Conferring with Writers
Mentor Texts: Must-Have Tools for Your Conferring Toolkit
Have you heard the following piece of advice before? “Teach the writer not the writing.” If so, have you ever
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Mentor Texts
Mentor Texts
Building Suspense
Building tension or suspense in a narrative is an advanced writing skill but one that can be explicitly taught, even
Mentor Texts
Planning Sheets
Writing Trait/Strategy:Adding details; organization Mentor Text Suggestions:Your own modeled writing—see description belowThe Quilt Story by Tony JohnstonLaura Charlotte by Kathryn
Grammar
Apostrophe Detectives
Writing Trait/Strategy:Writing conventions Mentor Text Suggestions:Alphie the Apostrophe by Moira Rose DonohueThe Girl’s Like Spaghetti by Lynne TrussGreedy Apostrophe by
Mentor Texts
Walk Around in the Author’s Syntax
Writing Trait/Strategy:Sentence fluency; conventions Mentor Text Suggestions:The Whale’s Song by Dyan SheldonCrab Moon by Ruth HorowitzShortcut by Donald Crews Description:This
Mentor Texts
Be Specific
Mentor Text Suggestions:Beach by Elisha CooperBig Mama’s by Donald CrewsOutside, Inside by Carolyn CrimiIn the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise
Mentor Texts
Paint a Picture
Writing Trait/Strategy:Word Choice; Sentence Fluency Mentor Text Suggestions:Come On, Rain! by Karen HesseThe Storm Book by Charlotte ZolotowTwilight Comes Twice
Mentor Texts
Show, Don’t Tell
Writing Trait/Strategy:Ways with words; creating mind pictures for the reader Mentor Text Suggestions:Night Noises by Mem FoxWidget by Lyn Rossiter
