435. When that happens, just laugh and respond with something like, "I'm only taking the five from that number, sir! Nice try though!"
Here's the thing though (and it's a little goofy but fun). I kind of get bored with numbers. (I'm an ELA teacher for cryin' out loud!) So sometimes I tell my randomly selected student assistant to give me a color or the name of an animal instead of a number. Then I'll do something like select the student from the list wearing the color my assistant selected or count the letters in the animal name and use that number to work through my list of names. Ex: Zebra has five letters in it, so I'll go to the fifth name on the list. And if I'm really feeling like embracing some fun and silliness (and we have an even number of students who want the same book) I'll have a rock-paper-scissors tournament at the front of the room to decide who gets the book! Warning: more hands will quickly shoot up for the book when your students realize that there is an opportunity to play rock paper scissors. Don't fall for it. Those kids just want to play rock, paper, scissors. Ha! While my method for choosing which student gets first dibs on a book changes, I make sure one thing remains constant. I NEVER let them know ahead of time how I'll choose the recipient of the book. Why? It's just more fun that way :)
A "Scary" Situation
As I said above, last year when I featured Scary Stories for Young Foxes I had NO IDEA how popular it would be with my middle school students. I was blown away when 30 (yes, thirty) students wanted to read it. I was also not prepared. I hadn't personally read the book at the time (although I have now and it's wonderful!) I just happened to know that it was popular. So, when I found a hardback copy of it at a library sale for $3, I scooped it up!
(If you want to learn more about finding great books at local library sales to build your classroom library, check out this post - Creating And Adding To Your Classroom Library!)
When the stampede of students who wanted to read Scary Stories for Young Foxes came at me, I resorted to using WheelofNames.com. I put everyone's name in the wheel and we preselected the order the book would go in for everyone in a way that I knew they would see as being fair. Then we pinned the list to the board. Confession time - I bought a second copy of Scary Stories for Young Foxes. I typically have a policy that I won't buy classroom books for more than $3, but I spent $7 on a used hardback copy I found online. I just hated to make some of them wait for so long to get to read the book knowing that they were so excited. Having two books in rotation definitely helped cut down on the wait time, and I will say that two students asked their parents to buy them the book and showed up to class with their own copies, which was so nice! (You can find resources for teaching Scary Stories for Young Foxes here in my TPT store!)
More Than One Class Period
So what if you teach more than one class period of ELA? I fall into this category and my solution is that I create a list that includes students from all of my ELA class periods.
After I've read to each of my ELA classes, and written down the names from each period, I use my silly selection system with my last ELA class period of the day to decide who will get the book next, then second, third, fourth, etc. Then I post the list on the board.
When the book gets turned back in and it's the next person's turn on the list, you'll sometimes find that they will decide they don't want it after all because they are too involved in their current book or have just had a change of heart. (I'm a mood reader, so I totally get that!) If this happens, you just mark the student's name off the list and move on to the next person.
A couple of my students got clever and figured out how to avoid the list altogether last year. If luck wasn't on their side and they didn't get picked to read one of the books I featured but they really wanted to read it, they would raise their hands quickly and ask to go to the school library. Then they would rush down there to go get a copy of the book. Smart thinking, kiddos!
Remember
On a final note, there are three very important things to keep in mind if you're implementing First Chapter Fridays in your classroom!
1 - Keep a list of the books you've featured each week. As the year progresses, it's easy to lose track of the books you've featured, especially after Christmas Break. Mine is in a Google Sheet, but if you aren't in the habit of losing that one sheet of paper that you need like I am, you could easily just keep your list written on a notepad.
2 - Make it your own! Do what makes sense to you and what works for you.
You may be a visual, tech-loving teacher, for example. If so, you might like to use book trailers from Scholastic's YouTube channel to get your students pumped about the book you're about to read. Just do what works for you and your students! (If you're interested in using book trailers in your classroom and want to see what they look like, here is a link to Scholastic's Middle School Spring 2023 Book Trailers.)
3 - If your students have never experienced a First Chapter Friday before, it may take some time for their excitement to build. The key here is that you are excited and read with enthusiasm! Again, excitement is contagious!
Sharing Is Caring
I'd love to know what First Chapter Friday looks like in your classroom. Share below! If you're just starting First Chapter Friday for the first time and have questions, feel free to ask away in the comments section! And if you want to receive more sharing and caring from me in the future, be sure to subscribe to my blog!
Until next time!
Lauren
Comments