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Have students find similes from the book or create their own!

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Anchor Chart

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TPT $3

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Fireflies! Mentor Text Interactive Notebook or Lapbook

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Fireflies! by Julie Brinckloe is an excellent mentor text for grades 2-5! Use this product as an addition to your Reading interactive notebook, or as a lapbook.

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This year our 1st grade team has transitioned to using Mentor Texts to teach and guide students through our writing genres. It's my first year knee-deep in mentor texts and I am in love! Narrative Writing mentor texts offer students a 'real' perspective on a genre and give students a 'real' author to model. Making writing concrete is a priority for me and mentor texts help me do this. Additionally, students find it fun!

Storing & Organizing Mentor Texts

In October we wrapped-up our Narrative Writing unit, and I wanted to share with you some of our favorite narrative writing mentor texts (with Amazon Affiliate links for easy shopping). I pull my mentor texts for the unit, and place them in a book bin above my desk until we read them as a class. Once we've read the mentor text, it goes on our classroom bookshelf for students to re-read and use in their own writing.

A Growing Anchor Chart

As we read each of our mentor texts, our class creates an Anchor Chart. On the chart, we include what we could learn from the author/what the author did really well, as well as, how the story made us feel. I chose "feelings" for narrative writing because I wanted students to know that narratives don't always have to be exciting and upbeat. Narratives can also be suspenseful, scary, or sad. Writing has power, and intentional teaching helps students see this power.

When students write and when students share writing with the class, we love pointing out which authors the friend is becoming - "Oh, I love how Jon used dialogue in his narrative just like Bob Graham in Roller Coaster!" "Pat did a great job of including 5-sense details when writing about the hospital just like Julie Brinckloe in Fireflies."

Generating Writing Ideas for Narrative Writing Mentor Texts

Our first writing unit is Narrative Writing and our first mini-lesson was all about "What do I write about?" I was introduced to Ralph Tells a Story through Instagram and will forever use it. Ralph is an adorable little boy who has zero writing ideas. He does all kinds of things to avoid writing - breaking pencils, using the bathroom, helping friends, getting drinks of water, etc. Then, with the help of his friends and a push from his teacher, Ralph learns that stories have been all around him the whole time! It's precious, hilarious, and hit home for so many of my littles.
Then, during our writing mini-lesson, using a pre-cut heart, we brainstormed stories that are all around us. As students shared their story ideas, I wrote their ideas and quickly included a picture. Not all of my friends are readers yet, so we definitely need picture supports right now!

Zooming Into Small Moments

After a few minutes of hands-on zooming-in practice, we used the Mentor Text Roller Coaster to see how a famous author zooms into a story. This is a *PERFECT* text for small moments. Marla Frazee takes the reader all through the roller-coaster process (waiting in line, seeing the carts arrive, getting nervous and wanting to leave, being buckled in, etc.). Plus, she uses some great text/writing features that students love to emulate - using dashes to stretch out words, using CAPITAL letters to place emphasis on words, using sound words.

As a teacher, these are all features I pointed out as we read. I would write examples on the board and as a class, we practiced reading these phrases with and without those special features. What a difference they make!

This friend loved the sound words and the starching of words that Marla Frazee used in Roller Coaster and couldn't wait to include them in his swing narrative. You'll notice the swing going w-a-a-y too high and the SWOOSH of the wind.

Building Suspense with our Narrative Writing Mentor Texts

The Shortcut is a very simple narrative and very accessible to students. My 1st graders could relate to the group of friends, loved how the author built suspense, and loved the predictable train sounds. Plus, the author (Mr. Crews) throws us into the action, which was a just-right skill for us!

This friends loved the idea of starting the action right away and wrote about our Place Value Bootcamp experience.

Sgt. W came in yelling at us. "Get in your places!" Sgt. W made me do ten pushups. We felt tired...really, really tired. I am three times sure that it was Ms. W not Sgt. W. I am still asking my Mom why she signed me up.

With mentor texts, I love seeing my friends make us parts of the original text in their own writing. Before we publish a piece, we are careful about changing out these parts but for many students it's a just-right starting place. You'll notice this friend loved the suspense that the first page created with shorter sentences. (Note - this was a very first draft and we have not looked at punctuation - ha!)

Including Dialogue in our Narrative Writing Mentor Texts

"Let's Get a Pup!" said Kate is the text I chose for highlight dialogue-use in narratives. Although many other narratives could be used, I love Pup because it is written mainly in quotation marks. It recounts the story of Kate and her family going to the animal shelter and eventually having two new dogs in their home!

After a quick video from BrainPop on dialogue, my friends were ALL about quotation marks. Pretty soon our stories were launching with quotation marks, our word work sentences were littered with quotation marks, and we were even rocking the air quotes during daily conversations. #blessthem

Adding Sensory Details

Fireflies is the perfect text to talk about why zooming in matters. After reading the book, our class wrote what the story would sound like if we didn't zoom-in. "I was eating dinner. Then, I got a jar and went outside. We all caught fireflies. Then, it was time for bed. Before they died, I opened the jar and let the fireflies go." <insert 1st Grade GASP> My friends all agreed that this was not nearly as wonderful of a story as the one Ms. Brincklow wrote. We read it again, this time with our eyes closed, so we could make a picture in our mind.

Below is a page from a five-page narrative about a friend's trip touring a navy ship. Words in parentheses are sounds from the ship.

