Science Mentor Text and a Freebie- Stars!

Happy Sunday, Friends!

I am excited to share a great Science Mentor Text with you!
It's called Stars by Ker Than, and it's fabulous! My students LOVED reading this book because the illustrations and photographs are so captivating!

Amazon.com says "This series explores Earth's solar system as well as galaxies, stars, and other objects in space. Each book reflects the latest research and will teach readers basic scientific principles that aid in understanding the workings of the universe."

A few days ago, I used this book as a "hook" to get my students excited and interested in our new science unit focused on the solar system. It was a great success!  :)  They loved it!

The photographs in this text really capture the students' attention! As soon as I showed the page, I heard lots of "ooooooooooooooo.......wowwwwww......." because the pictures really are breathtaking!

I really like the text features in this book too. The diagram below shows a star's life, and it contains pictures, labels, and arrows. 

I enjoyed reading this book, and my students did as well, but this section about black holes (below) was certainly a favorite! It sparked so much awesome discussion! Did I have all the answers? Of course not! But, it got the students thinking and it made them excited about our solar system unit. It motivated many of them to go research and learn more. I LOVE when that happens!  :)

I hope that this book can be a favorite for your students as well! 

After I read this book, I decided to create a simple graphic organizer that could be used with any informational text. My kids learned so much from this book, and they had so many great questions that I wish I had recorded their thinking. I usually use sticky notes to record our thinking (which I love!) but I wanted another way to share their learning. I plan to use this graphic organizer for read alouds, but also for independent reading. It will be an easy way for me to see what they have learned, and it will be an easy way for them to share their learning with other students.  

If you would like this FREEBIE, just click here to download it from our TPT store. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and don't forget to link up your science mentor texts! I can't wait to add some new books to my wish list!

Have a wonderful Sunday, 

Stacia  :)

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Next week's linky- Social Studies