Ready, Freddy Chapter Book Series

Are you looking for a new chapter book series your first and second graders will enjoy? Take a look at the Ready, Freddy series by Abby Klein. Today I want to share a few ways I use these chapter books with my students.

I find that my students love reading about Freddy Thresher and his classmates because Abby Klein has used her own classroom teaching experience to develop characters that bring real-life humor and problems to each of her stories that my students can relate to. Freddy begins the series as a first grader and eventually the series follows him to second grade. To learn more about Freddy and the series, you can grab this helpful guide from Scholastic.

Like many teachers, I use a variety of texts during guided reading, including chapter books. From time to time, I will also do Book Buddies. This is where I take my small group of students and divide them into pairs. They might all be reading different books, but all of the books will be from the same reading series so there are obvious comparisons to be made during group discussion. The Ready, Freddy books are perfect for Book Buddies, especially with the help of these flip books:

As the students read, they can record what they learn about Freddy. By discussing the character traits and evidence during group time, students begin to see the similarities of Freddy throughout the series.

Freddy faces a new problem in each story so I do have students identify the problem and solution. As we discuss the problem and solution in each story, students begin to see similarities in how Freddy approaches a problem and eventually finds a solution.

If your students have brothers or sisters, they will certainly relate to the relationship between Freddy and his older sister, Suzie. In each story, Freddy finds himself in trouble and Suzie always manages to help him….for a price. I love to call this “Let’s Make a Deal” and the students can’t wait to find out what Suzie will make Freddy do!

Another thing your students will quickly learn is that Freddy Thresher loves sharks! Not only will your students find shark facts at the end of each story, but each illustration has the word FIN hidden inside. Fin Finder is a great way to engage your students with the illustrations!

Now, because Freddy Thresher loves sharks, a shark booklet can be a lot of fun! I have actually created two different styles of shark craft booklets for this series.

The first shark craft booklet can be used just like the flip book because it has ready-made response templates. It also has a blank page, a lined writing page, and a picture/writing combination page if you want to add your own types of reading responses along the way.

The second booklet offers a different style of shark. This booklet is a completely open-ended response booklet. There is a blank page, a lined writing page, and a picture/writing combination page. I use these shark craft booklets for vocabulary words, questions, making connections, character comparisons, and more!

If you are fortunate enough to have multiple copies of a book from the Ready, Freddy series, I also have book companions with specific chapter-by-chapter comprehension checks. You can find those book companions here.

Do you have a favorite Ready, Freddy chapter book? I’d love to hear which book your students enjoy the most.