• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

JOIN ME ON

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

HoJo's Teaching Adventures, LLC

Fun, Engaged, Impactful Relationships & Learning

I LOVE FREE THINGS!

  • Home
  • Shop
    • My Account
    • My Downloads
    • My Cart
    • Checkout
  • Blog
  • FREEBIES
  • About Me
    • Disclaimer & Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Email
    • Advertise with HoJo
    • Be a Guest Author
perfect for learning at school or home

FREE ADDITION MAGIC SQUARE PUZZLES

Grab ALL 17 Puzzles included for FREE: 0-5, 0-10, 0-20, two digit, & three digital addition!

Click Here to snag those freebies

14 Comments

Reading “Musical” Chairs

Do your students read the same genre over and over? Have you tried to get them to read different types of books, but they just keep going back to the first one? Are you looking for a way to get them hooked on something new? Then this just might be the strategy for you!

Reading Musical Chairs

reading "musical" chairs


This year I decided to try “Reading ‘Musical’ Chairs”. (I know I’ve heard of other teachers doing this, but here I share my take on it with you.) Just like the game with music, you put a group of chairs – no matter how large or small – into a circle facing outward. But you will need just as many chairs as there are people, and you will notย need any music. (Although you could easily add music and change with each new song or some other type of signal.)


Next have each student bring a book. The first time we did this I asked each student to bring in their favorite chapter book. We then sat in a chair (myself included), randomly opened our own book to any part we wanted, and read for a designated about of time – typically 5-7 minutes. At that point, I simply said “switch”, we moved to the next book (going clockwise), randomly chose a page to start on, and continued reading.


It never ceased to amaze me how quiet my students were during this activity! They really got into the books. Sometimes when we would switch I would have to quiet someone from telling me all about the section they just read – but if that is my biggest problem, I can totally deal with it! ๐Ÿ™‚


The next couple times we did this, I would have students choose books to bring to our circle in random ways. For example, I might ask them to bring a book they didn’t think any of their classmates had read. Or another day I asked them to quickly choose a book from my library to read. And another time I told them to bring a classic or award winning book. This way I knew they were seeing different ones.


One of the reasons I feel this was so successful was because I always saved about five minutes of our time period to discuss the books as a group. This way students could reflect on what they had read, ask questions of one another, and just share their excitement about books in general. I know students chose new books to read from this experience. When I do this activity again this fall, I’m also going to have students write down the books they found interesting in their notebooks. This way they will always (hopefully!) have a couple “go to” books they can check out the next time they are wanting something new.


Here are a couple other modifications you could try, depending on your class make-up. I did this activity during my reading intervention time with some of my higher readers. But this could easily be done with a large group. You could either have one large circle, or you could split into several smaller circles based on ability, favorite genre, or anything else you could think of! Or one day you could choose the books for students to read. Once you give it a try, you’ll see what works best for you and you’ll want to keep going with it!

Want your students to try out a variety of genres? Then try out "Reading Musical Chairs"! This is a great activity to do in your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th grade classroom. It's perfect for those "off" days where students aren't really ready to pay full attention due to testing, holidays, an assembly, or something else putting the schedule "off". Click through to see how awesome it is! It's also great for a fun literacy center. #HoJoTeaches #Reading #ReadingFUN #ReadingComprehension #Genres

 

Filed Under: 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th Grade, 6th grade, Middle School, reading

Previous Post: « Memorial Day Rhyming FREEBIE
Next Post: Ipad Apps for Reluctant Writers »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Heather aspecialkindofplace.blogspot.com says

    June 13, 2013 at 1:45 pm

    I LOVE this idea! I have small groups (I am a resource teacher) but I am going to try this for sure. What a fun way to practice reading. Since I have low ability level readers I think I will choose the books or passages ahead of time. I am thinking of making a game out of it where after they have been passed around they will have to discuss and decide which genre each book was (or which type of writing, point of view, etc.). Imagine the possibilities! Thanks so much for sharing this terrific idea!!

    Reply
  2. Shannon says

    June 14, 2013 at 4:37 am

    I've done this several times and had GREAT results!!

    Shannon
    http://www.irunreadteach.wordpress.com

    Reply
  3. Brandee Green says

    June 14, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    This is a great idea. I agree that students need to vary their genre selections but I also have such a tough time trying to force a read on them. I want them to have complete freedom and ownership in what they read. This sounds like a fun way to get them to choose something else. ๐Ÿ™‚
    ~Brandee
    Creating Lifelong Learners

    Reply
  4. Sally says

    June 16, 2013 at 3:52 am

    What a great idea! I've never heard of this before, but I think I'll give it a try. I've got to shake things up to survive the next 9 days!

    Sally from Elementary Matters

    Reply
  5. Laura says

    June 30, 2013 at 10:46 pm

    This is a fabulous idea! Can't wait to try it next year!!

    Reply
  6. remmu says

    November 16, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    Hi.. But how will children have continuity in their reading if they switch in between?

    Reply
  7. Heather W says

    November 16, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    This activity doesn't promote continuity. Rather, it allows the students to explore various genres or books they may like to read down the road. It's great to give them a few minutes at the end of the time to write down the names of any books they particularly liked to add them to their "must read" list. I found this activity worked, but I did it just 5-6 times each year when I was hearing a lot of "but I don't know what to read".

    Hope that helps! ๐Ÿ™‚
    ~HoJo~

    Reply
  8. Amy says

    January 14, 2015 at 2:17 am

    I just wanted to say thank you for the idea! I used this today in my library with 7th graders. Each chair had a sci-fic book and they were able to read snippets of several books within this genre before checking out a book!

    Reply
  9. Nancy Trower says

    March 18, 2016 at 6:55 pm

    Thanks so much for the great idea! I am a school library media specialist and had no idea what I was going to do with a sixth grade class in the last period on a Friday right before vacation. This was great!

    Reply
  10. Denise says

    October 19, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    I absolutely love THIs idea. Thank you for sharing. I am trying this woth my students next week.

    Reply
    • HoJo says

      October 31, 2017 at 1:07 pm

      You’re welcome! I hope it went over well. ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  11. paige green says

    March 29, 2019 at 8:02 am

    love this idea! I would love to share this with my teachers! May I post it on my school blogspot? PGREEN220.BLOGSPOT.Com

    Reply
    • HoJo says

      March 29, 2019 at 9:47 am

      You are free to include a link on your blog back to my site, but please do not copy my wording or images. Thank you!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Best Sellers

Connect with Me

BloglovinFacebookGoogle +InstagramPinterestTwitterYouTubeMy TPT ShopImage Map

My Personal Blog

FUN. ENGAGING. IMPACTFUL.

click to explore the many amazing resources so many kids have already enjoyed!
Learn More

Footer

Thank you For Visiting!

  • Home
  • Shop
  • Freebies
  • Contact
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Latest on Instagram

Follow on Instagram

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Sign up and get addition freebies delivered directly to your inbox!

  • Privacy Policy
  • Shop
  • Freebies
  • Contact

Copyright ยฉ 2021 ยท BRANDING + WEB DESIGN BY LAUGH EAT LEARN

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT