s/o of Third Grade Reading List

[Chelli]

I was reading over the books that moms are having their dc read for the upcoming school year. Everyone has a lot of books on their lists! About twice or three times as many as mine.

 

So I'm thinking that I'm not doing this reading list thing correctly...

 

I usually just have my dd read one chapter out of whatever book I've chosen each day. Obviously that limits what we read each year to the number of days we school. She reads very well, so she could definitely handle reading more. For some reason I just thought that one chapter a day was a nice round number. :tongue_smilie:

 

Do you other moms have your dc read for a certain amount of time for their planned school reading or a certain amount of chapters (more than 1 a day apparently!)? How do you schedule the required school reading?

 

I'm not talking about what they read on their own. My dd reads quite a bit on her own, but for her school reading I try to choose books that I want her to read but she probably wouldn't choose.

 

Thanks in advance. :001_smile:

[Halcyon]

Well, for my rising 2nd grader, who enjoys reading and reads very quickly with good comprehension, I haven't done much. I give him a few books that I think are appropriate, or he picks a book that I think is "school-y" enough LOL. This year, I wanted to create a list in advance for him to choose from, so that's why I asked that question.

 

My older, OTOH, needs more structure, because he reads more slowly and because he is not as voracious a reader. He needs more structure. So until last year I had him read for 45 minutes (or whatever) each day without worry as to how many pages he was actually reading. This year, I am going to have him read a set number of pages each day, with an eye towards increasing his reading speed and getting through more books each year.

[lewelma]

My ds just reads 2 hours per day: 1.5 hours of fiction and 30 minutes of nonfiction. This is divided up in the day as 1 hour during school time and 1 hour before bed. He only reads "school" books, because he likes them and our family does not do "twaddle."

 

Ruth in NZ

[acablue]

I haven't posted in the other thread, because we don't have a clear line between "school books" and "fun books". I just fill up Nathan's bookshelf with books I think he'd like and books I want him to read. I do have a list of books that he'll be reading this fall, and can post that in the thread if anyone's interested. I require him to read every day, but don't give him a specific amount of time or pages to read. I think he'd go crazy reading one chapter per day, and I can't think of a book he's stretched out for more than a week.

[Susie in MS]

Oh me, oh my! Was that list supposed to be for ONLY books the kids read themselves? :001_huh: My list contained books that my dd and I will read TOGETHER. Shared reading for read aloud time. She can read a page or two and I will read several. Back and forth. Plus we read during school and before bed. If those list were for just what the kids themselves read then I was totally out of line posting there! :blushing:

[crazyforlatin]

I haven't posted in the other thread, because we don't have a clear line between "school books" and "fun books". I just fill up Nathan's bookshelf with books I think he'd like and books I want him to read. I do have a list of books that he'll be reading this fall, and can post that in the thread if anyone's interested. I require him to read every day, but don't give him a specific amount of time or pages to read. I think he'd go crazy reading one chapter per day, and I can't think of a book he's stretched out for more than a week.

 

That's what I do too. I search for books that can either be educational or fun and put them around the house or on Kindle. But I don't have a written list or maybe I kind of do in the sense that I make sure she gets a variety of books each week. I find it hard to plan a list of books for a voracious reader.

 

Please list the books you plan for your son on the other thread. I tend to use other people's lists to get ideas. :001_smile:

[crazyforlatin]

There may not be a clear line between educational and fun books for this particular age group. It's not difficult to find a fun science or history book at the library for a younger child.

[ErinE]

My ds finishes almost any book I give him. I tried assigning chapters so we could discuss, but he would get upset when he had to stop. I gave up managing his reading speed and now just assign a book or two per week.

 

When I was his age, I had a teacher who gave me bad grades in reading. I would often read ahead and the teacher didn't like that I was ruining the book for others. It was unnatural and if i hadn't been such an avid reader, it could have easily killed my reading joy. It's not an experience I care to repeat.

 

However, my youngest may require chapter assignments as she still hasn't caught the reading bug. We'll see as the year progresses.

 

I say, whatever works for your kids, do that!

[sleeplessnights]

My third grader reads 30 minutes of mom-selected literature each week day. I ask for a quick summary when he's done, but no written work. In 30 minutes he usually makes it through two chapters. We do this year-round, though, so we make it through more books.

