profile

Teaching With a Mountain View

5 Ways to Use (REALLY High Quality) Picture Books in Upper Elementary + FREE Resource for Parents!

Published 28 days agoย โ€ขย 3 min read

Hi Reader,

Happy St. Patrick's Day! ๐Ÿ€ Today is an exciting day at school -- not only is it St. Patrick's Day, but it's our school's Battle of the Books competition, we're finalizing our March Madness book winner, and we're using our third authentic text to learn about the Iditarod during literacy. What a day!

With so much emphasis on BOOKS, I thought today would be perfect to share some of my favorite ways to use picture books! I use picture books all year long, but this time of year using them is especially effective -- even in the upper grades.

Have a great rest of your week! (This email contains some Amazon affiliate links.)

Mary

P.S. Still scrambling for St. Patrick's day shenanigans? I've got you covered with LOW prep resources you can use TODAY! โ€‹

โญ Targeted Skill Practice

Any time I am reading a new book, I am always thinking about ways I can use them as mentor texts for targeted skills. Whether it's cause and effect, inference, compare and contrast, or character development, there are SO many books out there that can really bring these skills to life. Here are some of my favorite books for teaching specific skills:

  • Sequencing: Manji Moves a Mountain
  • Cause and Effect: Stuck
  • Point of View/Perspective: Voices in the Park
  • Inference: The Memory String
  • Compare/Contrast: Tea With Milk
  • Fact/Opinion: Saturday
  • Author's Purpose: The Watcher
  • Theme: Blackout

I've also shared my favorite picture books for teaching inference and the questions to use with them. The options here are endless!

โญ Character Ed. & Morning Meeting

Although some may argue that this isn't within our job description, I firmly believe as educators, we can make a huge difference in students' character development. Many students struggle with navigating friendships and building relationship skills. Picture books model different relationship skills, like actively listening, communicating effectively, having productive conversations, and demonstrating gratitude for one another. Using picture books is a great way to authentically model positive relationships.

I also developed an entire curriculum focusing on using picture books to teach character education. If you've ever considered ways to seamlessly integrate character education into your classroom, this is a great option! โฌ‡๏ธ

โญ Units of Study with Multiple Texts

Some of my favorite units of study have been born directly from reading amazing books and knowing I needed to use them. My favorites include my Inventor Unit, Regions Unit, Titanic Unit, Chocolate Touch Unit, and Iditarod Unit -- and that's not even scratching the surface of my seasonal units, too!

โญ As Mentor Texts

While most of these examples are using picture books as mentor texts, specifically using them as examples of excellent writing is a favorite of mine! You can use them for grammar practice (try mentor sentences from Jivey!), to teach writing techniques, or as authentic examples of figurative language.

Looking for book lists for writing and figurative language mentor texts? I've got you covered! There are so many books included here.

I've compiled a MASSIVE collection of picture books to use as personal narrative writing mentor texts! You can see my collection below as well as other ideas for using mentor texts in your classroom!

โญ To Help Teach Math & Mindset

I've been using picture books in math for as long as I can remember, and there are so many wonderful options out there now! Not only can you use them to teach math concepts, but there are so many recent titles that focus on Math Mindset, which I absolutely love.

FREE Download for Using Picture Books to Support At-Home Learning

A few years ago, I created this free resource for parents who wanted support using picture books at home. Of course, the number one goal is just to READ at home, but sometimes parents really appreciate these little tips!

PO Box 3581, Monument, CO 80132
โ€‹Unsubscribe ยท Preferences
โ€‹Feeling overwhelmed with your inbox? Click here to adjust your preferences so you only receive one email from us per week.

Teaching With a Mountain View

Mary Montero

I am a teacher who loves sharing research-based practices, resources, books, and more!

Read more from Teaching With a Mountain View

Hi there! Last week on Facebook, I shared some of my favorite End of the Year novels to keep engagement high (and help you implement a super easy plan for several weeks). The post went pretty wild on Facebook, and it got over 100 responses and tons of interaction -- that tells me that I'm not alone in my desire to get high-quality books in kids' hands before summer rolls around! Novel Study Book Suggestions I decided to compile the most often recommended books to share with you! I placed them...

7 days agoย โ€ขย 1 min read
Rapid Read and Review Comprehension

Hi Reader, I hope you had an absolutely marvelous week and have a lovely holiday weekend ahead. As I was preparing to share some of my favorite trending resources with you, one resource REALLY stood out to me. This resource has been tried and true for years, and I created when I was a 4th grade classroom teacher desperate for authentic (and engaging) review. Rapid Read and Review Although there are many different versions of this resource now (grammar, figurative language, skill-based, etc.),...

11 days agoย โ€ขย 1 min read

Hi Reader, I am waving a big, huge "hello" from my couch. Last week, I had surgery that requires me to be out of the classroom until the beginning of May (which I am already dreading). April is actually one of my very favorite months of the year to be a teacher because there are SO many seasonally engaging topics to teach! I've been super bummed about missing them this year, so I figured I'd live vicariously and share all my April favorites with you! โญโญ I know I'm late sending this, but if...

14 days agoย โ€ขย 2 min read