Fun Friday activities are a great motivational tool, and many classroom teachers use Fun Friday in a wide variety of ways. Why not dedicate time on your Fridays to use some of these creative Fun Friday Reading Activities to help motivate and encourage your students to read?
Fun Friday Reading Activities and Ideas
By incorporating some fun and simple ideas each Friday into your reading class, you can easily encourage even your reluctant readers to read. Students love special activities, so creating simple and easy activities for your reading classroom is a great motivational tool for your students. Your students will be so excited and will look forward to these special reading days in your classroom, so be sure to announce these special days, and mark them on your calendar!
Changing up your Friday routine is a fun way to engage your students and excite them about reading. Rotate your favorite fun Friday reading activities, choose one Fun Friday Reading Activity for each month, or even get your students involved and let them choose an activity. Your students are sure to be excited about reading when you incorporate some of these 10 Fun Friday Reading Activities into your classroom.
Flashlight Fridays
Let’s start with this very popular activity that many teachers have already used in their reading class. If you have not tried Flashlight Friday, I highly recommend trying this enjoyable activity with your students. All you need for this easy activity are inexpensive, small flashlights.
Easy steps for Flashlight Friday:
- Provide each student with a small flashlight.
- Allow students to choose a book
- Students may take their books to a special corner or space in the room.
- Turn out the lights
- Read!
Students get so excited about reading by simply creating a special day and time to turn out the lights. It is that simple. You may want to play soft music in the background to help the ambiance of the activity. Inexpensive flashlights can be found at most dollar stores, and small finger flashlights are perfect for this fun activity.
First Chapter Fridays
First Chapter Friday is one of my favorite Fun Friday Reading Activities and is a fabulous way to motivate students to read. On Friday, select a great book from your classroom library. I like to choose a book that has not been checked out very often by my students. Also, selecting a book that really captures the reader’s attention in the first chapter is an added bonus.
If you are not familiar with First Chapter Fridays, it is a very simple idea that takes absolutely no time to plan!
- Read the first chapter to your class. At the end of the chapter, close the book, and ask, “Who would like to read the rest of the book to find out what happens next?” Chances are, hands will go up all around the room.
- Choose a student to receive the book, or draw names if you have a lot of students who would like to read the book. I like to choose students who are not as easily motivated to read or have had a difficult time finding and sticking with that “just right” book from the library.
- This activity has been a game-changer for some of my students in the past. I have had students who would never finish a book actually finish the First Chapter Friday book.
Follow-Along Fridays
I personally love listening to audiobooks, and so will your students. If you have a class set of chapter books, make Friday a day to follow along and listen as a whole class to a special book on audio. If you have a subscription to MyOn or Epic, allow your students to follow along and listen to a book of their choice.
Flipgrid Friday
Do you use Flipgrid? Add it to your Fun Fridays Reading Activities! Flipgrid is a free video engagement platform for your students (no affiliation). Encourage your students to create a short video book talk about a recently read book using Flipgrid. Students record a short presentation about their book with the goal of convincing their classmates to read the book. Give your students time to review classmate’s videos and make lists of their favorite book suggestions. You will see these books fly off of your shelves with these peer recommendations. Your students will love this engaging Fun Friday Reading Activity.
Read with a Friend Friday
Change up your independent reading on a Friday for a fun day of reading with a friend. Allowing students to read with a friend can motivate even your reluctant readers during independent reading time. Allow students to choose a book with their partner, find a favorite reading spot and read! This is a very simple, yet effective Fun Friday Activity.
Feature Friday
Another activity to add to your Fun Friday Reading Activities list is Feature Friday. Feature a new book this Friday with a book trailer. Many book trailers can be found on Youtube. Simply search, “book trailer,” or “5th-grade book trailer,” etc. to find great examples to use in your classroom. Here is a link to a playlist of 4th-grade book trailers, and another great list can be found here.
One of my favorite book trailers that I have found is Word of Mouse. As always, be sure to preview any video before you show it to your class.
Famous Figures Friday
Get your students reading biographies by adding Famous Figures Friday to your Fun Friday Reading Activities. Students can simply choose a famous figure that they would like to read and learn about. Short biographies for kids can be found on Duckster or on Mr. Nussbaum.
During reading or after reading students may:
- complete a graphic organizer
- jot notes in a journal
- use sticky notes to jot important information
- create charts about a famous figure
Cross-Grade Level Friends Friday
Why not coordinate with a lower grade level to schedule buddy reading one Friday? Your students will love reading to students in a lower grade. After coordinating with a teacher-friend in a lower grade, partner your students with a friend in the lower grade and gather books for your students to use with this activity. This is a fabulous reading activity because it allows older students who are struggling with reading to read a text below grade level without feeling inadequate. It also allows those students to gain confidence while reading to younger students. This is a great activity to schedule once a month throughout the school year.
Finale Friday
After a class book study, novel study, or after finishing a round of literature circles, dedicate a Friday as a Finale Friday to celebrate your reading accomplishments. Assign a special activity to cumulate your reading. I love to incorporate drawing or art into this type of activity.
A few Finale Friday Activities might include:
- Simply draw and color a picture about a scene or character from the book and write a few sentences to summarize the book.
- Create an index card reading response activity…found HERE.
- Create a collaborative group poster about the book.
- Write a poem about the book.
Flipbook Friday
On the same lines as Finale Friday, dedicate a Friday as a Flipbook Friday to create a special activity that will celebrate your students’ reading. This activity is also perfect to use after completing a class book study or completing a round of literature circles. I designed this creative Seasonal Flipbook Bundle to allow students to write and draw about books they have read while creating a fun-shaped flipbook that can be a beautiful classroom or hallway display. These activities are also perfect for creating a display for special occasions such as parent night.
Choose from a wide variety of seasonal flipbooks for your students. Your students will love creating these unique reading flipbooks and seeing them displayed on a bulletin board or in the hallway.
Fun Friday Reading Activities are a simple and effective way to add interest to your reading while changing up your routine. Choose a few of your favorites to add to your reading class this year, and watch your students love reading!
Have a blessed day!
Kelly
