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High Interest/Easy to Read books for 3rd grader reading at 2nd grade level?


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Neighbor's son attends a Spanish immersion school and the school sent home a letter saying they want to put him in special ed because his reading skills are so poor.

 

He is in 3rd grade and reads at a 2nd grade level. I had a daughter with the same problem many years ago, but she was homeschooled so giving her time to catch up was no problem, and she did.

 

This boy just needs to get better, fast. His class recently read "Crispin and the Cross of Lead" and it was much too challenging for him.

 

If you have any favorites for this age that would be less frustrating than the average 3rd grade book, so he can feel successful, I'd love to hear titles. He loves sports, so that topic is a plus.

 

Thanks, in advance!

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I am really stumped now :001_huh:! The book you mentioned is listed on Accelerated Reader BookFinder as grade 5. I can see it being used as a read-aloud, but a reader :001_huh:! My boy is an advanced reader, also in grade 3, but I can tell you now, even though he could read it without any problems, he would have some comprehension issues. In any case, AR BookFinder might be useful for your neighbor to find books at her son's reading level.

 

http://www.arbookfind.com/UserType.aspx

 

I would recommend the Magic Tree House books. I have my son reading various levels to keep up with his advanced reading level but not so advanced comprehension level. He read the entire series last year and loved them. Hope you get some more recommendations.

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...

I would recommend the Magic Tree House books. I have my son reading various levels to keep up with his advanced reading level but not so advanced comprehension level. He read the entire series last year and loved them. Hope you get some more recommendations.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

My son also liked the Buddy Files. One (the first) of the Zoo Break series books involves a baseball card--but I'm not thinking of anything offhand that is fiction and sports related for that stage.

 

Also suggest a trip to a bookstore or library and let the child peruse books looking for something readable and interesting to him...perhaps with help from a children's librarian.

 

I also agree that there is a big gap between trouble with Crispin and needing to be in special ed. Maybe he needs a regular school (not language immersion school which perhaps has a lot of accelerated students especially in the language area?).

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Crispin is a very tough book for that age. Maybe the teacher read it to them? I hope so...

 

Anyway, high interest could be the IR books in SOTW1 if he likes Greeks, Romans, and ruins. It could be Magic Tree House to consolidate his reading if he is able to read those--they are all at the same level, and a perfect series for developing fluency. It could be Half Magic or Ben and Me if he likes humor, but those are harder than MTH and should be read to him first, then if he reads them himself they might be accessible--they are both easier than Crispin.

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Crispin is a very tough book for that age. Maybe the teacher read it to them? I hope so...

 

Anyway, high interest could be the IR books in SOTW1 if he likes Greeks, Romans, and ruins. It could be Magic Tree House to consolidate his reading if he is able to read those--they are all at the same level, and a perfect series for developing fluency. It could be Half Magic or Ben and Me if he likes humor, but those are harder than MTH and should be read to him first, then if he reads them himself they might be accessible--they are both easier than Crispin.

 

Looking at the lexile levels, the earliest Magic Tree house books begin at the 2nd grade level and progresses into the 3rd and 4th grade level by the time you get to the latest books. So, it is a great series to work through to build reading confidence and increase reading level.

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Looking at the lexile levels, the earliest Magic Tree house books begin at the 2nd grade level and progresses into the 3rd and 4th grade level by the time you get to the latest books. So, it is a great series to work through to build reading confidence and increase reading level.

 

:iagree: And the Fact Trackers/ Research Guides go even higher :). My son read many of those also. We will be redoing the fact trackers again this year and adding the ones he didn't read last year. He wants us to collect them so I will be getting them for him on Nook, since the Kindle prices are ridiculous now :tongue_smilie:. Love, love the fact trackers/ research guides!

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He wants us to collect them so I will be getting them for him on Nook, since the Kindle prices are ridiculous now :tongue_smilie:.

 

Barnes and Noble is not letting me buy them on Nook because I am in Canada :glare:. Guess I'll be buying them on Kindle since it is not that much cheaper with the exchange to buy them as paperbacks from Amazon.ca. Anyway, rambling now...

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Looking at the lexile levels, the earliest Magic Tree house books begin at the 2nd grade level and progresses into the 3rd and 4th grade level by the time you get to the latest books. So, it is a great series to work through to build reading confidence and increase reading level.

 

The first "set" (up to about 28) stay at a relatively lower level - then at 29 (merlin missions) it goes higher.

 

DD never really got in to these though. I also second the arbookfind to search for books at his level, or the scholastic wizard to search for similar books to one he likes (I use the lexile for leveling there because the grade level is more variable on how hard it really is).

 

However, (and FWIW) just trying to find books at her level (also my first strategy when I found out DD was struggling) did NOT help at all. What helped was figuring out what part of reading she was struggling with most and then doing things that strengthened that area.

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