Squirrel's New Year's Resolution: A Language Arts Mentor Text for the New Year

The first Sunday of 2014.  The holidays have wrapped up and it's time to get back in the swing of things.  Although I have about 100 other things I should be doing, I'm taking minutes to join up with the Collaboration Cuties for their weekly Must Read Mentor Text Linky.  This week's topic is Language Arts texts and my pick is Squirrel's New Year's Resolution by Pat Miller.

This book is perfect for my first graders because it does a great job explaining what a resolution is.  Squirrel does not know about resolutions and finds out from her friend bear.  Bear explains that "a resolution is a promise you make to yourself to be better or help others."  (I love that explanation.)
While squirrel has difficulty thinking of a resolution for herself, she spends her time helping her woodland friends.  They eventually point out that she her actions speak for themselves.
The story is sweet.  The illutstrations are vibrant and have fun details.  If you do not have this book in your collection, I recommend checking it out.  It's great for this time of year.

After reading Squirrel's New Year's Resolution, my students will complete our little New Year's themed craftivity and write about their resolutions for the upcoming year.  I don't really know who came up with the idea of using the left over blowouts with a writing assignment, but I think it is adorable.  Plus first grader resolutions are really fun to read.

While we are not in school to celebrate New Year's, I love to spend the first week after break reading some New Year's themed books and bringing in various New Year's themed activities.  My birthday is on New Year's Day and I guess this is another way to keep the fun going a little bit longer.

Stay warm and be sure to visit the Collaboration Cuties for more great mentor text suggestions and ideas.