Chapter Chat - The story so far...

This morning I was on the Chapter Chat Facebook page and I was thinking about how far CC had come in such a short time. Then I thought why not write a post to explain my journey so far. So here goes....

In term 1 my class took part in NZReadAloud which was a positive experience. I loved the idea of connecting classes through a chapter book but struggled with Edmodo, which was the platform used to connect classes. Edmodo was hard to use and the Y3/4 ReadAloud didn't provide live interaction with other classes.

This got me thinking how I could improve the concept for myself and my kids. At the time I was running Kidsedchatnz (a Twitter chat for kids) so the idea of using Twitter to connect instead of Edmodo popped into my head.

So my first thought was, "Ok, why don't I create my own read aloud and use twitter as the sharing platform?" Chapter Chat was born!

I thought if I can get maybe 2 or 3 classes to join me it would be worthwhile.

So the first thing I did was to start work on creating the concept. I researched names on the internet and came up with Chapter Chat. It seemed appropriate as I was running a Twitter chat about chapter books. Next I created a blog where I could share information, tasks and questions. From there I created a Chapter Chat logo and started a Chapter Chat Twitter account and Facebook page.

Blogs, Facebook and Twitter are all platforms that I am very familiar with through my years of teaching in a digital class room at Russell Street School.

My final step was to choose a book to read. To be perfectly honest I didn't give this much thought. A child in my class had bought in 'Charlotte's Web' the week before, and I had always wanted to read it, so I decided to choose it. I knew it was a classic and wouldn't let me down.

Now I was ready to share my concept with the world! So how was I going to find a class or two to join me? Well I was a member of the NZ Teachers Facebook page so I thought I'd advertise on there.

Hey presto! Within 2 weeks I had 75 classes wanting to join! WOW, there was no going back now!!

My next step was to actually read the book. I read it in one day and loved it. From here I started to create questions and tasks. I started by setting the reading schedule and breaking the story into sections.

The next step was to reread the chapters and create questions and tasks for each section/week. I needed 10 questions and 5 tasks for each week. 

I like to generate all the tasks and questions prior to starting the Chapter Chat. That way it's all organised and I don't have to worry too much about it.

Classic books like Charlotte's Web are easy to generate tasks and questions as there are so many resources on-line. A bit of research and everything falls into place. I try to create tasks that my kids would like to complete.

I decided to run the Twitter chat on Friday at 10am as this time suited my class best. There was no point in trying to find a time that suited all the classes as my experience with Kidsedchatnz taught me this was impossible!

From here it became apparent that a lot of the classes taking part had never used Twitter before. So I decided to create a page on the CC blog to help each class join. I spent a lot of time going through all the steps the classes would need to follow. The page talks about how to set up Twitter, follow classes, use tweetdeck and basically how to take part in the chat.

Running a Twitter chat was a piece of cake for me as I had been running Kidsedchatnz for the last 4 years. Kidsedchatnz is a weekly Twitter chat based on one off topics.

I also created a 'How to write a quality tweet' - criteria that all the classes could use with their classes. I  think it is important that the chat on Friday is about quality tweeting not just having fun.

Chapter Chat 1 kicked off in week 1 of term 2. I was a bit nervous on the first Friday wondering what was going happen. The result? An awesome chat where kids were sharing and tweeting up a storm!

It came apparent quite quickly that Chapter Chat was all about the sharing of tasks and the questions were secondary. What I had created was a live audience for the kids to share their learning with!

Seeing all the different creations each week has been inspiring for myself and the kids. The kids love getting 'likes' on Twitter and get ideas from the different classes.

From here I decided to put a bit more effort into the task creations. I tried to make them a bit more interesting with a variety to choose from. 

To keep Chapter Chat running each week there are a number of tasks that I complete. I start by posting on Friday the next week's tasks and questions. I like to put these up on a Friday so teachers can plan ahead for the week. I post them on our blog, Facebook page and Twitter account.

Then during the week I keep an eye on the Chapter Chat Twitter account to see if any classes have tweeted any tasks or tweets. There's usually a few.

