Why use mentor texts?

Class Three: Using Mentor Texts -January 19, 2015

A mentor text is a resource that a teacher provides to a student to demonstrate what the teacher is expecting for an assignment. If a student is asked to write a blog, the teacher will show them a blog that replicates what is expected of the student. The same aspect applies to newspaper articles, essay, or anything being asked of a student.

In order to teach students specific lessons, teachers must provide students with examples and resources to scaffold their learning. Non-narrative texts are essential to help students understand what is expected of them when they are writing. I found a great blog called "For the Love of Teaching" that could be used to demonstrate many important aspects of writing to students. The 
link to the blog is here:

http://4theloveofteaching.blogspot.ca

If I were to ask students to create a blog as their major assignment for the course, I would use examples of other informational blogs to demonstrate to the students what I am expecting.  I would use "For The Love Of Teaching" to show students how I wish for them to write casually, professionally, and informally.  I would give them a lesson on being casual but professional when they are writing for a medium such as a blog.  This can teach them how to include their opinion along with other evidence in their blog.

Using a blog as an example can show students how to incorporate pictures into their work as well as links to other useful resources.

This resource could be used to teach students other writing techniques even if their assignment is not to create a blog.  Showing them a blog can introduce students to the differences between casual and professional writing, or writing for different mediums.  I could combine this example of a blog with an example from a newspaper or magazine and show students different writing techniques that they could use depending on who their audience is or what they are writing about/for.