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Genre of the Month
gThird grade is an exciting year of reading a variety of genres! Third graders read and do a project for six books during the school year. A different project is done for each book. Each book must be from a different genre. The genre include animals, realistic fiction, non-fiction, biography, mystery, and fantasy.

Genre Definitions

September We will be turning in our biographies early in September. Click here for more information.   Students do the work at home. They may use supplies from the classroom or from home. Presentation of every project will include a 2-3 minute oral summary of the book, and sometimes discussion of how a project was completed. Please have your student practice at home for a smooth delivery of the oral presentation. Please save this packet so your child can read the directions before beginning work. Contact me if you have any questions. Any change in the project must be approved by the teacher before beginning the project.   October Realistic  Fiction or Science Fiction Memory Bag   ThirdiTuesdayin  October Fill a small bag with items reminding you of a character in a story to help you with your report/   Design and make a "Me Bag" for the main character. Put 7 to 10 items into the bag.  Introduce that person to the class by telling why each item was included in the bag later inthe month Mystery or Adventure Due first Tuesday is October Story Skeleton will be provided. or MYSTERY PERSON 1. Choose a character from the book that you read. This project is good for a biography or a book that nearly everyone in the class knows. The character you give clues for must be well-known to your classmates. 2. You may dress up and act out clues, or read 10 clues that will tell us about your past and who you are. Write your clues on cards. Your clues should summarize the mystery person's whole life. 3. Your classmates will guess who you are.

November
Biography or Autobiography
First Thursday in November
Report Rubricwill be provided

BOARD GAME

1. Create a board game using the character and the setting from the story you read.

2. Use buttons, bottle caps, or other small pieces for the markers.

3. Use a spinner or dice for the number of spaces the pieces move.

4. Draw the board on heavy paper. Make the pieces move through places or events that were in the story.

5. You may need to make up question and answer cards to go with the game.

6. Include the set of rules, the game board, and the pieces in a baggie. Be sure your name and the name of the game are on the board and on the baggie.

7. Prepare a summary of the book on a 4 X 6 card. It should include the characters, setting, problem, and solution if the book is fiction. If it's non fiction, the summary will include the main idea, 3-5 facts or events from the book and a closing.

 
 

DIORAMA

1. Trace the bottom of the shoe box on a plain piece of paper. Cut out the shape. Make sure it fits into the bottom of the shoe box. Draw and color the background or setting of the scene on this paper. Glue it in the shoe box. 

2. Cut out the bottom of the box. 

3. Draw, color, and cut out the characters. Attach L-shaped strips of heavy paper to the back of each character. Glue each character to the bottom of the box. Do this for any other props you would like to add to make your scene realistic.

4. Make a card to be displayed with your diorama. Write the title of the book, the author, and your name on the card. Write a summary that tells what the book is about on the card. It should include the characters, setting, problem, and solution if the book is fiction. If it's non fiction, the summary will include the main idea, 3-5 facts or events from the book and a closing.

 

ACT OUT A CHAPTER

1. Choose an event from the story you read. If more than one character appears in the scene, have classmates who have read the same book take the other parts.

2. Dress up and use props to act out the action of the story. Practice many times so that everyone knows what to do. You may use cards to help you remember your parts. Keep your performance under 10 minutes.

3. Be ready to tell a summary of your book to the class. It should include the characters, setting, problem, and solution.

 
 

MOBILE

1. After reading your book, list the most important characters in the book, the setting, and any special objects that were part of the story. For instance, in Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing, Peter Hatcher, Fudge, Sheila, and Turtle were important characters. Central Park and the apartment building in New York City were the setting. Objects that were important were Fudge's tooth, a rock, and ??? (You think up the rest...) 

2. After listing all the possible characters, settings, and objects you can think of, decide which ones best represent this book. Choose 5-7 to illustrate, drawing both the front and back views. Your items should be colored on both sides.

3. Now you have another choice You can make little figures out of paper, material scraps, or clay, or you may draw the figures. If you draw the characters, objects, and/or settings, use cardboard or sturdy paper. Be sure to draw and color the front and back of each figure.

4. Hang the items from a dowel or hanger.

5. Add a card with the book title, author and your name.

6. Once you have tied the pieces to the mobile and have each piece balanced, place a drop of Elmer's glue on the string so that it doesn't slip on the stick.

7. Carry this to school in a trash bag or other large bag. Paper clip the card parts together so they don't tangle. Hang it when you get to the classroom.

8. In your oral presentation, be ready to tell a summary of your book, and tell why the items you chose are important in the story. Your summary also should include the characters, setting, problem, and solution if the book is fiction. If it's non fiction, the summary will include the main idea, 3-5 facts or events from the book and a closing.

