Spark curiosity with First Line Book Quotes for Upper Elementary

Classroom Posters…have to love them! I have seen (and spent!) crazy amounts on what I think would work for students only to have decoration that was only for me and not my students! Book quotes classroom posters are an excellent way to spruce up your library, get students involved, and celebrate reading!

I was looking for ways to increase student engagement especially in the library! This is a place that I want students to be excited to see and feel super at home finding and enjoying books that THEY choose. In working to create a welcoming classroom library I knew I wanted decor that would also fit the bill.

Book Quote Library Posters were the perfect solution to create the literary atmosphere that would be excellent and suit the needs of the students using it.

How do Book Quote Posters get Students Engaged?

• Make this all about students. Have them offer suggestions of their favorite books!
• Make this an assignment. Have students choose books that mean a lot to them or they really enjoyed or would recommend to make a first link book quote poster
• Use fun stock images or pictures and use a favorite quote from the book
• Add a recommendation or reason to read
• Have students sign their Book Quote Library Poster if they read or like that book to show other students that it is a great choice as well.

Go ahead and judge a book by its first line

We’ve all heard the expression, “don’t judge a book by its over.” Sprucing up your classroom library with book quote library posters focuses on content over covers. Using first lines or monumental quotes from books you can gets students excited about what is to come.

Strategically hanging the First Line Book quote Posters is important. Placing them around the classroom library at an eye level students will see or creating smaller version can have students viewing them with more frequency.

First Line Book Quotes to Engage Young Readers:

Your middle grades or upper elementary great book list!

1. Circus Mirandus – “Four small words that was all it took to set things in motion.”
2. Loot – “No thief likes a full moon…”
3. Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes – “Now, for those of you who know anything about blind children, you are aware that they make the very best thieves
4. Framed (***MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK CLUB BOOK EVER!!!) – “You’ve probably never heard of Vincenzo Perugia but we know all about him. He was a famous art thief and we used to be in the same line of work.”
5. Spy School – “‘Hello, Ben’ said the man in the living room. ‘My name is Alexander Hale. I work for the CIA.’ And just like that my life became interesting.”
6. Island of the Aunts – “Kidnapping children is not a good idea. All the same sometimes it has to be done.”
7. The Key to Extraordinary – “It is a known fact that the most extraordinary moments in a person’s life come disguised as ordinary days.”
8. Chains – “The best time to talk to ghosts is just before the sun comes up.”
9. Counting Thyme – “When someone tells you your little brother might die, you’re quick to agree to anything.”
10. Double Dog Dare – “Most wars begin with a bang or a blast or an enormous KABOOM! The war in room 43H began with a single question.”

Encourage students to engage and “sign” the poster if they agree with the book recommendation for other students to visualize. As a teacher, this was awesome to start the year off with and then pass over to my students who wanted to take on and recommend books to their peers (other than book talks!)

It was AMAZING to see just how excited students got about this idea and once they connected how we judge books and what might be “good.” They really branched out and read more of a variety.

Grab these First Line Book Quote Posters (Grades 3-5) for your classroom library today!

Here’s your copy!