In our workshops, we want our students to learn to craft moving pieces of authentic writing. But we hope that this will extend far past our classroom — how do we do this? How do we assess and ensure the independence we hope we have instilled in students all year long? As a final project […]
Tag: mentor texts
Literary Analysis Week Wrap-up: Observations, Conclusions, & Lingering Questions
You might remember that this burning desire to meaningfully bring literary analysis into a real, thriving writing workshop began because I was trying to find a solution for the mutual malaise experienced by my students and me in my IB English class. There had to be something more — something better — than the by-rote […]
A Different Way to Teach Literary Analysis: A Literature-Based Analysis Study
This week, I gave my ninth graders this definition: Analysis: breaking something into its parts and pieces so that we can closely examine it and, ultimately, come to a better understanding of the whole. Literary analysis: when we do this with a piece of literature. In the traditional high school English classroom, literary analysis has […]
Literary Analysis Blog Blast Day #3: Character Analysis Writing Workshop
On Wednesday, I shared the rationale for analysis workshops centered on different analytical techniques, and I shared one technique-based analysis study in which students analyzed two texts side-by-side. Today, I want to share another technique-based analysis study with you — this time, a character analysis. The Assignment Without choice, there really is no writing workshop, […]
A Technique-Based Literary Analysis Workshop
But even if we want to, how can we teach literary analysis in writing studies throughout the school year using a workshop approach? Do we just repeat the same mini-lessons again and again until the students have mastered them? Do we teach the mini-lessons once at the beginning of the year and just bring out […]
Questions to Help You Choose Mentor Texts
Do you remember Captain’s Choice? Those moments standing on the field during gym class as the boys and girls carefully selected players for their teams? We can still see their eyes darting back and forth as they sized up their potential teammates. For some of them it was – and still is – serious business. […]
Turning Mentor Texts into Book Talks
After losing days of school due to snow, I’m in a familiar we’re-never-going-to-get-everything-done panic. I feel this way every winter. The fact is this: none of us have enough time with our students. We constantly feel the pull of more-to-do; we live in the tension of what we have to teach and what we want to […]
I’ve found some mentor texts…now what?
You’ve collected some awesome mentor texts to support your writing study. You’ve photocopied them and passed them out. Then what? How do we connect students with mentor texts in a way that will actually help them write? What are the first steps? My students have been immersed in a mentor text writing study for […]
Mentor Text Round-Up: Year-End Lists
As I’ve trolled my Twitter feed in the days after Christmas, it seems that everyone is publishing their year-end lists — bests, worsts, most-shockings, favorites. I started thinking about what a fun mini-study this could be, especially when we return to school at the beginning of a new year and the end of a first […]
“Where Do You Find Mentor Texts? How Do You Select Them?”
We loved seeing so many of our Twitter and blog friends at NCTE this weekend! Yesterday, during our presentation about technique-driven studies, two of the big questions that emerged were: Where do you find mentor texts? How do you select them? Our criteria: To select mentor texts, we begin by visiting our usual haunts (listed […]
moving writers 