There are multiple lessons that I wish I would have used to enhance the instruction of my former students. For my fourth graders this year I would have enhanced our conversations about ideas and about voice. I would have used minilessons, mentor texts, guided practice and independent practice on ideas and voice. I have done read alouds but not as many interactive read alouds as I wish. I also will do more with folktales with my future students after reading about comparing familiar folktales and the many versions of them. I would chose like the Gingerbread man and read the other versions like the Gingerbread Boy or Girl, etc. I also might teach lessons about picking an idea that is interesting to you, about someone you know, about one of your pets and model this for the students. I would also like to in the future complete minilessons on voice through informal journal entries, modeling award winning texts, videos on storyline online of authors reading their books, and providing students lots of opportunities to write. I would also do minilessons on perspectives and how perspective can impact the authors voice.
In Richards and Hawes (2011), the authors mention including questions like "how does the author develop the topic and expand on one" and "where do you think the author got the idea for the text-imagination or memory" in minilessons. These kind of questions are ones that I hope to include in my interactive read alouds, minilessons and when talking with students about idea development. Through reading this article and in Tompkins, I have gained a greater appreciation for mentor texts and the skills students can learn through them. I think "easy readers" can be useful for talking about the many elements of author's craft and it is more effective through these texts. I plan on using mentor texts for many parts of my literacy instruction. I plan on using mentor texts for teaching the six traits of the writer's craft, the writing process, writing strategies and for content knowledge. I also plan on using mentor texts to increase students excitement and motivation to read, as well as fluency and oral comprehension. I think mentor texts can also be used to teach content like history, science, math, lessons on main idea, sequence, etc. and social and emotional awareness. Teaching students about their emotions, how to engage with other classmates socially, about historical events and about science content are all ways I plan on using mentor texts.
Richards, D. & Hawes, S. (2006). Connecting reading and writing through author’s craft. The
Reading Teacher, 60(4), 370-373.
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