Mentor Texts and How to Use Them! (And a Little About the Beginning, Middle, and End!)

Mentor Texts Help Tell Stories

Kids have a plethora of stories to tell, but they do not always know how to get them out. Mentor texts can be quite handy for this. They show writers the ways in which writers write. They give a "map," so to say, for the possibilities of techniques to use in writing (Dorfman & Cappelli, 2017).

I want my students to know the importance of mentor texts and to see all of the possibilities for strategies to use when writing. Therefore, I have been spending time with mentor texts and writing from mentor texts myself. Not only have a picked up some writing strategies, but I have gained som eteacher tips, as well. I love to read books as a reader, but I have been testing out reading as a writer. While you may think that these two actions look very similar, trust me when I say that is not even close. Hopefully, this post will help you see this for yourself.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Textbook is the perfect example as writing as things other than words on a page in the form of paragraphs. She uses different forms of writing, such as lists, graphs, and pictures to keep a memoir of things in her life (Rosenthal, 2016).

On pages 56 and 57, Rosenthal narrates and illustrates looking out a window (Rosenthal, 2016, p.56 & 57). From this piece, I was able to take my own experience of looking out a window. Although I chose to use the example of looking out a window, writers could take this in any direction they wish and create other pieces from the mentor text.

Rosnethal's mentor text I used to create my writing.

My piece inspired by the mentor text.

Rosenthal's Textbook inspired another piece I completed this week, as well. On pages 132 through 149, Rosenthal shows pictures and captions them with a short message (Rosenthal, 2016, p. 132-149).

This is from Rosenthal's "Textbook" (Rosenthal, 2016, p. 140-141)

This is what I came up with, using Rosenthal's writing as a mentor text.

You may be wondering why I would highlight pieces written based off of a text that my students will not be reading in my class. My intention here is to show that this strategy can be used for writers of all ages. Moving on, I want to outline the process in a more detailed way, in order to do this with students. Shortcut by Donald Crews inspired my next piece.

After reading the book, in order to use it as a mentor text, you must then read the book as a writer. In all honesty, after my first time reading the book, I did not like it. It did not resonate with me. Then, I read the book as a writer. I took note of the things that Crews does, such as how he moves the train tracks, uses facial expressions to tell the story, and uses the length of the train to tell the story. It can be helpful to go through and mark with sticky notes the literary devices used. When doing this with students, make sure to look at both the pictures and the text.

As I was reading like a writer, I noticed so many details in the story that I did not see when I was only reading as a reader. I marked many of these techniques. From there, I picked a few that I wanted to use in my story. I focused on a few and my story grew from there. When working, I got a bit carried away. However, I would not expect my students to have stories this long, at first. As we work to build thier writing stamina, the length of their stories would grow.

The two stories turned out to be rather similar. Howeve, this is not how a mentor text has to function. My example was done in this way, in order to help my students easily make connections between the techniques used in each. I may also want to include an example that does not have so many similarities. However, this example will allow me to highlight techniques to be used with both primary and elementary students. Here is a cheat sheet of the techniques used.

Students need to see examples that only use a few of the techniques used, as well. It takes time to learn to pick and choose what to use and how to use ideas without writing the same story. It took a bit of practice for me, and I am sure it would for students, as well. This last example comes from the mentor text Happy Like Soccer. I used techniques used in the story, but my story turned out to be much more of my own than maybe my other examples did. It is important to remind students that we can use techniques, but we do not have to use them all at once.

This was written using "Happy Like Soccer" as a mentor text.

When using mentor texts, it is important to remember that you do not have to use every idea every time. Students will also need practice reading like writters. You cannot simply give them a text and tell them to find techniques that they would like to use and write a piece. Instead, children need experiences going through texts and reading like a writer. They have to experiece looking for the techniques that they may find benefical. It can be helpful to have techniques displayed. When completing a unit, you can have your students help you to find different techniques. As you find them, display them on chart paper and name the book in which the technique was found. Not only will this give students the opportunity to refer back for ideas, but they can go back to the book and see the technique used in the book, as well.

More Ideas for Getting Stories Out

Even with mentor texts, students may struggle to tell their stories. Even if students tell a story, there is a high possibility that there will not actually be a beginning, middle, and end. For young children, it can be extremely useful to read a text and then map out the beginning, middle, and end (Dorfman & Cappelli 2017, p.114). This will help them to begin thinking about their own stories and how to include all parts.

Wordless and pictureless books can be given to students to help them tell their stories. The process of simply holding the blank book and having to turn the page helps them to keep the story going and refrain from simply ending with "the end." After usinf this process, students can then use the techniques described above to tell their stories in more interesting ways (Dorfman & Cappelli 2017, p. 117).

After students have told their stories, they need to have the opportunity to edit them. No story will be perfect on the first go around. Therefore, students need experiences with how to change the beginnings and endings of their stories, in order to be read in the way they find most interestting. Read mentor texts to students and have them help point out the different features of the beginning, middle, and ending of stories. Post these options in your classroom and encourage students to take advantage of them (Dorfman & Cappelli 2017, p.123-136)!

References

Boelts, M., & Castillo, L. ill. (2012). Happy like soccer 1st ed. Candlewick Press. Retrieved from https://login.proxy006.nclive.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccx&AN=73973742&site=eds-live&scope=site

Dorfman, L. R., & Cappelli, R. (2017). Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing through Children’s Literature, K-6 (2nd ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Crews, D. (1992). Shortcut. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Maiden, A. (2016, August 24). Retrieved February 11, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQjVDgtgEkw

Ogodogu, K. (2016, November 10). Retrieved February 11, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jwVdL0HKxI

Rosenthal, A. K. (2016). Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal: Not Exactly a Memoir. New York, NY: Dutton.