If you are looking for theme mentor texts or read alouds for teaching theme, this post shares 6 read alouds with summaries and possible themes for each.
Picture books can be great mentor texts to teach skills like character change. However, novels can help students dig deeper into character development. Find out how I helped my students better
Procedural writing or "How-to" is one of my favorite units! Read this post to discover some fantastic mentor texts to use in your classroom!
Looking for the right picture book to teach inferences? Check out my list of making inference mentor texts for the elementary classroom!
Are you looking for mentor texts to use with lessons on narrative writing, inferences, and character traits? This list of mentor texts includes a helpful guide with teaching points to use in both reading and writing lessons. You can now use one book, many ways.
Since it is summertime and so many of us are already in planning mode for next year, I wanted to utilize my Mentor Text series post this month to share books to help you introduce 10 basic reading skills to your students. If you like any of the books you see in this blog post, […]
Using picture books and social emotional topics, teachers can help students analyze character development as it relates to literary themes.
Check out this post for point of view mentor texts or read alouds for teaching point of view, including how point of view affects a story.
Picture books can be great mentor texts to teach skills like character change. However, novels can help students dig deeper into character development. Find out how I helped my students better
If your students are struggling with basic reading comprehension, more than likely, they aren’t visualizing what they are reading. As an avid reader, I often have dreams about novels that I’m reading. I get SO into it that I continue to picture and recreate the story in my mind after I’m finished reading a chapter. […]
This making inference activity and lesson plan will help all of your readers succeed at making inferences and inferring as they independently read in your upper elementary and middle school classrooms. Making inference mentor text included.
Check out this post for point of view mentor texts or read alouds for teaching point of view, including how point of view affects a story.
Since it is summertime and so many of us are already in planning mode for next year, I wanted to utilize my Mentor Text series post this month to share books to help you teach your students about THEME! If you like any of the books you see in this blog post, you can click […]
This post shares 15 read alouds for teaching story elements with brief summaries and the specific story element skills each read aloud addresses.
Understanding story elements are important skills in both reading and writing. In lower graders, we often use the words beginning, middle, and end. We even briefly talk about describing the characters. But in upper elementary, we need our students to begin understanding that there is MORE than just these simple words. What is rising action? […]
This blog post describes how to teach setting and story elements in your classroom. You will find lessons, mentor texts, activities, and more!
Need to help bring text structure to life for your students? Check out these unique mentor texts that I've picked out just for you!
ideas for teaching sequence in upper elementary
Naya Nuki Novel Study includes Reading Strategy Skills, Comprehension Questions/Activities, Vocabulary, Writing and Extension Exercises. This product is designed to give the teacher multiple teaching options to meet the needs and skill levels of all students. View the complete description of this ...
Find resources for teaching story elements to kindergarten, first, second, and third grade students including books and hands-on activities.
Need to teach theme but not sure where to start? I've gathered my favorite mentor texts you can use to teach theme in literature! Check these out!
Show young writers how to create change with written words.
Learn how to start effectively using mentor texts for writer's workshop to help boost all of your kindergarten, first garde, and second grade students.
Separate Is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh is the biography of Sylvia Mendez. This picture book shows how-- seven years before Brown v. Board of Education-- the Mendez family fought to end segregation in California schools. This book is part of the BONUS UNIT (added April 2022) in the Yearlong Mentor Text Curriculum Bundle: Volume 1 for Grades 3-5! Please do not purchase if you own Volume 1 Yearlong Curriculum Bundle (which includes the mentor sentences, interactive activities, reading activities, writing prompts, and vocabulary lessons). ***************************************************************************** In this pack, you will receive: ★a mentor sentence lesson for the book ★an interactive notebook activity to review/teach proper nouns ★seven reading ideas suggested with three activities provided: citing evidence, identifying theme, and comparing Sylvia Mendez to Ruby Bridges ★one writing idea suggested with a writing prompt given ★contextual vocabulary activities ★ Activities are also provided as links to Google Slides for Digital Learning! ★ ***************************************************************************** Please remember, this purchase is for the use of one teacher. It is not intended to be shared. Please use the 'additional license' purchase if more than one teacher will be using it. Thank you! Copyright © 2022 Ideas By Jivey, LLC All rights reserved by author, Jessica Ivey. Permission to copy for single classroom use only. Electronic distribution limited to single classroom use only. Not for public display. Leave feedback to earn credits for future purchases! Become a follower to receive updates about future units as well!
Are your students stuck for ideas to write about? Are you teaching using the 6 traits and need a great mentor text? Using mentor texts can help to spark some idea generation for students who have difficulty coming up with ideas to write about. Read on to check out some of the best read alouds […]
Looking for new and diverse personal narrative mentor texts? These books will have readers connecting with a variety of small moments.
Do you ever read your students' writing and go, "Ummm... I wonder what language this is written in, because it's sure not English." I ...
While all of our students don’t need ALL of these strategies, I’ve organized a lot of the things mentioned in this series of blog posts into six big categories. I hope that they’ll help you wrap your mind around SIMPLE things that you can do to help your students with some of their biggest learning obstacles in math. Place Holders & Trackers For many of our students, keeping track of their place is HARD. However, I love to have a few tools handy to help them keep track of where they are and what they’re doing. Bingo Markers Desk Pets…
There are so many great plot structure mentor texts out there! It was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to these. In an effort to keep the post short, I
Examples of mentor texts for teaching students to write engaging
I'm so happy to be hosting our Must Read Mentor Texts Linky for Language Arts! But, do you know how hard it is to just pick one book to talk about with Language Arts??? It's tough!! But we did it!! I'm excited to be sharing a book today that I have used for many years in writing and reading....A cute, fun story about a little dog that causes a lot of commotion! :O) The Great Gracie Chase- Stop That Dog! is a story that all of us pet owners can personally relate to...you know when your pet gets out of the house or out of the yard and suddenly you are having to sprint down the street screaming its name? Searching frantically!!!! Trying to catch it!!! YEP! That's what this little story is all about! This humorous story is written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Mark Teague....I LOVE both of them!!! :O) Gracie is a very good dog and has never done anything naughty. But, Gracie likes a very quiet house and one day, some noisy painters come in and disturb Gracie. Of course, they leave the door open and BAM, off goes Gracie, running down the street!! So, people run after her, trying to catch her, but this causes Grace to run faster and further. Until, finally, everyone gets tired out and once again, Gracie has her peace and quiet, so she just goes on home. ***Warning- this next part is personal- If you don't want to read personal, skip down to the Mentor Text Memo*** ;O) I think I love this book so much because I have so many connections to it. We had a dog just like Gracie when I was growing up. Calm, quiet, always good. But if that door got left open and she saw a chance to run...she ran. Fast. And far. My brother and I would go running after her and she'd just keep running (one or both of us would end up in tears, worried we'd never catch her) and we'd be screaming her name!!! But, it never failed. She'd have to stop and go potty. And that was when one of us would grab and and carry her home. Then, she was right back to her sweet, calm self, like nothing happened. There's just something about that open door... Just this week our big black lab pitbull mix (Piper) did the same thing. My husband had used the lawn mower and when he put it back in the building in our backyard, he left the gate to our fence wide open. Later, he went down to let her out and he said it happened so fast he couldn't believe it. She walked outside a little ways and then she immediately looked left. He said as soon as she looked left, he knew but by the time his brain got his body moving, she was gone. So, 10:00 at night my husband yells at me to get his truck keys because Piper is out and he runs after her. By the time I get my slippers on (yes, slippers, because I was in my pjs ready to get in the bed) I get in the truck and head through the neighborhood. They were all the way in the back. But, you see, Piper is obsessed with getting in vehicles. So, all I had to do was pull up, open the door, and in she went. My husband had ran after her and almost caught her. We think that's only because she's about 9 years old now and so she's slowed down, otherwise, who knows where she'd be. See...the open door...BAM! (But, unlike Gracie from the story, Piper is naughty most of the time, so this was not a surprise.) Ok, personal drama over! I use this book during language arts to teach making connections, cause and effect, and writing a response to literature. First off, I try to get students to make connections. Not everyone is a dog lover, like me. So, some kids have never had a dog. But, most kids have had an experience of some kind with a dog, and so I get them to make those connections first. Every year that I have used this book, every single student has had an experience of some sort with a loose dog. Whether it was theirs, a grandparent's, or a neighbors, they know pretty much what happens when a dog is running for its freedom. So, they can usually make some sort of connection. Then, we work on cause and effect. I feel like there are two different kinds of stories that use cause and effect. One is when there are just different events and there is a cause and then an effect. And then later, there's another cause, with an effect. The second kind of story is where you have one cause, and then a sequence of effects, sort of like a domino effect. I feel like The Great Gracie Chase is more of a domino effect story. Gracie gets upset, she runs. The painter runs after her and then one by one, more people see it and join in the chase. In the end, she gets what she wants. Peace and quiet. So maybe that makes it a circle story too. Anywho, I thought of making a cause and effect sheet just for this book for you as a freebie, but then I decided I'd make a blank cause and effect sheet for the "domino effect" instead, so it can be used for more stories. So, here ya go! (Just click the pic!) Finally, we take all of the connections we've made with this story and we write a response to literature. I usually help them set it up and organize it, and this is how it goes: Click the picture to get the freebie! Students use this graphic organizer to jot down their thoughts. They summarize the story in the first box (which will be the first paragraph). Then, they choose 1 sentence starter from the second box and fill in the blank box (paragraph number 2). For example, "One time when I was younger I had a dog that was just like Gracie. Her name was Sable and she was so sweet and loving..." Then they choose another sentence starter and fill in the corresponding box (paragraph number 3), like "It made me feel really upset and nervous when Gracie got loose because that is always how I felt when my dog got loose...." Finally, the last paragraph they choose one of the sentence starters and fill in the box. Like, "This is a great book because it is action packed. You are on the edge of your seat, wondering if anyone will catch Gracie..." Now, I usually used this organizer in 3rd grade, but it could still work for 4th. I just wouldn't let them choose good or bad to describe the book, they'd have to use better adjectives, and I'd tell them they have to use strong, descriptive words to describe their feelings. I will say, only once did I have a student say he did not like the book. Let me say, though, that he was a very difficult student and had many behavior problems. He said he did not like the book because he once had a dog and then the dog died so this book made him sad. But, he still participated in the writing. He just wrote short sentences and did not recommend the book. So, there is always the possibility that a student may get upset...but at the same time, maybe this is an opportunity for them to write about it and get it out? Of course, there are other great books that can be used for response to literature. If you are a dog lover, and can connect with this book, this could always be your model lesson using Gracie to connect with your experience of a loose dog. Then, the students could use the same organizer, but with a different book for their independent writing. Just a thought... :O) So, now it's your turn!!! (If you have never linked up before you can check HERE for more information.) I can't wait to see what you link up!! And if you aren't a blogger, please leave a comment of your favorite book for making connections and/or response to literature! Amanda For the Linky- Please make yourself a SANDWICH! Please comment on the person who linked up before you and the person that linked up after you. I know everyone puts in a lot of time and effort to these posts and I want everyone to feel the love!!! (Haha, see, you're a sandwich...you know...because you are in the middle of the comments...do you get it?) ;O) Next week's topic- Math
Teachers and parents, use picture books as mentor texts to teach perspective. Stories like these help you model for your students and children that our perspectives and the perspectives of different characters, including the narrator, is how we see the world and the events in it.
My top 10 favorite mentor texts to use when modeling writing for kids! A helpful book list for teaching kids to write.
Find an extensive list of primary Mentor Texts for Common Core Literature Standards to help compliment your lessons in the classroom.
I absolutely love to embrace the chaos of the Christmas season and tie the holidays into my December lessons! I love to find ways to make learning engaging for my students and still focus on my grade level reading standards. Below are a few books that are perfect mentor texts for teaching various reading comprehension […]
