Persuasive Writing: Mentor Texts

Hi Bloggy Buds!

I'm linking up today with

for their Must Read Mentor Text Linky.

Today I'm going to share two mentor texts that I used recently for teaching persuasive writing:

I Wanna Iguana and I Wanna New Room! (These two books are also great examples of letter writing, word choice and presentation.)

I started off by reading I Wanna Iguana. We talked about what Alex did and how he tried to convince his parents to let him have the iguana.

Then we made an anchor chart to help us remember what we look for in persuasive writing (duh!).

 After we came up with our anchor chart, we read I Wanna New Room to 'double-check' that we had our 'traits' right.

Then I had them brainstorm a list of things that they wanted to persuade someone about. I had them pick one, then fill out this persuasive writing map:

Click on the picture to grab!

After they mapped it, they went through the writing process. Some of them had some very creative ideas!

I've only read a few so far, but what I've read has been really good. I'm excited to read the rest!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

PS...This was my 200th post! I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Workshop Wednesday- Mentor Texts

Back to your regularly scheduled education.... ;)

What's up?

It's Wednesday, which means I'm linking up with Jivey for her Workshop Wednesday series.





Today's topic? Mentor Texts!

I've previously blogged about my Mentor Text library here.

For a refresher, my Mentor Text library looks like this:

And my books are labeled, like this:

But I thought I would go into more detail about what books I have in my 6 Traits bucket, which is where I pull most of my Mentor Texts from when I am teaching writing.

A lot of my books overlap with the traits (they're usually good for more than one)-so I won't be listing the individual traits-that's another post! (many other posts!)

The Books:

I Wanna New Room; Diary of a Wombat

Weslandia; Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge; One Tiny Turtle

Sloppy Joe; Chester; Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild!

Jeremy Draws a Monster; Memoirs of a Goldfish; I Wanna Iguana

A Tree Named Steve; Thunder-Boomer!; How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Swim! Swim!; What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?; How to Be a Good Friend

Eats, Shoots & Leaves; It's Okay to Be Different; Hello Ocean

Encounter; Substitute Creacher; Work's Adventures with Lewis and Clark

LaRue Across America; If Dogs Were Dinosaurs; LaRue for Mayor

I hope you found some new books for teaching writing!

Today's Outfit

Top & Pants: JCP
Tank: Target
Shoes: Payless


Halfway through the week! Come on Spring, come and join us!


Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Conferences: Conquered & Writing a Paragraph

I have conquered the conferences! I did all of my kids (expect one, who cancelled) and was done by 4. They (for the most part) went very well, and I only have two weirdish ones.

I stayed for about 45 minutes after my last conference, making sure that I have finished all my grading and prepping for tomorrow. (We have an LBD workshop and an RTI workshop). I'm hoping it turns out to be helpful and useful.

Last week, we finished our theme in our reading series early, and I wasn't going to start a new theme for two days and then have the kids forget everything because they had a week off.  So I choose to teach some writing skills instead! (Something I don't get to often enough).

First up: Writing a 4th grade paragraph.

I went over the expectations of the 4th grade sentences (no, I like bikes.) and we discussed how to really expand our sentences.

Then, I introduced the hamburger.

I told them that for every detail they wrote about, they needed to have an explanation or supporting detail to help make their paragraph longer.

Hopefully, this will help them remember. I then had them pick a topic and start writing a 4th grade paragraph about it. After they finished, I had them share. (Something else we need to do more of)

Conference Outfit:

Sweater & Pants: JCPenny
Shirt: Marshall's
Shoes: TJ Maxx


My sweater did come off for the part of the day, but was back on by the end. I did get some compliments on my hair (everyone said it looked cute...just what I want to look like ;). I'll like it better in a few weeks.

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

100? and Inferences

I can't believe that this is my 100th post! It seems like only yesterday I started blogging, when it's been closer to 5 months. Time flies!

This week our comprehension focus was on making inferences.  I made this anchor chart last year with my kids, and thought it was too cute and nicely done to throw away...so I saved it to use this year! Usually I remake charts with each kids, but I saved a couple that turned out too nice. :)

This literacy series is heavy on using graphic organizers with the kids. The one they had this week had a place for the kids to show "In the Text" and "In My Head", put didn't have a place for them to write the inference that they made. So...I made my own!

 (Click to take to Google Drive)

I added a place for the kids to write down the inferences they made using the text clues and their schema. I think that making inferences work better when the kids are trying to figure out the answer to a question, but the series isn't having us teach it that way....but I'm slipping it in when I get the chance!

We also started a writing lesson on Ideas... and taking a BIG moment and whittling  it down to a Snapshot. We weren't able to finish what I had planned because of an assembly...but we did make an anchor chart!

Friday's Outfit

Sweater & Pants: JC Penny
Tank: Old Navy
Shirt: Marshall's
Boots: Endless





Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Mentor Texts

I wanted to show ya'll my mentor text library (and how I organize them). I mentioned that I had used some mentor texts to teach a writing lesson on leads.

I have them stored behind my Guided Reading table on a wire shelf that I got from Target.

 I have a 6 Trait bucket, a Polacco and Henkes bucket, a deGroat and Cronin bucket, and a Carle and Lionni bucket. I have labeled the books on the back cover to let me know what traits I feel they show, so when I'm looking to teach a particular trait, I know what books will fit without having to read each one (although that sometimes happens on its own! :)

Here are some examples:

This one I would use for Voice or Ideas.

This one I would use for Voice, Organization, Sentence Fluency and Presentation

Sometimes I tell the kids what trait we are working on and ask them to find it in the book, and sometimes I read the book and ask them what traits they think this book shows well.

Tuesday's Outfit

Sweater: Kohls
Tank: Target
Pants: JC Penny
Shoes: DSW







Today's Outfit

 Shirt: Old Navy
Vest: The Limited
Pants:  Kohls
Shoes: Endless

Our state testing has been going well so far..only 4 more days left! Happy Wednesday!

Smiles and Sunshine,

Kaitlyn