My Top 10 Mentor Texts

I’m sure many of you feel the same way as me, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE finding new books to read with my class!! I thought I would share with you my top 10 books my class and I LOVE!

How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer

This is a classic book used in many classrooms but it is a GREAT book to use in the beginning of the school year! It is a great one to build a community of kindness and treating others with respect!

 

Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale

This is another book I use in the beginning of the year to teach the kids the importance of being safe in the classroom and school!

 

 

Unlovable by Dan Yaccarino

I use this book as a mentor text for inferring! Cute story about a dog who thinks he is unlovable until he meets the dog next door.

 

 

Not Norman: A Goldfish Story by Kelly Bennett

I use this book for text to self connections and have students make connections about the pet they want. In the story, the boy wants a pet like a dog or a cat, but instead gets a fish. He doesn’t like the pet at first, until he learns to love him!

 

 

Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown

We use this book as a way to teach students text-to-text connections with the story above.It is a cute story from the bear’s perspective having a pet child!

 

 

 Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson

There are SO many books out there based off of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but this is a new one that I got from a recent scholastic book fair! It is a cute book about baby bear who visits the city and ends up in Goldilocks’ home!

 

 

The Black Rabbit by Philippa Leathers

This is a book that is a great interactive read aloud because it can be used to model a variety of skills such as predicting, inferring, visualizing, and making connections. This book is about a rabbit who is scared of his shadow and thinks it is a big, black rabbit.

 

 

Ralph Tells a Story by Abby Hanlon

I use this book as a start to my narrative writing unit in my classroom! It’s about a boy who doesn’t have any ideas to write a story. With a little help from a friend, he thinks of a HILARIOUS story to tell the class using details. I like encouraging my writers with this story that everyone has a story!

 

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

This is a great book to teach about feelings and empathy. This book is about a kid who feels invisible at school until a new kid comes and becomes his friend.

 

 

 

 

The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton

This book is hilarious! It is about a girl named Princess Pinecone who wants to become a warrior and asks for a horse for her birthday. Instead, she gets a small, round pony and takes it to compete with at a battle. It’s a cute story that had me and my first graders laughing out loud and re-reading!