Mentor Texts
The idea of using mentor texts is nothing new. In classic education, students would copy sections of canonical writing with the expectation that doing so would help students to better understand the grammatical and rhetorical structures great authors used in composing great pieces of writing. While this is not quite the type of rote use of mentor texts I am suggesting in this unit, it isn’t without some similarities.
Mentor texts in the context of this unit refers to reading texts that can serve as models for students’ own writing. Rather than directly copying a text wholesale, students use the text as a basis for imitating grammar, structure, style, or theme. This can be a valuable tool for students learning how to develop their writing. Whether the student is one who has a grasp of the fundamentals of writing and is learning some of the more complex moves of sophisticated writing, or who is still trying to master the basics of paragraph construction, most students can benefit from looking at good writing and trying to bring elements of it into their own work.
In Write Like This, Kelly Gallagher presents two central premises that drive his argument about authentic writing. The first is to “introduce young writers to real-world discourses.” As discussed earlier these discourses are the reason writing exists outside of the classroom. The second premise presents a method of helping students to see these “real-world discourses” in action: “Provide students with extensive teacher and real-world models.”7 Both of these premises are addressed in this unit through the use of the essays listed as readings for students in the resource section below.
Logically, this idea makes sense: if students don’t know what good writing looks like, they won’t be able to achieve it. In essence, much like we learn how to speak by listening, we learn how to write by reading. The more we read, the more developed our writing will become. By providing students with examples of good writing on topics related to what we are asking them to write about, students will be better equipped to grow as writers.
Comments: