How to Use Picture Books as Mentor Texts to Teach Winter Science Vocabulary

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WINTER MENTOR TEXTS FOR THE CONTENT AREAS  

Using mentor texts to teach important content area skills just got a whole lot easier for you!  Ten educator-authors from The Reading Crew are excited to bring you ideas, resources, and freebies that will help you integrate literacy into your Science, Math, and Social Studies lessons!  We understand that teaching is really hard right now, and hope to make your job easier in the days ahead!

If you study the effect of weather on nature in your classroom, then this blog post is just what you need to help your primary grade students understand how different animals hibernate, adapt, or migrate during the winter months!  I just love using picture books to teach important, scientific, content area vocabulary, and I hope you will too!

TEACHING SCIENCE VOCABULARY AND CLASSIFICATION WITH MENTOR TEXTS
A Loud Winter's Nap

The book I have chosen to share, A Loud Winter's Nap by Katy Hudson, is a delightful story of how Tortoise is kept from hibernating by his friends Robin, Rabbit, Squirrel, and Beaver.  Their winter activities and antics make Tortoise very grumpy as he tries to find a quiet place and space to settle in for his long nap.  After I read it to my first grade intervention groups last week, we had a very lively and

thoughtful discussion about which type of animal they would like to be in the winter.  We even sorted ourselves into groups of who would STAY, who would SLEEP, and who would GO!  You should try it!

This mentor text is a great discussion-starter if you are learning about animals who hibernate, migrate, or adapt.  I created a book companion to use with it that will help your primary grade students understand the meaning of these important terms and classify the different animals they meet in A Loud Winter's Nap, as well as in some of the other picture books featured below.

OTHER RELATED MENTOR TEXTS

MENTOR TEXT LESSON PREVIEW

The photo sequence that follows features all of the materials that are included in my 

book companion resource!  I like to display the vocabulary and animal sorting cards in small pocket charts, but you can also use them to construct your own anchor charts.  

The animal sorting worksheet and piggyback song are two fun ways for students to practice the science concepts taught in this lesson, and the writing and illustrating templates will give them a creative way to show what they know about hibernators, adaptors, and migrators!

USING MENTOR TEXT LITERATURE TO REINFORCE SCIENCE TERMS AND SKILLS

USE MENTOR TEXTS TO INTRODUCE IMPORTANT VOCABULARY WORDS 
AND EXPLAIN DEFINITIONS

PREVIEW MENTOR TEXT STORY CHARACTERS AND SORT THEM BY CLASSIFICATION

DISCUSS OTHER ANIMALS AND SORT THEM BY CLASSIFICATION

HAVE STUDENTS PRACTICE APPLYING WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED FROM THE MENTOR TEXT

ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO REFLECT, WRITE AND ILLUSTRATE

Grab these mentor text materials resource HERE!

SHARE MORE OF THE WONDER OF WINTER WITH YOUR CLASS

If you are looking for more literacy lesson ideas to use this winter, check out this BLOG POST about how to integrate mentor texts and music to help improve reading fluency and phonemic awareness.  

My WINTER PIGGYBACK SONG PACK is just what you need to get started!  

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As always, continue to teach your children well!

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