Mentor Texts for Common Core Literature Standards

My ELA units for Kinder, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Grade include three mini-lessons, printables, passages, interactive notebook activities, task cards, and an assessment. Some of these activities require the use of a mentor text. I have had many, many requests for a suggested book list, so I wanted to create a blog post for teachers to reference when using mentor texts for ELA! This is a list of 10 books for each literature standard, with affiliate links to Amazon.

Mentor Texts for Common Core Literature Standards

Ask and Answer Questions

Ask and Answer Questions (RLK.1, RL1.1, RL2.1, RL3.1, RL4.1)

Key skills to hit: questioning, inferring, predicting, answering, and text evidence

Retelling and Recounting

Retelling and Recounting (RLK.2, RL1.2, RL2.2, RL3.2)
Key skills to hit: retelling/recounting, moral/lesson, folk tales, fables, myths

Primary Mentor Texts – Story Elements

Story Elements (RLK.3, RL1.3)
Key skills to hit- characters and traits, settings, events

Character Challenges

Character Challenges and Solutions (RL2.3, RL3.3)
Key skills to hit- character traits, problem/solution, challenges and how the character resolves it

Vocabulary in Poetry

Vocabulary in Poetry (RLK.4, RL1.4, RL2.4)
Key skills to hit- feeling emotions while reading, imagery, poetry, sensory word, repetition

Primary Mentor Texts – Figurative Language

Figurative Language (RL3.4, RL4.4)
Key skills to hit- similes, metaphors, imagery, personification

Story Structure

Story Structure (RL2.5, RL3.5)
Key skills to hit- beginning, middle, and end structure

Primary Mentor Texts – Point of View

Point of View (RL1.6, RL2.6, RL3.6, RL4.6)
Key skills to hit- character’s opinion, how a character feels about something, compare to own

Story Illustrations

Story Illustrations (RLK.7, RL1.7, RL2.7, RL3.7, RL4.7)
Key skills- comparing text to illustration, how the illustration adds to the text

Compare Two Stories by Different Authors

Compare Two Stories by Different Authors (RL1.9, RL2.9)
Key skills to hit- comparing and contrasting character, setting, events (different author)

Comparing Two Stories by the Same Author

Comparing Two Stories by the Same Author (RL3.9)
Key skills to hit- comparing and contrasting character, theme, plot (same author)

Jumaji and Zarthura by Chris Van Allsburg
Fish is Fish and Swimmy by Leo Lionni
The Hat and The Mitten by Jan Brett
Wemberly Worried and Chester’s Way by Kevin Henkes

Suggested Standards-Based Literature Activities

For full ELA units with mini lessons for these books and extra reading passages (and much more), check out the grade level sets for RL standards. If you click the links below, check out your grade level. They’re sold separately as well if you only want one or two standards at a time.