Mentor Text: How the Mentor Text Mini-lesson Tends to Go

In the Teacher's College Writer's Workshop Model the use of mentor texts in the 3-5 or seconday grade bands typically go like this:

1. Read the story/text for enjoyment.  On the spot or, ideally, at an earlier time for read aloud. 

2. Tell your writers that you will now read as writers....noticing the writer's craft, or simply noticing what the writer does that makes the writing interesting.  It is best if you have the sample writing up on chart paper where they can see it and where you can highlight the writer's craft that you and your students notice.

3. Model your own thinking first.  Read a selection of the text that is a clear example of good writing.  Typically, it is best to select a passage that clearly demonstrates good use of dialogue, action, description, elaboration, showing not telling, telling the story step-by-step, or other writer's craft and qualties of good writing. 

4.  Often your think aloud will sound something like this: "Kate DiCamillo could have just said, 'I found a dog when I was at the grocery store.'  But instead she elaborated and told us step-by-step what happened."  Highlight as you go and write the writer's craft on the side to remind students every day of the work real writers do. 

5. You may have more than one text selection for students to practice reading as writers with or you might ask students to look for more writer's craft or dialogue in the same text example.

6. Provide student groups, preferably two writing partnerships in a group of four, with copies of text or books.  Students read the story once and then notice and identify the writer's craft.  (optional)

These lessons can easily get too long, which is why the text should be read in full during a read aloud and only revisited for the writing mini-lesson.

Please comment with any questions.  Your comments keep me motivated.