"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," Said the Sloth by
Slowly, slowly, slowly . . . that's how the sloth lives. He hangs upside-down from the branch of a tree, night and day, in the sun and in the rain, while the other animals of the rain forest rush past him. "Why are you so slow? Why are you so quiet? Why are you so lazy?" the others ask the sloth. And, after a long, long, long time, the sloth finally tells them! Set in the lush world of the tropical rain forest, this original picture book is an exquisite showcase of Eric Carle's colorful collage art-with a meaningful message: Slow down! Take time to enjoy your world.
John, Paul, George and Ben by
Once there were four lads... John [Hancock], Paul [Revere], George [Washington], and Ben [Franklin]. Oh yes, there was also Tom [Jefferson], but he was annoyingly independent and hardly ever around. These lads were always getting into trouble for one reason or another. In other words, they took a few...liberties. And to be honest, they were not always appreciated. This is the story of five little lads before they became five really big Founding Fathers.
My Dog Is As Smelly As Dirty Socks by
How do you draw your smelly dog? Your playful daddy? Your yummy mommy? See how one girl does it in this simple, clever picture book that's comprised of family portraits made out of objects. For example, her baby brother is so noisy--he's as loud as a whistle, a horn, and even a fire truck!--that she creates a picture of him with whistles for eyes, a horn mouth, and holding a fire truck. After the girl has described everyone in her family (including herself, in great detail), she asks, "What does your special family look like?" encouraging readers to create their own portraits. With a list of objects at the end of the book to use as a guide, this is the ideal choice for budding artists everywhere. Here's a wonderful exploration of simile and metaphor for young readers. And don't miss the companion book My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil!
Did You Say Pears? by
“If horns played cool music, and pants were just clothes....” Horn, pants, nails, trunk, pitcher — all words that can mean more than one thing. Arlene Alda has put together words and images in a delightful and witty book of photographs as inviting as a pair of juicy pears. Did You Say Pears? takes a playful and very clever look at words that sound the same but have different meanings. Young readers will love to hone their budding sense of language with the deceptively simple text and the irresistible photographs that offer a first taste of the richness of words. A useful information page explaining the wordplay is included. Arlene Alda’s photographs challenge the reader to look and look again in this book that is bound to be a family favorite.
Exclamation Mark by
A perfect gift for graduation! He stood out here. He stood out there. He tried everything to be more like them. It's not easy being seen. Especially when you're NOT like everyone else. Especially when what sets you apart is YOU. Sometimes we squish ourselves to fit in. We shrink. Twist. Bend. Until -- ! -- a friend shows the way to endless possibilities. In this bold and highly visual book, an emphatic but misplaced exclamation point learns that being different can be very exciting! Period.
Dear Deer by
Clever Aunt Ant has just moved to the zoo. Speaking in homophones, she describes the quirky animal behavior she sees. There's the MOOSE who loved MOUSSE and ATE EIGHT bowls, and the WHALE who was ALLOWED to WAIL ALOUD--and that's just for starters. This playful picture book introduces children to the richness of language through the concept of homophones. A romp through the zoo has never been so eye-opening. A Children's Book-of-the-Month Club Selection
Bark, George by
From acclaimed author-illustrator Jules Feiffer, Bark, George is a hilarious, subversive story about a dog who can't . . . bark! This picture book geared for the youngest readers is perfect for those who love Mo Willems's Pigeon series. When George's mother tells her son to bark, George goes "Meow," which definitely isn't right because George is a dog. When she asks him again, he goes "Oink." What's going on with George? Readers will delight at the surprise ending!
Little Red Writing by
Acclaimed writer Joan Holub and Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet team up in this hilarious and exuberant retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, in which a brave, little red pencil finds her way through the many perils of writing a story, faces a ravenous pencil sharpener (the Wolf 3000)... and saves the day.
