Seymour is a hamster who believes he has all he ever needs until Pearl the Cat comes along. 

Lesson Idea:  

Mentor Text, Voice: Read aloud Memoirs of a Hamster.  Ask students what they notice about the author’s craft?  Do they feel as if the hamster is really talking to them?  The author really seems to understand the hamster’s voice.  The reader gets the feeling that the hamster might actually speak that way.  It’s a fun read and a great mentor text to help you model voice.  Pair it with Memoirs of a Goldfish for extra fun!

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

One day a very hungry fox meets a very plump goose.  A dinner invitation is offered.  Will dinner go as planned? Or do the plans involve a secret ingredient? 

Lesson Idea:  

Mentor Text, Organization: Read aloud That Is Not a Good Idea! and discuss the craft of the text.  How did Willems craft the story?  What do readers notice?  Point out the surprise ending and use this book as a mentor text for organization when teaching the Six Traits of Writing.

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Date: September 18, 2012

Recommended Grades: 3-5

This is the true story of author Joyce Carol Thomas’s trip from Oklahoma to California in 1948, as a young girl.  Her journey is filled with excitement, hope, and promise. 

Lesson Idea:  

Mentor Text, Word Choice/Sensory Details: Read aloud In the Land of Milk and Honey and discuss the language choices the author makes.  Beyond the bay, mountains topped with ice cream snow. . ., the author uses lyrical language, similes and metaphors, and sensory details to describe a trip from flat lands, through desert and onward to the ocean.  Chart the language choices the author makes as part of a word choice anchor chart for students to borrow from when they are writing in writer’s workshop.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review by the publisher.

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Set against key moments of the civil rights movement, Walter Dean Myers eloquently shares the story of the powerful spiritual leader and his belief that nonviolence could be used to overcome racial discrimination.

Lesson Idea:  

Mentor Text, Biography, Civil Rights, and Writer’s Workshop: Read aloud I’ve Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and discuss how the author used key moments in the civil rights movement to write the biography.  Consider pairing this book with Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, in which the author used key quotes from Dr. King as a backdrop to write his biography. Compare the author’s craft in both books and have students choose one type of craft to write a biography.

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

On April 2, 1931, the Chattanooga Lookouts were about to play the New York Yankees, a legendary team with famous players.  The Lookouts were a nothing team, except for the pitcher, Jackie Mitchell.  This is her story.   

Lesson Idea:  

Mentor Text, Biography: Read aloud Mighty Jackie: The Strike-Out Queen and discuss what made her so special.  Use this as a mentor text to discuss the baseball era and why women weren’t typically encouraged to play.  Did Jackie earn respect on the baseball field?  How are sports different today?   This book could lead to great discussions on gender equality.

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Date: December 26, 2012

Recommended Grades: 3-5

Who built the White House?  Slaves built the house for our country’s president.  A lovely piece of nonfiction detailing the “hands” that built the White House. 

Lesson Idea:  

American History:  Read aloud Brick by Brick and engage students in a discussion about the history of our country.  How were slaves involved in building one of our iconic residences?  Why weren’t machines used to build the White House as they would be today?  How were slaves an integral part of the building of our country?

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book for review by the publisher.      

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Date: January 2, 2013

Recommended Grades: 5-8

Beautifully painted.  Inspirational.  This is the story of Nelson Mandela, a global icon.  In Nelson’s typical poetic verse and gorgeous illustrations, he shares the story of a young Mandela’s determination to change South Africa.   

Lesson Idea:  

Mentor Text, Civil Rights and Biography:  Read aloud Nelson Mandela as part of a unit on civil rights. Nelson makes the concept of apartheid accessible to young readers in this picture book biography.  This book would pair nicely with Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. Consider comparing civil rights in America with the civil rights of citizens in other countries, such as South Africa.    

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review by the publisher.

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

A young girl’s courage is tested in this hauntingly beautiful, wordless picture book.  Beginning with the parallel between the title (of a wordless book) and the characters (who never speak), Cole has created a gorgeous rendering of the unspoken heroes of the Civil War   

Lesson Idea:  

Mentor Text, Civil War/Character Actions/Wordless Picture Books: Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad can be used as a mentor text for a number of techniques.  As a wordless picture book, discuss how the author conveys the story in pictures only.  How would the story change if words were added?  Analyze the relationship between the characters.  What can you learn about their relationship through pictures only? Most books we read about the Civil War speaks to the hardships of war.  This book speaks to the bravery of every-day people.  Use Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad as part of a unit on the Civil War to see both sides of the issue.  This would also pair well with Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine or Freedom Song: The Story of Henry “Box” Brown by Sally M. Walker in a unit on bravery during the Civil War.

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

From the beginning, Noah Webster knew he didn’t want to be a farmer like the rest of his family.  He wanted to be a SCHOLAR.  This is the story of how he made his dream come true.  

Lesson Idea:  

Mentor Text, Biography and Word Choice:   Read aloud Noah Webster and His Words as part of a unit on biographies.  Noah Webster wrote the first all American (instead of English spellings) dictionary after the American Revolution.  Noah studied twenty different languages and traveled around the world to fully research his dictionary.  In addition to a biography mentor text, Noah Webster and His Words is a fantastic model for the craft of word choice.  The author provided definitions for words embedded throughout the text, a great homage to Mr. Webster, but also a fun writing technique.

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Chloe doesn’t really know why she turns away from the new girl, Maya, when Maya tries to befriend her.  And then one day Maya is gone.  When Chloe’s teacher gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world, Chloe is stung by the opportunity that’s been lost. 

Lesson Idea:  

Theme: Read aloud Each Kindness as part of a unit on kindness.  Begin withEach Kindness and ladder it to The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes and Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  Create a kindness jar and ask students to write a kindness about their classmates on strips of paper to add to the jar.  During class meetings, read aloud one or two kindnesses each week.

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.