 

My kids can also read for 30 minutes after bed time, but whatever they want. We use MP's 3rd grade curriculum, but their literature is more for analysis and makes it through only three books a year.

 

He doesn't normally read voluntarily in his free time, so that's why I have a mandatory 30 minutes of reading after lunch. He's definitely not one of those who will disappear for a couple hours...

[StartingOver]

Of my 5 children 3 devour books, I just happen to have two of them schooling at the moment. LOL There is no right way, I just think along the lines of building endurance for when we get to high school. I don't want them to be suddenly overwhelmed by the requirements. So we start early and progress steadily along the way.

[Aurelia]

DD reads out of two books a day, plus whatever she wants in-between those times. Some books are deliberately harder while others are easier. I don't know that we'll do all the books planned, though. Some may be swapped for others or dropped completely.

[Kathryn]

I hand my son the book scheduled in Sonlight Readers each time a new one is scheduled. He is free to read it as quickly as he wants, but no slower than scheduled. So, for instance, a couple of weeks ago I gave him a book that was scheduled to take three weeks. He read it in an hour so he hasn't had assigned reading since then. Next week, he'll get his next book when it is scheduled. In the meantime, he is still reading. He reads all the TOG lower and upper grammar books on his own. He does a ton of other non-fiction reading, and a bit of fiction. We will do Sonlight's last "graded" package next year, but I'm not sure how I'll handle it after that. I'll probably just make a long list of books and go down the line and require at least x amount of time spent on assigned reading per day.

[FairProspects]

For ds's history and lit. readings, I read them to him, usually a chapter a day, more if there is interest and we have time. If he has an audiobook or digital text for assigned reading he listens and follows along on the computer (we use special services that provide most books on audio or digital text for dyslexics). Those big lists were for the whole year - when you think about a chapter a day, it's really not that many books.

 

For his book basket, ds listens for 1-2 hours per day (sometimes 3 if he decides to stay up at bedtime) and he can pick whatever suits his interest that is in the basket.

[Chelli]

Thanks everyone!

 

I guess I'll just line the literature books I've picked out for her to read on a shelf and tell her to read on for 30 minutes. Repeat every day until book is finished, then pick another. Hopefully, she'll get hooked and keep reading at night before bed!

 

I actually like this a lot better, now I can at least double my book list! :001_smile:

 

And Sean, sorry I didn't mean to exclude the dads with my original post. So thanks for overlooking my shortsightedness and responding anyway.

[Meriwether]

My kids read one chapter/day for their literature books. They also have books they read for other subjects. Ds8 will read at least 20 books next year. I hope he reads more. I would love for him to read one chapter from his literature book and one chapter book per week. I think it will be one chapter book in 2 or 3 weeks unless I count smaller books like the Jean Fritz books. Much of his reading will be picture books yet. He will read several of those per week in addition to his lit and chapter books.

[Tonia]

We have two silent reading times each day - 30 minutes of assigned history or science reading. This could be a specific book about a history topic or dd gets a choice of books from a book basket. The second time is 30-45 min a day of literature, no-fluff, good books. This is another basket and dd can choose a book. I keep a basic list of book recommendations and just keep the basket full.

[acablue]

And Sean, sorry I didn't mean to exclude the dads with my original post. So thanks for overlooking my shortsightedness and responding anyway.

I had to look back at your post to see what you meant; I think I'm getting too used to this board. :tongue_smilie: Don't worry about it!

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

My new third grader loves books so I don't really assign books to her. Basically if I have a book in the house and don't hide it from her she reads it. I look at various lists online and pick books and also look on Amazon for more inspiration.

[Mama Anna]

I don't know that you're still looking for other strategies, but we do things a bit differently. Dd8 is a voracious, advanced reader. She'll read anything left lying around, too. However, I've noticed that she skims a lot. For instance, she'll "finish" a 150 page book in 30 minutes. That means that my goal is to "slow down" her reading and require her to actually r e a d the book. I assign her books spread out through the year (~100 pg/wk or so), limiting her reading of the assigned book to only the chapters I've assigned. (She reads everything else in sight in reaction to these limits.) Then on the Friday after she finishes the book, we do a narration that involves a basic summary of the plot and have a discussion of whatever I've found to be interesting in the book. (Character development, Theme, etc.)

