Why We Need to ReOrganize Our Mentor Texts

With all the new changes coming with Common Core, I want to rethink the way I organize my mentor texts.  In the past, I had lovely bins labeled with the six traits of writing with mentor texts that helped teach each trait separately.  Now, I think I want to change my writing mentor texts to focus on the types of writing.  There are many benefits to this new way of thinking too!

1. I no longer have to 'force' a picture book into just one trait.

2. I can help my students see the strenghts of all the traits throught the reading.

3. Many of mini lessons will already be planned!

4. It's an excuse to buy some more books :)  

Here are some of my favorites:

Mentor Texts for Narratives

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco

The Day the Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant

Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian

Bully by Patricia Pollacco

The Best Town in the World by Byrd Baylor

The Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting

The Hickory Chair by Lisa Rowe Fraustino

Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco

Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes

Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman

The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant

How I spent my Summer Vacation by Mark Teague

Night of the Veggie Monster by George McClements

How to Write Your Life Story by Ralph Fletcher

Nothing Ever Happens on 90^th Street by Roni Schotter

When I was a Young Boy in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant

Mentor Texts for Opinion or Persuasive

Dear Mrs. LaRue by Mark Teague

The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin

I Wanna Iguana by Karen Orloff

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willeins

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

The Perfect Pet by Margie Palatini

My Brother Dan’s Delicious by Sylvia Lollis

Mentor Texts for Nonfiction

What if You Had Animal Teeth by Sandra Markle

Olivia Bird’s Saving the Golf by Olivia Bouler

Don’t Lick the Dog by Wendy Wahman

The Black Hole is Not a Hole by Michael Carroll

Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy

You are Weird: Your Body’s Peculiar Parts by Diane Swanson

Tornadoes! by Gail Gibbons

Wheels of Change by Sue Macy

Who Hoots? By Katie Davis

The Sun is My Favorite Star by Frank Asch

If you love teaching with mentor texts and are following the common core, you might be interested in my writing bundle to help teach children how to write narratives, opinion pieces, and nonfiction.  You might also want to check out my blog post on nonfiction writing where I helped my students use their writing to make a real change. 

Download these labels if you want to reorganize your writing mentor texts!

What are some of your favorite mentor texts?

Featured Teacher: Dana Werkheiser

Dana creatively calls her store Dana Designs.  She offers several inexpensive activities to keep kids engaged in learning.  She says, "I love finding new ways of engaging a diverse population of students and encourage them to become lifelong learners."  I can't wait to use her freebie I Have, Who Has: Spring Antonyms in my own classroom.  Be sure to check out Dana's store and Facebook page!

Be sure to follow my blog for weekly freebies and other great classroom ideas and resources!

Featured Teacher: Shelley Rolston

I am honored to share the talents of second grade teacher, Shelley Rolston from British Columbia! Shelly says the best part of teaching is seeing the look on her student's faces when she shows them a new way to get their wonderful ideas down on paper. I love, love, LOVE her freebie what good writers do. Check it out!


I am also excited to mention that I was featured on Bonnie Kathryn's blog. It's so great to be involved in a worldwide community of teachers!

Follow me for more featured freebies to come!

Seuss-sational Friday!

WE LOVE DR.SEUSS! In fact we call our kids "Sneeches" and already dedicate so much of our room to him.

Our Sneech of the Week...


Our whole class reward system is a Seuss-style house with fun rewards behind every door when they earn enough class points. We have everything from pajama day to buddy reading to treat time!


Today we greeted out kids with a welcome sign made by an awesome parent last year. The kids each walked in to class with a Dr. Seuss book on their desk to read for morning work.


We did some Seuss math, LOTS of reading, and even some Seuss writing. Here's an image of our creative kids projects...


What fantastic things did you do to celebrate Dr. Seuss?

Giveaway!

Enter to win over 100 amazing products here!

Science and 21st Century Learning

I am SO excited about teaching the next generation science standards! They are so well written and it's refreshing to move from "kits" to actual science! I am a HUGE believer in guiding students through discovery over lecture by using the inquiry model. In my classroom, we use a very simple procedure to every science lesson and my students can't get enough!

First we begin with an engaging scenario. This is straight from the 5 e model to teach science. Basically, I plan puzzles, games, images or scenarios to excite children about the learning and set a purpose for the lesson.

Then I pose a question (or have them ask a question based on the scenario) and provide time for students to work collaboratively to come up with a hypothesis, a procedure, and figure out their method to collect their data. Since science time and materials are limited, I also give each team a bucket of materials and a time limit to conduct their investigation. Their thinking often amazes me! Sometimes they are right on target and other times I may need to offer prompting to get them started in a meaningful direction. They usually come up with a way to test the question that is unique. They are only allowed to start their investigation once they have completed (and I have approved) their question, hypothesis, procedure, and data collection method.

The testing begins! Since each group came up with their own procedure, I often have six different investigations going on at once. It's constructive chaos at its best! Students are working together, learning together, some are confirming their hypothesis, and many are revising their thinking based on their observations and data. It's unbelievable!

Finally, I bring them all back together to review the conclusion. We discuss groups who had a successful investigation and groups who learned from investigations that just didn't work. We review vocabulary and even read nonfiction books at this time.

Third grade teachers-- check out my newest product aligned with the third grade Next Generation standards!

Here's a freebie from my science pack for 21st century skills. Enjoy :)

Featured Teacher: Rebecca

Rebecca from Ladybug's Lounge is a third grade teacher from Texas and I am so glad I found her store! She says the best part of teaching are those moments when her student's make her laugh just when she needs it the most. Check out her great freebie on antonyms. I love a great opportunity for my students to learn through games and exploration and this product is perfect!