Need Good Chapter Books for 3Rd Graders!!

I would recommend The Boxcar Children series. I loved those books when I was little and my dad read them to me. My niece and little brother just love them as well.

Hi M.,

I'm a consultant for Usborne Books here in Pflugerville and we have a great selection of educational books for all ages. We have a series called Young Reading Series 2 that would be perfect for 3rd graders. Check out my website for a complete listings of books www.ubah.com/B3315. You can also register to win $50 in free books every month!! Let me know if I can help you out more.

J. Holweger
512/251-8877
____@____.com

My students loved "Chocolate Touch" (author escapes me but last name begins with an s) "Esio Trot" by Roald Dahl and "Henry Huggins" and other Beverly Cleary books. They also liked the Wayside School books from Louis Sachar although I guess those are short stories. Personally though (and you may already do this), to actually teach the concepts (or at least when I introduced the concept) I used picture books (even when I taught 5th grade). There's a great book called "Crash, Bang, Boom" by Dr. K. Gibson that has a concept (Cause/Effect, Inferencing, Predicting, etc.) and a list of picture books under it and how to use them with great activities. This is for upper elementary teachers. I have an online discount teacher supply store based in Magnolia so if you need anything or want me to look for any popular titles, let me know.
K.
www.cheapteachermarket.com

My son LOVED the Jigsaw Jones series by James Preller. Jigsaw likens solving mysteries to putting the pieces of a puzzle together. These books range from upper 2s to mid 3s in AR level. He has also enjoyed the Stink Moody books (this is Judy Moody's little brother; by Megan McDonald)and the Fudge books (by Judy Bloom), just to name a few. He is an avid reader. :)

My daughter and I just finished Grace Lin's brand new Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. We loved it!

My daughter started reading the Warriors books by Erin Hunter sometime starting in the 3rd grade. She's about to go into 6th and she still likes them. They have several series' worth out.

My sons class read from the Gregor book series last year. Even though that was second grade, the books are good for 3rd graders too.

My son is a big reader and has been reading chapter books since kindergarten. He has been reading Hardy Boys and Nancy drew lately. (I think they read Nancy Drew in school too.)

We find a lot of books at Half Price Books they have a decent young adults section!

We loved Johnny Tremain as a read aloud at this age. Also loved reading The Great Turkey Walk aloud as well (fun!)
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Sign of the Beaver, Stone Fox, The Light at Tern Rock and Farmer Boy are also good ones for reading to self depending on ability.

The lightening Thief By Percy Jackson! MY son loves this series.

Hi M.,

Below are a list of books. Some are probably more 2nd grade and a few 4th grade. The top two books are the mandatory, the next four are optional picking two of these to read for my son who will be in the 3rd grade in the fall.

Entering Third Grade:
Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
The Pioneer Cat by William H. Hooks
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
The Boy Who Ate Dog Biscuits by Betsy Sachs
Where I Live (A Bluebonnet book) by Eileen Spinelli
Trouble with Tuck by Theodore Taylor

Second Grade List (advanced readers-could be used for third grade:

Dinosaur Days by Joyce Milton
Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne
Cam Jansen: The Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones by David Adler
Horrible Harry in Room 2 B by Suzy Kline
Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park
Marvin Redpost: Kidnapped at Birth by Louis Sachar

Fourth Grade List:
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Honus and Me by Dan Gutman
Maniac McGee by Jerry Spinelli
Beauty by Bill Wallace
Surpirse Acording to Humphrey (A Bluebonnet book) by Betty G. Birney
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and other Scarey Things (A Bluebonnet book) by Lenore Look

Our school lets the third graders read the selected "Blue Bonnet" books as part of their reading program. You can get the complete list on line or from your local library.

Our first graders also loved Charlotte's Web. Most schools read it in the third grade as well.

I hope these suggestions help! Good Luck and Happy Reading with your class!

A little about Me:
Married to a wonderful man with two sons, 18 months apart, getting ready for 2nd and 3rd grade. All my "boys" are the reason I smile each day!

I love the book There's an Owl in the Shower. The story talks about the effect of all the trees being cut down has on the spotted owl, the cease cutting order on the people of the town and how the trees being cut down effects other parts of the environment. The town is split between those supporting the cease cutting order and those against it. In the mean time, a baby owl is found. I used this when I taught third grade. I had a class set of the books and read the story aloud while the students followed along in their copy. I used this book to discuss cause and effect, main idea, inferencing, and to teach summarizing. The children loved the bits with the baby owl and enjoyed the class discussions.

Third grade is a wonderful grade. I taught it for 7 years and loved it. Enjoy!
Elaine

There is a fantastic book for cause and effect, not a chapter book, that I have used when teaching 3rd grade and 5th grade. The book is "Fortunately" by Remy Charlip. They sell it on Amazon for $6.99. It is pure cause and effect, but also shows how an effect can then turn into a cause for the next effect. Both age groups love the book but it really worked best for 3rd grade as a teaching tool because cause and effect isn't implied, it is obvious. Then I continue to refer back to the book the entire year. This book made teaching cause and effect a breeze! Hope this helps!

There is an adorable series of books through Scholastic called Animal Ark. This is a ton of books with Mandy, the adoptive daughter of 2 vetrinarians, and James, her friend. They are both bleeding hearts when it comes to animals and each book is a different animal. They are stories of animals in need and the two kids doing their best to have them cared for and loved in the end.

My son loved them. At bedtime I started off reading a chapter or two a night and then once he became decent with reading, he would read the chapters to me. Sometimes the books were hard to put down and if I wasn't the one there with him for a night, I'd have to ask him to catch me up. The last I knew, there were over 30 books. You can get them through the Scholastic magazine sent home through school sometimes for under $1. Usually the regular cost is somewhere between $4-$5.

There are many great chapter books out there, and I see you already have several good suggestions. I just wanted to mention that just because you are teaching third grade that doesn't mean you have to use only chapter books. I taught third and fourth grade for many, many years. I use higher-level picture books to teach reading skills. I used the chapter books for literature circles and for reading aloud. We still practiced our skills with the chapter books, but picture books are what I used to introduce the skills. Plus, with picture books even struggling readers can participate more readily! I even have a list that gives the skill and the books that go with that skill. Anyway, as for chapter books, check out the Bailey School Kids, the Boxcar Kids, Junie B. Jones, Magic Tree House...

I just read the funniest book called "The Twits" by Roald Dahl. It's a hoot! It's not too long--maybe 1/4" thick or so. Each chapter is about 2-3 pages long. Funny illustrations. This book is probably better suited for boys than girls. High gross-out factor.