I was looking to buy some books for my 3rd grade classrom. Reading levels are all over the board. Can anybody give me some ideas on what would be a good buy for a wide variety of readers? Thanks
I've bought several of the Magic Treehouse books as well as some of the Amber Brown books. I'm looking at the Captain Underpants also. If you just browse the stores you can find some books that are usually on sale because of their popularity. Like Pirate School books. I'm thinking about including my collection of Goosebump books but I'm not sure about it yet or not...
Here are some of the series my kids have liked: I'm categorizing this broadly, as it seems every school or district has a different level for these books. At one school I know, Junie B. Jones is considered 1st grade, at another 3rd... Lower- Cam Jansen Stink (Judy Moody's younger brother) Ricky Ricotta books Nate the Great Low or at? (I consider these low, but the publishers usually say 3rd.) Pony Pals Judy Moody Junie B. Jones Secrets of Droon Magic Treehouse Bailey School Kids Captain Underpants Catwings and Catwings returns At or High- Poppy Series, by Avi-- Poppy and Rye, Ereth's Birthday, and others Harry Potter The Amazing Days of Abby Hays Matt Christopher books (about sports) Animal Ark Books ANYTHING by Beverly Cleary Judy Blume's Superfudge series Lemony Snicket books (series of unfortunate events) Roald Dahl books- Any! Time Warp Trio There are SO many good books! Aside from series books, which the kids seem to like the best, I try to get books by really good authors like Cynthia Rylant, Sharon Creech, Lois Lowry, Gary Paulson, etc. Get the books on the Newberry list (some are HARD for the kids to read and understand) the Caldacott list, and the librarian list. Also, don't blow your budget right away. I shop at used book stores, garage sales and thrift shops all year for books. You will find that you need to rotate a lot. FYI- There are Bunnicula books at all levels, early readers, transitional and the regular books! My kids LOVE Bunnicula! My kids also like ANY kind of ghost story. Alvin Schwartz writes great ones, and they come in beginning level readers, and his regular books.
Some of my class (and third grade son's) favorites include Geronimo Stilton, Magic Tree House, Santa Paws, and The Bailey School Kids. I hope this helps!
Baby Sitter's Little Sister and some Goosebumps (and you can usually find them at thrift stores). Also, some of the American Girl books are 3rd grade level-- both of my daughters read them in 2nd grade.
there is a series called Katie Kazoo whihc my 3rd graders absolutely loved!! a magic wind turns her into something that has to do with the book for a period of time and she lives like them...they are wonderful and range from like an early 3rd grade to end of 4th grade reading level!
i read aloud the wayside school is falling down series to my 3rd grade class last year. they LOVED every minute of it! some tried to read it on their own, but it's a little hard to read because of all the weirdness...lol.
After reading this thread I went to Amazon. I found a lot of .01 books, unfortunately I had to pay the 3.99 s&h. It will be worth it though. I've never heard of Muggie Maggie. Off to google. Thank you
Some of my kids' faves are Magic School Bus books, Freckle Juice and the Arthur books for the lower readers
Yikes! Check your local library - they often do sales twice a year or so. You can get some great quality children's books for $0.10-$0.25 each. Also go to your area thrift stores. Some are better than others, obviously, and you have to dig through the garbage books, but you can definitely find excellent additions to your classroom library for under $1.00 each. Scholastic Book Clubs is another fabulous resource for expanding your library. Good luck!
Also, don't blow your budget right away. I shop at used book stores, garage sales and thrift shops all year for books. You will find that you need to rotate a lot. I messed up the quote above, but here is my advice. I send home Scholastic book orders and get free books every time I place a student order. This is a great way to stock up your shelves. If you change grade levels or schools it is easy to update your account so you don't lose your bonus points you accumulate. Many people store them up and get large items for their room, I usually cash them each with each order. Last year, I bought each of my 8th graders a book for valentine's day. I gave them a price limit ($3.00) and they picked out the book. I used all of my bonus points and only had to spend maybe $4.00 of my own money. (For 10 kids). You can find some really good bargains with the book orders.
