Looking to start First Chapter Friday for Fifth Grade students in your elementary or middle school classroom?
Sharing the first chapter of a novel or text builds interest and understanding for your students and motivates them to finish the book. While the booklists were created for fifth grade, the books list may be great for fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade students.
What is First Chapter Friday for Fifth Grade?
First Chapter Friday for fifth grade students sets the stage for the students to preview a variety of books throughout the year. The premise is basic enough, when you have time, read the first chapter (or first few chapters or pages) of a book aloud for your students.
When students take the time to start book, they usually get hooked. First Chapter Friday is kind of like an extended sneak peek of a text.
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You can read more about the details of what First Chapter Friday is at First Chapter Friday Books and Resources for Upper Elementary & Middle School
Book Suggestions for First Chapter Friday for Fifth Grade Students
Frindle– Andrew Clements
Books about kids who are troublemakers, or are at least considered to be troublemakers, always seem to be a well received trope in my classroom. My guess is that students really connect to, and enjoy, living vicariously through the idea of students completely disregarding the ‘rules’ of any school. This book is about questioning the rules, because rules don’t always make sense.
Frindle is about Nick, a 5th grade student who has a reputation for coming up with clever, time wasting activities that are guaranteed to distract any teacher at school. He has finally met his match in his Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Granger. What results is Nick actually getting assigned extra work, he has to do a report on how new words are added to the dictionary.
Frindle is a great story to do as a read aloud, but if you don’t have the time, it’s also a nice introduction into the writing of Andrew Clements. As a side note, I never realized Brian Selznick, author and illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabaret was the illustrator for Andrew Clements.
I read the first two chapters for First Chapter Friday. It gives a nice story introduction and builds the world, the main character, Nick Allen lives in.
The Bad Beginning: A Series of Unfortunate Events, Vol. 1– Lemony Snicket
The Series of Unfortunate Events has had an interesting evolution over the years. The book was originally published in 1999 and was popular enough to warrant a movie starring Jim Carrey as Count Olaf in the 2004 movie. The book series then gained a new interested audience with the 2017 release on Netflix with 25 episodes released over three years, starring Neil Patrick Harris as a picture perfect Count Olaf.
Now that it has been a few years since the Netflix series, I have found many of my students unaware of this delightfully dark and unfortunate series. This makes book number 1, The Bad Beginning perfect for a highlight during First Chapter Friday for Fifth Grade.
When sharing the book, if you are able read past the first chapter to about p. 15. This is where the book is set up. Readers learn the Baudelaire children have lost their parents in a fire in the first chapter. We don’t learn about Count Olaf and his questionable relations until a few pages into the second chapter.
The dry humor of the narrator and interesting vocabulary, in addition to the fact the the series has 13 books for readers to enjoy, make this book perfect to highlight during First Chapter Friday for Fifth Grade.
Spy School– Stuart Gibbs
I love First Chapter Fridays because it is a way to gain feedback from the students about specific books. Stuart Gibbs is one author that is constantly being checked out from my library. When I highlighted Spy School for First Chapter Friday for fifth grade, I was surprised by how few students had actually read the book. I was mistaking the handful of students who had devoured the series for everyone in my class checking the book out.
The moral of the story is, don’t make assumptions that kids won’t be interested in popular books because “everyone already knows about that book.” In fact, these are the books that might have the highest return on your time investment because students already know and may be interested in these particular books.
From Gibbs’ Spy School series to The Fun Jungle Series (Belly Up, Poached, Big Game) as well as Charlie Thorn, kids love a good, fast-paced mystery.
Spy School is a particularly good pick for First Chapter Friday for fifth grade because the first chapter jumps right into the action with Ben, our main character, finding a visitor (a CIA agent in a tuxedo) waiting for Ben at Ben’s house to take him to spy school since a sudden spot has opened up in the middle of the year.
The Witches– Roald Dahl
It’s always a challenge to decide which Roald Dahl book to do as a read aloud each year. Unfortunately there are too many books and too little time to highlight for a read aloud. The Witches is a perfect First Chapter Friday for Fifth Grade book!
The first chapter of The Witches is sure to capture anyone’s interest from the start. I just love the seven-year old narrator’s warning at the start of the book:
A Note about Witches
In fairy-tales, witches always wear silly black hats and black cloaks, and they
ride on broomsticks.
But this is not a fairy-tale. This is about REAL WITCHES.
The most important thing you should know about REAL WITCHES is this. Listen
very carefully. Never forget what is coming next.
REAL WITCHES dress in ordinary clothes and look very much like ordinary
women. They live in ordinary housesand they work in ORDINARY JOBS. That is
why they are so hard to catch. (Roald Dahl’s The Witches Chapter 1 opening)
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow– Jessica Townsend
Nevermoor is a great book to highlight for fans of Harry Potter and other fantasy novels. Author Jessica Townsend pulls the reader into her delightfully imaginative world and gets you to feel for the awful, terrible life that Morrison Crow has to deal with since she gets blamed for EVERYTHING as she was born of the unluckiest day of the era.
She is even unluckier in that she has been told she is doomed to die on her 11th birthday. The book has its very own Dumbledore figure in Morrigan’s mentor, Jupiter North, who saves her and whisks her off to Nevermoor.
It is a longer novel, which makes it perfect to highlight during First Chapter Friday for Fifth Grade.
Caught! Nabbing History’s Most Wanted– Georgia Bragg
I like to save my favorite Georgia Bragg book,How They Croaked, for a read aloud. If you are looking for more informational text to bring into your First Chapter Friday reads, I highly suggest How They Croaked or Caught! Nabbing History’s Most Wanted.
Caught! Is great for a First Chapter Friday for Fifth Grade because the sections are a bit lengthier than How They Croaked, making it for a pretty lengthy read aloud. Students really love to read about a good bad guy. From Jesse James to Typhoid Mary to Al Capone, Caught! gives an enjoyable and informative look into the crimes of history’s most well known criminals.
First Chapter Friday for Fifth Grade Struggling Readers
It is okay to highlight books that truly read for fun and will not make it on any award winning literature books. There is a reason that shows like The Bachelor and Real Housewives are so popular. Sometimes you want a mindless, enjoyable experience.
The books below would be fantastic to highlight for ay First Chapter Friday for Fifth grade, but especially great suggestions for your struggling readers as well as the students that just can’t get away from Diary of a Wimpy Kid. (I don’t think there is anything wrong with Diary of a Wimpy Kid, I just want my students to try other things when they are done with the series).
The Kid Who Ran For President – Dan Gutman
Mac Undercover (Mac B. Kid Spy #1)- Mac Barnett
Superfudge– Judy Blume
Curse of the Campfire Weenies: And Other Warped and Creepy Tales– David Lubar (Dear Author is my favorite short story to highlight in this book)
Guys Read: Funny Business– Anthology Edited by Jon Scieszka
Other Books I Hope to Try This Year
I haven’t tried these for First Chapter Friday for Fifth Grade, but hope to add them over the year. I will update my list as I go and let you know how it went.
Keeper of the Lost Cities– Shannon Messenger
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell– Chris Colfer
Heroes– Alan Gratz
Liar & Spy– Rebecca Stead
The Lost Library- Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead
Looking For More Resources for Teaching Reading?
First Chapter Friday Books and Resources for Upper Elementary & Middle School
Great Books for Struggling Readers in Upper Elementary
How to Find Good Independent Reading Books for Students
Teach Students to Abandon Books They Don’t Enjoy
Executive Functioning and Teaching Reading in the Classroom
