Mentor Texts-Guest Blog

Karen Notte is a third grade teacher on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in northern Montana. She will be starting her seventh year of teaching this fall. She earned her Masters degree in Literacy Specialist at University of Buffalo in Buffalo, New York.

     In today’s diverse classroom, students are expected to think critically about the texts they are reading, and produce authentic writing pieces that illustrate an understanding of a writer’s craft and structure. I think one of the most powerful tools to teach students the skills and strategies of proficient readers and writers are found in a teacher’s own classroom library-mentor texts. A mentor text is a piece of literature that is used as a model to students what you may want your own students to achieve in their thinking and writing.
     As a third grade teacher, I primarily use picture books and parts of chapter books to showcase a technique that I want my readers and writers to try. A few of my favorite authors I use are Chris VanAllsburg, Patricia Polacco, and Cythina Rylant. Once I perform a read aloud of a mentor text, I will revisit the same text throughout the year as models. For example, when teaching the reading strategy of making inference, and asking questions, I use Chris Van Allsburg’s book The Stranger. I use the book in two different sessions to teach each strategy. I consider Chris VanAllsburg almost as a “mysterious” writer, so I think his writing really makes readers “read between the lines,” and ask questions. I also use his book The Sweetest Fig to teach students about character traits.
     Patricia Polacco’s books are great mentor texts to illustrate personal narrative writing. Most of Polacco’s picture books are inspired by her real life family experiences. I begin reading her books in order to illustrate to my writers where published writers get their ideas from. In addition to writing, Polacco’s books are effective mentor texts to teach the reading strategy of making connections. I have read My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother and modeled to students text-to-self connections with my own brothers.
To illustrate figurative language and strong leads in writing, I look to Cynthia Rylant. In her story The Relatives Came, she begins her book with a setting lead:

           “It was in the summer of the year when the relatives came. They came up from Virginia. They left
       when  their grapes were nearly purple enough to pick, but not quite.”
  
       Listen to that description of her story! I hope my writers use this kind of description in their own writing after reading her lead multiple times.

      Mentor text are an easy, powerful tool to use with your readers and writers. Students at all levels are able to take away some skill and strategy from the mentor text the teacher uses as a read aloud.