A Parade of Elephants by
New York Times-bestselling and Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes follows five joyful elephants as they march from dawn to dusk. Where are they going? Read and find out! This engaging picture book is just right for the youngest reader and is a perfect choice for story time and bedtime sharing. Up and down, over and under, through and around . . . five big and brightly colored elephants are on a mission in this picture book for young children by Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes. Where are they going? What will they do when they get there? It's a surprise! With a text shimmering with repetition and rhythm, bright pastel illustrations, large and readable type, and an adorable parade of elephants, Kevin Henkes introduces basic concepts such as numbers, shapes, adjectives, adverbs, and daytime and nighttime. A Parade of Elephants is an excellent choice for story time as well as bedtime sharing.
The Common Core Grammar Toolkit: Using Mentor Texts to Teach the Language Standards in Grades 6-8 by
The Common Core's language standards can seem overwhelming--students need to learn specific, complex grammar rules at each grade level. The Common Core Grammar Toolkitto the rescue! This comprehensive guide makes grammar instruction fun and meaningful. You will learn how to... * Teach the Common Core's language standards for grades 6-8 by presenting each grammar rule as a useful writing tool. * Use mentor texts--excerpts from great literature--to help students understand grammar in action. * Promote metacognition along the way, so that students become responsible for their own learning. The book thoroughly covers how to teach the Common Core's language standards for grades 6-8, on topics such as understanding intensive pronouns, using commas to set off nonrestrictive clauses, maintaining consistency in style and tone, forming verbs in different moods, and much, much more. You'll learn how to present each of these grammar rules to your students as tools that will help them improve their writing. You'll also find classroom snapshots that show the tools in action, and handy, reproducible charts that you can use with your own students. Bonus! The book includes a free annotated bibliography, which is offered as a Supplemental Download on our website. The bibliography lists high-quality young adult literature and gives examples of key grammatical concepts found in each work, so you can use additional mentor texts with your students.
The Common Core Grammar Toolkit by
The Common Core's language standards can seem overwhelming--students need to learn specific, complex grammar rules at each grade level. The Common Core Grammar Toolkitto the rescue! This comprehensive guide makes grammar instruction fun and meaningful. You will learn how to... Teach the Common Core's language standards for grades 3-5 by presenting each grammar rule as a useful writing tool. Use mentor texts--excerpts from great literature--to help students understand grammar in action. Promote metacognition along the way, so that students become responsible for their own learning. Throughout the book, you'll find step-by-step recommendations for teaching each of the grammar tools, plus classroom snapshots that show you the tools in action, and handy templates that you can use in the classroom. Bonus!The book includes a free annotated bibliography, which is offered as a Supplemental Download on our website. The bibliography lists high-quality young adult literature and gives examples of key grammatical concepts found in each work. It also provides the Common Core Language Standard associated with those concepts!
How Do I Get Them to Write? by
Committed to the premise that all students can learn to write with appropriate teaching, modelling, and practice, How Do I Get Them To Write? argues that reading and writing go hand in hand. Through reading, writing and the inevitable discussions that follow, students learn from the experiences of others, open their minds to many possibilities, gain a glimpse into worlds unknown to them, make connections to their own lives, and reflect on their own choices and learning. An ideal resource for teachers who love writing as well as those who find it challenging.
Mentor Texts, 2nd Edition by
It's been a decade since Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli wrote the first edition of Mentor Texts and helped teachers across the country make the most of high-quality children's literature in their writing instruction. In the second edition of this important book Lynne and Rose show teachers how to help students become confident, accomplished writers by using literature as their foundation. The second edition includes brand-new "Your Turn Lessons," built around the gradual release of responsibility model, offering suggestions for demonstrations and shared or guided writing. Reflection is emphasized as a necessary component to understanding why mentor authors chose certain strategies, literary devices, sentence structures, and words. Lynne and Rose offer new children's book titles in each chapter and in a carefully curated and annotated Treasure Chest. At the end of each chapter a "Think About It--Talk About It--Write About It" section invites reflection and conversation with colleagues. The book is organized around the characteristics of good writing--focus, content, organization, style, and conventions. Rose and Lynne write in a friendly and conversational style, employing numerous anecdotes to help teachers visualize the process, and offer strategies that can be immediately implemented in the classroom. This practical resource demonstrates the power of learning to read like writers.
