Our classrooms are microcosms of the society we live in. The sad reality (that many have a hard time admitting) is race matters in our society and it matters in our classrooms. The majority of teachers in America are white and female. Schools and neighborhoods are segregated by race. Students socially group themselves by race (and so do adults). Everyone who walks onto a school campus (or in neighborhoods) sees these realities and yet very few people (especially white people) talk … [Read more...] about Mentor Texts for Writing and Discussions About Race
Mentor Texts
Places to Find Mentor Texts That You May Not Have Thought Of!
One of the biggest challenges many writing teachers face is finding quality mentor texts. But is it really all that big of a challenge when we look closely at what mentor texts really are? The phrase "mentor text" is pretty new. Ralph Fletcher, a guru in the writing instruction world defines mentor texts as, "Any writing that you can learn from...", this definition is so satisfying. It's satisfying because often, one of the biggest challenges about being a writing workshop teacher is … [Read more...] about Places to Find Mentor Texts That You May Not Have Thought Of!
Mentor Texts for Middle School by Genre+Summaries and Skills to Teach
Amanda Write Now · 29. Middle School Mentor Texts Every writing unit should start with mentor texts. Students need many examples of the type of writing we expect them to do. In this article, I've compiled my favorite middle school mentor texts. Each mentor text includes grade levels, a summary of the text and skills you could teach. Note: This article doesn't cover how to teach using mentor texts. Read how to use mentor texts here. Help make this article a more powerful resource for … [Read more...] about Mentor Texts for Middle School by Genre+Summaries and Skills to Teach
Teach Students HOW to Use Mentor Texts
Most writing workshop teachers know what a mentor text is (examples of writing in books, short stories, articles, poems etc.). But, what about how to use a mentor text? When I scoured the internet for the answer to this pressing question I found very little. Thus...this post. I came up with a five step process for using any mentor text. I hope it inspires you to try the process yourself! 1. Choose Mentor Texts Before each writing unit I seek as many, age and grade … [Read more...] about Teach Students HOW to Use Mentor Texts
Ten Places to Find Mentor Texts
What is a mentor text anyway? A mentor text is any text used to model the type of writing your students are learning. Mentor texts are the backbone of writing workshop because students need to see what the pros do, to get inspired in their own writing. Mentor texts can also be called writing samples, or examples. One of the most challenging parts of being a writing teacher is finding mentor texts. So I've curated a list of my go to places for mentor texts online … [Read more...] about Ten Places to Find Mentor Texts