Have you ever found a great book that you would like to use with your class, only to find you don't have enough copies for an entire class set? Perhaps all you have is one copy. Chapter Books is an activity that might help solve your dilemma. With a single copy of a novel you can provide your students with some great learning experiences.

Directions:

1. Select a novel appropriate for your class's reading level and interest. Make sure this is a copy you don't mind destroying (literally).
2. Separate the cover of the book from the pages, being careful to keep it in one piece.
3. Separate the chapters from each other. You may find that you have to make machine copies of certain pages since the last page of a chapter may be on the back of the first page of the next.
4. Orally read chapter one to the whole class. Develop comprehension by asking literal, inferential, and evaluative questions about the content. Discuss literary aspects of setting, characters and their traits, plot ( a must for this activity), suspense, etc... Record the responses for each skill on separate pieces of chart paper.
5. Divide the class into three or four groups. Give one of the separate chapters to each group.
6. The group is to read the chapter, write three comprehension questions about its content, and discuss whatever literary skill on which you wish to focus.
7. Next the group records its responses on sheets of chart paper, beginning with the plot and ending with the comprehension questions complete with answers.
8. In chronological order, the groups share the content of their chapters and display their charts for the entire class to view.
9. After all the groups have shared, read the next chapter orally to the entire class, once again discussing and recording your areas of choice.
10. Assign separate chapters to groups, repeating steps F-H until all chapters but the last have been completed.
11. Make sure the last chapter is one that you orally read to the class.
12. Provide a culminating activity for your students that focuses on the content of the entire book.

And there you have it! You've made one copy of a book stretch to accomodate an entire class of students. I wouldn't recommend this reading method for every novel. It's not the best way for students to approach literature, but it works well in a pinch and stretches an often too thin school reading budget. In addition, you can usually complete an entire book in one week's time.

I often use this method when introducing a literary genre. For instance, I'll begin a unit on historical fiction by selecting a historical fiction novel to use as a chapter book. During this stage, I develop the literary characteristics that are unique to this genre. After completing the novel as a Chapter Book, students are assigned specific titles from class sets to read individually or in a group.

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Last updated February 17, 1997