Using Mentor Texts to Teach Writing Skills

• Writing
• 5th Grade

Using Mentor Texts to Teach Writing Skills

Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to identify and analyze language features in children's literature that can be used as mentor texts. At the end of the lesson, you will be able to apply strategies for close reading to model good writing practices for students. At the end of the lesson, you will be able to create discussion questions that help students understand the author's use of language and its effects. At the end of the lesson, you will be able to guide students in emulating quality writing traits in their own work.

What do you already know about mentor texts and their role in teaching writing skills?

Importance of Being Well-Read

• Well-read in children's literature
• Identifying language affordances
• Understanding narrative elements

Active Reading Strategies

• Noting emotional, figurative, and sensory language
• Analyzing character dialogue and plot structure

Understanding Text and Author's Purpose

• Text's meaning and author's purpose
• Relationship between text and images or diagrams

Creating Discussion Questions

• Exploring language effects and authorial choices
• Developing questions to guide students

Using Mentor Texts in Teaching Writing

• Process of using mentor texts to teach writing

Definition List

Mentor Texts: Books or passages used as examples to illustrate good writing practices.
Affordances: Opportunities within the text to teach specific language features or writing techniques.
Active Reading: Engaging with a text by noting language features and narrative elements that can be used for writing instruction.
Emotional Language: Words or phrases that evoke feelings or emotions.
Figurative Language: Creative expressions that go beyond the literal meaning of words, often using comparisons or symbolism.
Sensory Language: Descriptive language that appeals to the senses.
Orientation: The introduction of background information in a narrative such as setting, characters, and situation.
Plot Sequence: The order of events in a story.
Climactic Moments: Key turning points in a narrative that are often of high tension or drama.
Coda: The concluding part of a literary work that often provides resolution or commentary on the story.
Author's Purpose: The reason why an author writes a text, which could be to inform, entertain, persuade, or express ideas.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.