[Polly J.]

Can you recommend a short novel to study together as a class? I am looking for something that has a meaningful theme, but I don't have a theme in particular.

My class is finishing up an expository book on Leonardo da Vinci...so we are talking a lot about creativity and invention...but now I'm just looking for good books. I'm new to 3rd grade.

[Kermit]

Short novels:

Sarah Plain and Tall
The Stories that Julian Tells
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
A Taste for Blueberries
Catwings
Stone Fox
The Friendship
The Gold Cadillac
Mississippi Bridge
The Whipping Boy
Lots of Roald Dalh Books are short-- The Giraffe, Telly and Me, The Magic Finger, The Twits, etc. the reading level may be hard though...
The Biography series, Who Was ___? They have funny bobble head like pictures of the person on the front, but are written by a myriad of authors. I know they have one on Leonardo da Vinci, but also on tons of other people, from Shakespeare to The Beatles!

My kids still like series, and you could easily tie a Magic Treehouse book into a theme you are working on.

[lizteach]

I like using the book Molly's Pilgrim. There are countless connections for the students to make. There are also several activities, etc to go along with the book on the internet, etc. Good Luck!

[finchfeeder]

My class was very enthusiastic about "Molly's Pilgrim" leading to very good discussions. There also is a short video which won an Academy Award the year it was released. The author is in it too as the crossing guard at the school.
Another choice leading to excellent and searching discussions is "Hundred Dresses" by Eleanor Estes.
Very lightweight is "Muggie Maggie" by Beverly Cleary which the students enjoy at this age.
Right now we are reading "Mr. Popper's Penguins."

[luvmycat]

My third graders have always enjoyed Frindle by Andrew Clements. We are in the middle of it right now. We read it as a core lit. I have it taped for a handful who are not fluent readers. I always reread with all of them for discussion. It has many pages where the students can practice reading out lud in groups as if it were writtten as a reader's theater. It also ties nicely with dictionary studies.

[cdixon]

Charlotte's Web - great themes in that one and my students always really enjoy it.

Also Magic Tree House books are always popular with them.

[TeachtoScrap]

100 Dresses... It is a WONDERFUL and very touching story. I did it in 4th grade (in the beginning of the year). Your 3rd graders might be ready for it at the end of the year.

Bud Not Buddy is also a good one.

[Polly J.]

Wow! Thanks for the responses! My class is actually reading "Who Was Leonardo da Vinci" and they love it! (They hate our class set of basils...Signatures and Diamond Cove).

Anyhoo...thanks for the help. I can't wait to refresh my memory on some of these stories.

[1956BD]

We used to use One Hundred Dresses. It is an excellent novel. It is well written, short, and teaches a great lesson about treating people fairly. However, we found that the boys were turned off by the story being mostly about girls and dresses. Then our girls lost intrest in the novel as well. We think it was because it is so dated and they just could not relate to it well. So, we decided to search for another book with the same theme. We decided on The Janitor's Boy by Andrew Clements. The students this year seemed to like it and we had several good conversations about how the son of the janitor was not treated fairly.

We also use a novel called Top Secret. It was written by the same author who wrote Stone Fox. It is a fun science fiction choice.


We also read A Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days by Stephen Manes
Knights of the Kitchen Table by Jon Scieszka(Time Warp Trio series)
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (poetry unit)
Aliens for Breakfast by Stephen Spinner
7 X 9 Equals Trouble by Claudia Mills (math- multiplication facts)
The Monster's Ring by Bruce Coville( great for Halloween)
The Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla ( social studies-economics)
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Judy Moody Saves the World by Megan McDonald
George's Marvelous Medicine by Roal Dahl