Mentor texts are important co-teachers in the writing workshop! Here’s an in-depth look at the mentor texts I talked about in a recent podcast.
After you finish reading, be sure to leave a comment after on this post for a chance to win all ten of the featured books!
My March 2021 SOLSC blog posts can be used as mentor texts as my class embarks on the April 2021 Classroom SOLSC! Read on for more details about using your own writing as mentor texts for your students.
Today is a Voices From the Community post, written by Logan Beth Fisher. She writes, “Writing workshop is the perfect time of the day in which to create opportunities for students to truly do a deep dive into their identities. The more chances a child has to examine the things that make them who they are, the greater the chance that they will broaden their capacity to generate ideas in which to write. Like any other good writing unit, educators can rely on mentor texts to help model not only the craft of writing but will also offer ways in which students can consider their own identities based on the theme or subject of the text.”
If we’re committed to differentiating instruction, then it’s important to use a variety of mentor texts to meet students’ needs.
Today I continue our conversation with mentor texts when teaching writing through a social justice lens. Empathy is the first step toward building understandings beyond ourselves. It takes imagination and compassion.
We can have a positive impact on children’s reading lives when we attempt to make sure every child’s life is reflected in books AND that every child can understand the experiences of other people by reading books. By doing this, we not only positively impact our students, but we improve our society as a whole.
Consider sharing these six books with your fact-loving students.
Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win all six books for your classroom library.
While we have to ask ourselves questions about where books fit into our curriculum and how books support mindsets, now, more than ever, we should be asking how the books we use promote social justice and cultural awareness. These questions do not apply only to the books we offer students to read, but also the books we use to teach students to write.
It could be said that what sets a writing workshop apart from other approaches to teaching writing is a focus on empowerment. Here are a few ways to empower writers when it comes to mentor texts…
Writers pause to notice the obvious and obscure moments in life. They preserve their memories in their notebooks by jotting words, tucking away photographs, ticket stubs, and other items that have left an imprint. Each of these items waits inside the notebook until the writer pulls them out and forms them into a story to… Continue reading Four Mentor Texts to Nurture the Relationship Between a Writer and a Notebook: Notebooks as a Writers Tool
While many teachers seem knowledgeable about mentor texts and teacher-created texts, it is my hope that focusing on student-written mentor texts will lead more teachers to realize students can be mentor authors, too.
Today, in writing workshop, we intentionally teach students how to write by using authors as our co-teachers. As teachers, we write for and with our students, and our writing can show them the possibilities for their own pieces. We highlight student work too as a mentor text, creating a bridge from what students are currently doing to a more effective way of writing.
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 