Lynne R. Dorfman (lynnedorfman@comcast.net)

andRose Cappelli

(ryc1011@hotmail.com)

www.mentortextswithlynneandrose.com

Mentor Texts and the Common Core

“To develop a set of shared national standards ensuring that students in every state are held to the same level of expectations that students in the world’s highest-performing countries are, and that they gain the knowledge and skills that will prepare them for success in postsecondary education and in the global arena.”

Kendall, J. ( 2011) Understanding the Common Core State Standards. ASCD: Alexandria, VA.

The goal of the Common Core State Standards Initiative is…

Affordances of the CCSS in Literacy

Uplifting vision based on current research

Focuses on results rather than the means

Presents an integrated model of literacyIncludes meaty experiences in writing

Students who are College and Career Ready

• Demonstrate independence • Build strong content knowledge • Respond to a vary demands of audience,

task purpose and discipline • Comprehend as well as critique • Value evidence • Use technology and digital media

strategically and capably• Understand other perspectives and cultures

Why Use Mentor Texts?

Mentor Texts are pieces of literature that you can return to and reread for many different purposes.

Mentor texts can be studied and then imitated, giving students the opportunity to do a close read.

Mentor texts provide a vehicle to deepen comprehension and develop a level of empathy and knowledge that can be applied to read world situations.

Mentor texts help students take risks and try out new strategies. Mentor texts find a home in all areas of the curriculum and can

bridge the reading/writing workshop. Mentor texts can make great reading selections for literature

circles, discovery circles, small group instruction, and whole group instruction.

What Is Rigor?“A rising tide lifts all boats.” -JFK

Students learn more in all classrooms with high-quality, rigorous assignments.

All students benefit from high-quality rigorous assignments and the opportunity to read, write, think, and speak about relevant learning experiences on a daily basis. (Neumann et al, 2001)

Lower- and higher-achieving students both enjoy higher achievement when they experience demanding curriculum and instruction. (Zonar & Deci, 2003)

A wise reader:knows how to take all the

information he has and sift through it to remember what is most important.

will think about the genre of the text he is reading and its characteristics.

thinks about how the text helps him understand.

always pays attention to the text.

A wise reader:writes responses to remember what he has read.

uses strategies and is NOT passive. He asks questions, makes predictions, and infers.

makes sure he is reading the right text. He chooses the “just right” book for independent reading.

realizes and understands that reading is not about reading words…it’s about making meaning!

Endurance and to be able to endure is the first lesson a child should learn because it’s the one they will most need to know.

-Jan-Jacques Rousseau

Planning, knowing, or figuring out what you are going to do and setting a purpose

Thoughtfully gathering your tools and resources

Finding a smart place to work in order to concentrate

Becoming an active learner: making decisions about what will be the most effective strategies to use

Stamina: The ability to do something or “carry on” for a long period of time

A Spirit of EnduranceKeeping your purpose in mind and focusing on the

task at hand

Constantly being metacognitive

Remaining flexible – trying out new strategies and taking responsible risks

Listening to others and to yourself…how could you revise your thinking?

Using your imagination and knowledge

The Your Turn Lesson Hook

Use literature to invite participation

Purpose

Tell what you will do

Brainstorm

Invite writers to generate ideas

Model

Demonstrate with your own writing

Shared/Guided Writing Writers actively participate as a class or in

partnerships

Independent Writing Writers compose

Reflection Writers reflect on how the writing worked.

Writers become aware of what works for them and what will move them forward as writers.

From Pathways to the Common Core - Calkins, Ehrenworth, and Lehman

The Common Core asks teachers and students to turn informational texts – their own and those written by others – inside out so as to study the designs that undergird the texts, noting the parts and the ways that the different parts have been brought together.

Progression of Expectations for Informational Writing

K. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to name a topic and supply some information.

1. Name a topic, supply some facts, and provide some sense of closure.

2. Introduce a topic, develop points, and provide a concluding statement.

3. Introduce a topic and group related information together, develop the topic, use linking words, and provide a concluding statement.

4. Introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections, develop the topic, link ideas, provide a concluding statement or section.

5. Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically, develop with facts, link ideas, provide a concluding statement or section.

We have to create classrooms where the learning community helps build the minds within it.

Teaching children to think together builds reasoning, comprehension, expressive language, and creative thinking.

-Peter Johnston 2013 Reading Recovery

Conference

The K-5 Writing Standards:A Continuum of Skills and

Understandings

Students advancing through the grades are expected to meet each year’s grade-specific standards and retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades.

Opinion Writing:Common Understandings for the Elementary

Grades

What is an opinion?

Writers share their opinions.

Writers back up their opinions with reasons.

Poetry and the Common Core

Delivers the rigor, text complexity, and attention to close reading that are focuses of the CCSS

Emphasizes standards that address figurative language

Highlights effective repetition, rhyme, alliteration, and structure

Addresses fluency issuesProvides opportunities to compare, contrast,

paraphrase, analyze…

Empire State Building by J. Patrick Lewis

Possibilities for Reading Connections

Activating prior knowledge

Predicting

Inferring

Symbolism

Empire State Buildingby J. Patrick Lewis

Possibilities for Writing Connections

Word Choice – proper nouns, opposites

Appeal to the senses and emotions

Persona writing

Use of punctuation