Mentor Text Archives - Page 2 of 11

Math Mentor Text: How Big Is It?

May 12, 2013

It’s Sunday, which means it’s time to link up
with two cutie-patooties!!

This week is math week. I don’t know about you, but it seems that my students have a hard time grasping measurement, not because they don’t know HOW to measure, but they don’t have a concept of size. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to pull my hair out because a kid thinks you should measure a pencil in pounds, or measure a football field with miles…

Then I found this book!

This book is AWESOME because it compares things that most kids actually have an idea about their size, to things they will probably never see in their lifetime…like a polar bear compared to some basketball players… or…a giant squid compared to a house!

The author gives great information and interesting data for the students to visually and numerically compare sizes. I did not read the book all in one day- it’s a great book to do one or two pages a day and give them the opportunity to even solve problems about what they are seeing- for example, how could they figure out how long one of the squid’s tentacles are?

After reading this book, it would be a great time to pull out my Measurement Word Sort Freebie! Have them not only sort where the words belong, but put them in order from smallest to largest in each column!

If you download the freebie, please leave feedback! 🙂

What books do you use for math? Go link up with Collaboration Cuties to share, and get some awesome ideas from others while you are there!

Funny that this week was Math Week for Collaboration Cuties, because it’s also Math Week for Workshop Wednesday!

This Wednesday, the topic will be math manipulatives. I don’t know about you, but I have BUCKETS of math manipulatives and they get used… but could they be used more? What are some ways that you use manipulatives in your room? You could share a lesson, a game, or even how you organize them in your room to keep them “on hand” but “not in the way!”

I hope all the mamas out there have a fabulous Mother’s Day! I’m off to spend some time with my mama today! 🙂

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Postcards From Pluto – Mentor Text

May 19, 2013

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!

It’s time for me to get geared up for the last week of school!! Oh my. I can’t believe it, honestly. What is your favorite thing to do in the last few days with your students (besides memory books……)?

Oops! I almost forgot! Thanks Ms. Foreman for reminding me! 🙂

This week’s Workshop Wednesday topic is back to reading! How do you have students respond to their reading? Let’s share our ideas for reading responses!

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Mentor Text: If You Find a Rock

June 2, 2013

Good morning! I am up super early- the norm lately… so I’m linking up with my BBBs, Collaboration Cuties, to share a little bit more about the book I shared with you on Thursday. If you missed Thursday’s post, click here!

If You Find a Rock is a great book to read at any time of the year, but it’s a really good one for getting seed ideas at the beginning of the year. I mentioned in my post Thursday that I have them write connections and memories as I read the book. Last year, I took that idea a bit further thanks to a fellow teacher’s brilliance! The idea I’m about to share is totally borrowed! :o)

I went to WalMart and bought medium-sized mason jars- enough for all my students to have one. I also went to the Dollar Tree and bought river rocks and floral moss.

Students then chose a few of their seed ideas they had written down and wrote a word or two about them with a permanent marker on the river rocks. We put a little floral moss in the bottom of the jar, then their rocks. This became their memory jar!

Now for the writing piece to go along with it! The students choose one of their rock memories from their jar. Just as the book did a wonderful job describing the rocks and the feelings that go along with those treasures, I want the students to write that way too! Here is the organizer I created for this purpose- it is generic so feel free to snag it up and use it with any writing piece!

I know it’s pretty simple, but it works! 🙂 I want the students to make sure they describe the setting and parts of the main event using sensory details so we can visualize, or feel like we are there.

Once students have finished editing and revising their drafts, I give them plain white paper that is cut in half vertically. The students write their final piece on this paper, roll it up like a scroll and tie a piece of yarn around it, then put it in their jar with their rocks! (I really wish I had a picture to show you! They were so neat. But you’ll just have to use your imagination…)

The students could write a narrative for each of their memories over the course of the year, and have a really cool keepsake to take home at the end, like a portfolio in a jar! (I just came up with this idea as I’m writing this post!! Guess I better pin my own post so I don’t forget… LOL) My students only wrote one piece this year, but I will totally clear a shelf in the classroom for the memory jars for next year!