 

December
Trifold Book Report
Form Provided
Second Thursday in  December

• Grading Rubric
• TEN QUESTIONS

  1. You be the teacher. Write ten questions you think anyone who read your book should be able to answer. They can be true/false, multiple choice, or short answer questions that require some writing. They should be from the beginning, middle, and end of the book. For example, use what, where, how, when, who, and why in your questions.

  2. Use the title of the book as the title for your question page.

  3. Put the answers on another sheet of paper.

  4. Make sure your name is on both sheets.

  <>5. Be prepared to tell a summary of the book. Tell the characters, setting, problem and solution or tell the main idea of the story and all the important facts that support the main idea.
  
  

   
  

  WORD SEARCH

  1. Find 20 key words or new vocabulary words from your book. 

  2. Make a word search with the words in it. Make a word box to go with the search.

  3. Make an answer sheet with the 20 words highlighted.

  4. Prepare a summary of the book on a 4 X 6 card. It should include the characters, setting, problem, and solution if the book is fiction. If it's non fiction, the summary will include the main idea, 3-5 facts or events from the book and a closing. Be sure to use some of your word search words in your summary

1. Choose a book that you have read and have liked.

2. Write the title of the book on the top line and underline it. Skip a line and write the author under the title.

3. Skip a line. Write a summary paragraph about the book. Be sure your paragraph has a main idea. The other sentences will tell about the main idea. Your paragraph can be about one of these things:

-the topic of the book 

-the main events that happen in the book in the order that they happened

4. Write a paragraph about your reaction to the book. Write the paragraph so that someone else will want to read the book too.

1. Make a list of 20 key words that remind you of the book you read.

2. You may get crossword puzzle paper from the classroom. Then write the words on the graph paper making the crossword design. Be sure to use all capital letters when you write the words. 

3. Outline each word in the puzzle by drawing a line on top of the graph paper line around each word. Use a ruler so that your lines are straight. This is your answer sheet.

4. Number the words going across first. Write the number of the word in the upper left corner of the first letter of the word. Next, number the words going down. If the number for the first letter of the word going down is already there, keep that number. If there is no number already in the box, give the word a new number.

5. On a separate piece of paper, list the clues for the words ACROSS. Use the number in the box of the first letter in the word in the puzzle for the clue for that word.

6. List the clues for the words DOWN. Be sure the numbers of the clues match the words in the puzzle.

7. Copy the outline of the puzzle on another sheet of graph paper. Use a ruler to draw the lines. Add the numbers in the upper left corner of the box. This is the blank puzzle to be done.

8. Write a title for the puzzle. It can be the same as the title of the book you read.

9. Write your name on the top of each sheet--the clues, the blank puzzle, and the answer sheet.

<>10. Be prepared to tell a 2-3 minute summary of the book. It should include the characters, setting, problem, and solution if the book is fiction. If it's non fiction, the summary will include the main idea, 3-5 facts or events from the book and a closing. Use the words you chose for your crossword in your summary.

1. Create a board game using the character and the setting from the story you read.

2. Use buttons, bottle caps, or other small pieces for the markers.

3. Use a spinner or dice for the number of spaces the pieces move.

4. Draw the board on heavy paper. Make the pieces move through places or events that were in the story.

5. You may need to make up question and answer cards to go with the game.

6. Include the set of rules, the game board, and the pieces in a baggie. Be sure your name and the name of the game are on the board and on the baggie.

April

Choose Any Genre!

Must be a Newbery Award Book  

Use a can and design the likeness of a character on the outside.

1. Find 20 key words or new vocabulary words from your book. 

2. Make a word search with the words in it. Make a word box to go with the search.

3. Make an answer sheet with the 20 words highlighted.

4. Prepare a summary of the book on a 4 X 6 card. It should include the characters, setting, problem, and solution if the book is fiction. If it's non fiction, the summary will include the main idea, 3-5 facts or events from the book and a closing. Be sure to use some of your word search words in your summary.

May

1. Written book report that includes the characters, settings, main events, or ideas presented.

2. Make a crossword puzzle using 20 key words or new vocabulary words from the book.

3. Create a board game using the characters and settings in the book. You may need to include decks of question and answer cards.

4. Make a shoe box diorama of a scene from the book.

5. Act out a chapter from the book. Plan and perform the scene with a friend who has read the same book you have.

6. Make a mobile based on the theme of the book with drawings of the characters, objects, or settings.

7. Dress up and act out a Mystery Person, giving clues for the main character you read about. The class will guess who your Mystery Person is.

9. Write and put on a T.V. commercial announcing your book or draw an advertisement of your book as it would appear in a magazine for children.

10. Write a poem that has the same topic as your book.

11. Make one or more clay models relating to parts of the book.

12. Write 10 questions which you think readers should be able to answer after reading the book. Write these questions on one sheet of paper. Write the answers on another sheet of paper. 

14. Make a word search for 20 key words or new vocabulary words from your book.