McGuffey's Readers · Third Reader · revised edition

McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition

79 reading lessons of stories, fables, poems and plain facts, for children about 8 to 10 who read on their own and are ready for longer pieces. Every lesson has a guide you can follow step by step, with the right page of the book beside it.

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How to use it

One lesson a day. About 20 to 25 minutes, four or five days a week. Long lessons can be split over two days; that covers the book in about a school year.
Words first. In the first half of the book, each lesson opens with a list of words but no meanings, so talk the meanings over yourself. From Lesson XL on, the book prints short definitions at the end of each lesson. Read a few before the story.
Your child reads, you model. Your child does most of the reading aloud. When a passage is hard or full of feeling, read it first yourself, then let your child read it again.
Talk, then tell it back. Ask a few questions, then let your child tell the whole lesson in their own words. In the later parts, an older child can write two or three sentences instead.
A little writing every day. Copy a sentence or two lines of poetry from the lesson, and later take short dictations. Then spell four or five words from the lesson.
Old-fashioned on purpose. Many lessons end with a plain moral, and some are prayers or hymns. Talk them over in your family's own way. The two hymn lessons are marked optional.

Part 1 Pretend farms, snow and castles

Roy's pretend farm, Johnny's first snow, a rainy day, Herbert's block castle, a truant, a white kitten, beavers and a boy who becomes a teacher. Lessons 1–10.

Part 2 Wolves, birds and minutes

The blacksmith's song, a garden walk, the boy who cried wolf, Harry and Annie on the ice, bird friends, an honest widow and birds set free. Lessons 11–20.

Part 3 Fables and things to remember

Humming-birds, the Wind and the Sun, beautiful hands, rules to remember, three little mice, a New Year gift, a boastful clock and true courage. Lessons 21–30.

Part 4 Thinking hard and speaking kindly

Weighing an elephant, a soldier for truth, the echo, George's strawberries, a found knife, bats, a summer day, great thinkers, and Charlie and Rob. Lessons 31–40.

Part 5 Kites, sticks and kind deeds

Ray's night kite, Uncle Philip's warning, gentle words, the bundle of sticks, a mountain sister, a guide-post, Amy's berries, deeds of kindness and the alarm-watch. Lessons 41–50.

Part 6 Courage, waves and patience

Spring, true courage, the old clock, the working waves, the birds, saying no, which child loved best, John Carpenter, persevering, and a contented boy. Lessons 51–60.

Part 7 Honest hearts

Little Gustava, the insolent boy, We Are Seven, Mary's dime, Mary Dow, the little loaf, Susie and Rover, the violet, Susan's crown and the young soldiers. Lessons 61–70.

Part 8 Rescues, corn and good-night

Willie in the shaft, the pert chicken, Indian corn, the snow-bird, high mountains, a child's hymn, holding the fort, the little people and good-night. Lessons 71–79.

The book itself

McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader

Revised edition, 1879 · About ages 8 to 10

Stories, fables and poems, with words to define and spell at the start of each lesson.

🧑‍🏫 Teaching guides ⬇ Download PDF (16.5 MB) Internet Archive ↗

Scanned from a University of Alberta copy.

Lesson numbers match the book's Roman numerals: Lesson 3 is the book's Lesson III. The guides are written for this site; the book is in the public domain.