Mentor Text
Mentor texts are pieces of literature or simply great books that a reader may reread many times for different purposes. Readers become authors as they explore what makes a book "awesome." Answer the questions of "Why did or like or not like this book?" and "How would I rewrite it to make it better?" Mentor texts should become an avenue to take risks and develop an understanding of how to improve our own writing.
Let's take some time to really look at specific sentences from some of our favorite books. Try to think about how word choice, figurative language, punctuation, grammar, and style can be used to capture the imaginations of those who will read OUR WORK AS AUTHORS!!
Monday
Check out our sentence. Why is it a superior sentence? What elements of quality writing are found in the example? Think about figurative language, word choice, and voice. Explain how this sentence captures the reader's attention.
TUESDAY
Today, reread the mentor sentence. Label all the parts of speech. Consider nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, figurative language and any other element that comes to mind. Don't stress. We will talk about this, together.
Wednesday
Let's help the author improve the sentence. Think about ways to add more interesting vocabulary or figurative language without changing the meaning of the original sentence.
Thursday
We have talked about what makes this sentence an excellent example of quality writing. Parts of speech were labeled. As authors, we made suggestions about how to make the sentence even better. Today, try to mimic the authors style and structure. The new sentence does not need to mean the same thing as the original sentence. But try to make it look and sound the same.
EXAMPLE:
Teacher's sentence
My mom baked one delicious-delightful-dreamy dessert for my birthday, and we GOBBLED up every bite!
Student Author examples
*I bounced the basketball with my super-sweaty-super-sized hand and threw the basketball into the white netted hoop.
*My mom made the best-blasting-booming with taste pasta and my brothers and I devoured it.