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Joining the party a little later in the day than usual today, but I’m here!!! I’m linking up with Collaboration Cuties to share about one of my favorite Science Mentor Texts!
I am here to tell you about the book, Postcards From Pluto: A Tour of the Solar System by Loreen Leedy.
This is a quick and easy read- it is advertised as being a book for grades 1-3, but my 4th graders LOVED it! (And yes, we had to have the conversation about how Pluto is no longer considered a planet- we talked about the year the book was written… the one I have was from 1993. I visited Loreen Leedy’s site though, and apparently there is a revised book!)
I’m borrowing Scholastic’s description of the book, because it’s a great one:
Six lucky kids are off on a guided tour of the solar system — and readers get to tag along! Led by the robot guide, Dr. Quasar, the group journeys to the sun and then from Mercury down to Pluto. Dialogue balloons highlight some of the facts to be learned about each planet, but the real fun — and information — comes in the postcards the kids send to friends and family back home. Each postcard is presented “as written” and shines with the individuality of the sender in style, handwriting, and content. The addresses themselves are designed to provide laughs to those older readers (and adults) who are paying attention: a postcard about Neptune goes to Mr. Trident in Ocean City; one from Mars goes to Martin Greenman in Venice, FL.
I read this book towards the end of our Solar System unit, then my students write their own letters on postcards to describe the planet they choose. We work on voice in this lesson in particular- the kids in the book did a great job using voice so I point that out- I don’t just want a bunch of facts listed. BORING. Make it interesting and fun!! 🙂
I do have a TPT unit I created to go along with the book… the students use context clues to complete sentences about the planets with facts from the book. It can be differentiated, too! The words are included at the bottom for them, but you can cut the words off before you copy it and have them come up with the words to fill in!
The first two people to comment will receive the unit in their inbox! 🙂 Just don’t forget to leave your email if you are a no-reply blogger!!
But if you miss out on the giveaway, you can grab this postcard freebie!
