Rising Third Graders Summer Reading

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Welcome to Summer Reading!                                                           Elementary School, Rising Grades 3

Summer Reading is a great way to relax and have fun as well as keep up your skills over the summer! Try to read at least twenty minutes each day. Research has shown that 20 minutes of reading per day can significantly increase student achievement. 

This year each student will be required to read two books over the summer. One book is assigned: Third Grade Angels by Jerry Spinelli. The second book will be any other one of your child’s own choosing in which he or she will complete a project. Both books and the one project are to be completed by Wednesday August 20, 2025. We will begin the first day of school with book discussions and activities using our assigned book, and enjoy presentations of our Student Choice Books. Books may be obtained from the public library, borrowed from friends or family, or purchased. They may be paper or eBooks. All students in rising grades 3-8 are expected to read the books independently. Help your child to choose a Student Choice Book he or she can read by themselves. Please do not use audiobooks or read-alouds for these assignments unless your child has an SAP stating this accommodation; our purpose is to practice independent reading. We do, however, encourage parents to also read the books and have fun discussing them with their child!

Book 1: Assigned Book:

Third Grade Angels  by Jerry Spinelli

This book must be read by  Wednesday, August 20, 2025. Activities will take place in class. Students should be ready to discuss the characters, setting, plot (beginning, middle and end) and how the story reflects friendship. No written assignment or project is required for this book.

Book 2: Student Choice Book

Each student will select a book of their own choice and complete a cereal box project -- click link for details -- concerning their selection. The selection should follow our usual Cover-to-Cover rules. Completed projects should be brought to school on Wednesday, August 20, 2025. Be neat and have fun! Be prepared to show off your project and encourage someone else to read your book!

A list of book suggestions for Rising Third Graders is included here. 

Your choice book ...

1.       … has a beginning, middle, and end, and the story reaches from the front cover to the back cover. Any fiction book would do. Nonfiction books with a beginning, middle, and end are appropriate if you read the entire book and it is not written in a manner to give quick facts (i.e. an encyclopedia, a collection of short biographies or articles, statistical information, museum style books, etc). Biographies, historical accounts, diaries, personal narratives, and narrative history can all be appropriate. Reference books are not Cover-to-Cover reads.

2.       …can be easily read the student. We want students to get into the flow of reading independently. In order to create a flow, students should choose books that are slightly below working reading comprehension level.  Stopping to decode and define more than a word or two per page may interrupt the comprehension flow and can lead to frustration.  However, if the student is highly motivated to reading a slightly more difficult book, this flow can be achieved. Beginning readers should read with a partner to help decode and define words as necessary, and may need more than one reading to achieve comprehension.

3.       …takes more than 20 minutes for the student to read. Put a bookmark in it and go play! There is great value in being able to hold the story or events in your child's mind while your child does something else and comes back to the book later. This helps your child to retain the story and improve reading comprehension.

4.       …interests the student. No learning will take place unless the student desires to read the book.

Cereal Box Project -- click link for details