 

I usually have to make sure she reads the same thing at least 2-3 times or she has no memory of the plot by Friday.

 

Mama Anna

[serendipitous journey]

this is also on a thread I started today, but will throw it out here: Button does NOT like to read. So the half hour thing would have him staring out the window, or me breathing down his neck. I think I'll wait until he's a bit older to start scheduled reading, and hopes he catches the reading bug during the intervening year ... he reads well enough, just doesn't esp. enjoy it relative to the other things he does.

 

(which are not videos or computer ;) -- legos, mucking about, &c)

 

if any of y'all have experience with a super-bright child who just doesn't cotton to reading (he's almost 7, so still young), would love to know what you did and/or how it worked out; if you think it's a terrible idea to wait until he's 8 to assign literature; &c...

[Classically Minded]

I follow the rec's in the WTM, my dd8 reads 30m in the morning and then 1 hour in the evening. Outside of that, she reads whatever she wants and then my husband reads 1-2 books to her on most days at night.

[Medieval Mom]

nm

Edited August 3, 2012 by Medieval Mom

[Rivka]

I think the lists people were posting were pretty mixed, and didn't all represent scheduled assigned reading.

 

I have 16 books on my 2nd grade list, which works out roughly to one assigned book every 2 1/2 weeks. But assigned reading is one piece of a much larger context. My child is mostly free to choose her own reading selections, helped by me filling her library basket and the bookshelf in her room, keeping a big collection of good children's nonfiction at eye level, and hand-selling her novels I think she'll particularly like.

 

We don't require a particular amount of reading per day, because we don't have to. Alex reads a lot by her own choice. The rules for assigned reading at our house are:

 

1. Every book on the assigned reading shelf needs to be read before grade promotion.

2. Once she starts a book, she needs to keep reading that one until she finishes. She can't put it down and start a different assigned reading book. She's welcome to read her own free-reading choices in parallel, but she needs to put some time in on the assigned book until it's done.

3. If a book isn't getting finished, Mom or Dad will assign a chapter a day.

4. When we finish an assigned reading book, we go out to a cafe for hot chocolate and discuss it.

 

It's the lack of choice and the deliberate discussion that makes "assigned reading" at our house. A much higher proportion of her reading is self-selected, with informal discussion around the house or in the car.

 

Just for fun, here's what I've seen her reading this week:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (main self-selected reading)

Those horrible Rainbow Fairy books

A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World

Wake Up World: A Day in the Life of Children Around the World

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Lost Adventures (graphic novel)

A Pioneer Sampler (fiction/nonfiction mix)

Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy (adult book pairing parody poems with their originals; for example, it has the original syrupy 19th century poems Lewis Carroll parodied in Alice in Wonderland.)

A Lion to Guard Us (assigned reading!)

 

Of all of those, only A Lion to Guard Us is on our "2nd grade reading" list.

[....]

Button does NOT like to read. So the half hour thing would have him staring out the window, or me breathing down his neck. I think I'll wait until he's a bit older to start scheduled reading

 

if any of y'all have experience with a super-bright child who just doesn't cotton to reading (he's almost 7, so still young), would love to know what you did and/or how it worked out; if you think it's a terrible idea to wait until he's 8 to assign literature; &c...

 

I wouldn't force it at age 7. My 7 yro can read for about 10-15 minutes and she's not an advanced reader, either. And I am just fine with that. The reading lists that are posted on this forum are always pretty advanced. Not every kid is going to be able to read A Lion to Guard Us in 2nd grade. If it makes you feel any better, my 7 yro just read Greg's Microscope. :D

 

From what I've seen with my older kids, they encounter *something* that really sparks their interest and they take off reading with it. My son took off reading one year when he discovered Shel Silverstein and (shamefully) Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He went from "absolutely no reading" to "we had to build him a rolling bookcart for his bedroom". He would stay up late at night reading in his room. Every time we went to Kroger, I had to buy him a new book.

 

It was weird and it seemed like the reading bug just appeared overnight.