Mentor texts and sentences aren't just for elementary students! They are wonderful for middle and high school too! How so? Read on to see how your #2ndaryELA friends use them:
Q1: What do you use mentor texts or sentences to teach? #2ndaryELA
A1: I use them to teach basic grammar and punctuation - all the things FL refers to as "conventions". #2ndaryELA Plus they serve as nice models for various standards such as point of view. (Giant and the Beanstalk)
Can you explain a bit more? #2ndaryELA
What do you focus in on? Do you ask them to emulate style or do you focus on things like adjectives or? #2ndaryELA
Q2: How do you find mentor texts & sentences to use in your classroom? #2ndaryELA
A2: Sometimes I use picture books or I use things that I write myself that are timely - meaning we read texts about St. Patrick near St. Patrick's Day. #2ndaryELA
A2: I taught Pre-K for years - then 3rd - I am big believer in picture books. I use them to help with narrative and sentence structure. #2ndaryELA
I LOVE using Picture books with my middle schoolers! They really make tough concepts easier to understand! #2ndaryELA
No, you are smart! My Ss love the picture books too. For example, "The Important Book" always helps them "get" main idea. :) #2ndaryELA
Q3: How do your incorporate mentor texts & sentences in your daily classroom routine? #2ndaryELA
A3: I use mentor sentences as bell work. We read the passage on Monday and have a mini-lesson on the skills of the week. Then we answer short questions about a sentence from the passage Tu-Th. Fri is an assessment of the week's skills. #2ndaryELA I can use one passage for entire month - one sentence a week!
A3: We have been prepping for the upcoming test so we have been analyzing our last benchmark. Normally, Bell work is the time I incorporate mentor text/sentences #2ndaryELA
Q4: How do you connect what students learn from the mentor texts and sentences to new learning? #2ndaryELA
A4: I connect it to our writing as in "Remember to use commas after transitions like we learned when we read about St. Patrick." #2ndaryELA
A4: I also connect it to writing. #2ndaryELA
A4: I also try to use mentor texts as background knowledge for other topics. #2ndaryELA
I love @Newsela and @CommonLit for building background knowledge.
Q5: Share your favorite mentor text or sentences activities. #2ndaryELA
A5: My favorite passages & matching questions that I wrote are all here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bell-Ringers-for-Middle-School-Mentor-Sentences-YEAR-LONG-BUNDLE-3147816 … #2ndaryELA
A5: I love using @Newsela and @CommonLit to build background knowledge and picture books for figurative language- descriptive words- imagery- I could go on and on 
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I hope you found a few new ideas for using mentor sentences and/or texts in your classroom for reading or writing skills!
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