Imagine your students stepping into a bustling pirate ship’s galley, feeling the heat of the oven and the scent of salty stew, or tiptoeing through a moonlit forest, the branches creaking overhead and shadows dancing on the path. These setting mentor texts will guide your students towards creating their own descriptive writing.
I’m sharing all of these books on video as well! Check out the Setting Mentor Texts on my Youtube channel.
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Setting Mentor Texts
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The magic and wonder of winter’s first snowfall is perfectly captured in this picture book, making it a great setting mentor text.
A little boy named Peter put on his snowsuit and stepped out of his house and into the snow. This story depicts a child’s wonder at a new world, and the hope of capturing and keeping that wonder forever. The quiet fun and sweetness of Peter’s small adventures in the deep, deep snow is perfect for reading together on a cozy winter day.
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
Jasper Rabbit loves carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots.
He eats them on the way to school. He eats them going to Little League. He eats them walking home. Until the day the carrots start following him…or are they?
This is a great text for teaching details of a setting and how those details affect the main character.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
The tiny town of Chewandswallow was very much like any other tiny town—except for its weather which came three times a day, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
But it never rained rain and it never snowed snow and it never blew just wind. It rained things like soup and juice. It snowed things like mashed potatoes. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers.
Life for the townspeople was delicious until the weather took a turn for the worse. The food got larger and larger and so did the portions. Chewandswallow was plagued by damaging floods and storms of huge food. The town was a mess and the people feared for their lives.
This text teaches and shows a setting that we would not typically see, which primary students really like to see. They find it funny and entertaining. This is a great text for teaching details of a setting.
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Mrs. Mallard was sure that the pond in the Boston Public Gardens would be a perfect place for her and her eight ducklings to live. The problem was how to get them there through the busy streets of Boston. But with a little help from the Boston police, Mrs. Mallard and Jack, Kack, Lack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack arrive safely at their new home.
This story transports readers to the bustling city of Boston’s Public Garden. Students will see how the setting is not only a backdrop of the story but a character itself. It symbolizes safety while showing students the challenges of urban life.
The setting is very important to the ducks in this story and it is a great way for students to see how things change as the ducks travel in the story.
When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge
In this story, a group of kids play hockey on a frozen lake by moonlight.
The beaver flood has finally frozen–perfect ice, without a bump or a ripple. For the kids in town, it’s Christmas in November. They wait, impatiently, for the right moment. Finally, it arrives: the full moon.
They huff and puff through logging trails, farms, back roads and tamarack swamps, the powdery snow soaking pant legs and boots, till they see it–their perfect ice, waiting. And the game is on.
Hello Harvest Moon by Ralph Fletcher
While tired farmers and their families are in bed, the harvest moon silently climbs into the sky and starts working its magic. For some, it is the nightly signal to rise and shine. It is time to hunt, to work, or to play in the shadows. For a little girl and her cat, it is an invitation to enjoy the wonders of the night and a last flood of light before the short days of winter set in.
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Late one winter night a little girl and her father go owling. The trees stand still as statues and the world is silent as a dream. Whoo-whoo-whoo, the father calls to the mysterious nighttime bird.
But there is no answer.
Wordlessly the two companions walk along, for when you go owling you don’t need words. You don’t need anything but hope. Sometimes there isn’t an owl, but sometimes there is.
This beautiful book has my readers looking closely at illustrations and descriptive language to determine the setting in this story. Invite your students to just listen to you read Jane Yolen’s words and then describe what feelings they have when they listen to her describe the setting.
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Save these Setting Mentor Texts
Be sure to save this pin to your favorite read alouds board on Pinterest! You’ll be able to come back to these new setting mentor texts when you are ready to read them aloud with your students.
