Choice Lit Topic: Mentor Texts
It’s all about the right book at the right time, given to the right student or used in the right lesson . . .
Here is where we gather all those suggestions from our contributors for using mentor texts, including lesson protocols and scores of video examples.
Results
Researching Like Writers: From Read-Aloud to Notebooks
It is no secret that in my classroom we try to keep it real. Once the authenticity is gone from the work my students and I do together, my students...
Questions and Picture Books
Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read. Marilyn Jager Adams...
Nine Picture Books for Teaching Mindfulness
In our last booklist for Choice Literacy, we shared titles with characters or events that demonstrated mindfulness. In this booklist, we offer picture books with more overt connections to mindfulness....
Organizing Craft Minilessons
Harvesting minilesson ideas from children's books is valuable for instruction during a writing conference or for whole-group minilessons. Over the years, I've developed a system for keeping track of writer's...
How to Notice: Mining Children’s Books for Craft Minilessons
The library is a favorite place of mine, where books are everywhere. A gold mine of minilessons waits to be found. I love to dig into the words, carefully searching...
Finding Craft Minilessons in the Children’s Books You Love
I remember when I first learned about writing workshop. The philosophy of allowing children to grow in their writing by choosing their own topics, creating text with an inner purpose,...
Teacher as Mentor Writer
For many years I have felt content and fulfilled with the reading workshop my students and I build each year. I am confident about my ability to plan for and...
Books for Studying Illustration with First Graders
After many weeks of helping students get acquainted with the routines in writing workshop, I am excited to begin our first study. With such young writers, the notion of study...
Understanding Study: Noticing Pictures
On a warm afternoon in late September, it was time to begin our first unit in writing workshop. I was a little nervous that my first graders might not be...
Endings Minilesson with Second Graders
Cathy Laker uses her own writing as a mentor text with her second-grade students to demonstrate options for endings.
Manipulating Time: Fourth-Grade Writing Minilesson
Tony Keefer uses his writing as a mentor text in this fourth-grade minilesson on manipulating time in personal narratives.
Drama and Two-Page Spreads: Conferring with Max
Ruth Ayres confers with second grader Max about the story of his lost dog, and uses a mentor text to demonstrate the power of two-page spreads.
Act II: Understanding Hamlet Through Close Reading (Shakespeare and the Common Core Series)
I love to start out the study of Hamlet with these instructions for my students: "Number your paper from 1-4. In this order, write down your name, your mother's name,...
Rereading for Writing: Conferring with Jack
Katie DiCesare confers with Jack, using rereading to help him rethink the title of his book and possibilities for revision.
Thinking About Theme
“So WHY did I read that story? What was its purpose? What was its meaning?” These were the bigger questions that were difficult for my students to answer at times,...
November Contract: Family and Memoir
November is a month of celebrating family and giving thanks. It’s a time when many people go "home" to relatives and traditions. As much as we all love our families,...
Mentor Texts for “Versus” Stories
What is it that young writers find so appealing about versus stories? Last year my first-grade class loved versus stories. They went on a versus writing streak in writing workshop...
Owl Research: Whole Class Explanation of Marking Up Text
Andrea Smith explains a close reading activity her fourth-grade students will complete as part of their owl research.
Mentor Texts for Writing Endings
Have you ever been completely satisfied with a book because of the power of its ending? The last few words or paragraphs the author chooses can leave me fulfilled ....
First Grade Read Aloud: Sergio Saves the Game
Katie DiCesare reads Sergio Saves the Game to her first graders as part of their fictional character study unit.
Fireflies and Background Knowledge
Recently, I was eating lunch with a group of friends and two of them shared how excited they were because the previous night they had seen their first fireflies ever....
