Mentor Texts, Part 2

Here are some links from WritingFix.com to lesson plans using mentor texts. I have organized them by form.

Friendly Letter, Persuasive Writing
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
Focus Trait: Voice (persuasive writing)
Support Trait: Organization (friendly letter form)
http://writingfix.com/Picture_Book_Prompts/ClickClackMoo1.htm

I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff
Focus Trait: Voice
Support Trait: Word Choice
http://writingfix.com/Picture_Book_Prompts/IWannaIguana1.htm

4-5 paragraph essay
How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long
Focus Trait: Organization
Support Trait: Sentence Fluency
http://writingfix.com/Picture_Book_Prompts/HowPirate1.htm

Short Story, roughly 2 pages
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
Focus Trait: Idea Development (strong details: show, not tell)
Support Trait: Voice (using emotional words)
http://writingfix.com/Picture_Book_Prompts/Bad_Case_Stripes3.htm

Writing Exercise: Forming a Good Sentence
Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester
Focus Trait: Sentence Fluency
Support Trait: Varying Sentence Beginnings
http://writingfix.com/right_brain/Who_What_When_Where_Recess1.htm

I think that once you have taught several successful lessons using mentor texts, you will find a teaching style that works for you. When you have found your rhythm, it becomes easier to develop a lesson from scratch using a mentor text. At that point, you can use books from your existing library to form the basis of your writing “program.” (And once you know how you best organize a writing lesson, you can use the plethora of lists found on the Internet and elsewhere of good mentor texts.)

One Way to Organize a Mentor Text Lesson

1. Present the text to the students
a. Give a brief summary of the plot (don’t give away the ending!)
b. Explain what the students should be listening for as you read (your teaching point or “Focus Trait”)
c. Read the text
d. Discuss how the text illustrated your teaching point
i. Discuss as a group OR
ii. Do a Think-Pair-Share OR
iii. Make a list together OR
iv. Give examples on your own (Unfortunately, this allows for no student interaction but can be used if you are short on time.)
2. Explain writing assignment
a. Model writing the assignment yourself OR
b. Model writing the assignment with student input OR
c. Give students a graphic organizer or list of steps and model following that format OR
d. Bring up a student and guide him/her in modeling the assignment
(You don’t have to model the whole assignment, but at least model how to start. Often, the first sentence is the hardest to write.)
3. Write teaching point on board. This is your look-for, or your objective.
4. Students begin writing!

You can follow this format for any type of writing. The most important element is teacher modeling. Students need to see you write in front of them (This is what you require of them, right?), and they need to see that sometimes writing comes easily and sometimes it does not.

**Rarely do you teach using a mentor text, model the assignment, and have students bring writing to completion in one session. (There are occasions when you can do this, however, especially with younger students who are required to write only a sentence or two.)

When I taught writing to first graders, I tried to divide my writing time (45-60 minutes) in thirds, so that I taught a mini-lesson at the beginning, had them write in the middle, and had students share their writing at the end (Whether they were finished or not, a few students would read their writing aloud and we would clap. I would take notes on who I needed to work with the next day during independent writing time, or what I saw as a common error that needed to be addressed in a mini-lesson).

Below is a sample week using a mentor text.

Day One: Mini-lesson (Read mentor text and discuss)
Day Two: Review mentor text and discussion briefly; model writing; students begin writing
Day Three: Mini-lesson (Bring up 1-3 students independently to share writing with class - validate what they have done well and give them a few suggestions to make their writing better); students continue writing
Day Four and following: Mini-lesson (Model developing ideas, working on transitions, or tying it all together; model revision; or repeat Day Three)

As students bring their writing to completion they can read their writing to a peer, take it through an editing checklist (If you do this, make sure you have introduced this at the beginning of the writing assignment so students don’t feel like you’re making them do “extra” work!), or write in an independent journal. Try to keep the focus on writing rather than on catching up on other assignments or busy work.

Please recognize that this way of teaching is very organic. It is not something where you can plan out specific mini-lessons ahead of time. You can, and should, have an idea of what your teaching points are, but you also need to take into account the pacing of your class: how much time you have for writing (some days, none!), how much guidance your students need (direct instruction as a whole group? small group support? one-on-one?), and how much time they can actually write independently (10 minutes? 20 minutes? 0 minutes?) Good writing takes discipline (writing every day) and constant reflection and revision. You can guide students through this process using the mini-lesson format (and please let them share!) so that there is always some collaborative effort, the feeling that we’re all in this together. Too often I imagine students feel isolated as writers, and when writing is hard, they give up. If you celebrate their writing as they write, and help solve some of their problems (not knowing what to say next, how to organize their thoughts, or how to conclude their writing) as they go instead of at the end by marking up their paper with red marks, I think they have a lot more fun at it! (And you have less to grade, since you have been guiding them all along!)