I also usually send out an email to everyone reminding them of a few things. It's usually stuff about how to use Twitter.

My next task is to schedule all the questions on a timer in tweetdeck. I set them all on 5 minute intervals. 

Next I run and moderate the chat on Friday morning. I try to check every tweet and retweet all the fantastic tasks.

Once the chat is over I check all the tweets that I have liked during the chat and pick the best ones to go on our Blog and Facebook pages. I usually do this during lunch time.

And finally I email everyone about the chat and share next week's tasks and questions. The cycle continues!

Another important part of running Chapter Chat is choosing the books. You could say this is the most important part! Chapter Chat is first and foremost about books! The funny thing about this task is I am not a reader. In fact at school I hated books! I never read books! I was the kid who liked to run round at lunch time playing sports, definitely not reading.

So this is the hardest part for me. In the last two terms I have read lots of books and researched lots of books on the internet. Thank goodness for Goodreads and Common Sense Books. They are my go to websites.

I also like to tap into other's thoughts about books. I post on Facebook a lot asking for suggestions, talk to librarians, teachers and my wife (she loves books!). My favourite spot in town now is Whitcoulds and Paperplus looking at children's chapter books.

The Chapter Chat 2 book I chose was 'Because of Winn-Dixie' by Kate Dicamillo. This book was recommended to me by Joy Kitt, a teacher at my school. It's a fabulous story about a girl without a mum and a stray dog that brings the whole community together.

Chapter Chat 3 was 'The Magic Faraway Tree' by Enid Blyton. Again Joy mentioned the book to me and I read it and loved it. The kids loved the crazy characters and the lands above the faraway tree is such a cool concept.

Chapter Chat 4 is 'Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. This book was recommended to me by a teacher on Facebook. I got it out from the town library and loved its humour. The kids loved this one as everyone can relate to having an annoying little sibling. 

Chapter Chat 5 is going to be 'The Person Controller' by David Baddiel. This book fell off the shelf at Paperplus into my hands! I started to read it in the shop and decided to buy it. I think the kids will love it as it's modern and fast paced.

I try to pick a different author and genre for each Chapter Chat. The idea is to expose the kids to as many different kinds of books as possible. 

There are currently 50 classes taking part in Chapter Chat 5. I accepted 115 classes into Chapter Chat 3 and this was madness! Tweets were flying everywhere and I found it hard to keep up during the Twitter chat. I am now only accepting 50 classes and participation is invitation only. I regularly turn away classes wanting to take part.

In all I have had over 200 classes throughout New Zealand take part in Chapter Chat.

I am always looking to improve the Chapter Chat concept and have made lots of tweaks and changes to how I run it. In term 2 I sent out a survey to all teachers asking for feedback. The results of the survey were overwhelming positive.

In term 3 I ran a nation wide new Chapter Chat logo competition. Hundreds of entries were submitted and the contest was won by a girl in my class. Her logo currently features on all Chapter Chat sites.

My class are currently designing and creating Chapter Chat merchandise for our school market day. They are making Chapter Chat badges, stickers and bookmarks. We will also make these available to all the Chapter Chat classes.

Last week a teacher who takes part in Chapter Chat sent me an article from the NZ Herald newspaper about how Enid Blyton books had made a comeback this year. In fact they were now in the Whitcoulls top 50 kids books. I'm pretty sure Chapter Chat has played a part in that comeback. 

I have written articles about Chapter Chat for both the Interface Magazine and Edutopia Website.

So what next for Chapter Chat? Will it continue next year? Well who knows. It really depends what age level I end up teaching next year (I change age level just about every year I have been teaching). If I stay in Y3/4 then definitely! If I move age levels then Chapter Chat will cease to exist. The way I see it is Y1-2 are too young for Chapter Chat and Y5/6 can take part in NZReadAloud, as this works well at that level. 

The other day my Principal was talking to the staff about how reading was the most important thing children could learn. He thanked the library staff for organising the Book Fair and said anything we can do to encourage kids to read has got to be a priority for us. I thought to myself, "Well I guess I'm doing my bit as Chapter Chat has reached thousands of kids throughout NZ."