Mentor Sentences

As a teacher and now teacher mentor, I am reminded of the power of constantly making connections and connecting lessons.  Mentor sentences are a powerful way to connect literacy to grammar and writing.  

Mentor sentences are well-written sentences that showcase the author’s craft from texts used in the classroom.  Sentences are chosen based upon their features such as: grammar, mechanics, style, and language.  Using mentor sentences allow students to notice well-written work and apply those techniques in their own writing.  It helps students find the good and use it, rather than noticing errors in sentences that they have to find and moving on.  Mentor sentences are a great way to present grammar by integrating it into what is already being read in the classroom.  For more detailed information about using mentor texts, Jeff Anderson is the guru!

Why should I use mentor sentences?

 #1 You are already using quality literature for reading and writing.  Use them for grammar as well! With the structure and using a book you’ve already read, you won’t be scrambling to “fit grammar in.”

#2  Students learn from example- seeing it in context, and then using it.  They need to know what something amazing should look like before asked to “fix it.”  They need to practice and create, rather than simply identifying it.  Their knowledge and writing will improve!

#3 Mentor sentences position students be successful from the beginning.  It is based upon what they know or notice, rather than what they don’t, and builds from there. 

#4 It only takes about 10-15 minutes per day! 

Day 1* Give students their sentence and have them glue it in their journals. This sentence comes from a text you have already read, or one you will that week. (If you haven’t read it to them yet, kids can’t wait to hear that sentence when you read the book.  You could have a whole class signal when they hear the “magic sentence” for that week.) 

 *  Practice reading the sentence together fluently.  Call on a few volunteers to read it by themselves, and then read it a few more times together.

*  Ask them to notice what is great, unique, or new in this sentence.  How is this sentence different from others you’ve seen?  How is it the same? What makes it awesome? What do you think I chose THIS sentence out of ALL of the sentences in this book? What about the way this sentence is written stands out to you?  * Have them write down at least 3 things that they notice on their own.  Give them a few minutes, then gather together and share what they noticed. Add them to a chart, have them tell you why for everything. Have students try to guess what it was that made you pick out that sentence. 

Day 2 * Independently, students rewrite the sentence in their notebook, skipping lines in between, and label all of the parts of speech they know.  Gather together, have students share what parts of speech they know and WHY or how do you know- ie. how do you know it is a noun, or a preposition, or why the comma goes there.   Make it a conversation, and if they are missing pieces, make them teaching moments. Mentor sentences give you the opportunity to hit several aspects of grammar repeatedly and spiral.  This allows you to not need to teach grammar in isolation. 

 Day 3  * The goal is to revise the sentence and make it sound even better than it already does.  During this process, they need the reminder that adding more or making it longer does not always make it better.  Model changing the sentence by exchanging verbs, prepositions, etc.  * Talk about the decisions you made and why you chose to make them.  I changed _____ to make it more vivid.  I put it in all capital letters like the author did as well.  I used the preposition _____ instead of ___ because I thought it fit better with ______.  Anchor charts, the thesaurus, etc. can support students with the revision. *  Have students write their own sentences, or if you are just starting out, with a partner.  Ask a few volunteers to share and have the rest of the class listen.  Remind them that they are to keep the meaning of the sentence, and your goal is to make it sound better.

Day 4- *Their goal is to write like the author by changing the meaning of the sentence and trying to keep the structure the same.  Imitation is the highest form of flattery.  J If the author used a metaphor, compound sentence, special punctuation- so should you! Again, model writing a sentence while talking through your thinking of how you are making choices.  * Then if needed, match word by word, or phrase by phrase to highlight the similarities between your sentence and the author’s.  * Next, let the students write and imitate the sentence. Choose about 4 students to have them share their sentences.  If you want to put this on a bulletin board, write them on sentence strips or paper to hang up on the board.  It’s okay if they don’t have every element from the mentor sentence, the importance is that they are trying some of the elements! Will they be perfect? NO! but they are better than the other boring sentences you might be getting otherwise.

Day 5  * You could give a mentor sentence quiz that assesses whatever the focus is for that week and could also spiral back to include previous skills.  Students edit the mentor sentence and circle the errors and rewrite it correctly.  You could include multiple choice for examples of parts of speech, figurative language, type of sentence, etc. 

Here are some examples of formats for questions.

Circle the __ errors in this sentence.  Rewrite the sentence correctly below. 

What type of ____________________ is ______________?

A.               B.    C.  D.
A.               B.    C.  D.
1.Bare bones- Students write the sentence at the top of a page in their notebooks, and then do each day below that on the same page.
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2.Mixture- Type the sentence and copy so multiple fit on a page.   Cut them out and have students glue it on the top of their notebook page.  Students do the rest of the work below in their notebook.
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Circle the __________ in the following sentences. 

a.

b.

c.

d.

What type of ____________________ is used/in the sentence?

List the ___________  that are in the sentence above. 

________     __________      ___________    ___________

 Underline the __________ and circle the _________ in the following sentence (s).

There are many ways to organize your mentor sentences and student responses. Here are a few options…

1.Bare bones- Students write the sentence at the top of a page in their notebooks, and then do each day below that on the same page.

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2.Mixture- Type the sentence and copy so multiple fit on a page.   Cut them out and have students glue it on the top of their notebook page.  Students do the rest of the work below in their notebook.

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3.Handout as a single sheet or cut out and glue the following response sheet in their notebook. 

I have made a PDF of resource to implement Mentor Sentences into your classroom.  For more information, you should read Jeff Anderson's books.  :) Mentor Sentences