Introduction

Third grade is a big year when it comes to reading. The primary focus for your child will be on
becoming a more independent
reader. How will this happen? First,
your child will continue practicing
the basic reading skills he or she
learned in the early elementary
years in order to fully master them.
Then, he or she will learn new, more
complex skills and apply them to
more challenging reading material.
In the coming year, your child will
also complete the transition to silent
reading and develop stamina for
reading longer books.

Third graders typically read chapter books, and lots of them. Chapter books are designed to be read
in more than one sitting and feature more developed plots and characters than the Easy Readers your
child read in 1st and 2nd grade. In 3rd grade, your child will also be expected to think and talk about
the books he or she reads in more detailed and nuanced ways.

This guide will walk you through the key components of 3rd grade reading – what you can
expect your child to learn and experience in the coming year when it comes to reading
multisyllabic words, building fluency, and developing comprehension.

In the coming DECODING MULTISYLLABIC WORDS

year, your child Decoding refers to the process of translating written words into
will complete speech. The most fundamental decoding skill is phonics –
the process of matching letters to their sounds in order to
the transition sound out words. Decoding also involves strategies like
to silent reading looking at the structure of a word to recognize prefixes
and develop and suffixes or common spelling patterns. Mastering
stamina for these skills means students can recognize words quickly
and easily and also figure out new and unfamiliar words.
reading longer
books. In 1st and 2nd grade, children learn phonics skills to
decode words in the books they read. By the end of 2nd
 grade, most students are able to read one- and
two-syllable words with little to no effort. The big
challenge for 3rd graders is the longer, harder words
they will encounter. Third grade books and materials
have a higher percentage of multisyllabic and
irregularly spelled words, with more complex spelling
patterns. Many of these words will be familiar, but
your child may not have seen them in written form
before. In 3rd grade, students solidify the skills they
learned earlier and learn new decoding skills and
strategies to tackle these longer, more challenging
words. The skills include:

• Identifying prefixes and suffixes, such as dis- in disappear and In 3rd grade,
-able in comfortable
students solidify
• Breaking long words such as fantastic and adventure into the skills they
syllables
learned earlier and
• Recognizing compound words, such as grasshopper and learn new decoding
seashore
skills and strategies
As your child practices this kind of decoding, he or she will begin to read to tackle longer,
long, challenging words instantaneously, with ease and confidence.
more challenging
words.
FLUENCY
When your child reads fluently, he or she is reading words quickly and accurately, without having to
spend much time at all consciously decoding individual words. Fluent readers sound natural when they
read, the same way they sound when having a conversation. They read smoothly, rather than word by
word, with expression in their voice.

One of the main focuses of 2nd grade reading is to develop

basic fluency, a milestone most kids reach by the end of
2nd grade or early 3rd grade. In 3rd grade, books get more
difficult, with longer, harder words and more complex
sentences. The goal for 3rd graders is to develop the fluency
they need to meet this new challenge.

Finally, 3rd graders can also benefit from in-class

fluency instruction such as repeated oral reading.
This means reading a passage aloud several times, following a model provided by a teacher.
With repetition, kids are able to read the passage smoothly and quickly, with natural pacing,
cadence and expression. The gains they make through oral fluency practice transfer to their
independent reading.

As with any new skill,
students need practice,
and the more your
child reads, the more
fluent he or she will
become.
Why is reading fluently so important? Because reading fluently makes
it much easier to understand what you’re reading. To understand
the link between fluency and comprehension, imagine your child’s
attention while reading as a spotlight. That spotlight can only shine
on one thing at a time. If your child is having to sound out a lot of
words, that’s where his or her attention is focused, and reading is slow,
choppy and laborious. But if your child is able to read fluently without
spending much time figuring out individual words, that frees up the
spotlight to shine on the meaning of the story. Comprehension can
now take center stage.

COMPREHENSION
What does good comprehension look like? It’s easiest to understand
if you think about comprehension as what your child does as he or
she interacts with a book. Readers with good comprehension visualize
the characters and the setting, creating pictures of the story in their
heads. They identify with characters, “hearing” and “seeing” what
the characters are doing and saying. Often, they even feel what the
characters are feeling. Strong readers throw themselves into a book,
anticipating what will happen at each turn and reacting to events.
Engaging with books in this way is a big part of comprehension. It’s
also a big part of what makes reading fun.

When it comes to comprehension development, 3rd grade is a critical year. Part of becoming an independent
reader is learning to understand what you read well enough to put it into your own words. Third graders are
expected to be able to retell what they’ve read in more detail and to express their own point of view on stories.

