Mentor texts provide an opportunity for you to use children’s literature to provide a model for good writing and genre studies. Mentor texts are pieces of literature that can be examined and used for explicit teaching to show young writers how to shape meaning in the writing process. Through Mentor texts, you have the opportunity to “show” not just “tell” children what quality writing looks and sounds like by reading authentic literature. When writers learn to listen to a story, they approach writing with a different lens that elevates expectations.
Because the children are familiar with the story line of a mentor text, each time you revisit the text you can focus in on one aspect or one linguistic component of the text, instead of rereading …show more content…
During these lessons, you may only be referring to a portion of the book that matches your objective. But the children will be comfortable with this excerpt since they are so attuned to the text.
Also consider using children's own writing as mentor texts. When you use peer's writing as a mentor text, children see what a concept looks like in writing that matches their level of develop. Featuring student work also increases engagement and highlights that you value their work.
The lesson planning template can guide your planning of a successful Writing Workshop lesson. The template is sequential and is equipped with helpful prompts that focus your attention and support your thinking through the planning of each lesson component. Use these lesson plan templates to help plan a successful lesson. If you would like more support, refer to our “notes” version of the …show more content…
A checklist serves as a reminder for children to continue to do the kind of work they already have learned to do. With a checklist, children can assess a piece of writing and refer to the checklist to notice if they have “not met” the standard, are “starting to,” or have met standards. Children’s effort at self-improvement becomes more concrete with this scale for measuring progress.
Self-Evaluation
Writers need to be given time to self-reflect, evaluate, and assess the qualities of their own writing; this keeps them growing. If you are planning to have children self-evaluate, introduce rubrics at the beginning of a writing unit. Teach children how to use them, and encourage them to refer to the rubric throughout the writing process. At the end of the unit, allow children to self-evaluate their published piece using the rubric.
Another technique to encourage self-reflection is asking open-ended questions. Ask these questions to help your children to self-evaluate: o Tell me something you did well in this piece of writing o How does this compare to other pieces you have written recently? o Is there something you are proud of? o Is there any place you are not fully pleased
Because the children are familiar with the story line of a mentor text, each time you revisit the text you can focus in on one aspect or one linguistic component of the text, instead of rereading …show more content…
During these lessons, you may only be referring to a portion of the book that matches your objective. But the children will be comfortable with this excerpt since they are so attuned to the text.
Also consider using children's own writing as mentor texts. When you use peer's writing as a mentor text, children see what a concept looks like in writing that matches their level of develop. Featuring student work also increases engagement and highlights that you value their work.
The lesson planning template can guide your planning of a successful Writing Workshop lesson. The template is sequential and is equipped with helpful prompts that focus your attention and support your thinking through the planning of each lesson component. Use these lesson plan templates to help plan a successful lesson. If you would like more support, refer to our “notes” version of the …show more content…
A checklist serves as a reminder for children to continue to do the kind of work they already have learned to do. With a checklist, children can assess a piece of writing and refer to the checklist to notice if they have “not met” the standard, are “starting to,” or have met standards. Children’s effort at self-improvement becomes more concrete with this scale for measuring progress.
Self-Evaluation
Writers need to be given time to self-reflect, evaluate, and assess the qualities of their own writing; this keeps them growing. If you are planning to have children self-evaluate, introduce rubrics at the beginning of a writing unit. Teach children how to use them, and encourage them to refer to the rubric throughout the writing process. At the end of the unit, allow children to self-evaluate their published piece using the rubric.
Another technique to encourage self-reflection is asking open-ended questions. Ask these questions to help your children to self-evaluate: o Tell me something you did well in this piece of writing o How does this compare to other pieces you have written recently? o Is there something you are proud of? o Is there any place you are not fully pleased