Mentor Text Linky~~Science

I'm linking up today with Collaboration Cuties for their Must Read Mentor Texts linky party!

Today's focus is science. Kids love science and I like to use as many different texts as possible to teach a concept. (Our science book just isn't enough.) Lynne Cherry is a favorite author of mine. Her books focus on the environment and environmental issues.
Living in South Florida where we have mangrove habitats, I like to share this book, The Sea, the Storm, and the Mangrove Tangle:

 I love her endpapers (those are the pages before the title page and after the text of the book). In this book she shows maps of where mangroves grow and plants and animals that inhabit them. 

The story takes you through the life of a mangrove from seed to full grown. Over the years, the mangrove is home to many species of animals above and below the water. This is a must read if you are studying habitats.

  

Lynne Cherry's books mix fact with fiction which I love. If you are using this book, or others like it, you may want your kids to think about the facts embedded (good word to teach them through this activity) in the story. I created this handout or you could simply have students use a notebook, to find and list facts from fiction.

Explain to your students that a book like this would need to be read more carefully than a fiction book because of the facts.  A book like this lends itself to a good discussion about author's purpose since kids could say that it was written to entertain since it's fiction, to persuade you to protect the environment, or to inform you about the habitat. Be sure to ask for proof from the story to support their ideas. Hope this is a strategy you will try with your students!

Have a great week!!