Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Grandpa's Teeth- Mentor Text for Mystery and Strong Lead




We are here to share a great book that we use when teaching writing workshop!  Have you read this book?

If you haven't I sthrongly recommend it!  It'th a great book!  It'th got everything you need: mysthery, sthuspense, and missthing theeth!  

You get to talk like you have no teeth!  Who doesn't love that?  ;O)

The book grabs you in immediately with a strong dialogue lead- Grandpa is screaming (minus teeth) that there has been a disasther and everyone needs to come quick!  (I don't think I'm aloud to quote directly from the book, or I would- anyone know the rules on that??)

Then the book goes through Grandpa trying to find his teeth and the town trying to prove that their teeth are their own and not stolen!  The ending is the BEST but I won't give that away!  You'll never guess where the teeth end up!!

This is a GREAT example of a mystery, and has all of the elements that can be seen very easily by students.

I was going to "whip up" some organizers to go with this but then I saw that Beth Newingham has already done this, so why reinvent the wheel!!!  You can click her name to go see what she posted on the Scholastic Website.  (And if you don't know who Beth Newingham is, you are going to want to put aside a few days hours of your time to read about her and all of the wonderful things she does in her classroom!!)

Using that graphic organizer (the elements of mystery) you could have them fill out the information about Grandpa's Teeth first, so they can see how this author may have planned out the story.  Then, they can plan their own mystery using the same organizer.

We linked up with Jessica at Ideas by Jivey for:


Also, Stacia and I are planning on hosting our own linky, starting this week, about using mentor texts in our classroom.  We thought about just doing a series, but then realized that if we could all link up our mentor texts (a.k.a. books) that we like to use in our classrooms each week, then we'd have one place we could look for new ideas!!!  We are planning on creating a page on our blog with each week's linky on there so there will be easy access for anyone to find a great book with ideas on how to use it.

We will usually post the linky on Sunday, but you can link up at any point during the week.  The post can be as quick OR detailed as you'd like, depending on how you feel (or how your week is going).  We'll have more information Saturday and a post you can see, but normally the link up will go live on Sunday.  We hope that you'll link up whenever you can!!  Let us know what you think about our idea!  :O)


Sthoooo, what do you think about Grandpa'sth Teeth? ;O)
Amanda

14 comments:

  1. I love Grandpa's Teeth and so do my kiddos. I actually just read it to them last week. Looking forward to your linky! I love finding new mentor texts to use!

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  2. I am about to start a mystery/inference unit after Easter - so I really appreciate this book suggestion. Can't wait for your new linky!

    Looking From Third to Fourth

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  3. Sounds like a great idea! I'm always looking for new mentor texts (I have a slight book addiction ;)

    :) Kaitlyn
    Smiles and Sunshine

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  4. Such a funny book! Love it! I don't know the rules of lifting sentences, but I assume it's the same as if you quote from anything- as long as you don't take credit for them as your own. :) And as long as you aren't retyping the entire book! :)
    Jivey
    ideas by jivey


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  5. I love Grandpa's Teeth! I always use it to introduce strong hooks in writing because of it's great dialogue and suspense at the beginning of the book!

    The REAL Teachers of Orange County

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  6. I am getting on AMAZON now!! Perfect to add to my collection of TEETH books for a week on teeth when we return from break... Thanks so much for sharing!
    Julie
    PS: the mentor text idea sounds FABULOUS!

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  7. I've never read Grandpa's Teeth! It sounds great! I will definitely look it up...oh how my book list is ever growing!

    -Maria
    Everyone deServes to Learn

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  8. Love that book. I've used it for years! Your linky sounds like a great idea! I'll be there!
    Gina
    Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

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  9. I like your linky idea! Can't wait to find some new to me books.

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  10. If anyone else worries about Amanda's point with quoting, check this out: http://janefriedman.com/2012/01/23/permissions/
    Look at fair use info. :) I think we're ok! :)

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  11. I've never heard of Grandpa's Teeth but it sounds darling! Can't wait to purchase it at Amazon! Love the linky idea!
    Joanne
    Head Over Heels For Teaching

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  12. I am pinning Grandpa's Teeth...another book I haven't heard of! I absolutely LOVE the idea of your new linky!! Since I taught 6th grade math for 8 years, I feel like I am behind the 8 ball in my collection of mentor texts for author's craft and in the SS and science 4th grade curriculum. I will definitely link up to share some books but I am really looking for getting more ideas from all those teachers so much more experienced than me in this topic:)
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

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  13. This books sounds like lots of fun and it also sounds like it could be a great text to use even with my little ones! Thanks so much for sharing! Also, I think your linky sounds like a great idea. It will be so nice to have all of these resources in one spot-so incredibly helpful! Great idea!

    Amanda
    Learning to the Core

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  14. I just discovered "Grandpa's Teeth" through your blog yesterday and used it today to teach a lesson on mysteries to my fourth graders. I blogged about it here. Thanks for suggesting it! They LOVED it!

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