You know those last two weeks of school when you feel like you’re in limbo? It’s not enough time to start another unit, and yet what to do during class while students are prepping for exams and compiling writing portfolios? I am spending two weeks (nine, 45-minute class periods) on a workshop on mentor […]
Category: Mentor Text Wednesday
Mentor Text Wednesdays: Dropbox Project Tutorial
Watch this short screencast below (click on the picture) to learn how to access and add to our Mentor Text Dropbox Project!
Mentor Text Wednesday: Creating Writers not Writing Automatons
Can we agree that we hate the five paragraph essay? Every time I confer with a student who says, “Well, I have two body paragraphs, but I need one more”, I shudder. FIVE IS NOT A MAGIC NUMBER has become my mantra. I’m thinking about making a poster to hang in the front of my […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Moving Past Summary in Film Analysis
Mentor Text: “Captain America on the Potomac” by Linda Holmes for NPR. April 1, 2014. Skill Taught: Moving past summary in film analysis Background: My English 9s are working on an essay on the theme of a Pixar short film of their choosing as an entry point into the world of analytical, academic writing. The films are […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Teaching Students to Write Meaningful Comparisons & Contrasts
Mentor Text: Bowman, Donna. “On the Eve of Its Finale, It’s Time to Compare How I Met Your Mother to Itself.” The A.V. Club. 30 March 2014. Skill: Teaching Students to Write Meaningful Comparions & Contrasts Background: My IB seniors are barreling toward their Big Exam. Truthfully, they have done so much heavy mental lifting in this course […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Inspiring Mentor Texts
Mentor Texts: “Repetition” by Phil Kaye “In Childhood” by Sarah A. Chavez Skill: Seeking inspiration from outside sources Most discussions about writer’s workshop usually center around two components: mini lessons and conferring. They are the favorite children of workshop. But lately Rebekah and I have been turning our attention to mentor texts. When students leave […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Ken Tucker’s Review of Pharrell’s New Album
Mentor Text: Tucker, Ken. “Pharrell Williams: Just Exhilaratingly Happy”. 6 March 2014. npr.org. Technique: Using Figurative Language as Evidence Background: Ken Tucker read his review of Pharrell’s new album on Fresh Air as I drove home after work one Friday. “A MENTOR TEXT!” I screeched. (Literally.) And sometimes — the most wonderful times — we find mentor texts this […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: China’s Web Junkies Op-Doc
Mentor Text: “China’s Web Junkies,” an Op-Doc from The New York Times Skill: Using evidence to support a position Background: Every year it seems that more and more of my students are denouncing Facebook. They talk about it freely during passing time as they unpack their bags. “You’re still on? I’ve been off for a […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Concrete Details
Mentor Texts: “Has Snowboarding Lots Its Edge” by Christopher Solomon. The New York Times, 16 January 2013. “A Sports Star’s ‘Crash,’ Then The Search For A New Normal” by Ian Buckwalter. NPR, 4 July 2013. “Snowboarding”. Essayforum.com. “The Power of Snowboarding” by Jordan. ThisIBelieve.org, 15 December 2010. Writing Technique: Using concrete details Background: I am experimenting […]
Mentor Text Wednesdays: Infographics!
Mentor Text: See Learnist board Genre-Based Workshop: Infographics Technique-Based Workshop: Using visuals as evidence in writing Background: We usually study mentor texts in isolation, but sometimes it can be useful to show students a group, or cluster, of mentor texts all at once. Studying a group of genre-specific mentor texts helps students identify the traits […]
moving writers 