using nonfiction picture books as mentor texts for student writing

Mentor Texts for Informational

Writing

Laura Purdie Salas@LauraPSalas

facebook.com/LauraPSalaslaurasalas.com

A way to bring other people into your classroom

A way to ask: What is the writer doing here? How can I use it? What do I like about it?What do I want to change about it?

Some benefits

Teach students how to read like writersAllow students to discover author’s craftInvite students to try the craft in their own writingAllow students to see themselves as authors

Using a Mentor Text

Read like a reader.Read like a writer.

“Let’s notice when…”Be specific.

Write like a writer.Emulate the text.

How I’ve Used Mentor Texts

Possible topics for trade nonfiction booksRhyming books along the lines of An Island Grows Greenwillow, 2006 (119 words)

Waves pound.Sands mound.

Stone breaks.Water quakes.Magma glows.Volcano blows. Lava flows and flows and flows.An island grows.

Part of my pre-writing thinking

So, with those as possible models, where do I go? I need topics with broad trade appeal, and things I can pull off without it becoming too educational. Some angle that hooks back into a child’s world.How can I avoid cutesiness? I like either the round-up list or the process, like how Everest was formed. Or also a narrative, like a biography. It can’t be just a collection of random assorted facts. Needs to have an overarching structure and some kind of payoff.I think I can do this. I’m going to let it simmer for a week or so and then pick a topic to start with. This resulted eventually in A LEAF CAN BE…

Borrowing structure is my favorite thing

Firefly Sliver of moon.Slice of star. Rhinestone in a jelly jar. Twinkling treasure snatched from sky; neon sparkle– firefly!–Rebecca Kai Dotlich, all rights reserved

Lilypad Water cooler. Rooted cloud. Bass-murky shadow shroud. Green-frog launcher, dewdrop-clad. Floating meadow? lilypad! –Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

From PorcupineBy Ginny Lowe Connors

Powder puff with quills.Hobo of the woods.Queen of the rock piles.Berry picker, leaf chewer, gnawerof bark -- canoe paddles if she’s hungry enough.Spined pig.Shadow sharpening its darkness.Prickle bear.

Mentor text with 3rd-5th graders

Reverse engineering

“We’re talking about practice here, not plagiarism—plagiarism is trying to pass someone else’s work off as your own. Copying is about reverse engineering. It’s like a mechanic taking apart a car to see how it works.”

“You don’t want to look like your heroes. You want to see like your heroes.” – Austin Kleon

Photo: www.zastavki.com

Case Study: Can Be Books

Mentor text possibilities:

• Looking at an object in different ways.• Good and bad.• Through the seasons.• Short phrases.• Repetition. A leaf can be…• Kenning structure (carrot-muncher).• Layers of text.

Favorite is overall “Can be…” structure

1. Students each pick a broad TOPIC to explore. 2. Then students ASK questions about their object. 3. Then students READ and LOOK to find answers to the

questions they choose. 4. Each student WRITES down the list of answers as he or

she finds them. Use active verbs!o A kitten sleeps a lot. o A kitten drinks milk. o A kitten purrs.

5. Show kids how to MAKE -ER SENTENCES. This involves:• inserting “can be a” after the topic word (kitten)• finding the action word, the verb (sleeps)• turning the action word into an -er word (sleeper)• adding other words to give detail if you like (long sleeper? heavy

sleeper? snoring sleeper?• rearranging the words to make the sentence work (A kitten can be a

heavy sleeper.)

We look for the important words. What does water do in these sentences?

Water speeds down hills.Water soaks gardens. Water cools drinks.Water creates storms.

Water soaks gardens. Water cools drinks.Water creates storms.

Turn that do word into an –er word, if we can.

• Water speeds down hills.speeder

• Water soaks gardens.• Water cools drinks.• Water creates storms.

Next, what/where does it ______ (speed, soak, etc.)?

• Water speeds down hills.• Water can be a… speeder.• Where does water speed?• Water can be a downhill speeder.

6. Write fact boxes.

Choosing mentor texts

You have to love a mentor textAge-appropriate for your studentsYou pick ones that are great examples of the trait or skill you’re going to focus on.Read carefully to see if it could lead to misconceptions (Can Be… rhyme)

Some More Mentor Text Possibilities

Passion Projects from Margaret Simon

Feathers: Not Just for Flying (Similes)

Whale Trails (Compare and Contrast)

As an Oak Tree Grows (through time)

Behold the Beautiful Dung Beetle (Verbs)

Sky Boys (2nd-person narration)

Kadir Nelson: “Then I got a library job, and that introduced me to new artists to steal from.”

Door Prizes