Mummies in the Morning (Magic Tree House #3)

Please note that a brief synopsis of many of the books included here are provided in our Library Builders section. Study guides for the same book are often available from several publishers, so we found it more efficient to give a description of the book only once.

Jack is a studious eight year-old boy who loves books and research, especially taking notes. His seven year-old sister, Annie, loves animals, enjoys pretending, and is practically fearless. One day on their way home, Jack and Annie spot an incredible tree house perched high in the top of tree. Although it is right in the woods by their home, they are quite sure theyve never seen the tree house before. They stop to admire it and Annie suggests they climb the long rope ladder to the top. Jack immediately dismisses the idea, reminding Annie that they have no idea who it belongs to and could get in trouble. But Annie begins to climb, and when she gets to the top she yells to Jack that the room is filled with books. This proves to be too much of a temptation for Jack, and he soon joins Annie in the tree house, constantly reminding her to be quiet because they are not supposed to be there. They begin to look at the books, and when Jack sees a picture of a Pterandon, he sighs, "I wish I could see a Pterandon for real." Suddenly Annie spots a monster and the tree house begins to spin. When it stops, Annie and Jack discover they are back in prehistoric times, walking with the dinosaurs. Eventually they find their way home from their first adventure, and they decide to keep it a secret, because, after all, nobody would believe them anyway. They return to the Magic Tree House day after day, choosing the places theyll go but not knowing what kind of adventures theyll have. Dinosaurs, mummies, knights, pirates and ninjas are just the beginning. Digest-sized books contain 10 short chapters each, a handful of pictures, and are each about 70 pages long-perfect for children beginning to read chapter books. Original series meets the F&P level M.

The publisher is now splitting the original Magic Tree House books into three series - Magic Tree House (which are for readers just starting chapter books and include the original books 1-28), Magic Tree House Merlin Missions (which are more challenging adventures for experienced readers and starts with #29 Christmas in Camelot, but it is renumbered as Magic Tree House Merlin Missions Book #1), and Magic Tree House Super Editions which are longer and more dangerous adventures (see description). Magic Tree House Research Guides or "Fact Trackers" are available for some of the books. ~ Melissa

Please see our Reading section for leveled reading series such as I Can Read, Step Into Reading, and many more.

If you are looking for a rigorous all-in-one teacher/student literature guide, these guides are a good choice. The research-based activities include text-dependent questions, student interpretation of vocabulary words, close reading exercises, and analyzing the text through writing. Comprehension questions are available in two levels of difficulty. There are also cross curricular activity pages including a grammar and other subject activity page for every section. Unit study suggestions and possible books to dig deeper are also listed. This gives you the option to dive further into the literature with other subjects.

Each guide begins with a short author biography and a book summary. A pre-reading exercise gives students the opportunity to think about the theme outside the context of the story. Then, multiple assignments for each section of the book allow students to analyze the story elements in different ways. Some reading responses include drawing pictures or writing in the form of narrative, informative, or opinion. The close reading exercises have students reread a specific part of a chapter before answering questions so they can use textual evidence in their response. Graphic organizers are used throughout to keep the students engaged.

These literature guides are very thorough and implement different strategies to get the most out of the text. Guides require unabridged editions, but not specific editions. Questions are based on chapters and not specific pages. Student pages are reproducible for classroom use only. Post- reading activities and an answer key are included.