If you’ve ever wondered what your child needs to do to develop strong comprehension skills, you are not
alone. This is one of the most common questions we hear from parents of kids this age. The simple answer
is that your child needs to read. A lot. Your child will receive direct instruction in comprehension skills in
3rd grade. Ultimately, however, kids build comprehension the same way they build any skills: practice.
Doing a substantial amount of reading, along with talking about the books he or she reads, is the best way
for your child to develop comprehension skills.

As kids read and discuss books, they build comprehension by actively thinking about what they’re reading
and learning to pay attention to the elements that make up a story:

• Plot: For 3rd graders, following a story’s plot starts with being aware of what part of the
story they are reading – is it the beginning, the middle, or the end? It also means
thinking about what happens in each part of the story and how the main character will
solve a problem or reach his or her goal. Thinking about plot in this way will help your
child track the sequence of events and anticipate what might happen next.

• Setting: Setting is when and where a story takes place. Thinking about the setting helps
readers create a more vivid picture of the story in their mind. It also helps them understand the
 characters more deeply, since the time and place a character is in will affect his or her actions and thoughts.

• Characters: Readers with good comprehension pay attention to

what characters do and say, and they consider what this tells them
In 3rd grade, students
about what the characters are like. They also think about characters’
motivations – why they do what they do – and how characters change learn to think about
over the course of a story. One of the easiest ways for your child the lesson of a story
to understand characters is to imagine that he or she is a particular beyond its literal
character and to think about how he or she would feel in that situation.
meaning. Stories for 3rd
• Meaning: In 3rd grade, students learn to think about the lesson of graders contain themes
a story beyond its literal meaning. Stories for 3rd graders contain
themes that students can relate to, such as friendship, overcoming
that students can relate
fears, and growing up. Students learn to explore these themes and to, such as friendship,
make connections between the stories they read and their own lives. overcoming fears, and
For example, they might be asked to consider what a story “teaches”
growing up.
about a topic like honesty and to weigh in with their own point of
view on that lesson.

Thinking and talking about stories in these ways can be challenging for 3rd graders at first. Remember, many kids
this age are just beginning to read with fluency and ease. Up until now, their attention has been focused more
on the mechanical skills of reading words on the page than on the meaning of those words, so thinking and
talking about books in this way may be new for them.

Chapter books have more intricate plots and more nuanced characters than the simpler books kids read in 1st
and 2nd grade. These features make chapter books really rewarding and enjoyable to read, but kids sometimes
find the material difficult at first. This is why series books are often popular at this age. Reading multiple books
featuring similar story structure and familiar characters will give your child the repetition and practice he or she
needs to build strong comprehension. It also provides kids with a strong sense of accomplishment, helps them
feel more connected to what they’re reading, and motivates them to keep on reading.

A LOVE OF READING
There’s an important payoff for kids who feel connected to stories as they
read. First, your child will enjoy reading more when he or she is engaging
with books in a meaningful way. This will lead to your child reading more and
becoming a stronger, more successful reader. Being a stronger reader, in turn,
will get your child even more excited to read. It’s a positive cycle that feeds
itself, and one that will set your child up to fall in love with reading.
Once children start to see themselves as readers, they are likely to
develop the lifelong habit of reading for pleasure, and will experience
all of the benefits, both personal and academic, that come with it.
Vocabulary
Once children start
Reading for pleasure and interacting with the rich language in chapter books
on a regular basis will have a big impact on your child’s vocabulary. While to see themselves as
kids benefit from vocabulary instruction in school, there is a limited number readers, they are likely to
of words they can learn each week of the school year. That means that develop the lifelong habit
students acquire most vocabulary by reading widely on their own. Kids learn
new words by encountering them multiple times. And the more your child
of reading for pleasure,
reads, the more words he or she will encounter. Reading a lot also increases and will experience all
students’ skill and confidence in dealing with new words, giving them ample of the benefits, both
opportunities to apply some of the word-learning strategies taught in school.
personal and academic,
that come with it.
PREPARING FOR 3RD GRADE READING
So what can you, as a parent, do to set your child up for this kind of successful experience? The summer before
3rd grade is the most important time to get ready for the year ahead. Kids who don’t read during the summer
months can lose up to three months of progress. So making sure your child does a lot of reading and keeps his or
her skills fresh is key.

Our summer reading programs are designed to meet this need and get students prepared for the coming year. In
our program for entering 3rd graders, your child will:

• Learn long-word decoding skills. Your child will learn skills and strategies to read long words with
confidence and ease.

• Develop fluency. Your child will learn to read more smoothly, easily and accurately.

• Build comprehension. Your child will develop

strong comprehension by learning about story
structure, plot and character development.

• Become a skilled, enthusiastic reader. Your child

will read a lot of great books and have the kind of
experience that is the basis for academic success
and a lifelong love of reading.

We hope to see your child in our program for entering 3rd

graders and look forward to helping your child feel confident
and motivated as a reader in the coming year.

1-800-978-3532 www.readingprograms.org