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Baseball Books as Mentor Texts: BARBED WIRE BASEBALL by Marissa Moss
Barbed Wire Baseball By Marissa Moss Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu Abrams, 2013 Kenichi Zenimura loved to play baseball. He play baseball for years. Until World War II, when he and other Japanese families lived their lives in internment camps. But inside that bleak camp, Zeni made a baseball field.…
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Writing Wednesday: Using HERE COME THE HUMPBACKS as a Writing Mentor Text
HERE COME THE HUMPBACKS By April Pulley Sayre Illustrated by Jamie Hogan Charlesbridge, 2013 This nonfiction book about humpback whales combines lyrical first lines on each page, with narrative facts and separate factoids on each page. Beautifully written and chock-full of information that will delight animal lovers, it…
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Nonfiction Picture Books about Virginia History as Writing Mentor Texts
We all know that students need to become more comfortable reading and writing non-fiction. Last fall, I did a post on 10 of my favorite fiction picture book writing mentor texts. For this post, I’m focusing on some non-fiction mentor texts–with a bent toward history, specifically American history, as…
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Writing Wednesday: Using SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY as a Writing Mentor Text
SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY By Jacqueline Briggs Martin Illustrated by Mary Azarian Houghton Mifflin, 1998 I use this book for many things in the classroom. It’s a favorite we return to again and again. It’s a picture book biography of Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, who lived on a farm but was…
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Mentor Text Spreadsheet: Picture Book Month in Review
Picture Book Month is officially over. But I have created one last thing to share with you on mentor texts. Each day, I shared a mentor text post with you featuring different ways that each of these books could be used to teach writing skills to young…
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Picture Book Month Day #28: Picture Books as Writing Mentor Texts featuring GIANT DANCE PARTY
GIANT DANCE PARTY by Betsy Bird Illustrated by Brandon Dorman Greenwillow, 2013 Summary: Lexy loves to dance, but when she gets up on stage, she freezes. When she offers to help others with their dancing skills, she doesn’t anticipate that giants will sign up to dance. Mentor…
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Picture Book Month Day 26: Picture Books as Mentor Texts featuring WHEN MARIAN SANG
WHEN MARIAN SANG: THE TRUE RECITAL OF MARIAN ANDERSON by Pam Munoz Ryan Illustrated by Brian Selznick Scholastic, 2002 Summary: WHEN MARIAN SANG is a biography featuring the life of African-American singer, Marian Anderson, a woman who broke barriers for African-Americans during the time of the Jim Crow…
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Picture Book Month Day 24: Picture Books as Writing Mentor Texts featuring DAVE THE POTTER
DAVE THE POTTER by Laban Carrick Hill Illustrated by Bryan Collier Little, Brown, 2010 Summary: Dave was a slave who created beautiful pottery and even wrote poetry on the pots. This is a lyrical story that mostly focuses on the creation of the pots themselves. Historical information is…
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Picture Book Month Day 17: Picture Books as Writing Mentor Texts Featuring BUFFALO MUSIC
BUFFALO MUSIC By Tracey E. Fern Illustrated by Lauren Castillo Clarion, 2008 Summary: Inspired by the story of Mary Ann Goodnight, this historical fiction story is about a young lady who raised orphan buffalo in Texas and eventually sent them to Yellowstone National Park. Mentor Text Writing Skills:…
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Picture Book Month Day 1: Picture Books as Writing Mentor Texts Featuring THESE HANDS
November is Picture Book Month. For the main site, click on this link. I’ll be highlighting a picture book a day here at my site, focusing on ways you can use them as mentor texts for writing. THESE HANDS by Margaret H. Mason Illustrated by Floyd Cooper Houghton…
