Mentor Text Set
LeAnna Davis
Leanna Wilson
Brandenberg, Aliki (1972). Fossils Tell of Long Ago. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Interest Level: K-2
Readability Level: 2.1
Lexile Level: 480L
The book tells you how to make a fossil and how to discover a fossil. The book is very
kid friendly. The students will have a lot of fun learning about fossils with this book. I would use
this book to address the standard of S3E2. Students will investigate fossils as evidence of
organisms that lived long ago. Even though this is a second grade level book, the students
could still use it to do research about the fossils and how to discover them. I would have this text
in a writing center. The student would learn about informational text, and then they would get a
chance to write an informational paper on fossils.
Pellant, Chris (2003). Rocks and Fossils. Boston, Massachusetts: Kingfisher.
Interest Level: 3-5
Readability Level: 3.4
The book goes through rocks first and what they are used for and the different kinds. The
book then transitions into the fossil part. The book had a lot of good information that is kid
friendly. It has subtitles that a student could follow well. I would use the standard S3E2.
Students will investigate fossils as evidence of organisms that lived long ago and S3E1.
Students will investigate the physical attributes of rocks and soils. I would place this in a
writing center where they would learn about informational text and the element of sub-headings.
The students will then pick a topic from the book and write an informational paper with subheadings.
Rydell, Wendy (1984). Discovering Fossils. New Jersey: Troll.
Interest Level: 3-5
Readability Level: 4.1
The book is about how to find fossils and what the story is behind them. Each page has a
title of what they will be talking about on the page. It goes to tell that we can find out how old
the Earth is by looking at fossils. The standard I would use would be S3E2. Students will
investigate fossils as evidence of organisms that lived long ago. In the book there is a question
that asks what sorts of stories can a fossil tell us? I would have the students think of a fossil they
have seen and have them write a story about what the fossil could tell us.
Tomecek, Steve (2011). Everything Rocks and Minerals. Washington D.C.: National
Geographic.
Interest Level: 3-5
Readability Level: 5.9
This is more of a magazine than a book. It is put out by National Geographic. It explores
all different rocks and minerals within the magazine. It also gives experiments a teacher could do
with a class. I would use the standard S3E1. Students will investigate the physical attributes
of rocks and soils. a. Explain the difference between a rock and a mineral. I would use this in a
writing center. The students would have to read about the different types, and then write a
compare and contrast paper for rocks and minerals.
Weidensaul, Scott (1992). Fossil Identifier. New York, NY: Mailard Press.
Interest Level: 6-8
Readability Level: 8.0
This book has a very high reading level, but it can still be used in the classroom with the
teacher’s guidance. It is about identifying fossils. The book has some very good pictures in it that
helps the reader as they read. I would use the standard S3E2. Students will investigate fossils as
evidence of organisms that lived long ago. The book could be placed in a writing center where
they learn about informational text. The book has a lot of captions, so the student could draw a
picture of a fossil, and then write a caption under it explaining what it is like the book.
Watson, J. (1980). The First Americans Tribes of North America. New York: Pantheon
Company.
Interest Level:
3-5
Reading Level: 4-6
This book is about the roles and jobs of the different Americans. This book is primarily
focused upon the different tribes of North America. It closely relates the different tribes so that
the students can compare the different tribes in North America.
I would use this book to show how the different tribes in North America were different
from each other. I would like to make it apparent to my students that Indians were not a
combined force, but much of a separate community held together by a chief; very often the tribes
did not interact with each other. This would fulfill standard SS4H1 (the student will describe
how early Native American cultures developed in North America.)
This book is a different kind of reference book. Even though there are real facts inside
the book, it is easy to read. I would use this book as a mentor text to show the students how to
write real facts inside of a story.
Depaola, T. (1983). The Legend of the Bluebonnet. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Lexile Level:740L Interest Level: PreK-3 Reading Level: 3.7
This book is a story about one of the legend of the Native Americans. A young girl gives
up her most prized possession in order to save her people.
I would use this book to show the different beliefs of the Native American people and
how they used their stories to explain everyday occurrences. I would also like to show them how
they worshipped their gods. (ELA4R1. h. Identifies themes and lessons in folktales, tall tales,
and fables.)
This book could easily be used as a mentor text. I would have the children come up with
their own legend and write their legend based upon how this author wrote this book.
Ashrose, C. (1993). The Very First Americans. New York: Putnam Books.
Lexile Level: AD670L Interest Level: k-2 Reading Level: 3.2
This book is about the tribes living along the Atlantic coast. The pictures in these books
show the different habits that the tribes had. These include the roles of the different family
members, what food they ate, what they wore, and what they lived in. This book has very bright
pictures that young children would enjoy.
This book covers the GPS in the fourth grade about the different tribes of Native
Americans. (SS4H1. The student will describe how early Native American cultures developed in
North America.) It is a brief look at the different tribes along the pacific coast; this shows many
of the Native American tribes that are required in this GPS.
I would use this text as a mentor text by bringing in this author’s use of the pictures. This
author uses bright pictures that directly correlate to what the author is saying in the text.
Murdoch, D. (1995). North American Indians. New York: Dorling Kindersley Limited
Lexile Level: 1150L Interest Level: 6-8 Reading Level: 6.4
This is an eyewitness book that allows the students to see the different artifacts that the
Indians used. The pictures in this book are photographs so the children will be able to see what
the Indians actually had. This book shows a brief look at the many different beliefs and
traditions that the North American Indians had.
This book would be used to show some of the culture and beliefs of the North American
Indians. The children would be able to see pictures of what the Native Americans made and used
in their daily lives. The students will be able to see real-life examples of the culture of Native
Americans. (SS4H1 The student will describe how early Native American cultures developed in
North America.)
I would use this as a mentor text by asking the children to write about their daily lives.
The children would include pictures of their own lives and write about pictures as if they were
writing an eyewitness book about their own life.
Ciment, J., & LaFrance, R. (1996). Encyclopedia of the North American Indians. New York:
Scholastic Inc.
Interest Level: 6-8 Reading Level: 6.8
This book is an encyclopedia about all the different tribes of North American Indians.
The book has an index so the children could look up a specific tribe; it would make it a lot easier
for them. Each tribe is given a brief history and some facts that are important to that specific
tribe.
This book would be invaluable if used as part of a reference book. The children would be
able to flip through the book and be able to see how many different tribes were actually living in
North America. I would love to have this book available in the classroom for the children to
look through in their spare time. I would also like to have a project that the children would be
choose a tribe to base their report on. They could decide on what tribe they wanted by looking
through this book. (SS4H1.a. Locate where Native Americans settled with emphasis on the
Arctic (Inuit), Northwest (Kwakiutl), Plateau (Nez Perce), Southwest (Hopi), Plains (Pawnee),
and Southeast (Seminole).)
I would use this book as a mentor text by having the children write their own
encyclopedia about something they are experts about. The children would be able to choose
their own topic and then model their encyclopedia to be something like the Encyclopedia of
North American Indians.