First Chapter Friday Sketch Notes

I am not a teacher, or a homeschool mom - I'm a full time working mama. BUT... I often have homeschool mom/teacher tendencies. I'm always looking for new ways to help get my kids engaged in reading, math, writing, etc.

The other day I was looking for resources to use for our family, and came across something called First Chapter Friday (or Meet a Book Monday, Try it out Tuesday, etc.). Have you heard of this?

It something that teachers use to give a sneak-peek of a book to entice their students to want to read the rest of the book. The teacher (or a student, or there are videos out there of authors reading the first chapter that you can find) read aloud just the first chapter of a book. (i.e. First Chapter Friday, Meet a Book Monday, Try it out Tuesday).

The goal is to introduce students to a book with the first chapter, and hopefully there will be some books that they want to read more of! This can happen once a week, once a month, or however often teachers can fit it into their schedule.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. My kid is going to put their head down on the desk, and fall asleep if you read them something that they aren't super interested in.

Enter Sketch Notes. While they read the chapter, the students can doodle or write things pertaining to the book or reading on their sheet. This helps them to be active listeners, instead of just putting their head on the desk.

Not every student is going to love every book, and that's okay, but this gives them a chance to keep track of books that they DID enjoy, and check them out of the library or their classroom as they become available.

What are SKETCH NOTES: The sketch notes pages are to be printed, and teachers can choose which to hand out, or let students choose which they'd like to use each time you are reading a first chapter.

Bonus add on for over achievers (like me!) BOOK REVIEW: If students have completed a book that they loved, teachers could encourage them to fill out the quarter-page mini-book review at the end of this printable and post them on a board in the room so that other students will be encouraged to try out past books.

I looked around to see what I could find as far as printables go, and didn't really find any that I loved, so I decided to create my own. Ta dah! You can find this set of 12 pages of sketch notes designs including free draw, prompts, and quotes to color for those who don't consider themselves super artistic on their own (plus the bonus book report) here.

I hope this resource is one that helps you to engage your family or your students on a deeper level! Happy reading!

Click to Purchase First Chapter Friday Printable