Summer Reading/Writing Requirments for Incoming 3rd Grade

                                                     Summer 2008

Dear Incoming Third Graders and Parents:

Listed below is the summer reading list for incoming third graders. We, the third grade teachers are

requesting that every student read three required books and write three book reports this summer. The attached book report sheets should be used for each book report. One sheet per book will be collected the day the students return to school in September. All reports will be graded and placed in their writing portfolio.

We also suggest that the children continue to review math facts to make the transition into third grade as easy as possible. Purchasing a math review book at any book store, teacher store, or even CVS will help to ensure that skills are not lost over the summer.

Enjoy your summer.

Sincerely,

The Third Grade Teachers

Third Grade Required Summer Reading

 (choose three books)

Blume, Judy    Freckle Juice

Andrew wants freckles so badly that he buys Sharon's freckle recipe for fifty cents.

Bowen, Fred    On the line (or any AllStar SportsStory book by Fred Bowen)

Worried that his inability to make free throws is making his junior high basketball team lose games, Marcus learns an unconventional underhand shooting method from a friendly custodian but is not sure he wants to use it. Includes a history chapter discussing great basketball players who have used the underhand toss.

Bulla, Clyde Robert   The Chalk Box Kid

Nine-year-old Gregory's new house does not have room for a garden, but he creates a surprising and very different garden as a mural on an abandoned factory wall which the classmates at his new school come to see.

Brown, Jeff    Flat Stanley

Stanley Lambchop is flattened to half an inch thick when a bulletin board collapses on him, and now he can do many amazing things

Byars, Betsy    Tornado

As they wait out a tornado in their storm cellar, a family listens to their farmhand tell stories about the dog that was blown into his life by another tornado when he was a boy.

Christopher, Matt    The Hit-Away Kid (or any Matt Christopher book)

Barry McGee, hit-away batter for the Peach Street Mudders, enjoys winning so much that he has a tendency to bend the rules; then the dirty tactics of the pitcher on a rival team give him a new perspective on sports ethics. (For advanced readers)

Cleary, Beverly   Ramona Quimby, Age 8

Ramona begins third grade at a new school determined to do her share for the family. With her mother working and her father back at college, Ramona has to go to Howie's grandmother's after school; her job is to be nice to Howie's pesky little sister, and she tries hard.

Clements, Andrew    Jake Drake, Bully Buster

When Jake was three years old at Miss Lulu's Dainty Diaper Day Care Center, what did he know about bullies? Nothing. But he learned fast--too fast! Why? Because Jake is kind of smart, and he's not a tattletale, and he doesn't have a big brother to protect him.

Howe, Deborah And James     Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale Of Mystery

Though scoffed at by Harold the dog, Chester the cat tries to warn his human family that their foundling baby bunny must be a vampire. (For advanced readers)

Maclachlan, Patricia    Arthur, For The Very First Time

Arthur spends a summer with his unconventional aunt and uncle and begins to look at life, his family, and himself differently.

Peterson, John   The Littles (or any of the Littles series)

The Littles, a family of six-inch high people who live in the walls of an old house, begin to worry when the new residents bring a cat.

Estes, Eleanor    The Hundred Dresses 

None of her classmates pay much attention to Wanda Petronski, a Polish-American girl, until she announces she has 100 dresses in her closet. Everyone laughs and teases her so much that she stops coming to school. Then, her classmates discover she really does have 100 dresses and discover something about teasing and themselves.

Sobol, Donald J.    Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective (or any of the Encyclopedia Brown series)

Ten-year-old Leroy Brown, son of the police chief of Idaville, opens a detective agency and before the summer is over solves nine baffling cases, the solutions to which are found in the back of the book.

Fiction Book Report

Name_________________________________________ Date___________

Book Title ____________________________________________________

Author _______________________________________________________

 “Setting” is the place and time in which the events of the story occur. Describe where and when this story takes place.

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Write a short summary of the story (Think about what happened in the story and how or why it happened).

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“Characters” are the people in a story who do things, or have things happen to them. The characters don’t have to be human! Animals that are an important part of a story are also “characters”. Describe your favorite character. Tell why you like this character.

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Would you recommend the story to a friend? _______ Why or why not?

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If you were to take the part of a character in this book, whom would you choose and why?

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Draw a picture of your favorite scene, or character. Write a caption for the picture.

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