Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: Make a Chart
Tip
When I’m introducing a mentor text to students for the first time, we talk together about the things we admire about the writing. One way to do this is by making a chart. It gives us a chance to color-code phrases or words and talk about it in a smaller space. Students could also do something similar in their writer’s notebooks. However, if they’ve never done it before, it’s great to have an anchor chart for them to refer to.
It’s not enough to just notice the word choices made by the authors of these books. Students need to realize that they need to be highly selective about their own word choices in their writing. But they also need to realize that word choice is not something that always comes on a first draft. Sometimes writers will be inspired by certain words or know they want to use certain ones from the beginning, but usually it takes a few drafts to select just the right words, the really specific, vivid, stellar word choices that end up in the final story.
After studying the mentor text, students can take a look at their own drafts, find a word or two that aren’t very specific or vivid. Then they can spend time just brainstorming and word hunting for a good replacement.
Samples:
Materials Needed:
* Chart paper
* Several different colored markers
* Mentor Text
Links to Mentor Text Lesson Plans on Word Choice
* NOAH WEBSTER & HIS WORDS by Jeri Chase Ferris, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch
* OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
More Mentor Texts
* Follow my mentor text Pinterest board.
