I Can Write Like That! Rogers Public Schools Literacy and Math Mini Conference January 18, 2010 Presenter: Jenifer Pastore jpastore@rps.k12.ar.us
As we develop teaching relationships with authors and their work, we will find that certain texts seem to surface as very important to teaching. These are texts that are just full of curriculum potential (147). Katie Wood Ray What You Know By Heart: How to Develop Curriculum for Your Writing Workshop
pieces of literature we can return to again and again as we help our young writers learn how to do what they may not yet be able to do on their own.
Why Mentor Texts? They can be read and reread throughout the year Students can easily investigate them for a particular craft to imitate They provide examples in every genre They are culturally diverse Serve as a model for the kinds of texts we want our students to imitate
Writers should be introduced to texts as readers. Listen to and enjoy the rhythms, words, and message Appreciate and respond to them as readers
Then, revisit them through the eyes of a writer.
1. Find a text that you love. Subject matter Author Illustrations Genre
2. Look for examples of author s craft Powerful language Use of imagery Repetitive words and phrases Interesting use of punctuation
3. Think about how the book supports your students needs and connects with your curriculum.
Does it provide examples of the kinds of books you want your students to write? Can it be revisited often for multiple purposes, with lessons across the traits of writing? Do you have a balance of genre such as fiction, non fiction, memoir, and poetry?
Study Mechanics & Conventions Sense of sentence Capitalization and punctuation Interjections, ellipses, dashes Speech bubbles/dialogue Parts of Speech
Provide Scaffolds Young writers need scaffolds, or frameworks, to help them do their job Scaffolds allows children to envision possibilities for ways to structure words and texts. Katie Wood Ray Wondrous Words
Scaffolds to Use as Models For Student Writing Organizational Text Innovations Seesaw Circular Structure Bookends Repetitive Words /Phrases Cumulative Text Reader s Theater Organizing Around Letters and Numbers Letters, Journals, and Scrapbooks
By helping students see structures in literature that they might not see themselves- to walk alongside them and point things out- is the job of both the teacher and the mentor text (161). Dorfman and Cappelli Mentor Texts Read a variety of texts Internalize the structures they represent Use them as scaffolds for their own writing
Study Writers Craft Alliteration Onomatopoeia Personification Hyperbole Similes and Metaphors Print Features Today was the first day at Cat School, and his tail wiggled wildly with worry.
Morning Message Shared writing Guided writing Writing Workshop
Morning Message Mechanics and conventions Grammar High frequency words Vocabulary (Word Exchange) Brainstorming
Shared and Guided Writing Story innovations Friendly letters, thank you notes Writing lists
Writing Workshop Mini lesson (Guided writing) Independent writing Sharing
Homework 1. Look back what you have already planned 2. Reread your favorite picture books like a writer
A Final Thought Teach the writer, not the writing As teachers of writing, we have to remember that it is not about the piece of writing a student is working on, it s about teaching the writer a skill, strategy, or technique that they can employ to their writing today and every day of their writing lives. Jennifer Jones choiceliteracy.com
Jenifer Pastore Academic Facilitator Bellview/Garfield jpastore@rps.k12.ar.us