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Poetry Mentor Texts: Snoozefest by Samantha Berger
Snoozefest By Samantha Berger Illustrated by Kristyna Litten Dial, 2015 Snoozefest is a delight! Berger had me at the title: Snoozefest! I think the thing that delighted me (and would delight younger readers) is the word combinations. Snoozefest, Nuzzledome, naptacular, even the character’s name, Snuggleford Cuddlebun, play with sleepy…
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Guest Post: Platform Building
As many of you know, I write mostly about mentor texts (both for teachers and for writers) and I also write occasionally about organization and time management. All of that is part of my “platform.” I’m over at Alayne Kay Christian’s blog talking about platform. Check out my post…
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Poetry Mentor Texts: A Rock Can Be by Laura Purdie Salas
A Rock Can Be… By Laura Purdie Salas Illustrated by Violeta Dabija Millbrook, 2015 On Tuesday, my students and I had a Skype visit with Laura Purdie Salas. Just hearing her talk about her process was so encouraging to all of us. In preparation for her Skype visit, we…
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Mentor Texts for Writers: The Sum and Parts of Picture Books by Patricia Toht
Fellow GROGger, Patricia Toht, always delights me with her posts. I always learn new things from her and how she analyzes texts. I hope you enjoy this analysis of how to dig into picture books. It’s suggested that, as writers, we should read 100 books in the…
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Poetry Mentor Texts: Some Bugs by Andrea DiTerlizzi
Some Bugs By Andrea DiTerlizzi Illustrated by Brendan Wenzel Beach Lane, 2014 Some Bugs is one of those books that completely absorbs the reader in it’s fun but spare language. It’s a brilliant 94 words! Like Raindrops Roll, it’s one I typed up because I wanted to study the…
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Poetry as Mentor Texts: Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre
April is poetry month. Every Friday in April, I will feature a poetic picture book that can be used as a mentor text for writing. For past Poetry Month resources, check out these resources. Raindrops Roll By April Pulley Sayre Beach Lane, 2015 I can’t say enough good things…
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Mentor Texts for Writers: Doors and Maps: Digging for Treasure in Middle Grade Mentor Texts by L.M. Quraishi
It’s time to dive into middle grade mentor texts. Like L.M. Quraishi, our guest blogger today, I love to read and write middle grade. In fact, when I’m stuck in any kind of writing, I particularly like to read middle grade novels because it always helps me savor…
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Mentor Texts for Writers: Finding Authentic Voice in Cultural Mentor Texts by Keila Dawson
Keila and I share something in common. We are both Third Culture people. Keila is a TCA (Third Culture Adult) and I’m a TCK (Third Culture Kid). In other words, we’ve lived in countries that are different from our passport country. What I love about Keila’s approach to mentor texts…
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Mentor Texts in the Classroom: A Second Person Point of View Writing Challenge
I love it when my day job and my writing life merge together–when research and studying in one feeds the other. I was working on a post for ReFoReMo on second person point of view (which you can read here) in my writing life. In my teaching life, I…
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Mentor Texts for Writers: Writing Picture Book Biographies by Sarah Glenn Fortson
Many of you may have read some of my posts on historical fiction vs. nonfiction and picture book biography structures, so you might know this post is right up my alley. What I also love is that we mention some of the same books, but Sarah thought about…