What are your favorite mentor texts to read for Language Arts time? Link up with Collaboration Cuties and share! 🙂

**UPDATE**Be sure to check out this post for some exciting news!! 🙂 Here’s a hint……….

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Revisiting a Science Mentor Text

June 16, 2013

I have been going back and forth on whether to link up about this book because I previously blogged about it… but I just love it so much. I couldn’t resist. Plus, I focused on the mentor sentence I used for the book in the last post (and there is a freebie in that post!!) so I’ll talk more about how I use it in language arts and science now. 🙂

I guess I should tell you what book so you know what the heck I’m talking about (unless you clicked on that link up there)!

Arrowhawk is a book about a young red-tailed hawk that was shot in the leg/tail with a poacher’s arrow and he survived! The story is written based on what the author learned about a hawk’s behaviors because obviously, we don’t know exactly what happened in his journey before they were able to rescue and rehabilitate him. I got to hear all about her research and writing process last summer at an author’s visit! She even signed my book! 🙂

I love using Arrowhawk for an entire week because there is SO MUCH you can do with it. In fact, so much, I created a TPT unit for it! 🙂 ~~It will be a FLASH FREEBIE until 8 PM EST! If you download it, PLEASE leave feedback on TPT! Thank you! 🙂~~

This is a great book to use for synthesizing. Students have no idea that this story is TRUE until the end, but they are very concerned about the hawk throughout the book… so they often have many questions that change their thinking as we read. Lola Schaefer also writes with very vivid language through the entire book, so I like for the students to listen for the vivid verbs especially, and make a list to use in their own writing. There are some vocabulary words that the students may not be familiar with, so I created a context clue activity to go along with some of the words as well. And OF COURSE, it is perfect for our animal adaptations unit! Here’s a freebie from the unit, answer key included! The activity includes sentences from the book- the students have to identify the type of adaptations/skills found in the sentence. My students loved to prove themselves with this activity- they had to tell me WHY they chose that word because for some, there are a few options!

Thanks for stopping by! 🙂 Don’t forget to enter my 400 Follower Giveaway! Only two days left!

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TPT Product Updates… Are You Getting Yours? …and Social Studies Mentor Text!

June 23, 2013

Good morning!!

Did you know… when sellers update products on TPT and they want to notify their buyers, it shows on your Purchases page? All this time I’ve thought maybe the things I’ve bought haven’t been updated because I’ve never gotten an inbox message about it… until last week when I was looking for one of my purchases and noticed under the product, these words flashing: “Newly Revised Re-Download.”

I say all this to make sure you check your purchases periodically! Any updates are free after you’ve bought them, and several sellers will add to their units, or correct typos, etc. I have just UPDATED my Place Value unit with a new Place Value Scoot game- so go re-download the unit if you’ve already purchased it! I’ve also updated some of my Mentor Text Units over the last month or so. :o)

Speaking of Mentor Texts, I’m linking up with Collaboration Cuties to share one of my favorite Social Studies Mentor Texts with you!

This linky has been dangerous to my checking account. Here is my most recent (in other words, not my first…) Amazon order which arrived yesterday!

Can’t wait to use these this year!!!!

But now for this week’s Social Studies text from yours truly…I see Amanda and I are both thinking already about the beginning of the year, because Native Americans is our first unit! Be sure to check out her post about Totem Tale– it looks so cute!!

I first found The Rough-Face Girl when I taught my fairy tales unit in 3rd grade. I compared many different versions of Cinderella, and this story is actually the Native American version of it! The illustrations are beautiful, too.

The Rough-Face Girl got her name because she has to tend to the fire, and sitting close to the sparks has scarred her skin. The “Prince” in the story is an Invisible Being. All of the women in the village are trying to win his affections. They must prove that they have seen him, but no one can, including The Rough-Face Girl’s two cruel sisters. If you know the story of Cinderella, you know where this story is going! :o)

We discuss the Native American culture found throughout the book, but we also compare it to Cinderella. We discuss and write/respond about the differences and similarities of the two. (And yes, I have to read an original story of Cinderella because some HAVEN’T HEARD IT! It makes me so sad!)

We also write our own variation of a fairy tale. They can use Cinderella, or any fairy tale they know. This year, I’d like to encourage them to write it as a Native American folktale because of our study, but in the past, I’ve left that open. Grab the brainstorm page I use below!