Using a mentor text can be a little like taking a course from a published writer- we can allow him or her to teach us how to be stronger writers. This can certainly happen with our drafts… but we can also do this work in our notebooks. Oftentimes, doing so can free young writers up to do larger-scale revision. Here’s one way I tried that…
If we’re committed to differentiating instruction, then it’s important to use a variety of mentor texts to meet students’ needs.
The time investment you will spend in immersion may seem like a lot – especially if you’re providing students with four days to understand a genre. However, students will gain a greater understanding of the kind of writing you are asking them to produce if they have a clear vision for what the end product should look like.
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.
Linda Rief has collected a treasure of mentor texts and created a guide to encourage you to find your own treasures! Start here, get inspired, and then see what you find when you start looking. It can be as small or big as you want when you begin and Linda gives us all the right tools to get started.
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…
Here’s a peek at the dates and times three members of our co-author team will be presenting at NCTE this weekend.
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… Continue reading
The decisions I make from the classroom library to family connections are intentional and responsive to building a community of writers and learning about the students who make up this community.
Add six new picture books to your back-to-school read alouds and to your mentor text collection this fall.
After you read through this post, be sure to leave a comment about how you’d use these books in your classroom for a chance to win all six of them.
Maybe this will be the year I do a lot more shared writing!
As we approach the end of another school year, many of us begin making plans for outgrowing ourselves. But what might be some lenses to think through when taking on such a task? I have a few ideas . . .
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.
These books serve to comfort children during what is a serious and uncertain time. After reading this post, leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of all five books.
This new book by Cynthia and Sanford Levinson is a treasure trove of information as well as a handy example of many elements of inspiring nonfiction writing.
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.
Summer is the perfect time to seek out new mentor texts for your writing workshop. This post contains 20+ new picture book — fiction and nonfiction — suggestions that you can use to lift the level of your students’ writing. Plus, there are book giveaways! (Be sure to read the giveaway information carefully at the bottom of the post.)
Two (more) lesson sets to help you teach the qualities of good writing from picture books by Maribeth Boelts and Nicola Davies.
