![]() Here are all the rules we created based on the five mentor texts in our cluster: Text Instead of “The writer uses a lot of dashes”, we write “Writers use dashes to create longer, dramatic pauses.” This is a tip students can actually use. We can’t leave students at the what, we need to push them toward the why - and translating our noticings into rules helps accomplish this. This is a great technique to notice! However, if we leave it at that, many students will then go into their own writing and fill it up with dashes willy-nilly. Here’s why: say a student observes that the writer frequently uses dashes. We try to translate each observed craft element into a “rule” for writing. We don’t stop at simply identifying the craft elements, though. Once students have read the mentor texts like writers and made their own observations about the craft, I project the mentor texts on the board and we collect all of the noticings together in a master list. I want the craft students notice to be useful to them, and it will be most useful if it’s in terms that make sense to them. Later, I will try to subtly infuse our conversation with literary language, but that’s not the top priority. I simply ask them to mark the craft elements they see (the pieces of how the piece is written) and to give it a name - any name that makes sense of what they are observe. I am not very prescriptive here - I don’t give students a requisite number of craft elements to find. Go back and read each mentor text like writers, jotting down the interesting craft elements.(I don’t always do this - sometimes I dole out the mentor texts one at a time as they correspond to the writing lessons throughout the unit.) Since some of these articles and stories were a few pages long, I gave students 15 minutes of class time, and then they finished for homework. ![]() Students need to reader like readers first - for understanding, for enjoyment, for the gist.įor this study, I gave students all five mentor texts at once because I wanted to highlight their differences. Read the mentor text cluster like readers.“Are Blockbusters Ruining the Movies?” by John Guida (Commentary) “A Lesson Not Learned” by Carol Sherman-Jones (Memoir) Here’s the mentor text cluster I gave students: I just looked for variety in good writing. (I tried dedicating a whole workshop to learning how to use mentor texts at the end of last year, and thought it was so helpful for my students that, with a few tweaks, I bumped it to the beginning of this year’s writing studies.)įor this study, I pulled five great mentor texts demonstrating a range of genres and lots of different writing techniques. A first study in a semester of writing workshop, the goal is to practice the process of reading like writers, extracting writing techniques and craft moves that students might want to try in their own writing, and using that inspiration to inspire and enhance their own writing. My students have been immersed in a mentor text writing study for the last few weeks. How do we connect students with mentor texts in a way that will actually help them write? What are the first steps? You’ve photocopied them and passed them out. Having gone from being watched by their mother to being purged into nature had caused some resentment, but upon seeing their mother in eight inches of snow and missing a shoe, they decided that helping her get back to the house quickly would result in the comfort of all.You’ve collected some awesome mentor texts to support your writing study. Having done the job, this causes the mother to trek through the snow, over a hill, to the children. Maddened, the children decide to take action, and come to the understanding that sacrificing a sibling is the only way of getting back inside.Ī passing motorist uncovers the children’s plan, and the reader must assume, reveals to the mother that the children have planned to get her attention with the harm of the youngest sibling. However, in this short story by David Sedaris, we find that a mother, whose only vacation is while the children are at school, becomes overwhelmed by the prolonged attendance of her children during an unusually heavy snow.Īfter barring the children from their own home, and refusing their re-entry, the mother turns to alcohol and television to help cope with the unidentified internal conflict she’s facing. In a perfect world, we find that parents love their children, children respect and mind their parents, and ample, positive attention is given to both parties.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |