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You are here: Home / All categories / Mentor Texts to Use for Modeling Writing

Mentor Texts to Use for Modeling Writing

August 10, 2012 • 8 Comments

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Teaching children how to be authors is one of my all time favorite writing activities.  It’s a joy to see children create their own stories.

Reflect and Refine:  Building a Learning Community is hosting the Third Annual Picture Book 10 for 10.  The purpose is for bloggers and others to share their top ten favorite picture books.   I’m happy to participate and share with everyone my top ten favorite mentor texts I use when modeling writing with students.  It’s just one of the great book lists that you’ll find here.

Great mentor texts to use for for modeled writing.

 

Full Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links.

MENTOR TEXTS

 

1.  Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco is great for modeling interesting openings, setting a scene, words that sound like what they mean, strong verbs, punctuation and the style of a recipe at the end of the story.  Really, any of Polacco’s books could be on this list.  She is a great writing mentor.

 

2. Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee works well for modeling text structure, showcasing a small moment, and the use of descriptive words.

 

3.  Mud by Mary Lyn Ray and illustrated by Lauren Stringer has descriptive language and an interesting way with words. Check out these writing activities to compliment the book, Mud.

 

4.  So Much by Trish Cooke and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury is a good example of text structure and works really well for punctuation. I also like  that this is a multi-cultural book clicked with my inner-city students.

 

5.  When the Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant is another great text for modeling a small moment, narrative and interesting openings.  Again, most of Rylant’s work makes for good examples during writer’s workshop.

 

6.  Tornadoes by Gail Gibbons or really any of Gibbon’s work is great for non-fiction text features.

 

7.  Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neil works for poetry examples, painting a picture, and adjective attributes and comparisons.

 

8.  Tuesday by David Wiesner is superb for telling a story through illustrations and inferring.

 

9.  Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street by Roni Schotter and illustrated by Krysten Brooker is a great fit for modeling where writers get ideas and revising.

 

10.  All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan can be used for studying craft.

Find mentor texts that speak to you.  If you have a connection with a text, it will be much easier to use it as a tool to model writing for children.  What favorite mentor texts do you have on your shelf?

Head over to Reflect and Refine to see a list other top 10 lists.  You will also find links to past years too.

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8 Comments Filed Under: All categories, Book Lists, Writing Activities Tagged With: best mentor's text for writer's workshop, teaching writing

About Jodie Rodriguez

Jodie Rodriguez is a mom of two young boys and an early childhood/elementary educator with over 20 years of experience. Jodie's passion is helping parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else interested in nurturing and reaching ALL of our youngest growing readers.

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  1. Jackie@My Little Bookcase says

    July 4, 2013 at 7:16 am

    What a wonderful list. Such a great resource for teachers and parents

    Reply
  2. Sandi says

    September 2, 2012 at 12:12 pm

    Great list!
    Don’t know if you noticed MENTOR is spelled wrong in your title.

    Reply
    • Jodie says

      September 2, 2012 at 12:17 pm

      Thanks so much for catching that! Glad you enjoyed the list.

      Reply
  3. Mandy says

    August 10, 2012 at 10:21 pm

    Thanks for joining us today, you have some great titles to today. Thundercake is a favorite.

    Reply
  4. Carrie Gelson says

    August 10, 2012 at 4:27 pm

    What a wonderful idea for a list. Gives me lots of great ideas for this fall! Thanks!

    Reply
  5. Tammy Flanders says

    August 10, 2012 at 4:25 pm

    Thanks for your recommendations. I totally agree with you about Patricia Polacco. It IS really hard just to pick one.
    Tammy
    Apples with Many Seeds

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Day 1: Model Good Writing | says:
    January 14, 2013 at 6:46 am

    […] If you feel somewhat intimidated about modeling writing with your child, pick up a good book and discuss good writing as you read aloud.  For example, my son and I are currently into the Magic Tree House books.  When we get to the end of each chapter, he is not satisfied.  He wants me to keep reading and gets upset when I stop.  If it were up to him, he’d have me read the entire book in one sitting.  One day, I asked him, “Have you noticed what the author does at the end of each chapter?  She leaves you ‘hanging’.  And when she leaves you ‘hanging’, that makes you want to read more.  I wonder why she wrote it like that?”  We had a lovely discussion about author’s craft, the decision to leave each chapter open so the reader would WANT to keep going.  For more examples, visit Jodie’s post on Ten Mentor Texts for Modeling Writing. […]

    Reply
  2. Top 12 Posts of 2012 says:
    December 30, 2012 at 6:03 am

    […] 1.  10 for 10- Ten Mentor Texts to Use for Modeling Writing […]

    Reply

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