Teaching Writing Through Mentor Texts

Busy elementary teachers with an already jam-packed instructional schedule find it challenging to teach writing, especially if their students are struggling readers.  Teaching writing is just as important as teaching any other subject and I never really considered reading and writing as two separate subjects to teach. After all, reading is writing and writing is reading. The two go hand in hand, especially when using mentor texts to model and teach excellent writing.

I’m always on a mission to find good books with good writing that I could use for teaching my students. I get extremely excited about finding good books to teach writing. I always lurk around book fairs and bookstores and peruse through Scholastic’s Book Clubs. When I make a purchase and the books arrive at my classroom, I am like a kid in a candy shop…eyes wide open and I can’t wait to sink my teeth (eyes) into the books. I treat these books like magical gems that transform my students into writers.

Teaching Writing Through Mentor Texts

A mentor text is any piece of writing that can teach the writer. Mentor texts include all kinds of books of all genres, an essays or articles, magazines like Scholastic News or Time for Kids, and even your own writing. My students know that I am a writer and I share just about anything I write that they could learn from. The most beneficial part of my sharing of my writing is the feedback that I get from my students, which in return helps me become a stronger writer.

Every mentor text has something to teach the writer, whether it be an idea, trait, or skill, that students can learn and apply to their own writing. Students who study the writing from mentor texts, ones that provide strong examples of techniques, transform them into real writers. If you missed my post, Transforming Students Into Writers, you could read it here.

Many, if not all, of my mini-lessons, begin with a mentor text that teaches the writer, which is the focus of my mini-lesson. This Mentor Text Clarification & Use by Corbett Harrison at Always Write, definitely helped me to understand better what mentor texts are and how to use them during Writer’s Workshop.

Mentor texts are an essential part of my classroom library. It would help if you had these books in your classroom for ALL grade levels. These gems are used to teach multiple concepts and skills in a variety of genres and kids of ALL ages LOVE them!
That Is Not a Good Idea!
Rocket Writes a Story
Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School (LaRue Books)
Dragons Love Tacos
The Day the Crayons Quit
Written Anything Good Lately?
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why Commas Really Do Make a Difference!

 

Locomotive (Caldecott Medal Book)
Each Kindness (Jane Addams Award Book (Awards))
Creepy Carrots!
Jangles: A Big Fish Story
You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without Writing!
Grandpa Green
Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau

As far as using mentor texts during Writer’s Workshop, I live by the I Do- We Do- You Do model.

I Do- The teacher introduces the mentor text and its use—to teach an idea, structure, or craft.

We Do- Guided practice for students to “test drive” what the mentor text is teaching the writers with some partner or group work and use of similar texts that teach the same thing.

You Do- Student application directly of what was taught from the mentor text to their own writing during independent writing time.

A favorite teaching resource of mine is The Writing Thief, by Ruth Culham, a trait-based strategy to assess and teach writing. I taught my students how to become “writing thieves” through the use of mentor texts. We learned as writers that we should learn from expert writers and it’s okay to “steal” from these mentor texts and apply new techniques and skills to our own writing.

While using this fantastic book, I created a few companion resources which is a bundle of 18 lesson plans that teach the six traits of writing (ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, and conventions) and is intended for grades K-5 within informational, narrative and persuasive writing. The mentor texts and some of the ideas for these lessons were expanded upon the ideas from The Writing Thief, and all ideas are cited back to the book itself.

Each trait comes with three brief lesson plans for grades K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. The lessons are designed to be 10-15 minutes and are differentiated so you could use the lessons below, at, or above the grade level you teach. You could teach the ‘at grade level’ lesson to your whole group, enrich or accelerate using the ‘above grade level’ lessons in small groups, and use the ‘below grade level’ lessons for your struggling readers and writers in small groups as well.

Here are the lessons included in Teaching the Six Traits in Informational Writing:

A list of mentor texts and 18 lesson plans:
Grades K-1: Ideas-Sparking Ideas
Grades 2-3: Ideas- Getting Focused
Grades 4-5: Ideas- Choosing a Topic
Grades K-1: Ending With a Sense of Closure
Grades 2-3: Organization: Creating the Lead
Grades 4-5: Organization: Developing the Body
Grades K-1: Voice: Creating Voice
Grades 2-3: Voice: Establishing a Tone
Grades 4-5: Voice: Conveying The Purpose
Grades K-1: Sentence Fluency: Breaking the “Rules” to Create Fluency
Grades 2-3: Sentence Fluency: Crafting Well Built Sentences
Grades 4-5: Sentence Fluency: Varying Sentence Patterns
Grades K-1: Word Choice: Using Creative Words and Phrases
Grades 2-3: Word Choice: Using Language Effectively
Grades 4-5: Word Choice: Using Strong Action Words
Grades K-1: Conventions: Checking Spelling
Grades 2-3: Conventions: Using Commas Correctly
Grades 4-5: Conventions: Using Capitalization Correctly

You can check out Teaching the Six Traits in Informational Writing here. And for being a reader, here’s a freebie…Teaching the Six Traits in Informational Writing- Ideas. This freebie includes three lessons (K-1, 2-3, 4-5) that teach Ideas in informational writing.

More resources like this:

Teaching the Six Traits in Narrative Writing (K-5 18 lessons)

Teaching The Six Traits in Persuasive/Opinion/Argument Writing (K-5 18 lessons)

Teaching The Six Traits of Writing BUNDLE (K-5 54 lessons)

OR Grade level bundles: K-1, 2-3, and 4-5

The Six Traits of Writing Sticky Notes, Posters, and Student Reference Checklists are a must-have during Writers Workshop. As we teach and encourage students to become confident writers, we must give them the tools they need to be successful. This resource is especially helpful for teaching and reinforcing the 6 traits of writing. Check this resource out here.

I hope you can “steal” some ideas and some mentor texts to help you effectively teach writing through mentor texts. 🙂

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I have lots of writing resources to support your students. If you need support with transforming yourself and your students into writers, check out my Writer’s Workshop Boot Camp or this 3 part video tutorial, How To Organize & Manage Writer’s Workshop in the Elementary Classroom.

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