Mechanically Inclined by
Some teachers love grammar and some hate it, but nearly all struggle to find ways of making the mechanics of English meaningful to kids. As a middle school teacher, Jeff Anderson also discovered that his students were not grasping the basics, and that it was preventing them from reaching their potential as writers. Jeff readily admits, "I am not a grammarian, nor am I punctilious about anything," so he began researching and testing the ideas of scores of grammar experts in his classroom, gradually finding successful ways of integrating grammar instruction into writer's workshop. Mechanically Inclined is the culmination of years of experimentation that merges the best of writer's workshop elements with relevant theory about how and why skills should be taught. It connects theory about using grammar in context with practical instructional strategies, explains why kids often don't understand or apply grammar and mechanics correctly, focuses on attending to the "high payoff," or most common errors in student writing, and shows how to carefully construct a workshop environment that can best support grammar and mechanics concepts. Jeff emphasizes four key elements in his teaching:short daily instruction in grammar and mechanics within writer's workshop;using high-quality mentor texts to teach grammar and mechanics in context;visual scaffolds, including wall charts, and visual cues that can be pasted into writer's notebooks;regular, short routines, like "express-lane edits," that help students spot and correct errors automatically. Comprising an overview of the research-based context for grammar instruction, a series of over thirty detailed lessons, and an appendix of helpful forms and instructional tools, Mechanically Inclined is a boon to teachers regardless of their level of grammar-phobia. It shifts the negative, rule-plagued emphasis of much grammar instruction into one which celebrates the power and beauty these tools have in shaping all forms of writing.
Craft Moves by
Foreword by Lester Laminack How do you choose mentor texts for your students? How do you mine them for the craft lessons you want your students to learn? In Craft Moves, Stacey Shubitz, cofounder of the Two Writing Teachers website, does the heavy lifting for you: using twenty recently published picture books, she creates more than 180 lessons to teach various craft moves that will help your students become better writers. Stacey first discusses picture books as teaching tools and offers ways to integrate them into your curriculum, and classroom discussions. She also shares routines and classroom procedures to help students focus on their writing during the independent writing portion of writing workshop and helps teachers prepare for small-group instruction. Each of the 184 lessons in the book includes a publisher's summary, a rationale or explanation of the craft move demonstrated in the book, and a procedure that takes teachers and students back into the mentor text to deepen their understanding of the selected craft move. A step-by-step guide demonstrates how to analyze a picture book for multiple craft moves. Using picture books as mentor texts will help your students not only read as writers and write with joy but also become writers who can effectively communicate meaning, structure their writing, write with detail, and give their writing their own unique voice.
Dream Wakers by
"There is power that resides in outstanding culturally diverse literature--a power that has the potential to engage students in reading and teach them about the art and craft of writing." --Ruth Culham We dream of a time when all students will be confident, capable readers and writers. When we teach students to read as writers using mentor texts, we awaken that dream and make it real. Imagine the power of providing students with books that show them their faces, their culture, their lives on every page. And imagine how every classroom's collection of mentor texts can grow by adding books that celebrate diversity. In Dream Wakers: Mentor Texts That Celebrate Latino Culture, Ruth Culham focuses her love of children's literature--and her decades of work developing the traits of writing--on books that celebrate Latino life and culture. She provides a wide variety of ideas to teach writing using some of the richest and most beautiful children's books available. Dream Wakers gives you: * An annotated list of more than 120 books with do-it-today lesson ideas for teaching the traits of writing--Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions. More than half of the books listed are bilingual or offer English and/or Spanish editions. * Eleven original, insightful essays by renowned children's authors of some of the featured books * A handy reference chart that helps teachers locate books quickly by trait, genre, language, and author/publisher information. Ruth encourages all of us to make sure students of all backgrounds have access to high-quality, culturally diverse texts and recognize the difference those texts will make in their reading lives, as well as in their perception of themselves as a thinkers, learners, and citizens.
