Mentor Texts
Taylor Gros, Section B, 9/9/15
Main Ideas
- "Mentor texts can provide students with valuable ways to approach their own writing"
- Students have opportunity to learn from other writers first hand
- Great when teaching "6+1 Writing Traits"
- They read different works and focus on the writing, not the story.
- "Reading like writers"- they look for different strategies that the author used when telling a story or writing an article
- Students can see what kind of language is used for different contents
- Picture Books are great for narrative writing
Personal Opinion
- I think the idea of using "mentor texts" can help a teacher tremendously
- Shows a student first hand how strategies work
- I personally like the idea of using a book the students already know story wise, then they can further connect to the authors point of view
- "Author caps"- students think of themselves as authors which could be motivation
- I would definitely use mentor texts, take help where you can get it!
Discussion
-What are some ways you have seen writing being taught?
-What ideas do you have for using this strategy with struggling readers?
- What kind of difficulties could you predict coming with mentor texts?
- Do you think it would be easier to use mentor texts with some concepts but not others? Why or why not?
Resources!
Mentor Texts in the Writing Workshop
Citation
Pytash, K., & Morgan, D. (2014). Using Mentor Texts to Teach Writing in Science and Social Studies. Read Teach The Reading Teacher, 93-102.