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Reading Mentor Texts

October 3, 2015 by Ashleigh | 8 Comments

reading mentor text

I love books. I love fiction books, nonfiction books, chapter books, and picture books. That’s one of the reasons I love incorporating mentor texts into my reading and writing workshop lessons. I use mentor texts to model thinking strategies, as examples of quality writing, to engage students in a class discussion, and as springboards into reading and writing activities. Many of the lessons in my 3rd-5th Grade Reading Workshop Bundle include a mentor text.

I keep my mentor texts in plastic storage bins out of reach from students. I like to store them separately, because when they intermingle with my other books, they have tendency to disappear the day I need them.

I keep a printout of all of the mentor texts in the tub, so I can easily reference what books I’ll be using.

reading mentor text

When I first started using mentor texts, I felt that I had to read a new book for every single lesson. It took me awhile to realize that it’s perfectly fine to read or refer to the same book multiple times. I’ve certainly read some of my favorite books more than once {just ask me about Outlander}. If we’re short on time and I really don’t have time to read a book, I may just refer to a book that we’ve recently read together.  This allows us to still have a literature reference and saves us about ten minutes.

What About Reading Levels

Another question or concern about mentor texts is the reading level of the book. I try not to worry too much about the reading level of a mentor text when selecting a book for my class. Instead, I focus more on how the book reflects a particular element and my students’ engagement with the book. Many years ago, I went to a Fountas and Pinnell conference, and one read A Memory Strand by Eve Bunting to the audience. Every single attendee of the conference was enchanted by the book. There were hundreds of silent teachers and few dry eyes be the end of the book. That book wasn’t on our reading level, but we were still able to connect with the book and learn from the book. I want the books I select to fully engage my students. I try to choose books that have a little substance or meat to them, which allows for better class discussions.

Can I Substitute Mentor Texts

I have many teachers ask if they can substitute the texts for a picture book of their choice, and the answer is definitely, YES!! All of the graphic organizers are questions were written so that they can be used with any book. In fact, unless it’s a book near and dear to my heart, I substitute almost all of the nonfiction books. I like using texts that align to what I’m teaching in either social studies or science. Sometimes if I see a golden opportunity, I also integrate with character education. Since every state has its own social studies and science standards, and within each state each district has its own pacing guide and curriculum map, it’s impossible for me to create an all-inclusive integrated list for social studies and science.

I typically use the fiction books listed in the units, but every now and then I do make a change. Sometimes I substitute the text if the majority of my class has already read the book, or if I feel that the book isn’t the right fit for my class. I’ve included a few ideas of mentor texts you can substitute for the books within the unit. The lists below include alternatives to some of the books from Unit 1 (visualizing connections, and inferring) and Unit 2 (characters, setting, and plot). If you don’t see your favorites listed, that’s probably because they’re already included in the reading units! If you find this useful, I can do the same thing for units 3-6! Links to all of the books are included below!

visualizing mentor text

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

connections mentor text

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

setting mentor text

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plot Mentor Text

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also like to incorporate season books if possible. I realize that I teach older students, but my kiddos are still young enough to be excited about holidays. Goodness, I’m 34 {ouch} and I still love holiday activities, so I don’t think students are ever too cool….even though they may try and act like it.

Halloween upper elementary

Links to All Mentor Texts

Albert

Canoe Days

Circus Ship

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Creepy Carrots

Hallowilloween

If You’re Not From the Prairie

Fig Pudding

Goggles

Halloween

Mr. George Baker

Nettie’s Trip South

Page by Paige

Pete and Pickles

Shortcut

Silver Seeds

Someday

Sophie’s Masterpiece

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt

The Black Rabbit

The Can Man

The Gardener

The Night I Followed the Dog

The Potato Chip Champ

The Princess and the Pig

The Relatives Came

The Spider and the Fly

The Storm Book

 

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Comments

  1. Chelsey Westergard says

    January 12, 2017 at 11:58 AM

    I’ve started using your reading workshop units and I think they are fabulous! Thank you for your hard work. I’ve purchased a lot of your products because they seem to be just what I need. Thanks for posting this list of other mentor texts we can use. I have had a problem finding a few of the books on your original lists. I look at my school library and then the county library for them. A few like Twilight Comes Twice was at neither place. It was on Amazon from a private seller but I can’t afford $10 a book when I need several, so these alternates help. I would love it if you did it for your units 3-6 too. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Ashleigh says

      January 18, 2017 at 12:50 PM

      I will certainly work on an alternative list!

      Reply
  2. Amber T says

    July 23, 2017 at 1:18 PM

    This is incredibly helpful! Did you get a chance to do Units 3-6 yet?

    Reply
  3. Angie says

    August 18, 2017 at 12:01 PM

    I am so excited to use this resource this year and thank you for the alternative books list! I have a had a hard time finding many of the mentor texts. I would love alternatives for the other units also,

    Reply
  4. Julia says

    December 3, 2017 at 2:38 PM

    I used your reading unit and the kids were so engaged especially beginning with the love heart of what was important to them! I had no reluctant writers for once!
    As I am in Australia, I used either our own popular authors or YouTube for your titles which was so effective as I have 20 boys and 13 girls in my class and the boys love media!!!
    I have used your Reading Choice Boards all year over and over because the class love choosing their own responses.
    Thank you Ashleigh for the detail you put into your guided lessons, they are so easy to follow and be successful!

    Reply
  5. Jessica says

    May 24, 2018 at 12:03 PM

    I recently bought your Reading Workshop Bundle. I bought it for next year and have been teaching some this year to get prepared for it. I really like your structure and layout of these lessons and cannot wait to get organized and teach my class next year. I really like that each lesson is based on a picture book. I love reading to my class. My only concern is finding all the books you suggest. I haven’t heard of some of the books in these units and my school library does not have all the books. I’m worried I wont be prepared enough to fully teach these units and I really want to. I enjoy them very much. I know it would be a lot of work but is there a way you could suggest different books for some of the lessons. I see your suggestions on some of the topics but I’m looking at the first unit on how to select and choose the right book, etc. Thank you for your amazing bundle!! They are wonderful units!

    Reply
    • Ashleigh says

      May 28, 2018 at 10:31 AM

      I’m going to work on an alternate list this summer. You can replace them with ANY text though. I’ve created all the printables open ended to offer plenty of flexibility.

      Reply
  6. Nicole says

    March 21, 2019 at 12:41 PM

    Thanks for all of this great info, Ashleigh. I looked for the Eve Bunting book – A Memory Strand – and could not find it. I then realized that it was probably titled – The Memory String by Eve Bunting. I used that book with my third graders every year. We all loved it. Her books are always so fabulous! Just thought I would share and thank you again for sharing such helpful info.

    Reply

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