Mentor Texts for Winter!

Hi there!

As I am prepping to get ready to head back to school on Monday (Ah!!!  Say it ain't so!) I have been gathering some books that I like to use in January.  I thought I would share some with you in case you haven't started planning yet or in case you may have forgotten about them!

The first one that I LOVE to use is Snow Globe Family.  I'm sure you've probably heard of it or seen the cute crafts that so many teachers make.

Last year I read this book to my students (suggested to me by my friend AMC over at Elementary AMC) and I had my students write a story about "If I lived in a Snow Globe...".  Apparently I didn't take any pictures (or I couldn't find any) but we made snow globes with their pictures, fake snow from the craft store, and clear plastic plates.  This picture is from Molly at Lessons with Laughter (love her!!)- mine looked similar to this but their story was hanging next to it.  Click the picture and you can find her post about it.  (See, this is why one of my resolutions is to take more pictures in the classroom...)

I imagine you've seen these around pinterest or on other teaching blogs...my kids REALLY loved it...I highly recommend it and it's a great display that can stay up all winter.

Another book I used last year to review figurative language when we got back from the break was Snow by Cynthia Rylant.  I just love her!!  :O)

We used this book to go along with this pack from Runde's Room.

I just love these 3-D craftivities!   

You can find similies, personification, and alliteration in this book.  They will have to make up their own idioms, onomatopoeia, and metaphors to finish off the craft.

These are pictures from ours from last year!  (Hooray!!  I have a picture!!)  ;O)

The last book I'm going to share is Snowmen at Night.  This is a really simple, cute book, and there's actually a series!

We have been reading a magazine by Scholastic called Storyworks and in each edition there is a play (reader's theater).  I'm *considering* having my students write a reader's theater (in groups) that would be "What Snowmen do at Night."  Or, if they have an idea for "What Snowmen do _____", I will let them go in that direction.  It may turn out that it's just a story they write...it really depends on TIME, which we know is at a premium, but I think it could really turn out cute.  I'll let you know how it goes!!

So, there are just a few winter texts that I will be starting out with.  Do you have any "go-to" winter texts that I haven't mentioned that you can share with me?  I'd love to hear what they are (you KNOW how I LOVE books!)!!  Plus, I need to get them ordered ASAP so I can use them, so don't hesitate to leave some books in the comments!!!  :O)