Middle school ELA teachers: let’s talk First Chapter Friday, reluctant readers, struggling students, and practical reading engagement strategies! 📚 In this September Ask Me Anything, I’m answering three real questions from teachers and librarians — with ideas you can actually use in your classroom.
✨ SEPTEMBER 2026 ASK ME ANYTHING ✨
1️⃣ FIRST CHAPTER FRIDAY HACK
How can you share a book with your class when you don’t have enough copies — especially a graphic novel? I’m sharing an easy trick for projecting book previews so students can see the pages while you read aloud. This works especially well for graphic novels and novels in verse!
2️⃣ BOOKS FOR HABITUAL NON-FINISHERS
What do you hand the middle school reader who starts book after book…but rarely finishes one? Instead of just giving you three titles, I’m sharing three TYPES of books I look for when recommending books to reluctant readers.
Books mentioned include:
📚 Gamerville by Johnnie Christmas
📚 Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
📚 Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood
📚 Beneath by Roland Smith
📚 Ghost by Jason Reynolds
📚 I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis
📚 Who Was? / What Was? / Where Is? series
3️⃣ HELPING STUDENTS WHO ARE BELOW GRADE LEVEL
What do you do when the gap between where your students ARE and where they’re expected to be feels overwhelming? I’m sharing my “game board” approach to breaking skills into bite-sized pieces, building student confidence, making progress visible, and using gamification to keep students moving forward.
📱 PUT THESE IDEAS INTO ACTION WITH WORD NERD DAILY
Download my FREE Word Nerd Daily app for more middle school ELA teaching ideas, classroom engagement strategies, writing prompts, book recommendations, and RitaBot — an AI planning assistant built specifically to help teachers.
🤓 JOIN THE WORD NERD COLLABORATIVE
Want to submit a question for a future Ask Me Anything? Learn more about Word Nerd Collaborative and the First Chapter Friday Club here:
[www.wordnerdcollaborative.com](http://www.wordnerdcollaborative.com)
My goal is simple: help middle school ELA teachers increase student engagement, discover great books, and spend LESS time reinventing the wheel.
Have a question I should answer next? Drop it in the comments! 👇
#MiddleSchoolELA #ELATeachers #MiddleSchoolTeachers #ReadingEngagement #ReluctantReaders #StrugglingReaders #FirstChapterFriday #ReadingTeacher #MiddleSchoolReading #TeacherTips #StudentEngagement #BookRecommendations #EnglishTeachers #WordNerdCollaborative #AmandaZieba
✨ SEPTEMBER 2026 ASK ME ANYTHING ✨
1️⃣ FIRST CHAPTER FRIDAY HACK
How can you share a book with your class when you don’t have enough copies — especially a graphic novel? I’m sharing an easy trick for projecting book previews so students can see the pages while you read aloud. This works especially well for graphic novels and novels in verse!
2️⃣ BOOKS FOR HABITUAL NON-FINISHERS
What do you hand the middle school reader who starts book after book…but rarely finishes one? Instead of just giving you three titles, I’m sharing three TYPES of books I look for when recommending books to reluctant readers.
Books mentioned include:
📚 Gamerville by Johnnie Christmas
📚 Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
📚 Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood
📚 Beneath by Roland Smith
📚 Ghost by Jason Reynolds
📚 I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis
📚 Who Was? / What Was? / Where Is? series
3️⃣ HELPING STUDENTS WHO ARE BELOW GRADE LEVEL
What do you do when the gap between where your students ARE and where they’re expected to be feels overwhelming? I’m sharing my “game board” approach to breaking skills into bite-sized pieces, building student confidence, making progress visible, and using gamification to keep students moving forward.
📱 PUT THESE IDEAS INTO ACTION WITH WORD NERD DAILY
Download my FREE Word Nerd Daily app for more middle school ELA teaching ideas, classroom engagement strategies, writing prompts, book recommendations, and RitaBot — an AI planning assistant built specifically to help teachers.
🤓 JOIN THE WORD NERD COLLABORATIVE
Want to submit a question for a future Ask Me Anything? Learn more about Word Nerd Collaborative and the First Chapter Friday Club here:
[www.wordnerdcollaborative.com](http://www.wordnerdcollaborative.com)
My goal is simple: help middle school ELA teachers increase student engagement, discover great books, and spend LESS time reinventing the wheel.
Have a question I should answer next? Drop it in the comments! 👇
#MiddleSchoolELA #ELATeachers #MiddleSchoolTeachers #ReadingEngagement #ReluctantReaders #StrugglingReaders #FirstChapterFriday #ReadingTeacher #MiddleSchoolReading #TeacherTips #StudentEngagement #BookRecommendations #EnglishTeachers #WordNerdCollaborative #AmandaZieba