How to Start a Chapter Book

When reading a chapter book as a family, take a couple of minutes to really study the first paragraph or first five or six lines of text before reading the rest of the chapter. Authors deliberately state important information at the beginnings of chapters. This information, if examined, will prove helpful in understanding the text more fully. Discuss the content of the paragraph and why the author might be telling the reader this particular information. Make some predictions about what will happen in this chapter. Using this strategy will help each reader to gain a better understanding of the chapter.