Q+A: How Do I Help My Students "Get Better" at Mentor Texts
Let's walk this back for a minute...
Q: I am feeling frustrated whenever we work with mentor texts. I work in a small district and many of my students are with me for a second year, so this is not a new concept for them. I often feel when analyzing mentor texts that I am doing most of the work. Their "noticings" are very limited and basic, particularly when it comes to finding examples of writers’ craft. They really struggle with digging deeper into the text, and they are high school students. The use of mentor texts has been a game changer for me when it comes to my teaching of writing. I am struggling with how to get my students to better understand the process and the benefits. - Jennifer in the October Community Chat
A:
Jennifer, thank you for this comment. It’s a really good one.
Mentor text work is hard. Reading like a writer is hard.
Students are coming to us with years and years of reading-like-readers experience, and yours is probably the very first class where they have been asked to read with their writing in mind.
Allison + I are planning to release a four-part course on this very topic sometime in November. There’s a pre-order link at the bottom of this newsletter. (Maybe that’s what you could use your free PD credit for? Email me if that’s what you want to do!) In the meantime, let me offer you some perspective, encouragement, and tips for moving forward!
1. Use scaffolds to help students read like writers.
In the online resrouces for A Teacher’s Guide to Mentor Texts, Allison wrote five, hands-on scaffolding activities to help students deepen their reading-like-a-writer skills. I have used them all with my students, and I can attest that they are fun, creative, and effective.
My favorite asks students to use Legos (or clay, or found objects) to build what they notice in a mentor text. Here’s what a few of my students built: