Biography mentor texts for kindergarten
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Living literature isn&#;t just for reading but also for teaching writing styles! Serious writing lessons don&#;t start in our homeschool until middle and high school, but believe it or not, I often use picture books to help me teach.
Since picture books can be read in one sitting, they are perfect examples of good writing from master writers. Of course, you must ensure you&#;re reading books written by master writers (not twaddle.) And that&#;s what I&#;ve set out to share with you in this series &#; books perfect for teaching various writing styles!
This article focuses on writing biographies. Wait, did I hear a &#;Yuck!&#;? If your children are reading this, I&#;m pretty sure I heard several of them! Historically, biographies are not very fun to read—and definitely not fun to write.
The word &#;boring&#; comes to mind when I think about reading most biographies. The words &#;research&#; and &#;bibliography&#; come to mind when I think about writing biographies. None of
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I recently received an email from a junior high teacher who was looking for some support as she began her enhet of study on biographies. She wrote that she was &#;looking to push this biographical piece to be heartfelt.&#; She wanted her students to think about &#;why we remember these people&#; and to &#;engage in research that goes beyond the computer.&#;
I immediately thought of an article inom had recently read in the Winter edition of the Illinois Reading Council Journal, titled &#;Biographies in Focus: A Framework for Supporting Biographical Writing in the Classroom (written bygd Donna E. Werderich, Alice B. McGinty, and Barb Rosenstock). The authors of the article outlined several ways that students might focus their biographical writing:
- focus on an object or item that was important to the person and illustrates their life in some essential way
- focus on a special event that had bred reaching implications for that person&#;s life
- focus on their relationsh
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Mentor Texts for Informational Text Structures
Teaching informational text structures, just like any concept, can be done in a number of ways. One of my favorite teaching strategies though is to use mentor texts.
I love using picture books with upper elementary students because they&#;re motivating! Another plus is that a mentor text can be completed rather quickly, which is a bonus when the school day is packed with more to teach than time allows.
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Nonfiction books that describe something, in no particular time order, fall under the description category. These books give lots of facts ab