Katie King ( Queen of the 1st Grade Jungle) also highly recommended Saturdays and Teacakes. Oh friends, all the tears. This is one of the most poignant memoirs I have read and it was truly a special moment in our classroom. Recounting a Saturday routine full of special moments between a Grandma and her grandson. As my sweet L said after reading it, "Ms. W, my heart feels really full writing now."

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Narrative Writing Mentor Texts This year our 1st grade team has transitioned to using Mentor Texts to teach and guide students through our writing genres. It's my first year knee-deep in ment...

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Amazon.com

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From the Newbery Medal-winning author of Seedfolks, Paul Fleischman, Joyful Noise is a collection of irresistible poems that celebrates the insect world.Funny, sad, loud, and quiet, each of these poems resounds with a booming, boisterous, joyful noise. The poems resound with the pulse of the cica...

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Get crafty!

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I always enjoy the reading/craft projects from The Long Thread. It's a great way to share a story with a child and create a craft project together that goes along with the story. Today, she shares these fun firefly lanterns, based on the book The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle.

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I always enjoy the reading/craft projects from The Long Thread. It's a great way to share a story with a child and create a craft project together that goes along with the story. Today, she shares these fun firefly lanterns, based on the book The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle.

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Minilesson

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Hello! Welcome to our Mentor Text Lesson link-up for summer. Although the overall theme is summer, you can definitely use most of these activities at any time during the year! A list of all of the participating blogs is at the bottom of this blog post. Each blogger will be sharing a mentor text lesson using a particular book. Hop through the various blogs to find some outstanding read-aloud books, and grab the amazing freebies that accompany each book! (Some will be forever freebies, while others will be free for a limited time.) Also, don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post for a chance to win TpT gift cards!

(Amazon affiliate link below.)

The book I chose to feature is Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe. I fell in love with this book the very first time I read it. I was able to connect with this book immediately, as my personal memories of catching fireflies on late summer nights as I was growing up came flooding into my mind. My big brother, twin sister, and I, along with all of the neighborhood kids, would "dash about, waving our hands in the air like nets, catching two, ten- hundreds of fireflies, thrusting them into jars, waving our hands for more". The author's words capture my own memories perfectly! Her eloquent words describe my memories in a way that I would have difficulty expressing. And that's why I chose to use this book as the basis for a writing minilesson!

Fireflies is written from a first-person perspective, and begins with a young boy eating his dinner on a summer evening. When he spots a few flickers of light out the window, he shovels in the rest of his dinner, grabs a jar, and flies outside. His other neighborhood friends have already begun to gather with their own jars. As the sky grows darker, they "run like crazy", "grasping at the lights", and "thrusting their hands into the jar" once they capture a firefly. Eventually, it is time for everyone to return to their houses. Once in bed, the boy begins to feel guilty about his mass of fireflies, growing dimmer by the minute. Eventually, he flings off his covers, goes to his window, and frees his fireflies. The story ends with the words "The moonlight and the fireflies swam in my tears, but I could feel myself smiling."

I read this story aloud to my students twice. The first time, we read it for pure enjoyment. The second time, however, we read it with a purpose. Before beginning the second reading, I ask my students if they would have been able to visualize what was happening in the book if there hadn't been any pictures. After agreeing that this definitely would have been possible, we discuss the reason for this: the author used exact and descriptive words that make it possible for the reader to visualize the scenes in the story. Then I tell my students that we are going to read this book a second time, and record some of the descriptive sentences from the book. Noticing these descriptive words and sentences will help us to become writers who use exact words and vivid sentences.

I distribute a recording sheet to each student (printed on one sheet of paper so that the recording sheet is 2-sided). We read through the top paragraph and direction paragraph, and then we read the top row of the chart: The author could have written a dull sentence.. but instead, she wrote this descriptive sentence! As you can see, the dull sentence is provided. As you read the book a second time, students need to listen for a descriptive sentence that the author used in place of the dull sentence, and record it on the sheet. (I model the first few using my document camera.) Page numbers have been provided so students know when they should start listening for a replacement sentence.

I have two follow-up activities that can accompany this lesson. First, you can give the students the following worksheet, and students can practice writing descriptive sentences to replace the dull sentences. (After everyone has finished this worksheet, it is fun to ask volunteers to share their replacement sentences with the entire class. Plus, it sparks even more ideas for some students!)

Second, you can distribute this writing prompt, that asks students to write about a time that they have captured fireflies! (I have found that students are always eager to share their own connections to this book, and since this is a writing lesson, they might as well share their connection through writing!)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope that you'll be able to use this writing activity in your classroom. Have fun checking out the other blog posts~ that's where I'm heading now!

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Fireflies Freebies: A Mentor Text for Writing

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Hello! Welcome to our Mentor Text Lesson link-up for summer. Although the overall theme is summer, you can definitely use most of these activities at any time during the year! A list of all of the participating blogs is at the bottom of this blog post.

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Anchor Chart

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TPT free download

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Fireflies: A FREE Mentor Text Writing Activity

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After reading the book Fireflies, by Julie Brinckloe, feel free to use these followup writing activities! This file contains three different worksheets. The first worksheet is designed to be used as a whole group activity. As you read aloud the book, students notice descriptive sentences that the author

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TPT minilesson

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FREE Making Inferences Mini-Lesson and Poster, Common Core Reading

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While reading aloud the book Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe, this mini-lesson and poster will help you teach the concept of making inferences. You can find my complete Making Inferences unit here: Making Inferences Reading Unit, Grades 3-5 Making Inferences Reading Unit, Grades 1-2 ...

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Writer's Notebook Minilesson

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Amazon.com