South Dakota 3rd grade reading list

Books with a South Dakota citation for 3rd grade include Action!: How Movies Began; Because of You, John Lewis and Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky. This list has 542 total books, 10 of them with a South Dakota-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 380L to 1000L.

Top South Dakota 3rd grade pick: Action!: How Movies Began by Meghan McCarthy — on 1 South Dakota list

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Total books542Lexile380L–1000LSourceSD Content Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned on state lists: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the Elementary (K–5) titles appearing in the most states are Wonder (29 states), Because of Winn-Dixie (26 states), and Shiloh (25 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Our pick to start — most-cited for South Dakota 3rd grade

These are the 10 titles named in South Dakota’s own curriculum documents for this grade — everything below is the wider national list. Read against the Common Core Appendix A complexity band; reading level is not thematic maturity, and several sit below the band because they are assigned for discussion.

  1. Action!: How Movies Began

    Meghan McCarthy

    Cited in 1 South Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 3.

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  2. Because of You, John Lewis

    Andrea Davis Pinkney

    Cited in 1 South Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers courage, history and identity.

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  3. Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky

    Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

    Cited in 1 South Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 3.

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  4. Concrete: From the Ground Up

    Larissa Theule

    Cited in 1 South Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 3.

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  5. Cornbread & Poppy

    Matthew Cordell

    Cited in 1 South Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 3.

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  6. Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son

    John Parra

    Cited in 1 South Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 3.

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  7. Sir Ladybug

    Corey R. Tabor

    Cited in 1 South Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 3.

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  8. Symphony for a Broken Orchestra: How Philadelphia Collected Sounds to Save Music

    Amy Ignatow

    Cited in 1 South Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 3.

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  9. The Puffin Keeper

    Michael Morpurgo

    Cited in 1 South Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 3.

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  10. Where Butterflies Fill the Sky: A Story of Immigration, Family, and Finding Home

    Zahra Marwan

    Cited in 1 South Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 3.

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10 books cited for South Dakota 3rd grade

Assignments tied directly to South Dakota’s SD Content Standards with a South Dakota-specific citation.

532 additional grade-appropriate books for 3rd grade readers

The 542-book total above includes 10 titles with direct South Dakota citation; these 532 additional titles cover 3rd grade in the broader canon. They don't have a South Dakota-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

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Other South Dakota grades

2nd grade · 4th grade · 1st grade · 5th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

2nd grade · 4th grade · 1st grade · 5th grade

Same 3rd grade in other states

California · Texas · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Illinois

Browse 3rd grade reading by theme

About the South Dakota 3rd grade reading list

This list combines books cited in SD Content Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 3rd grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Newbery Medal, the Golden Kite Award and the Caldecott Medal. ReadingList currently tracks 542 titles for 3rd grade in South Dakota, of which 10 carry a direct South Dakota citation and 532 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 3rd grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 380L–1000L.

3rd grade sits in the 3-5 grade band, where students are transitional readers. At this stage the emphasis is on shifting from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn and sustaining attention across longer chapter books. Assigned reading skews toward early novels, narrative non-fiction, and a student's first assigned full-length stories, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 400L to 800L. Measured against that 420–820L range, of the 52 titles here with a Lexile score 36 are grade-level, 2 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 14 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 3rd grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

South Dakota’s English Language Arts requirements are set by SD Content Standards (doe.sd.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 3rd grade list below blends South Dakota-specific assignments with widely taught national titles. Every title links to its primary source on the book’s detail page, so you can confirm exactly where and why it is assigned.

How to use this list:match a title to your child’s most recent Lexile or guided-reading level rather than to the grade alone. Teachers building a 3rd grade unit can pair a South Dakota-cited core text with a grade-appropriate companion novel; parents previewing summer or supplemental reading can check each book’s content notes and challenge history before assigning it.

Common questions

What books do 3rd grade students read in South Dakota?
Books with a South Dakota-specific citation for 3rd grade include Action!: How Movies Began; Because of You, John Lewis; Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky; Concrete: From the Ground Up and Cornbread & Poppy. Individual schools and districts choose their own titles, so check with your child's teacher for the exact list.
How many books are assigned to 3rd grade students in South Dakota?
This list has 542 books for 3rd grade students in South Dakota. 10 of them have a South Dakota-specific citation; the other 532 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 3rd grade reading in South Dakota?
Lexile measures across the 3rd grade South Dakota reading list range from 380L to 1000L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
South Dakota-specific entries reference SD Content Standards (published at doe.sd.gov). The other books come from national sources that list books for 3rd grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Newbery Medal, the Golden Kite Award and the Caldecott Medal. Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

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State-specific entries sourced from doe.sd.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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