Nonfiction Mentor Texts by
In their first book, Mentor Texts, Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli demonstrated how teachers can use children's literature to guide and inspire student writers of narrative fiction and poetry. Now, they have turned their focus to nonfiction, identifying a wide range of mentor texts and showing how these models illustrate the key features of good writing. Lynne and Rose guide teachers through a variety of projects, samples, and classroom anecdotes that demonstrate how teachers can help students become more effective writers of good nonfiction. The Your Turn lessons at the end of each chapter use the gradual release of responsibility model to guide and empower student writers. Teachers will find especially helpful the information on how to select appropriate mentor texts from among the sometimes overwhelming offerings of children's literature. Each Your Turn lesson encourages reflection and motivates students to think about what they've learned, the purpose of learning and practicing a skill or strategy, and how they might use this technique in the future. Additionally, An Author's Voice provides encouragement and advice from published authors of children's nonfiction. One of the most valuable features of Nonfiction Mentor Texts is the treasure chest of books organized according to chapter. This list includes every title mentioned in the book, as well as a host of other titles that teachers can use to help students learn about quality nonfiction writing--building content, organizing text, developing voice, enhancing style, using punctuation effectively--and from which students can draw topic ideas. Lynne and Rose have either read or used all of the featured books in their classrooms and have selected titles that meet the needs of students at varying levels. Teachers will be able to find the just-right book for each student.
The Argument Writing Toolkit by
In order for students to writeeffective arguments, they need to readgood arguments. In this practical book, you'll find out how to use mentor texts to make writing instruction more meaningful, authentic, and successful. Author Sean Ruday demonstrates how you can teach middle school students to analyze the qualities of effective arguments and then help them think of those qualities as tools to improve their own writing. You'll learn how to: Introduce high-interest topics to students to get them interested and engaged in argument writing. Teach students to look at multiple sides of an issue and critically evaluate evidence to construct informed, defensible arguments. Make argument writing an interactive, student-driven exercise in which students pursue their own writing projects. Use mentor texts to help students learn the core concepts of argument writing and apply those skills across the curriculum. The book is filled with examples and templates you can bring back to the classroom immediately, as well as an annotated bibliography which links the concepts in this book to the corresponding Common Core State Standards. Blank templates are also available as printable eResources on our website (http://www.routledge.com/9781138924390).
Poetry Mentor Texts by
Building on the success of Mentor Texts and Nonfiction Mentor Texts, authors Lynne R. Dorfman and Rose Cappelli now turn their attention to poetry. In Poetry Mentor Texts, Lynne and Rose show teachers how to use poems in both reading and writing workshops and across content areas. Written in a friendly, conversational tone, this practical book explores a variety of poetic forms, including poems that inspire response, list poems, acrostic poems, persona poems, and poems for two voices--versatile forms of poetry that can be used in every grade. Each of these poetic forms has its own chapter featuring five poems with applications for both reading and writing classrooms. Reading connections present skills and strategies to move students forward as readers, helping them to build fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, phonemic awareness, and phonics. Writing connections help students and teachers discover their own voices and grow as poets and wordsmiths as they try out many poetic forms. Poems help students at all grade levels learn to better address complex reading texts, offering them a chance to dig deeper and use higher-order thinking skills. Additionally, Your Turn writing lessons provide a scaffold for seamlessly moving from modeling to the shared or guided experience and the transfer to independent work. The Treasure Chest offers a brief annotation of the poems discussed in each chapter as well as companion pieces that extend and enhance the work of the reading and writing classroom. Poetry Mentor Texts helps teachers across the curriculum guide their students to become not only skilled readers and writers but also more empathetic human beings.
