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By Lynne R. Dorfman and Rose Cappelli
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How do children's book authors create
the wonder that we feel when reading our
favorite books? What can students and
teachers learn from these authors and
books if we let them serve as writing
mentors? In Mentor Texts, Lynne
Dorfman and Rose Cappelli show teachers
how to help students become confident,
accomplished writers, using literature
as their foundation.
The book is
organized around the characteristics of
good writing—focus, content,
organization, style, and conventions—and
includes:
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mentor texts that can be used to
scaffold student work;
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student writing examples to
demonstrate how students take risks
as writers;
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teacher writing examples to show the
power of teacher as writer;
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a comprehensive annotated list of
children's literature that includes
specific suggestions for teaching
points;
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“Your Turn” lessons at the end of
each chapter that show how to put
the ideas into practice.
Rose and Lynne write in a friendly
and conversational style, employing
numerous anecdotes to help teachers
visualize the process, and offer
strategies that can be immediately
implemented in the classroom. Each “Your
Turn” lesson is built around the gradual
release of responsibility model,
offering suggestions for demonstrations
and shared or guided writing. Reflection
is emphasized as a necessary component
to understanding why mentor authors
chose certain strategies, literary
devices, sentence structures, and words.
This practical resource demonstrates
the power of learning to read like
writers. It shows teachers and students
how to discover the ways that authors
make writing come alive, and how to use
that knowledge to inspire and improve
their own writing.