Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: Familiar Books
Tip:
Use a book students are already familiar with as a mentor text.
When I pull out a book to use as a mentor text and students say, “Oh I’ve read that book,” I’m always thrilled. You know why? The first time we read a book, we are interested in story. We want to know what happens, we want to get to know the characters, and we are just steeped in the world of the book. But on future reads, we can concentrate on something else. In this case, we can use the writing as a mentor.
Because of Winn-Dixie is one of my favorite books to read with students because of the story. But I also love to take a look at the writing. Last year I used it to study setting. The setting of the story is Florida, but within that greater context, different scenes in the book are in different places: Gloria Dump’s house, the Herman W. Block Memorial Library, the Winn-Dixie grocery store, the Open Arms Baptist Church, and more. We took a look at how DiCamillo described these places. Because students were familiar with the story, they were able to navigate their way from setting to setting and talk about them like they were experts. It gave them confidence because they knew the story, and it paved the way for them to dig deeper into the writing.
Another way to do this is look at picture books they students are familiar with. Owl Moon is an example that I often use for writing craft (see my post on picture books I use for word choice). But very few students come to fourth grade having never read Owl Moon. It’s a lovely book that is shared in the primary grades. But that’s okay. I want students to be familiar with the story. I also only pick really good books to use as mentor texts—books that I want to return to over and over again.
Once you have chosen a book that is familiar to your students, decide what writing technique(s) you want to study in that book. Really delve into the book and take a look at how the writer has handled that particular skill.
Materials Needed:
* Books that you’ve already read with your students
More Mentor Texts
* Follow my mentor text Pinterest board.
* Mentor Text Lesson Plan Page
We have reached the end of the summer. I hope the mentor text tip series has been helpful to you. If you want to stay up to date with more mentor text lesson plans and ideas, please subscribe to my blog via e-mail (top right hand corner of this page) or follow my mentor text board on Pinterest.
