Using Mentor Texts to Help Writers

TOPIC 1: USING MENTOR TEXTS:

1.      What happens to writers when they are encouraged to use mentor texts?

2.      How can I incorporate and use mentor texts in writer’s workshop to effectively help my writers?

3.     How can I teach my students to find mentor texts and really “read like a writer” as Katie Wood Ray would say?

4.     How do I begin to set up my collection of mentor texts so that my students and I can all immerse ourselves in “studying writers’ office work?”

5.     Readers workshop coupled with mentor texts

This year one of my most prolific writers has frequently discussed her process and enthusiasm for writing with our class.  She loves to write and when I talked about borrowing ideas, words and structures from writers she shared just how she was able to do just that on multiple projects.  This particular student has told me that she plans on getting publicly recognized as a published author before she gets to high school.  She has really taken the idea of a “mentor text” and sailed with it.  When we went to write our “All-About-Books” Cynthia successfully noted what other authors had done to write a similar style or structure about another topic other than her own.  She explicitly told the class what she was doing.  She noted the creative catchy language used in the table of contents and attempted to do the same in her book.  She noted the use of captions and types of print to add meaning or attention to different parts in the book and used a similar structure in her own book.  Cynthia was so proud of herself for being able to effectively use this mentor text.  My lesson had made sense to her.  I was thrilled! She often talks about the mentor texts she is using.  She just used another mentor text to write a poem about her grandmother which was published in a children’s magazine and she won a public speaking award for when she presented it. The poem she had written used repetitive language throughout that was effective and lasting.  Cynthia is a writer who uses mentor texts frequently and effectively.   I want all of my students to dive in deep with mentor texts.  After our mini lessons students often seem eager to try out whatever it is we talked about, but when it comes time to write, I often do not see a strong correlation to the mentor texts we have investigated.  How can I help my writers use mentor texts effectively as Cynthia now does regularly? 

This is the first year I have really understood what a writer’s workshop entails and the many components to a successful workshop.  I believe one way to strengthen my practice and writer’s workshop is to effectively use mentor texts across multiple genres.  My collection begins here.  How shall I organize them?  How do I pull out the just right text?  What can I try to strengthen student’s use of mentor texts to further help them as they grow as writers?

THE PROCESS:  Discussing the craft, use readers workshop

THE DATA:  create a binder of mentor texts by category student writing samples, student surveys, student interviews, craft, talk to Jolyn Asato, compare samples from this year to next

POSSIBLE THEMES:  Reciprocity of reading and writing, Workshop Model, ELL’s and mentor texts

Possible mentor text categories:  Structures and Ways with words, i.e: about the author, non fiction all-about books, alliteration, personification, rhyme, characterization, what makes a story good, pattern, letter, writing, all-about-books, zoom box, nonfiction text features, sparkly words, great introductions / conclusions, narratives / memoirs, How-To books

I hope I am on the right track....Sheridan

Above:  Students meet with visiting Argonaut School Author and Teacher: Matt Weber.  We used his book as a mentor text to look at rhyme and ABC styles.