Mentor Author, Mentor Texts by
Ralph Fletcher has long mentored writing teachers-now he presents the ultimate mentor-text resource for teaching students to write. In Mentor Author, Mentor Texts, Ralph shares 24 short, high-interest texts and accompanying Writer's Notes with your students. Arranged from least difficult to most challenging, they are ready for writers at every level. Online, Ralph also provides whiteboard-ready versions of the texts as well as recordings where he reads of 17 of his pieces. Mentor Author, Mentor TextsIncludes: 24 mentor texts written by Ralph, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more Writer's Notes that give students a peek into Ralph's thinking and craft Online access to whiteboard-ready versions of Ralph's mentor texts Online access to recordings of Ralph reading 17 of his pieces Suggestions from colleagues nationwide for using Ralph's texts in the classroom. Let your teaching mentor become your students' writing mentor... ...with engaging mentor texts written and read by Ralph Fletcher... "I wrote all 24 pieces in this book. You'll find an assortment of genres: stories, memoir, poems, essays, and excerpts from novels. The various texts are ordered from easiest (least challenging) to hardest (most challenging). I tried to select short, high-interest pieces. Each one stands on its own with a beginning, middle, and ending. I tried to choose pieces that would bring a sense of closure by the end." ...writer's notes that give students an inside peek into craft... "My Writer's Notes introduce the text, explain my thinking behind various decisions, and point out a few things I want kids to notice. With certain pieces, especially the last three, I highlight revisions I made along the way. I tried hard not to take the mystery out of good writing. Instead these notes are my way of opening the door and leading the student into the text." ...and practical, classroom-tested suggestions like this from your colleagues "One of my students, Suzy, knows that she struggles to provide enough detail in her non-fiction pieces. For her piece about soccer, she told me that she knew she needed to include more details because she didn't want the reader to be confused. We had already read Ralph's "Squirming Wizards of Recycling," so we looked at the Writer's Notes. Ralph said he had brainstormed questions that readers may have had as they read about worm composting, and he then tried to include the answers to those questions in the piece. Suzy decided that she would write down questions that she thought her reader might still have about soccer and then make sure those questions were answered in her writing. Since both Suzy and I have already developed a relationship with Ralph through his texts, it felt like we were inviting an old friend to join our conference." Kate Norem Morris, Teacher, The Bush School, Seattle, Washington
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by
As the only passenger, and the only female, on a transatlantic voyage in 1832, thirteen-year-old Charlotte finds herself caught between a murderous captain and a mutinous crew.
The Hunger Games by
Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning? In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before - and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Collins delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.
The City of Ember by
The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! This stunning debut novel offers refreshingly clear writing and fascinating, original characters.
The Book Thief by
The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that is now a major motion picture, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul. It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist-books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.
Ralph S. Mouse by
In this third and final Mouse novel from Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary, Ralph heads to school to see what humans do all day . . . and to discover what the "S" in Ralph S. Mouse stands for! With his rowdy cousins constantly wearing out his motorcycle and the Mountain View Inn manager threatening to take care of the mouse infestation once and for all, Ralph decides it's time to get away for a while. He convinces his human friend Ryan to take him along to school, where Ralph instantly becomes the center of attention. But when Ryan's class decides to see how smart Ralph is by making him run a maze, the usually confident mouse starts to fret. What if he's not as clever as he thought?
Stink by
In honor of Judy Moody's younger "bother," the creators of the award-winning series have put themselves in a very Stink-y mood — proving, once and for all, that you're only as short as you feel. Shrink, shrank, shrunk! Every morning, Judy Moody measures Stink and it's always the same: three feet, eight inches tall. Stink feels like even the class newt is growing faster than he is. Then, one day, the ruler reads — can it be? — three feet, seven and three quarters inches! Is Stink shrinking? He tries everything to look like he’s growing, but wearing up-and-down stripes and spiking his hair aren't fooling anyone into thinking he's taller. If only he could ask James Madison — Stink's hero, and the shortest person ever to serve as President of the United States. In Stink's first solo adventure, his special style comes through loud and strong — enhanced by a series of comic strips, drawn by Stink himself, which are sprinkled throughout the book. From "The Adventures of Stink in SHRINK MONSTER" to "The Adventures of Stink in NEWT IN SHINING ARMOR," these very funny, homespun sagas reflect the familiar voice of a kid who pictures himself with super powers to deal with the travails of everyday life — including the occasional teasing of a bossy big sister!
